CHAPTER ONE: THE RUTHLESS KING

"You have five seconds to explain why I shouldn't fire you."

My heart struck my ribs hard.

I felt as though I had been thrust into a ravenous lion's lair as I stood in the center of Jeo Donald's office. As I confronted the guy who held my entire destiny in his hands, perspiration streamed down my spine despite the frigid temperature in the room.

Like a predator examining its prey, Jeo sat behind his enormous black desk with his fingers clasped and his icy blue gaze fixed on me. The tension in the air was oppressive, but his face's precise angles were unreadable.

I took a deep breath. "Sir, I—"

"Three seconds."

My fingers were shaking as I held the folder in my palms. It had been a little error. A small delay, a lost file. Small errors, however, did not exist in Joe Donald's reality.

"I... I fixed it right away. The transaction was completed. "No damage was caused," I pushed forth.

He tilted his head back in his chair. "No harm?" There was a dangerous edge to his low, almost amused voice. "You think that's how I run my company?"

I didn't respond. With a man like Jeo, there was no right or wrong response.

There was silence between us. The sort that left you wondering if you were still alive.

Then he got up.

As he moved slowly around the desk, each step deliberate and controlled, I dared not move. The air changed when he came to a halt inches from me. My lungs were overwhelmed with the smell of pricey perfume and something deeper, something more sinister.

"You made a mistake, Miss Reed." His tone was kind yet deadly. "And I don't tolerate mistakes."

I made myself look into his eyes. "Then fire me."

His mouth quirked. No grin. Another stuff. Something that made my spine tingle.

He said, "That would be too easy,"

My stomach turned over.

It wasn't easy for Joe Donald.

He was a control freak. Everything and everyone in his universe belonged to him. And I had somehow simply walked straight into it.

I was overwhelmed with paperwork two hours before the email's arrival.

Joe Donald's meeting. 3 p.m. His workspace.

I gazed at the display. Employees like myself were never summoned to the CEO's office. Buried behind figures and paperwork, I worked as a low-level assistant in the financial department.

An error. That was the only reason.

Even so, my palms were already wet as I exited the top-floor elevator. Before indicating the glass doors at the end of the corridor, the receptionist hardly gave me a second look.

I inhaled deeply before entering.

Just as scary as Jeo himself was in his office. The most dreaded millionaire in New York sat behind the enormous desk, sleek black furnishings adding to the antiseptic, frigid ambiance, and floor-to-ceiling windows stared out over the metropolis.

He took a moment to look up. He glanced at a file in front of him while tapping his fingers on the desk. My document.

Then he said something.

"You have five seconds to explain why I shouldn't fire you."

I knew my life was about to alter forever because of it.

Returning to the Present, Jeo had remained stationary. He was still waiting with his eyes fixed on mine. Studying.

I remained intact.

I was unable to.

Despite the dread gnawing at my chest, I said, "I know I made a mistake," in a firm voice. However, I corrected it. And I'm not going to allow that to occur again."

He furrowed his brow. "Do you think I believe that?"

I took a swallow. "I'm not requesting that you accept it. I'll demonstrate it.

Something, something illegible, passed across his face for a minute. Then he produced a sleek black pen from his pocket and held it up between us.

"Take it," he said with command.

His eyes hardened as I hesitated. I slowly extended my hand and encircled it with my fingers.

"Now," he whispered in a silky voice. "Sign."

I blinked. "Sign what?"

Turning, Joe strolled back to his desk and thrust a clean, cream-colored contract in my direction.

I felt sick to my stomach.

I took a step forward and looked at the document's big characters at the top.

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF JEO DONALD, THE CEO.

I raised my head. "What is this?"

He curled his lips, but they were cold. "Your second chance, Miss Reed."

I felt cold.

This went beyond a simple contract.

A bargain with the devil was made.

I paused. "And if I refuse?"

With his elbows resting on the tabletop, Jeo leaned forward and said, "Then you walk out that door, and I make sure you never work in this industry again."

I gasped.

He meant it.

Joe Donald did more than simply dismiss employees. He deleted them.

With my pulse pounding, I glanced down at the document.

There was more to this than simply working for him.

It was a submission.

Command.

He created the rules for the game.

However, what option did I have?

I swallowed my panic, tightened my hold on the pen, and dropped it to the page.

I felt it, like invisible chains around me, when I wrote my name.

I looked up to see Jeo observing me with a dark, contented expression on his face.

"You belong to me now, Telsa." Even though his voice was barely audible, it was like a mark that penetrated my flesh.

It sent a chill through me.

And I was aware of...

This was only the start.

Joe has no intention of playing fairly, and Telsa has unintentionally entered a game she doesn't fully comprehend. Who will break first, we wonder?