Zoe didn't sleep that night.
Not really.
She just lay there, flat on her back, eyes locked on the ceiling above. His scent still clung to her skin, stubborn as a secret she never meant to carry. His voice lingered in the silence, echoing around her like a ghost that refused to leave.
"You just started a war."
She never replied.
Because deep down…
She didn't have the words for it.
She didn't even know who she wanted to come out on top.
Her alarm ruined the quiet at 6 a.m., harsh and merciless against how breakable she felt inside. She forced her body into the bathroom, stepped under a piping hot shower, and just stood there, hoping the heat might wash the confusion off her skin.
It didn't.
By 8 a.m., she was in the office. Coffee in one hand, composure in the other. Hair pulled into a low, clean bun. Makeup just thick enough to bury the truth behind her eyes.
Tina, her assistant, poked her head into the doorway, eyes already wide.
"Uh… boss? You might wanna see this."
Zoe frowned. "See what?"
Tina handed her an iPad, biting her lip like the screen held a bomb.
Zoe took it, and everything inside her dropped.
HEADLINE: Marketing Director Zoe Marshall Caught in Love Triangle with Billionaire Mason King and Tech CEO Ethan Carter
The article sat below a photo snapped at the rooftop bar.
One frame of her kissing Mason.
Another of Ethan outside in the rain, staring up at them like a man unraveling.
And beneath it, in bold:
Sources say Mason King plans to pull his investment from Ethan Carter's tech startup after discovering a secret relationship with Zoe Marshall.
Zoe's vision blurred.
Her chest squeezed, sharp and deep.
"Tina," she whispered, "who the hell leaked this?"
"I… I don't know. But your phone's been going crazy. HR, PR, Legal, Channel Eight, everyone wants a statement."
Her hands shook as she set the tablet down. "Cancel my morning meetings. All of them. I need to handle this."
Tina gave a small nod and quietly left the room.
Zoe dropped her face into her hands, the weight of everything pressing down until her shoulders curled in.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
She refused to become the headline.
Her phone buzzed across the desk, rattling like it was trying to shake her apart. Again. And again. And again.
She snatched it.
Ethan:
Zoe, I didn't leak this. Call me.
Another buzz.
Mason:
Come to my office. Now.
Her pulse sharpened.
Her legs moved on autopilot.
Mason King's Office, 30th Floor
His assistant barely looked up when she marched past.
Zoe pushed the office door open.
Mason sat behind his sleek black desk, sleeves shoved up to his elbows, tie hanging loose around his neck. He looked like a thunderstorm trapped in human skin, barely keeping himself from breaking open.
Cold. Calculated.
He didn't look at her right away.
Just motioned to the chair across from him.
"Sit."
She slammed the door shut. "Don't fucking tell me what to do."
His eyes finally lifted, dark and unreadable.
"Watch yourself," he said, voice quiet but edged with iron. "You're already in enough trouble."
"Oh? Trouble you caused?" she snapped.
He stood, chair scraping back.
"You think I leaked that?" he said, low but deadly. "You think I'd risk my company's image, my name, for your ex-husband's pity party?"
She flinched. Hard.
Then his voice gentled, so suddenly it made her dizzy.
"I'm not your enemy here, Zoe."
Her throat tightened. "Then who is?"
He moved from behind the desk, slow and deliberate, until he stood right in front of her. His fingers skimmed her cheek, thumb tracing along her jaw, tipping her face up like he was searching it for something only he could see.
"Maybe the real enemy," he said quietly, "is the part of you that still wants him."
Her eyes burned. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't make this about Ethan and me," she breathed, trembling. "You think you can buy me? Control me? Own me like one of your deals?"
His fingers tightened against her jaw, holding her together.
"I don't want to own you, Zoe."
"Then what do you want from me?" Her voice broke apart, tears spilling down her cheeks before she could stop them.
He blinked, like her words had sliced straight through his armor, leaving him raw and exposed.
"I want to be the only man you reach for," he whispered, voice rough with something that sounded too close to love. "I want you to look at me the way you looked at him… like I'm your whole damn world."
And before she could answer, he kissed her, deep, hungry, and desperate for something he wasn't sure he'd ever deserve.
No questions, no warning, just possession and heat.
His hands locked onto her hips, dragging her against him with a force that stole her breath. She felt him, thick and ready, straining against her belly through their clothes, heat radiating off him like he was on fire for her.
A sharp gasp slipped from her lips into his mouth, her palms flattening against his chest, feeling the solid thrum of muscle and intent beneath.
He tasted like whiskey and command and something deeper, something dark that pulled at a place inside her she'd tried so hard to bury. Something she shouldn't want.
Then he lifted her.
Planted her on the desk.
Shoved her skirt up to her hips.
Papers flew.
"Mason" she whispered, chest heaving.
"Shut up," he growled."Let me remind you exactly who you're dealing with."
His fingers slipped under the edge of her panties, pushing them aside with a slow, deliberate drag, finding her wet, more than she wanted to admit.
She let out a moan she didn't mean to give him, her head falling back as heat flushed through every inch of her body.
He gave a crooked smile against her neck. "That's right. Moan for me."
His thumb worked her clit while his other hand freed himself. He was already pulsing—thick and ready.
He didn't ask.
He drove into her in one deep, brutal stroke.
She cried out, biting his shoulder to muffle the sound. He was big. Too big. It hurt, but it also lit something inside her on fire.
He moved fast. Hard. Each thrust sent her shaking.
The desk rocked.
Files scattered.
She held onto him like he was the only thing keeping her upright, nails biting into his back as sweat slid down her spine.
"Mason…"
"You're mine," he snarled, his voice rough and possessive. "Say it."
"I… I can't"
"SAY it," he growled, thumb circling faster, his hips slamming into her.
And when she shattered, body locking, scream torn from her throat, she did.
"I'm yours!"
A rough groan ripped from his chest as he drove into her one final, brutal time, spilling deep inside her. His whole body shook, gasping against her as he pressed closer, clinging like a man drowning.
Silence swallowed the room. Only their rough breaths echoed between shards of broken glass and papers strewn like fallen leaves.
He leaned his forehead against hers, fingers digging into her waist like he was afraid she'd vanish.
"You're mine, Zoe," he breathed, voice raw and shaking. "Don't forget that."
But her tears came faster now.
Because every time a man said those words to her…
She lost another piece of herself.
Buzz.
Her phone buzzed from the floor where her purse had fallen.
With shaky fingers, she picked it up.
Ethan's name glared back at her.
We need to talk. I know who leaked the story. It's worse than you think.
Her pulse skipped. Hard.
She looked at Mason slowly.
His eyes were closed. Breath evening out. Arms still tight around her like nothing had happened.
But inside her
Something shifted.
And for the first time that morning…
She felt afraid.