Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN UNDER HIS DESK
At 11:18 p.m., Marcus Voss returned to the forty-sixth floor of Voss International Tower expecting nothing but an empty office and a forgotten file.
Instead, he found his secretary, Sophia Bennett, hiding beneath his desk.
For nearly three years, Sophia had been the most dependable person in Marcus’s company. Calm under pressure. Never late. Never careless. She managed impossible schedules, difficult executives, and billion-dollar meetings without ever asking for help.
But that night, she was crying.
A hospital bracelet in her hand revealed the first secret.
Lily Bennett.
Five years old.
Sophia’s daughter.
Lily had suffered a severe asthma attack and was at St. Catherine Children’s Hospital. Yet Sophia was not beside her because Lily’s father, Ethan Cross, had threatened to use their custody battle against her.
Then Marcus learned the darker truth.
Ethan had controlled Sophia for years.
Tracked her.
Threatened her.
And hurt her.
Sophia had hidden everything because she was terrified that her complicated personal life would cost her the first stable job she had ever had.
Marcus told her something nobody had told her before.
She was not a problem.
Then Ethan sent another message.
He knew Sophia was inside Voss Tower.
And he was coming upstairs.
Marcus looked toward the elevator as the numbers began to move.
For the first time, Sophia understood something Ethan had failed to understand.
May you like
She was no longer alone.
And Ethan Cross had just threatened someone under Marcus Voss’s protection.
