Later that evening, Luna lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
The lunch replayed in her mind like a movie. Steve's eyes, his words, the pain hidden under all that charm. She hadn't expected to feel… anything. But now, her thoughts were tangled in ways she didn't like.
A soft knock came on her door.
"Come in," she said.
Her mother peeked in. "Hey,Are You okay?"
Luna sat up. "Yeah. Just thinking."
Grace walked in slowly, closed the door behind her. "About Steve?"
Luna blinked. "How did you know?"
"I saw the way he looked at you. And the way you looked back."
Luna sighed. "Is that obvious?"
Grace sat beside her. "Luna… people like him live in a different world. One where reputation matters more than truth, and feelings get sacrificed for power."
"That's cold."
"It's survival."
Luna was quiet for a moment. Then: "Did you know his parents died in a fire?"
Grace's body stiffened.
Luna noticed. "You… you knew?"
Grace exhaled, long and slow. "It wasn't just a fire. It was arson."
Luna's eyes widened. "What?"
"They were investigating a shady deal something to do with a company Steve's father tried to expose. The fire was a message."
Luna was stunned. "And nobody got caught?"
Grace looked down. "The family buried the truth,Steve was too young to know the details. But the whispers were there."
"Did… did Grandma Regina know?"
"She buried a lot, Luna. To protect him. And the company."
Luna leaned back, overwhelmed. The billionaire wasn't just carrying grief,he was standing on ashes.
Suddenly, her world felt smaller, and his… darker.
~~~
Across town, at the Collins Estate, Marcus dropped a file onto Steve's desk.
"You asked me to find out who she was," Marcus said. "Now I'm asking: what are you trying to do with her?"
Steve didn't look up. "I just want to know who's walking into my life."
"She's clean," Marcus said. "No scandals. Top grades. Lost her dad young. Her mom… you know."
Steve scanned the file slowly. "And the brother?"
"Protective. But quiet. Smart kid."
Marcus sat down. "Steve, listen. I know that look on your face. You think she's just a distraction — something cute to chase."
Steve looked up sharply. "She's not."
"That's my point. If you let her in, you'll have to feel again. And when you feel, you bleed."
Steve was silent.
Marcus leaned forward. "This world we live in? It doesn't like girls like her. And people like Mirabel? They'll eat her alive."
Steve's jaw clenched. "Then let them try."
Marcus shook his head. "Just don't break her to protect her."
~~~
That night, Luna woke from a strange dream.
Fire. Screams. A boy's voice calling for help.
She sat up, heart pounding. The room was dark, still. But something in her gut whispered that her life was about to change.
Not because of Steve Collins…
But because of something buried between their families.
Something no one had told her yet.
Something that would either bring them closer…
Or tear them apart.
Sunday afternoon at the Collins estate was unusually quiet.
Luna stepped out of the kitchen, her curls tucked into a scarf, wearing jeans and a clean white shirt. She had stopped by to drop something for her mother again, but now found herself wandering down the hallway like she belonged there.
Which she didn't.
Except… something tugged at her. A need to understand why this house, this man felt like a chapter she was supposed to read.
She heard a voice.
"…I don't care how much the board threatens. We're not folding to blackmail."
It was Steve. His office door was slightly ajar.
Luna stepped closer. She didn't mean to eavesdrop… but the tension in his voice rooted her.
"I want a trace on the anonymous email. And tell security to keep an eye on Mirabel. I don't trust her."
Luna's brows rose. Mirabel?
Steve's voice dropped, low and sharp.
"…and if they try to drag my family name into this again, I swear I'll burn their whole house of lies to the ground."
Something crashed, a glass maybe, then silence.
She backed away quickly, heart pounding, slipping back into the kitchen just before Grace returned with a folded apron.
"Here. You dropped this," her mom said, handing it to her.
Luna nodded, mind racing. "Mama… did Dad ever work for anyone rich before he died?"
Grace blinked. "Why are you asking that now?"
"I just… I had this dream. About fire. About a boy screaming."
Grace's hands stiffened. Her smile faltered.
"Luna, some memories don't belong in dreams."
Luna tilted her head. "So he did?"
Grace hesitated.
"Your father once worked for a private investigation firm. Small jobs… but one of his last was connected to a certain company."
Luna's heart sped up. "Which company?"
Grace avoided her eyes. "It doesn't matter now. He died trying to do the right thing."
Luna stood still.
"I think he died trying to protect someone," she said quietly.
Grace flinched like she'd been slapped.
A long silence.
Then: "Not everyone in that family is innocent, Luna. Don't let your heart trick your head."
~~~
Meanwhile, in a high-rise across town, Mirabel stared at a photo on her tablet.
Luna. Sitting on the Collins garden steps. Laughing with Regina.
"She's already getting close," she murmured.
Her assistant hovered nearby. "Shall we release the story?"
Mirabel smirked. "Not yet. I want to know more. Who her father was. What he knew."
She looked out the window.
"If she's anything like her father… she's more dangerous than she looks."
Back at the estate, Steve poured himself a glass of water. His hands still trembled slightly.
The email had been clear:
> "You want to keep your empire clean? Then keep the maid's daughter far from you. Or we'll remind the world what really happened to your parents."
He clenched the glass tighter.
Why now?
Why did Luna show up just as old ghosts started knocking?
And why… did her smile still feel like sunlight on a stormy day?
The next day, Luna received an unexpected visitor.
She was helping Mama Ruth an elderly woman down the street rearrange her living room when a sleek black car pulled up outside. The windows were tinted. The air changed.
Steve stepped out.
Even in a simple polo and jeans, he looked like someone carved from wealth and stress. But his eyes searched until they landed on Luna through the open doorway.
She came outside, brushing dust from her hands.
"You tracked me down?"
He gave a lazy smirk. "You left your bracelet at the house."
Luna touched her wrist – bare. Damn.
Steve held it out. "But that's not why I came."
"Oh?"
He looked at her, no walls this time. "I needed to see you."
Luna's heart thumped once. "Why?"
"I don't know yet. But ever since you came into my life, things have started... moving. Shifting."
Luna narrowed her eyes. "That sounds like I brought bad luck."
"No," Steve said. "It feels like I finally woke up."
For a second, silence wrapped around them like warm wind. She didn't want to fall. She really didn't. But gravity had other plans.
Then, she smiled softly. "You should be careful. People say I'm dangerous."
He stepped closer. "So am I."
~~~
They sat on the pavement edge after a while, talking about random things pizza toppings, worst movies ever made, childhood dreams. For the first time, Steve laughed. Really laughed.
Then Luna asked the question.
"Why did your grandma raise you instead of other family?"
Steve's smile faded a little.
"Because no one else would. And because she lost her own son my dad in that fire. I was all she had left."
Luna looked at him, heart tightening.
"What if someone caused the fire?" she asked carefully. "Would you want revenge?"
Steve's jaw clenched. "I'd want truth. And then… maybe."
Luna nodded. "Even if someone you cared about was involved?"
Steve paused. "Then I'd be forced to choose."
Luna felt the words in her bones. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
~~~~
Back at the Collins mansion, Grace stood in the servant's quarters, staring at an old photo. Her husband. A younger version of herself. And standing behind them, blurred in the background…
…was Steve's father.
Her hands trembled.
She tucked the photo into a drawer just as Regina entered behind her.
"You've been quiet lately," the old woman said gently.
Grace turned. "Just tired, ma."
Regina walked closer. "You loved your husband deeply, didn't you?"
Grace nodded. "With everything."
Regina looked at her. "Then tell me… do you think Luna will survive the storm coming her way?"
Grace froze.
Regina sighed. "Because I remember your husband. And I remember the file he tried to give me. The one that went missing before the fire."
Grace's voice broke. "You knew?"
"I suspected. But I was scared."
Silence stretched between them like old ghosts.
Regina added, almost in a whisper, "Maybe Luna's the one who can finish what he started."
~~~
Elsewhere, Mirabel received the report she was waiting for.
The investigator placed the file on her table.
"She's his daughter," he said. "There's no doubt."
Mirabel's fingers tightened around her wine glass.
"So the maid's child has fire in her blood," she whispered. "Good. Let's see how well she handles the heat."
—