The bed was cold when Liam Velar opened his eyes.She was gone.
Only the faint scent of her remained jasmine, warmth, something innocent and intoxicating. The sun burned through the curtains of the penthouse, highlighting the mess they'd left behind.
Wrinkled sheets,discarded dress.
Lipstick smudged on the edge of a wine glass.
But none of that mattered as much as the one thing his mind wouldn't let go.
She had been a virgi rn.
He remembered it now with startling clarity the way her body had trembled, the tight resistance, the sharp intake of breath when he entered her, the way she clung to him like he was both the storm and the shelter.
He hadn't realized it in the haze of his half-drugged state.Not at first.
But now the truth crushed him.
She gave me something I didn't deserve.
And she didn't even know my name.
---
Liam sat up, dragging a hand through his tousled hair.
He couldn't stop thinking about her eyes.
Big. Bright. Honest.
So damn open, like no one had ever ruined her before.
She wasn't like the women who circled his world polished, powerful, emotionally numb. She was soft. Untouched. Brave in a way that made him ache.
Who was she?
He stood, pulled on his clothes slowly, then walked to the nightstand and checked the hotel's private surveillance footage on his secured tablet. Not because he was obsessed. Not yet.
But because he needed to know who she was.
---
🔍 Ten Hours Later…
"Sir, we found her," his assistant said.
Liam's pulse ticked.
"Her name is Jessica Hale. Twenty-five. Graduate of Velaria Institute of Fashion. Lives in North Lunaria, District 7. Unemployed. Runs a small home studio. Applied for the VFI grant last month but didn't qualify due to entry fees."
"And?" Liam asked, voice sharp but low.
"She's talented," the assistant admitted. "Raw. But overlooked."
Liam didn't reply right away. He just stared at her file her photo.
Not smiling. No makeup. Simple clothes. But her eyes…
The same eyes that looked up at me that night.
He shut the tablet.
"Submit a revised VFI application for her anonymously. Pay the entry fee. Elevate her portfolio. She's a finalist now."
"Yes, sir. And?"
"And get her mentorship approved under our corporate initiative. I'll take the file directly."
"Sir? You want to mentor her personally?"
"No," Liam lied. "Officially, I won't exist in her world at all."
--
That Night…
Liam sat alone in his glass-walled office, overlooking the glowing city.
He didn't know what the hell she'd done to him.
But she haunted his thoughts. The way she moved. The way she gave herself to him uncertain, trembling, and still brave enough to look him in the eye.
She hadn't been just a one-night stand.
She had trusted him.
And now, whether she remembered his face or not whether she ever learned his name he would protect her.
Even if he had to lie.Even if he had to stay in the dark.
Even if it killed him.