Three years ago, Hazel Vance made a choice that changed everything. One night of passion with a mysterious stranger at a masquerade ball left her with more than just memories—it left her with a son whose rare violet-blue eyes are a constant reminder of the father she'll never find.

Now a struggling single mother, Hazel desperately needs the executive assistant position at Sterling Group. The salary could finally give her two-year-old Leo the life he deserves. But her new boss, CEO Liam Sterling, is nothing like she expected.

Demanding, brilliant, and devastatingly handsome, Liam has a reputation for being impossible to work for. Most assistants don't last a week. When Hazel refuses to be intimidated by his cold demeanor and sharp tongue, something shifts between them. The attraction is immediate and electric, crackling through every professional interaction.

But it's his eyes that stop her cold. The same striking violet-blue shade that stares back at her every morning when she looks at her son.

As the tension between them builds and the lines between professional and personal begin to blur, Hazel finds herself caught between her desperate need for this job and her growing attraction to the one man who could destroy everything she's worked for.

She doesn't know that Liam has been searching for the mysterious woman from the masquerade ball ever since that night changed him forever. And he has no idea that the composed, fiery assistant who challenges him at every turn is the same woman who haunts his dreams.

When the truth finally comes to light, will it bring them together or tear apart the fragile new life Hazel has built for herself and her son?

"What is it, Stella?" Adrian's voice cut through my frozen silence as I stared at my phone.


"Nathaniel..." The name barely escaped my lips as tremors ran through my entire body.


Adrian's brow furrowed in confusion. "Who the hell is Nathaniel, Stella?"


"My ex-boyfriend. He's inside the house with my mother." The tears came without warning, hot and desperate. "I need to get in there now."


Recognition flashed across Adrian's face, his jaw tightening. "The psycho from the mall? Your mother actually let that bastard into her house? After everything he's done to you?"


"No, absolutely not. My mother would never let him inside, but somehow he managed to get in anyway." My voice cracked with helplessness. The unknown terrified me more than anything else.


Adrian's hands found my shoulders, steadying me. "Stella, tell me exactly what your mother said on that call."


Chapter 239 - S2 Chapter 23 - Home Invasion and Knife Threa