The email subject line stopped her cold.
CONGRATULATIONS — YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED
Please report to Cooper Holdings Headquarters tomorrow, 10:00 a.m., to finalize contract details.
Lexi Sinclair read it twice. Then a third time, afraid the words might rearrange themselves into a polite rejection if she blinked too long.
Her first big contract.
She leaned back in her chair, letting the news sink in. For one reckless moment, she imagined her father standing beside her, pride in his eyes, telling her she'd made it.
The fantasy shattered almost instantly.
She didn't think her father had been proud of her in years.
Her mother had left when Lexi was still a baby, taking nothing but her perfume and a faded photograph.
Five years ago, she'd been nothing more than a spoiled billionaire's daughter with the sweetest, softest father. The kind who never left the house without kissing her forehead, even if he was late. The kind who made her feel like she could do anything.
She didn't know when that changed.
Maybe it was gradual. Or maybe she'd just missed the signs.
But on her eighteenth birthday, the man who used to cheer her on handed her a car key and a brown envelope full of cash. His words still echoed:
"It's time you faced your life, Lexi."
She'd thought it was a joke. Some strange, messed-up lesson.
But it wasn't.
Not a single call since. Not even on her graduation.
Once, she tried to go back. The year after he shut her out, she stood at the gates of her childhood home only to be told the guards had no instructions to let her in.
By her own father.
She still hoped to see him again. To ask him why. To understand what she'd done to deserve it.
Maybe she was the problem. Her mother had left her as a baby.
Maybe her father had simply… followed.
She clicked the laptop shut.
This was supposed to be a happy moment.
"Riley!" she called toward the cutting table, where her assistant was hunched over a row of sketches. "Guess who just got her first big contract?"
Riley's head shot up. "No. Way."
Lexi grinned despite the knot still twisting in her stomach. "Way. Cooper Holdings. We finalize the contract tomorrow."
Riley let out a low whistle, crossing the room with fabric scissors still in hand. "You deserve this, Ms. Sinclair. No one works harder than you."
"I know." Lexi tried to sound as excited as she should be, but her voice came out softer than she intended. "It's… surreal."
Riley studied her for a beat. "You don't look thrilled. This is the break you've been waiting for."
Lexi forced a brighter smile. "I am thrilled. Just… processing." She tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
Riley gave her a gentle smile before turning back to the sketches.
Lexi lingered for a moment, then glanced at the closed laptop. Her fingers brushed over the cool metal edge, as if the news might vanish if she let go.
Tomorrow could change everything.
She just hoped it would change the right things.
*****
The city spread beneath the CEO's office at Cooper Holdings, floor-to-ceiling glass caught the late-afternoon light, casting pools of gold and shadow across his desk., the air calm and still.
Ethan Cooper stood behind his desk, sleeves rolled to his forearms, a gold watch worth more than most cars glinting at his wrist. In his hand, a slim black folder embossed with a single name: Lexi Sinclair.
He flipped it open, scanning the bold strokes and unapologetic colors in her proposal. Not the work of someone trying to blend in, just someone determined to stand out.
But this wasn't about raw talent.
It wasn't even about the upcoming gala.
It was about her last name.
Sinclair.
She was the daughter of his enemy, Anthony Sinclair.
Five years hadn't dulled the memory of Anthony's face or the damage he'd left behind. Ethan knew Lexi wasn't close to her father, not in the way he'd expected. But keeping her close meant staying one step closer to Anthony Sinclair. It meant he could control what she saw. Who she met. What she learned.
And maybe… it was exactly the leverage he needed to end Anthony Sinclair.
The phone on his desk buzzed.
"Lexi Sinclair has been confirmed for tomorrow," came the voice on the line.
Ethan's mouth curved, too sharp to be called a smile.
"Good."
This wasn't chance.
It wasn't luck.
Tomorrow, she'd walk into his building believing she'd landed her big break.
She had no idea.