The air in the lecture hall was stale, heavy with the faint smell of chalk and instant noodles. Amelia White shoved her cracked phone into her bag and pressed her notebook flat against the desk.
If she didn't copy every word Professor Grant was about to say, she'd be lost in the midterms. And midterms meant everything scholarships, the roof over her head, even her mother's hospital bills.
Her pen trembled slightly, not from nerves but from exhaustion. The night before, she had worked a double shift at the campus café, pouring coffee for students who had the luxury of studying without worrying if they'd be evicted next month.
"Focus, Amy," she whispered to herself.
The professor's voice droned on about corporate ethics, but the words blurred together. She scribbled furiously anyway, her handwriting messy but determined.
Then the door creaked open.
Every head turned.
A tall man walked in like he owned the room. He wasn't a student no way. His tailored charcoal suit clung to broad shoulders, his tie knotted in perfect symmetry. His shoes gleamed like glass, clicking against the floor with quiet authority.
He shouldn't have belonged there, yet somehow the room seemed too small for him.
Amelia blinked. What was a man like that doing in an underfunded state university?
The professor stammered mid-sentence. "M..Mr. Huxley? We weren't expecting..."
The man gave a slight nod, eyes sweeping over the lecture hall before resting, unfortunately on Amelia. His stare was sharp, deliberate, as if he were reading the secrets etched across her tired face.
Her chest tightened. She looked away instantly, cheeks heating.
"Carry on," he said, his voice deep, clipped, impatient.
Grant cleared his throat and tried to recover. "Class, we're honored today. This is Adrian Huxley, CEO of Huxley Enterprises, one of the largest private firms in the city. He's here for a guest lecture… rather unannounced."
Whispers exploded across the room.
The Adrian Huxley? Amelia vaguely recalled the name. Billionaire. Business mogul. A man whose wealth was so obscene it barely sounded real.
Adrian walked to the front, taking the podium as though it were built for him. His gaze swept across the students once more, landing again on Amelia. A faint crease appeared between his brows before he looked away.
Amelia's pen stilled. Something in his look unsettled her not admiration, not disinterest, but a strange kind of recognition.
He began speaking, his voice smooth and commanding. "Business isn't about numbers. It's about leverage. About who's willing to risk the most when everyone else is afraid to move."
Students scrambled to jot down every word. Amelia tried, but her thoughts kept circling back to why is he looking at me?
Halfway through the lecture, her phone buzzed.
Mom! They increased the deposit again. I don't know what we'll do.
Her stomach dropped. Rent. Medicine. Tuition. Everything was pulling at her all at once.
She clenched her jaw, forcing herself not to cry in front of everyone.
The lecture ended. Applause erupted. Students swarmed Adrian with questions and fawning smiles, desperate for his attention.
Amelia stuffed her notebook into her bag. She didn't have time for celebrity CEOs. She needed to run to her shift at the café before her boss yelled at her again.
She slipped out the side door, head down.
But the sound of expensive shoes followed.
"Miss…" His voice stopped her cold.
She turned slowly. Adrian Huxley stood a few feet away, watching her with unreadable eyes. Up close, he was even more intimidating,handsome in a severe way, jawline sharp enough to cut glass, his presence like gravity itself.
"Yes?" she managed, clutching her bag tighter.
"You didn't take a single photo. You didn't try to get my attention. Why?"
Amelia blinked. "Because I was here to learn, not… gush over you."
A faint smirk touched his lips, gone as quickly as it appeared.
"You remind me of someone," he said.
She frowned. "I think you're mistaken."
He studied her a moment longer, then gave a curt nod. "Perhaps."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving her pulse racing.
Amelia exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to her chest. What the hell was that?
She didn't know that her life had just shifted course. And that Adrian Huxley,the man with eyes like winter storms, would soon make her an offer she couldn't refuse.