NATALIE'S POV
"Your father just turned himself in to the police. He's confessing to murdering my father. And he's claiming you helped him plan it."
Adrian's words echo in my head, but they don't make sense. Nothing makes sense.
"That's impossible," I whisper. "I didn't—I would never—"
"I know." Adrian's voice is strangely calm. "Because I've been watching you for six months. I know exactly what you have and haven't done."
"You've been watching me?"
"Every move. Every file you photographed. Every message you sent to Marcus." His gray eyes hold mine. "I know everything, Natalie. And I know you're not a murderer."
My legs give out. I sink into his chair, my mind reeling.
"Why would Marcus confess? Why would he lie about me?"
"Because he's setting you up to take the fall." Adrian pulls out his phone and shows me a news article that just posted. "Look."
The headline makes my stomach drop: BILLIONAIRE'S ASSISTANT ARRESTED IN TEN-YEAR-OLD MURDER PLOT
"No," I breathe. "No, no, no—"
"The police are on their way here right now. Marcus told them you'd be in my office, going through files to destroy evidence." Adrian's jaw tightens. "He planned this perfectly. You breaking into my desk tonight—that's exactly what he needed to make his story believable."
I stare at him. "You knew I'd be here? You knew I'd find the file?"
"I left you that anonymous message. I needed you to see the truth about your father before the police arrived." He crouches down in front of me. "Natalie, listen carefully. We have about five minutes before they get here. Five minutes for you to decide if you trust me."
"Trust you? You've been manipulating me this whole time!"
"No. I've been protecting you." His hands cup my face gently. "Everything I've done—hiring you, the contract, letting you believe I didn't know who you were—it was all to keep you safe from Marcus while I gathered evidence against him."
Tears stream down my cheeks. "I don't understand any of this."
"I know. And I'm sorry. But right now, I need you to remember something." His thumbs wipe my tears. "Do you remember your first three months working here? Before the contract? Before everything got complicated?"
The question throws me. "What?"
"Remember. Remember how it started. Remember what you learned about me. About yourself. Remember the truth before all the lies."
And suddenly, I'm pulled back. Back to those first three months when everything was simpler. When I was just an assistant trying to survive.
Back to when I first started becoming a spy.
FIVE MONTHS AGO - FIRST DAY AS ADRIAN'S ASSISTANT
I arrived at Steele Tower at 5:45 AM, fifteen minutes before Adrian expected me.
The office was empty and silent. My desk sat directly outside Adrian's office door—a glass fortress overlooking the city.
I'd barely set down my bag when Adrian emerged from the elevator, looking like he'd already been awake for hours.
"You're early," he observed.
"I didn't want to be late on my first day."
"Good. Coffee. Black with one sugar. I take my first cup at exactly six AM."
He disappeared into his office without another word.
I found the break room and made his coffee, my hands shaking slightly. This was it. I was inside Adrian Steele's world. Close enough to find the evidence Marcus needed.
Close enough to destroy him.
When I delivered the coffee at precisely 6:00 AM, Adrian looked up from his computer with something that might have been approval.
"On time. That's promising." He took a sip. "Perfect temperature. Even better."
"Thank you, sir."
"Don't thank me. Just maintain this standard." He turned back to his screen. "My schedule is on the shared calendar. Familiarize yourself with it. I have back-to-back meetings starting at seven. I'll need files for each one, organized by the color-coding system my last assistant should have explained."
She hadn't explained anything. She'd just quit suddenly two weeks ago.
"Of course," I said anyway.
I spent the next hour frantically trying to figure out his color-coding system. Red folders for urgent matters. Blue for financial documents. Green for legal contracts. Yellow for pending decisions.
It was complex and specific and made perfect sense once I understood it.
By seven AM, I had all his meeting files ready and organized.
Adrian picked them up, glanced through them, and nodded once.
"Acceptable. Don't let the standard slip."
That became my life. Learning his impossible standards and meeting them. Coffee at six. Schedule managed to the minute. Files organized perfectly. Calls screened efficiently.
Adrian was demanding. He expected excellence in everything. But he was never cruel. Never demeaning. If I made a mistake, he'd point it out clearly and expect me to fix it.
And slowly, I realized something unexpected: I was good at this job. Really good.
I anticipated his needs before he voiced them. I streamlined systems his previous assistants had overcomplicated. I learned to read his moods—when he needed silence, when he wanted updates, when he was about to make a major decision.
"You're the best assistant I've ever had," he told me after six weeks.
The compliment should have made me feel guilty. Instead, it made me feel proud.
But I hadn't forgotten my real purpose.
Every day, I photographed documents when Adrian was in meetings. I copied files from his computer when he stepped out. I recorded conversations that Marcus said would prove Adrian's crimes.
I sent everything to my father weekly.
And every week, Marcus responded the same way: "Good work. Keep digging. Get closer."
But the evidence I found never matched Marcus's accusations. Adrian's business was tough but ethical. His contracts were demanding but fair.
I started to wonder if Marcus was wrong about him.
MONTH TWO
"Ms. Cross, I need you to work late tonight," Adrian said one afternoon. "We have a major deal closing and I need someone I trust to handle the details."
Someone he trusted. The words hit me hard.
"Of course, Mr. Steele."
We worked until midnight, going through contracts line by line. Adrian bought me dinner—expensive takeout from a restaurant I could never afford.
"You should eat," he said, pushing the container toward me. "You've been here fourteen hours."
"So have you."
"I'm used to it. You're not." He studied me across his desk. "Why do you work so hard, Natalie? Most assistants do the minimum. You do everything like your life depends on it."
Because it does, I wanted to say. Because I'm drowning in debt and this job is my only lifeline and I can't afford to fail.
"I just want to do good work," I said instead.
"You do exceptional work." He leaned back. "I'm increasing your salary. Twenty percent raise, effective immediately."
My mouth fell open. "What? Why?"
"Because you've earned it. Because you make my life significantly easier. Because talent should be rewarded." He typed something on his computer. "It's done. The increase will show on your next paycheck."
Tears pricked my eyes. Twenty percent more meant I could actually start paying down Mom's medical debt instead of just covering interest.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Don't thank me. You earned it."
That night, I sent Marcus my usual update. But for the first time, I didn't include everything. I held back some files. Some information.
Because Adrian Steele had just shown me more kindness in two months than my father had shown in my entire life.
MONTH THREE - THE NIGHT BEFORE THE MISTAKE
I stayed late organizing Adrian's files for an important presentation. As I worked, I found a folder labeled "Employee Assistance Program."
Curious, I opened it.
Inside were records of Adrian personally paying for employees' emergency medical bills. Covering costs for a staff member's surgery. Funding another employee's child's college tuition. All done anonymously, with strict instructions that the recipients should never know it came from him.
This was the "ruthless" billionaire Marcus wanted me to destroy?
My phone buzzed. Marcus calling.
"Have you found the offshore account information yet?" he demanded.
"I'm still looking."
"Look harder. I need those codes, Natalie. We're running out of time."
"Time for what? What's the rush?"
"Just get me what I need!" His voice was harsh. Desperate in a way that made alarm bells ring in my head.
"Dad, are you sure about all this? About Adrian? Because everything I'm finding shows he's actually a good—"
"He's manipulating you. Making you doubt the truth. This is exactly what I warned you about." Marcus's voice turned cold. "You're my daughter. You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am on your side. I just—"
"Then prove it. Get me those account codes by the end of the month or forget you ever had a father."
He hung up.
I sat in Adrian's empty office, surrounded by evidence of his secret generosity, and felt my world tilting.
What if I'd been wrong about everything?
What if Marcus was the villain and I'd been helping him destroy an innocent man?
PRESENT - ADRIAN'S OFFICE
"Do you remember now?" Adrian's voice brings me back. "Do you remember who I really am?"
I look at him through tears. "You knew Marcus was using me. You knew I was spying on you. But you kept me anyway."
"Because I saw what you couldn't see yet—that you were a victim, not a villain. That your father was manipulating your grief and desperation." His hands squeeze mine. "And because even while you were betraying me, you were also falling in love with me. I could see it happening. Feel it every day."
"I'm so sorry," I sob. "I'm so, so sorry—"
Sirens wail outside the building.
"They're here," Adrian says. "And you need to decide right now: do you trust me to fix this?"
"How can you possibly fix this? Marcus confessed. He's blaming me. The police think I'm a murderer!"
Adrian stands and pulls me to my feet.
"Because Marcus made one critical mistake." His eyes are fierce. "He assumed I'd let them take you. He assumed I'd want revenge more than I want you."
"What are you going to do?"
"Something I've never done before." Adrian's hand cups my cheek. "I'm going to choose love over vengeance."
The office door bursts open.
Two police officers rush in, guns drawn.
"Natalie Cross, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder—"
"No," Adrian interrupts calmly. "You're not taking her anywhere. Because I'm confessing instead."
My heart stops. "Adrian, what—"
"I killed my father," Adrian tells the police. "Ten years ago. Marcus Cross was just trying to protect Natalie from the truth about what I did."
He's lying. Sacrificing himself to save me.
"Adrian, no!" I scream as they move toward him. "Don't do this! Tell them the truth!"
He looks at me one last time, his gray eyes full of love and regret.
"The truth is I love you more than I hate him. The truth is you're worth any price. Even this one."
They put handcuffs on him.
And as they lead Adrian Steele away, I realize something that breaks my heart:
He's been protecting me since the day we met.
While I was betraying him, he was falling in love with me.
And now he's going to prison for a murder he didn't commit to keep me free.
My phone buzzes. A text from Marcus.
FATHER: Told you he'd sacrifice himself for you eventually. Now get me those account codes while he's locked up. We finally won.
But we didn't w
in anything.
We destroyed the only good thing in both our lives.
And I'm going to spend the rest of my life making this right.