Chapter 1
$100 million. Plus a position at a Wall St. firm. Give up Sebastian Pierce and let my daughter have him.”
Mr. Whitmore pushed the contract across the table, radiating that intimidating lawyer energy.
When Mia Brooks didn’t grab the pen, he scoffed.
“You really think some fish market girl belongs with the Pierce heir?”
Mia kept silence. Stared at the contract. Hand shook as she picked up the pen.
“You’ve got nobody, Mia.”
“No family connections, no trust fund, nothing. Can you help his career like Claire can?”
Mia shook her head and signed her name with a bitter smile.
Done.
Just like that, whatever she and Sebastian had was officially over.
Outside the café, Mia was calling an Uber when her phone lit up with a trending notification.
[POWER COUPLE: Billionaire Sebastian Pierce & Heiress Claire Whitmore in Major Deal]
The comments were brutal:
[CEO meets lawyer princess = relationship goals!]
Mia gripped her cracked phone as tears hit the screen.
Time to ghost completely.
A girl who gutted fish had no business dreaming about Manhattan royalty anyway.
Staring at her phone’s lock screen photo with Sebastian, Mia flashed back to that freezing winter when she was eighteen.
One day, her three–hundred–dollar basement apartment suddenly had a new neighbor.
Rich kid energy, perfect features–totally out of place in that gross underground rental.
She knew him immediately. Sebastian Pierce,
Freshman year, when kids said she stole class funds, he cleared her name and covered the money.
After they got split up sophomore year, she studied like crazy, hoping to get closer to his world.
But before his Harvard acceptance letter arrived, the news broke:
his parents‘ private jet crashed. Both dead.
The Pierce fortune–gone.
That night, coming back from the fish market, she smelled burning charcoal from his unit.
Her heart stopped. She kicked his door down.
Tiny as she was, she got his tall frame on her back and ran through the freezing night to the hospital.
Chapter 1
When he woke up with the oxygen mask, his voice was barely a whisper.
“Why?”
She stared at him:
“Only the living have hope.”
She’d been dumped by parents, bullied by classmates, harassed by customers…
Saving Sebastian was like saving her old desperate self.
“Don’t try this again. I can sell fish to pay for your school.” Her fingers curled tight.
His eyes went red.
She smiled. “Law school’s too expensive for me anyway. You got into Harvard. You’re worth more.”
So they lived together in that tiny dump after that.
She worked hotel front desk at dawn, sold fish in the morning, pulled convenience store night shifts.
But Sebastian’s care made all the exhaustion disappear.
He’d tutor kids nonstop just to buy her one white dress.
He’d sit by her messy fish stall and help scale the catch.
When her hands got frostbite, he’d gently apply the medicine.
She wanted those simple, happy days to last forever.
Until Sebastian made it big and topped the young billionaires list.
She sat in the corner at his company’s IPO event, watching him in his sharp suit, talking business while powerful people crowded around him.
That moment, gripping her dress, even wearing the perfume he bought her, she still smelled fish on herself.
Sebastian personally announced he was hiring Claire Whitmore as Chief Legal Officer.
Claire Whitmore.
Harvard’s former campus beauty queen, plus her dad was a legal powerhouse,
Mia’s entire outfit probably cost less than one of Claire’s hair clips.
On stage, he gentlemanly lifted her dress hem as they stood side by side, looking like the perfect power couple.
Didn’t feel like a business event. More like their engagement party.
When the dance ended, the lights suddenly went out,
In that moment of darkness, she frantically searched for Sebastian.
But the second she looked up, she saw the two of them kissing.
That night, Mia sat in her rental and drank an entire six pack, but still couldn’t numb the pain.
The Sebastian who’d given her a soda can tab as a ring, who’d handed over every scholarship dollar, who’d blamed himself to tears when she got sick–he was never from her world.
Cowling Back!
Chapter 1
She thought again about his promise:
“Mia, I’m gonna give you the good life.”
Yeah, he’d given her a comfortable life. She didn’t have to worry about rent or food anymore.
But what she was missing was just love.
If he wouldn’t give that, she didn’t want it anymore.
Leaving him was the right call.
Her phone suddenly rang, jolting her back from the memories.
“Took you forever to pick up.”
Sebastian’s voice was smooth and low, with that magnetic quality that always made her melt.
“Company’s throwing a celebration tonight. I’d be happy if you showed up.”
Mia’s throat tightened.
She wanted to say no, but Sebastian seemed to sense her answer and spoke again:
“I want you there.”
That rare hint of pleading reminded her of when he was nineteen, arms around her waist after his first big win: “I want things to be easier for
you.”
Mia softly said “yeah,” then decided to be selfish one last time:
“Can you come get me?”
Long silence.
“Sorry, gotta pick up Claire.”
A pause.
“I mean, she’s the one who really made this deal happen.”
Mia gripped her phone until her knuckles went white.
She hadn’t expected anything, so why did it hurt so bad?
She went home and put on her nicest dress, but standing in that fancy ballroom, she still felt totally awkward.
Claire walked over with Sebastian’s arm in hers, looking elegant in a soft purple dress that screamed money.
The cut, the fabric–totally put Mia’s outfit to shame.
Mia turned to leave, but a voice stopped her.
“Ms. Brooks! So glad you made it.”
Claire smiled sweetly.
“Sebastian said you get nervous at these things, but I kept pushing until he agreed to invite you.”
Mia looked at Sebastian, her hands clenching into fists.
do Crawling Back!
20.1%
Chapter 1
So he hadn’t wanted her here.
Sebastian stayed cold and distant, not even glancing her way.
“You must be starving.” Claire grabbed her hand like they were best friends, leading her to the buffet.
“I heard you work at the fish market, so I had them put out some seafood. Thought you could tell us if it’s any good.”
Mia stared at the expensive seafood she’d never be able to afford, crumpling her dress in her sweaty palms.
“I can’t.” She shook her head.
“Don’t be shy.” Claire held out some caviar. “You’ve been taking care of Sebastian all this time. I’ve been wanting to thank you.”
Mia glanced at Sebastian, but he just nodded his approval.
As she tried to refuse, the caviar spilled all over her dress.
Sebastian frowned and draped his million–dollar custom jacket over her shoulders.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Claire gasped. “Let me take you upstairs to change.”
Mia wanted to say no, but Sebastian nodded. “Thanks, Claire. I owe you one.”
She had no choice but to follow Claire to the elevator.
The second the doors closed, Claire’s fake smile disappeared.
“I was wondering how stuck–up you’d be.”
She looked down at Mia with disgust.
“But you’re just another greedy fish girl who’ll do anything for money.”
Mia watched the floor numbers climb, staying quiet.
Claire eyed her suspiciously.
“You’re not gonna back out of our deal, are you?”
Mia looked at her, about to speak. “Don’t worry, I—”
Suddenly-
CRASH!
The elevator plummeted. Cables snapped violently as Mia slammed into the wall.
Claire was screaming, but blood was pouring from Mia’s head, blurring her vision as pain ripped through her entire body.
Right before she blacked out, she heard Sebastian’s panicked voice.
“Sebastian,” she reached out weakly, “save me…”
But when the rescue team checked the situation, their faces were grim:
“Mr. Pierce, we can only get one person out first. Time’s running out. Who do you choose?”
That familiar voice, raw and desperate, called out a name.
“Claire!” He said it again. “Get Claire first!”
Chapter 1
As everything went dark, a bloody tear slid down Mia’s cheek.
She shouldn’t be hurt.
Sebastian had found someone he wanted to protect more than her.
And she could finally disappear for good.
