Chapter 2 Pawn to Queen

Lila Davis woke before her alarm. There was something about waking up for humiliation that made sleep impossible. She sat on the edge of her twin mattress, staring at the chipped wall of her one-bedroom flat. The soft hum of rain hadn't stopped all night-like even the sky wanted to remind her what today meant. Debt. Shame. Submission.

Her stomach twisted, but she pushed herself up and reached for the suit she'd borrowed from her cousin-a navy blue blazer that didn't quite fit at the shoulders and black heels two sizes too small.

She looked at her reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror and tightened her ponytail.

"Hold your head high," she whispered. "Even if your knees shake."

By 8:00 a.m., she was on the subway, sandwiched between strangers with headphones and tired eyes. None of them knew who she was. What her name used to mean.

What it had cost her to sit in that crowded train rather than the back seat of a town car.

The Carrington Tower loomed like a threat by the time she stepped onto the wet pavement.

Fifty floors of polished glass, power, and secrets. She paused at the entrance, her breath fogging the glass.

The security guard gave her a blank stare before waving her through.

Zane Carrington had made sure the building didn't forget the weight of her name. As she rode the elevator alone, the air felt too tight, like the walls were watching.

She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. Not out of fear-out of fury.

She was here for her mother, her little brother's school fees, and the family home they were months from losing. Pride didn't pay bills.

The doors opened with a chime, revealing a corridor so pristine it almost mocked her.

Then she saw him. Zane Carrington. Leaning against his office door like a dark monument to everything she hated. Tall. Impeccably dressed. Stone-faced.

His gaze met hers, unreadable but razor-sharp.

"Miss Davis," he said. His voice was silk over steel. "Mr. Carrington," she returned, keeping her chin up, even though her hands clenched at her sides.

He didn't smile. "Come in. Let's discuss your... position."

The way he said it made her skin crawl.

Not because it was inappropriate-but because it wasn't. He wasn't trying to flirt or intimidate in the usual way. He didn't need to.

Zane Carrington owned the rules.

And she was about to play his game.

But what neither of them knew was that this pawn had no intention of staying at the bottom of the board.