Chapter 3 💋🔥 Chapter 3: Offers and Warnings 😈🌪️

POV: Aria Collins

I hadn't touched the $500 envelope in two days.

It sat beneath my mattress like it was burning through the springs - taunting me every time I came home from my shift at Brew Haven ☕💸.

I told myself not to get pulled in.

But bills were screaming, my mom's medication was running out, and I didn't have a choice.

So when I saw him again - sitting in his stupid luxury car outside the café like a Greek god with a credit score of 900 - I marched straight to him. 💃🔥

He rolled down the window, smirking.

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

"You think you can just throw money at me like I'm some-"

"Relax." He leaned back lazily in the leather seat. "I told you. It's not charity."

I shoved the envelope into his lap. "Then what is it?"

He tapped the steering wheel, eyes glinting. "I wanted to see if you'd come back. And you did."

I crossed my arms. "Do you always play games?"

His gaze darkened - amused, but serious. "Only with people who interest me."

God. That voice. That face. That smug expression 😩🔥

He was dangerous.

"Get in. Let me take you somewhere," he said suddenly.

"I don't think-"

"It's not a date." He raised an eyebrow. "Just a drive."

Why did I get in?

Still don't know. Maybe I was losing my mind.

---

POV: Lucien Cross

She was sitting in my car. That was a win.

"I'm not sleeping with you," she said flatly, arms crossed.

I smirked. "Good. That would make things too easy."

She rolled her eyes.

We stopped at a rooftop restaurant - not too fancy, but exclusive enough that nobody would recognize her. I didn't want to scare her off with the billionaire circus... yet 🎭💼

"I didn't come here to eat," she said warily.

"You need money, don't you?"

She flinched. I didn't mean to hit her pride.

I leaned closer. "Let me make you a deal."

Her eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal?"

Not yet.

She wasn't desperate enough.

"I'll think about it," I said smoothly, sipping my wine. "But first, I want to know more about you."

Her eyes softened. Just a little. "Why?"

Because I already couldn't stop thinking about her.

Because I'd never met anyone like her.

Because I didn't know what I was doing, and it terrified me.

---

POV: Aria Collins

When I got back to my apartment later that night, I found my best friend Jade pacing like a tornado in a crop top. 🌀👯‍♀️

"You disappeared!" she shrieked. "And I've been calling-"

"I was with a guy," I said, flopping on the bed.

"Excuse me?" she gasped. "You? With a guy?"

"I didn't sleep with him."

"Did you want to?"

I hesitated.

She screamed into a pillow. "What's happening?!"

"He's... complicated."

Jade pulled off her hoop earrings. "Girl. Tell me everything. Don't you dare fall for some rich manipulative man with commitment issues."

"Too late," I muttered under my breath.

---

POV: Lucien Cross

"She's proud," I said to Max the next morning.

Max nodded. "You'll need to break her walls down."

"She won't accept help. She's stubborn."

"Then create a situation," Max said. "Make her need you."

I tapped my fingers on the desk.

An idea was forming 💡😈

One that involved a fake marriage, a contract, and a girl with fire in her soul.

All I needed... was the right moment.

And I was going to create it.

---

📝 Author's POV:

Lucien was playing a slow, dangerous game - one even he didn't fully understand.

And Aria?

She was about to be caught between need and pride, between survival and heartbreak.

But fate doesn't wait for perfect timing.

It strikes when you least expect it 💥💔✨