Chapter 1 The Audition

The last time Kimberly Owens stood in New York, she was barefoot, pregnant, and bleeding from the heart.

Now she was back in heels, holding a slim portfolio, and doing everything she could to keep her hands from shaking.

Her reflection in the glass doors looked unfamiliar. Smooth hair, with a subtle makeup. The cheap-but-decent blazer borrowed from her friend. She didn't look like someone desperate for a second chance. But she was.

She pushed through the revolving doors into the dazzling lobby of Harrington Modeling Agency.

It was cold in the kind of way that didn't come from air conditioning. It was the kind of cold that said we don't have time for nerves here.

As she walked further, she saw stylish men and women walked by in expensive shoes, looking bored, like coming to one of the best modeling agencies in the world was just normal for them.

Kimberly gripped her bag tighter.

She hadn't walked a runway in six years. Hadn't worn anything but mom jeans and Keira's glittery stickers on her arms most days.

But today had to work. If she blew this, it wasn't just her dreams at stake. It was rent and groceries. The daycare bill waiting unpaid on her kitchen table.

She stepped up to the receptionist's desk.

The woman looked up from her computer with such elegance, sharp red lips and a flat expression it made Kimberly swallow.

Her eyes scanned Kimberly in one sweep, pausing at the fraying seam on her blazer sleeve. Kimberly straightened instinctively.

"Name?"

"Kimberly Owens."

She tapped on her computer for a second before she looked up.

"Head to fifteenth floor. The others are already waiting. You'll be called in shortly."

"Thank you," Kimberly said.

The receptionist didn't answer. She just returned to her screen and waved her toward the elevator.

Kimberly turned, took a steadying breath, then walked toward the silver doors, her heels echoing on the glassy floors. She pressed the button and waited, nerves buzzing under her skin.

A reflection flickered beside hers in the fancy steel. It was a tall, well-dressed man standing a few feet away. He didn't glance at her. He was on the phone, voice low and firm, saying something about "tightening selection standards."

She quickly averted her gaze, exhaling.

The elevator opened with a soft ding, and she stepped in alone.

Stepping into the fifteenth floor was like stepping onto a cloud. Wide, white, and silent.

A long hallway led to a double-door room where other candidates waited. Kimberly's stomach flipped.

She wasn't the only one chasing dreams today.

The waiting hall was already crowded, women in tight black dresses, impossibly high heels, and expressions that could make one uncomfortable.

Kimberly felt every second of the six years she'd been away from this world.

She took a seat near the corner, silently praying the others couldn't hear the nervous pounding in her chest.

But of course a few girls threw glances her way when she walked in. One even sized her up from head to toe with a smirk, like she already knew Kimberly wasn't a threat. She whispered something to another and giggled.

Kimberly scoffed and looked away quickly, trying to stay calm.

Ignore it, she told herself. She had walked into scarier rooms. Given birth alone in a hospital, faced rejections, landlords and life itself. She could survive this too.

She was doing this for Keira.

Ten minutes passed.

Then people began to whisper when a tall woman with an iPad walked in.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said crisply. "Mr. Harrington will be joining us shortly. He'll make his selection himself. Please be ready."

Gasps followed upon hearing that. Even the girls who'd been pretending to be calm sat straighter, fixed their hair. Someone whispered, "The Bryce Harrington? Oh my gosh!"

Kimberly on the other hand, frowned upon hearing the name.

Mr. Harrington?

The name stirred something in her chest. She'd heard it before. Probably in one of those business articles or on the side of a high-rise billboard. Billionaire CEO, Media mogul. Fashion industry shark.

Whoever he was didn't matter to her. What mattered to her most, was getting this job she had come to audition for.

The door opened again, and they all heard the soft footsteps.

He walked in like he owned the world, which of course he did.

Kimberly didn't look at him immediately. She was too busy breathing through the sudden weight in her chest. But then his voice came. cool, deep, and unmistakably familiar.

When the owner of the voice stepped in, Kimberly's whole body froze.

He was tall in a sharp suit, with gray eyes that swept the room like a storm.

Bryce Harrington. The man from six years ago.

Her knees almost gave out.

He didn't notice her at first. He was speaking to his assistant, walking past the girls one by one, eyes cool and unreadable.

But when his gaze landed on Kimberly, everything stopped.

The room instantly faded. The voices, the whispers, the excitement. It all vanished into a tensed silence.

It was just the two of them.

Staring.