The Heir I shouldn't want

Top Dog

The restroom door clicked shut behind me.

That was all it took.

I pressed both hands against the sink, my shoulders caving as the tears I’d been holding back finally won. My chest heaved, sharp and uncontrollable, like my body had been waiting for permission to fall apart.

I bit down on my lip, hard, trying to stay quiet. This wasn’t the kind of place where girls cried without consequences. Still, the sobs tore out of me anyway ugly, broken sounds I barely recognized as my own.

Not here. Not today. Not over him.

I splashed cold water on my face, over and over, until my skin burned. My reflection stared back at me, eyes red, lashes clumped, dignity hanging by a thread.

This was my first day.

And it was already ruined.

I left early with an excuse I barely remember saying. No one stopped me. No one asked questions. It was like I had already become invisible again.

When I got home I lay on my bed and all the memories came flooding back.

The sun had been lower then. Warmer.

We were barefoot, running through the small farm behind our houses, our feet dirty, our laughter loud.

The air smelled of earth and promise. Oliver had been ahead of me, turning back every few steps to make sure I was still there.

“Slow down!” I shouted.

He grinned and waited, hands on his knees as I caught up. “You’re always slow.”

He laughed and flopped onto the grass, pulling me down beside him. We lay there, staring at the sky like it had answers.

“One day,” he said casually, “I’ll marry you.”

I turned to him, heart racing. “You can’t just say things like that.”

“Why not?” he asked. “It makes sense.”

“How?”

“Because I’ll work at Ripraida,” he said confidently. “You’ll work there too. We’ll build a house. You’ll complain about how tired you are, and I’ll pretend not to hear.”

I laughed, pushing his shoulder. “You’re ridiculous.”

He grabbed my hand anyway. “Promise me you’ll wait.”

I had.

I curled into myself on the bed, the present crashing back in.

The way he’d said my name today was cold, dismissive, like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.

That life you remember? It’s dead.

I closed my eyes, swallowing the ache in my throat.

Maybe it was.

But if that was true, then I would bury it properly. I would not let it haunt me. I would not let him own any more of me than he already had.

Tomorrow, I will go back to that office.

Not as the girl who waited.

But as Hazel the girl who survived him.

I lay there long after the room went dark, staring at the shape of the ceiling fan as it cut slow circles through the air.

Tears slipped silently down my temples, soaking into the pillow. These ones were quieter than earlier, heavier ones. The kind that stayed inside your chest long after they dried.

I hated that I still wanted to understand him.

I hated that a part of me was still looking for a reason.

Something to explain the stranger I'd met today.

Because if there wasn't...

Then the boy who had dreamed beside me in dusty fields, who had promised me a future with such certainty, had never really believed his own words.

And I wasn't sure what hurt more

losing him...

or realizing I might never have had him at all.

From the other room, I heard my brother laughing at something on his phone. The sound grounded me, reminded me that life was still happening around me, even if mine felt paused.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

Tomorrow, I told myself.

Tomorrow will explain today.

But deep down, a quieter voice whispered something I wasn’t ready to accept yet.

Sometimes, people don’t change because of circumstances.

Sometimes, they change because they finally become who they always were.

I closed my eyes not because I was ready to sleep, but because I didn’t trust myself to keep thinking

The next day

I stepped out of the cab and just… stood there.

The Ripraida Group tower rose in front of me, all glass and steel and arrogance, scraping the sky like it had something to prove. Like it was showing me I didn't belong in it.

I couldn't help but think if ripraida was a mistake. But I worked way to hard to get here I couldn't stop now.

I exhaled slowly and adjusted the strap of my bag. Bracing myself for whatever today may bring.

Still distracted and lost in thoughts, I steps toward the road without fully paying attention.

The sound came first.

A low, aggressive purr of an engine.

I looked up just in time to see a black sports car sleek, glossy, with tinted glasses,unmistakably expensive cut sharply toward the turn. An Audi. Limited edition, if I was not mistaken. It moved like it owned the road, like rules bend out of its way.

I froze.

The car passed so close I felt the wind rush against my legs, knocking me a step backward. My heart slammed violently in my chest, breath tearing out of my throat as I stumbled onto the pavement.

“Hey!” I gasp, shock sharp in my voice. More startled than angry, my voice thinned against the roar of traffic.

I caught a glimpse of its license plate before it passed me completely

The car didn't slow.

It slipped into the executive parking entrance beneath the building as if i was nothing more than an inconvenience something that briefly existed and was immediately forgotten.

I stood there, shaking, my pulse roaring in my ears.

Wondering if my luck could get any worse.

It’s fine, i tell myself. I'm fine. First week nerves.

But the unease follows me inside.

The lobby feels… different today.

I noticed it immediately.

A woman in heels nearly runs into me,mutters an apology without stopping. Two men in tailored suits exchange a look that feels almost… panicked.

Did something happen?

I step into the elevator just before the doors slide shut. No one spoke on the ride up.

Not a single person checked their phone. No jokes.

No sighs of impatience. Just stiff silence and the soft ding of passing floors.

By the time I reached my department, the knot in my chest had tightened.

Debbie spotted me first.

“Hazel,” she whispers sharply, waving me over. “Where have you been?”

I blinked. “Outside. I…”

Debbie leans closer, eyes flicking toward the glass-walled offices down the corridor. “You didn’t notice?”

Debbie exhales through her nose. “Everyone’s on edge today.”

I hesitate, then lower my voice. “I almost got hit by a car outside. Like…actually almost hit.”

Debbie’s brows lift “oh my. Are you ok?”. I told her i was. Curiosity cutting through her tension she asked. “What kind of car?”

I recalled. “Black. Really expensive-looking. Low. Tinted windows. It turned into the executive parking like it owned the road.”

Debbie goes very still.

Slowly, her expression changes—interest giving way to something closer to awe.

“Oh,you are so lucky” she says giggling like a high schooler

I frown. “What is so lucky about being run over?”

Debbie lets out a small, incredulous laugh.

“Hazel… you were almost taken out by the top of the food chain.”

My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

“That,” Debbie says, lowering her voice even more, “was almost definitely Liam.”

The name landed heavier than it should have.

The heir?

“The one who owns most of this place?” I ask quietly.

Debbie nods. “Owns it, runs it, terrifies it. People say when he’s in the building, everyone knows. Meetings get cancelled. Managers start sweating. Even the air feels different.”

And Debbie adds “ I would kill to be run over by Liam Hale, rumors says he's so handsome but heartless too. I don't mind though”.she starts smiling like some obsessed fan of an idol.

I think of the lobby. The elevator. The silence.

My fingers curl around the strap of my bag.

“I didn’t even see his face,” I murmur.

Debbie shrugs becoming very serious. “Most people don’t. He keeps to himself. Comes and goes when he wants. But trust me if he’s here, you stay invisible.”

I swallow.

Just when I thought nothing worse could happen to me I almost got run over by the top dog at ripraida.