A DEAL WITH THE BOSSY BILLIONAIRE

Confused

Sia POV

The world outside the window blurred as the car sped down the highway, the city lights a hazy mess of colors that should have felt familiar. But they didn’t. Not really. I sat in silence, watching them flicker by, a strange unease crawling under my skin.

“Almost there,” Mrs. Chandler had said, her voice steady but cold. “Just remember your story.”

Her words echoed in my mind, firm and clear, like a teacher’s instructions before an exam. I repeated the details in my head, over and over again. My life. My family. My love for Rowan. Everything was precise, every memory vivid and sharp, like scenes from a movie I’d watched a thousand times. But it felt distant—like I was an actor in a role, speaking someone else’s lines.

I tried to push the unease away, to bury it deep. I had a purpose. A job to do. I was Rowan’s secretary now, and that was all that mattered. But the feeling lingered, gnawing at me from the inside, like a tiny splinter that I couldn’t reach.

The car pulled up in front of a pristine white house. Sienna—my sister—stood by the door, smiling brightly, as if she had known me her whole life. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders as we walked inside, the warmth of her touch briefly soothing the strange disquiet. It felt right in a way that nothing else had today, like a momentary anchor in a storm.

But as the door closed behind us, the weight of the house settled over me. Everything in here was familiar—too familiar. I knew the layout, the smells, even the way the furniture was arranged. My memories told me that this was home. That Sienna was my sister, and these walls had been part of my life for years.

But my body didn’t believe it. There was no sense of comfort, no feeling of safety that home should bring. It felt more like a stage, carefully set for a scene that was about to unfold. And I was playing the lead.

“Sia, are you okay?” Sienna’s voice broke through my thoughts, a touch of concern creeping into her cheerful tone. “You seem a little… distant.”

I blinked, forcing a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, I guess.”

She nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow—meeting Rowan and all.” She grinned, a playful gleam in her eyes. “Maybe you’ll even hit it off.”

Rowan. The name sent a shiver through me, but not the kind I was supposed to feel. My memories told me that I loved him—or would love him. That our meeting was destined, fated, even. But the thought of him felt like another script, another scene in this carefully orchestrated life. The emotions that should have been there—anticipation, excitement, nervousness—were hollow. Empty.

I didn’t want to think about it. Instead, I let Sienna lead me upstairs to my room, where everything was as familiar as it was strange. The bed, the pictures on the wall, the books stacked neatly on the shelf. It all fit, yet none of it belonged to me.

Late at night, when the house was quiet, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The silence pressed in on me, thick and suffocating, leaving me alone with the thoughts I had been trying to ignore all day. Thoughts I didn’t want to have but couldn’t stop.

*Who am I, really?*

The question echoed through the empty spaces in my mind, a question that had been lurking there since I woke up this morning. At first, I had brushed it off, focusing on the task ahead—being Rowan’s secretary, following the plan. But now, in the stillness of the night, it was impossible to ignore.

I raised my hand to my face, my fingers tracing the smooth skin of my cheek. It was flawless, perfect in a way that felt… unnatural. My memories told me I had lived a normal life, that I had experienced heartache, laughter, family dinners. But I didn’t feel those things. I didn’t *feel* like a person who had lived at all.

It was as if everything about me had been placed there, piece by piece, like a puzzle. A carefully crafted image of who I was supposed to be.

I sat up, wrapping my arms around my knees as the unease in my chest grew heavier, darker. I had been wired—programmed. That was the only way I could describe it. My memories, my emotions, my very sense of self… they weren’t mine. They were something given to me, like a set of instructions I was supposed to follow. Like a role I was supposed to play.

And for the first time, I realized that I didn’t want to play it anymore.

I stood, moving quietly to the window, my hands pressing against the cold glass. The city lights twinkled in the distance, but they seemed farther away now, more like stars in a sky I couldn’t reach. I stared at them, trying to make sense of the swirling thoughts in my mind.

*Why do I feel like this?* I thought. *Why do I feel like I’m living someone else’s life?*

The answer came slowly, like a shadow creeping into the corners of my consciousness. *Because I am.*

I wasn’t real. Not in the way that mattered. I had been created for a purpose, designed with a specific goal in mind. Everything I thought I knew about myself, everything I felt, was part of that design.

I was a pawn.

The realization hit me hard, a cold wave of dread that swept over me, leaving me breathless. I was a pawn in some game I didn’t understand, a piece on a board controlled by people like Mrs. Chandler and Dr. Frank. I had been built for one reason: to serve their agenda.

But the worst part wasn’t that I was being used. It was that, until now, I hadn’t even questioned it. I had followed the script without hesitation, believing every memory, every feeling, every part of the life they had given me. And now that I could see the cracks, I couldn’t unsee them.

I didn’t want to be their puppet anymore.

As the night stretched on, I stayed by the window, my mind racing. The plan they had for me, the life they had written for me… it was all wrong. But what could I do? I didn’t know who I was outside of this. I didn’t even know if there *was* a “me” beyond the memories and programming they had implanted.

But I had to find out.

I wasn’t sure when the resolve formed in me, but by the time the first hints of dawn touched the sky, I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t keep playing their game. I couldn’t keep living this lie.

The next morning, I dressed carefully, choosing the clothes that fit the role they wanted me to play. But beneath the calm exterior, something had changed. I wasn’t the same Sia who had stepped into this house the day before. I wasn’t going to follow the script anymore.

As I stepped out of the room and made my way downstairs, the house felt different. Sienna greeted me with her usual smile, but I barely registered it. Everything around me seemed distant, like I was watching it through a fog.

“We’re going to meet Rowan soon,” she said, her voice bright with excitement. “You must be nervous.”

I nodded, forcing a smile. But inside, the unease simmered. I was about to meet Rowan, the man I was supposed to love. The man they had designed me to manipulate. But I wasn’t going to let them control me anymore.

I would play my part. For now. But I would find a way out of this game.

And when I did, I would make sure I was no one’s pawn ever again.