**The One I Swore to Hate Him**

Episode 5: The Forced Partnership

Maya’s POV

Julian’s hands shook so violently he almost dropped his phone onto the sticky diner floor. His eyes widened in absolute terror as he stared at his glowing screen.

"N-no..." Julian stammered, his voice thin and hollow. "My father... his bank license... it's gone."

Chloe grabbed Julian’s arm, her face twisting with panic. "Julian, what are you talking about?! What did Leo do?!"

"My father's firm is bankrupt, Chloe!" Julian screamed, completely losing his composure in front of everyone. He turned his terrified eyes toward Leo. "Cross... please! It was just a joke! We were just trying to teach her a lesson!"

Leo didn't even blink. He stood there like a statue carved out of cold stone, his fingers still laced tightly through mine. His hand was warm, solid, and completely steady.

"A joke?" Leo asked, his voice low and smooth as silk, yet dangerous enough to make the air in the room feel heavy. "Attacking a student, stealing university files, and threatening my thesis partner isn't a joke, Julian. It's corporate suicide."

Leo’s assistant stepped forward, sliding a gold pen and a thick legal contract across the diner counter toward my stunned manager.

"Sign the deed transfer, sir," the assistant said calmly. "Mr. Cross has already authorized the wire transfer to your account."

My manager’s hand trembled as he grabbed the pen and scribbled his signature on the bottom line without hesitating for a single second.

"It... it's done," the manager breathed out, looking at me with wide, fearful eyes. "Maya... I mean, Ms. Scott... the diner is officially yours."

I stared at the paper, my brain completely unable to process what was happening. I was wearing a stained red apron and holding a dirty towel, but I now owned the very building I had scrubbed on my knees for two years.

"Now," Leo said, turning his icy gaze back to Julian, Chloe, and the three rugby players. "Get out of her diner."

Chloe looked like she wanted to scream, but the four heavy corporate security guards standing behind Leo stepped forward in unison. Humiliated, angry, and pale with fear, Chloe grabbed her designer purse and stormed out the door, her high heels clicking loudly against the floor. Julian stumbled after her like a ghost, his life completely ruined in a matter of seconds.

The remaining customers quickly paid their bills and practically ran out the front door, leaving the diner completely quiet.

I pulled my hand out of Leo’s grip, my breathing shallow and fast.

"Are you out of your mind?!" I shouted, turning on him. "Two million dollars, Leo?! You bought a diner just to prove a point?!"

Leo looked at me, his dark eyes entirely unreadable. "I bought it so nobody can ever fire you again. I bought it so you can focus on what actually matters."

"What matters is my life!" I yelled, tears of frustration stinging my eyes. "You think you can just drop two million dollars and fix everything with your father's money?! You made me look like a helpless charity case in front of everyone!"

"I made you a business owner," Leo corrected coldly, stepping closer to me. "And I protected our thesis."

Before I could fire back another angry response, the heavy glass door chimed.

Professor Vance stepped into the diner, carrying a thick black briefcase. His face was completely red with fury, and his strict eyes scanned the room until they landed on Leo and me.

Leo’s POV

I felt Maya tense beside me the second Vance walked in, but I stood my ground, shifting slightly to keep myself between her and the professor.

Vance marched straight up to us, slamming his briefcase onto a nearby table.

"Cross! Scott!" Vance snapped, his voice ringing through the empty room. "What in God's name is happening on my campus?! Julian just called me in tears, saying his family's business has been liquidated by King Enterprises!"

"Your nephew misused your administrative login to commit corporate fraud and alter university records, Professor," I said flatly, keeping my hands in my pockets. "He used my digital signature to revoke Maya’s scholarship. I simply corrected his mistake."

Vance’s jaw worked silently for a moment, his face turning an even deeper shade of red. He knew I was right. He knew if this leaked to the press, his forty-year academic career would be destroyed alongside his nephew's reputation.

"This is an absolute disgrace," Vance whispered angrily, leaning over the table. "I have just scrubbed Julian’s fake entry from the administration server. Ms. Scott, your scholarship has been restored to the system."

Maya let out a soft, sharp breath beside me. I glanced down at her. The heavy weight that had been crushing her shoulders all day seemed to lift slightly, though her eyes were still wide with shock.

"Thank you, sir," Maya murmured softly.

"Don't thank me yet, Scott," Vance said, his eyes narrowing sharply behind his thick glasses. "Because of this massive scandal, the Dean wants to cancel St. Jude’s entry into the National Thesis Competition altogether. He thinks the department is too unstable right now."

"You can't do that," I said, my voice hardening. "That grant is mine."

"And I need that paper for my graduation record!" Maya added fiercely, stepping out from behind me.

"Then you two are going to prove to the Dean that you are untouchable," Vance declared, pointing a strict finger at both of us. "As of this exact moment, you two are officially assigned as mandatory partners for the final senior thesis. No changes. No excuses. No working alone."

"What?!" Maya blurted out.

"If either of you drops out, fails to cooperate, or misses a single draft deadline," Vance said coldly, "I will personally revoke both of your senior academic credits. You will not graduate this spring."

Vance picked up his briefcase, turned on his heel, and marched out of the diner, slamming the door behind him.

Maya’s POV

The heavy silence returned to the diner, thicker and more suffocating than before.

I stood there, staring at the closed door, completely numb.

A mandatory partnership. For the entire senior thesis. With Leo Cross.

I turned around slowly to look at him. He was standing under the warm overhead light of the diner, adjusting his silver wristwatch as if he hadn't just changed the entire course of my life in less than an hour.

"Well," Leo said smoothly, looking up at me with a tiny, maddening smirk. "It looks like you're stuck with me, Ms. Scott."

"This isn't funny, Leo," I said, my teeth clenched tight. "We don't think alike. We don't even like each other. How are we supposed to write a hundred-page paper together without killing each other?"

"By setting rules," Leo said, stepping closer to me until he was standing right in front of me. He was so tall that I had to tilt my head up to look into his dark eyes.

"Rule number one," Leo said, his deep voice dropping into a serious, quiet tone. "We meet every day after hours in the private library study room."

"Rule number two," I countered instantly, holding my ground and refusing to back down. "You treat me like an equal. You don't buy my time, you don't buy my buildings, and you don't use your money to solve my problems."

Leo stared at me for a long, intense moment. The arrogant smirk vanished from his face, replaced by that dark, focused gaze that always made my heart do a strange, dangerous flip in my chest.

"Agreed," Leo murmured softly. "Rule number three."

"What's rule number three?" I asked, frowning.

Leo leaned in slightly, his face dropping just inches from mine, his breath warm against my skin.

"No distractions," Leo whispered, his dark eyes dropping to my lips for a split second before rising back to meet my gaze. "No Chloe. No Julian. And no lies between us."

My breath hitched in my throat. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. The air between us suddenly felt hot, charged with an electric tension that had nothing to do with exams or thesis papers.

"Do we have a deal, Maya?" Leo asked gently.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to step back and break the intense pull between us.

"We have a deal," I whispered, holding out my hand.

Leo looked down at my small hand, then reached out and wrapped his long, warm fingers around mine, shaking it firmly. A sharp spark ran up my arm, making my skin prickle.

Leo’s POV

Her hand was small, but her grip was firm. Maya Scott was a fighter. Even after everything thrown at her today, she stood in the middle of her own diner, looking up at me with fire in her eyes.

"Tomorrow morning. 6:00 AM. St. Jude Private Archive Library," I said, releasing her hand before I gave in to the strange urge to pull her closer. "Don't be late, partner."

"I'm never late, Cross," Maya replied, crossing her arms over her red apron.

I gave her a single nod, turned around, and walked out into the cool night air toward my car.

As I sat down in the driver's seat of my sports car, my phone buzzed loudly on the dashboard.

The screen lit up with an incoming video call.

The caller ID read: **FATHER.**

My jaw tightened. I swiped the screen to answer, setting the phone on the mount.

The stern, cold face of Richard Cross, the CEO of King Enterprises, appeared on the high-definition screen. He was sitting in his grand office in downtown New York, wearing a dark suit, his eyes sharp and unforgiving.

"Leo," my father’s voice boomed coldly through the car speakers. "What is this rumor I hear about you liquidating the Vance family's bank credit?"

"Julian Vance tried to sabotage my academic thesis record, Father," I said in a flat, respectful tone. "I handled it."

"You handled it by humiliating the Sterling family!" my father shouted, slamming his hand onto his mahogany desk. "Chloe’s father just called me furious! We are weeks away from finalizing a fifty-million-dollar merger with Sterling Holdings, and you are playing games with a penniless university girl!"

"Maya Scott is my thesis partner," I said coldly. "She is brilliant, and she is helping St. Jude win the national grant."

"I don't care about a university grant!" my father roared. "I care about the King family legacy! You will apologize to Chloe Sterling tomorrow morning, and you will sever all ties with this diner girl immediately!"

"No," I said flatly.

My father went dead silent. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits through the camera.

"What did you just say to me?" my father asked in an icy whisper.

"I said no," I repeated, looking directly into the camera. "I am finishing this thesis with Maya."

A long, terrifying pause stretched between us over the digital call.

Then, a cold, ruthless smile appeared on my father's face—the smile he used right before he destroyed a business rival.

"Then you leave me no choice, Leo," my father murmured smoothly. "If that girl is still standing beside you by the end of this semester... I will personally ensure she never works in the financial sector for the rest of her life. I will destroy her family's name before she even graduates."

The screen went black as my father cut the call.

I stared at the dark phone screen, my hands gripping the leather steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned pure white.

My father wasn't making a threat. He was making a promise.

And now, by keeping Maya close to me to protect her... I had just put the biggest target in the world right on her back.

Hey guys hope you love it, thank you for choosing this novel, I really appreciate it

Watch out for episode 6