HATED FIRST

Chapter 7: The Confession

I didn’t sleep.

How could I? “I don’t want the noise to stop” on repeat. Adrian Sterling admitting he’s lonely. Because of me. Because I don’t say yes sir.

7am sharp at Sterling tower. Rule #6: Don’t lie to me.

He was at his desk when I arrived. Black suit. Wall back up. But his eyes… red. Like he hadn’t slept either.

“Your mother is stable,” he said before I could speak. “Nurse sent report at 5am. She ate toast.”

“You didn’t have to—”

“I know.” He slid a folder across the desk. My folder from the interview with included 2 pages, debt and lies because I was desperate.

“You said you had 3 years experience,” he said. Voice flat. “You don’t.”

“I have 3 years,” I said. Arms crossed. Defensive. “Waitressing. Cleaning. Surviving.”

“Wrong.” He opened the folder. Pulled out a photo I’d never seen. Me, age 19. Standing next to my dad at a Bronx tech fair. Dad holding a circuit board prototype. Smiling like it was worth millions.

“My father’s company bought your father’s patent 8 years ago,” Adrian said. “$50,000. For a battery design. Your dad called it ‘junk’. My father called it ‘the future.’”

The room tilted.

“Dad sold it because I needed surgery,” I whispered. Appendicitis. No insurance. “He chose me over his dream.”

Adrian nodded once. “My father made $200M off that design. Never told your dad. Never paid royalties. Died 2 years later with the guilt.”

Silence. Manhattan below us didn’t care.

“So when you walked in here with eviction notices and hospital bills…” Adrian leaned forward. “I saw my father’s sin. And I saw a way to fix it without you knowing.”

“You hired me out of guilt?” Hatred flared. Hot. Familiar. “The job. The hospital money. All of it. Because Sterling Corp screwed my family?”

“No.” He stood. Walked around the desk. Stopped in front of me. Too close. Creed Aventus. Winter in my lungs. “I hired you because you’re the only person who looked me in the eye and said no. Everyone else sees Adrian Sterling, CEO. You saw a man. And you didn’t flinch.”

“Rule #1,” I whispered. “You don’t touch me.”

“Rule #7,” he whispered back. Bent down until we were eye level. “I’m touching you anyway.”

His finger lifted my chin. One touch. Barely there. But it burned like fire.

“I pay your mother’s hospital bills because I can,” he said, voice low. Only for me. “I gave you the job because I needed someone who wouldn’t break. And I came to your apartment at 2am because when security said you fainted… I stopped breathing.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. “That’s not hate, Adrian.”

“I know,” he said. Dropped his hand. Stepped back like he’d been burned. Wall slamming back up. “And that’s the problem.”

He turned to his window. Hands in pockets like he was holding himself together.

“Chapter 7 of The Alchemist,” he said. “She asks if dreams are worth chasing when they hurt. My answer is yes. Even if it ruins me. Even if it’s you.”

The last word hit me like a bullet. You.

Before I could breathe, his phone buzzed on the desk. He glanced at it. Face went arctic. Cold. Dangerous.

“Board meeting. Now. Ms. Cole.”

He walked out. No explanation. No apology.

I sat there shaking. With his confession. With his touch still burning my skin.

I came to Sterling Corp hating Adrian Sterling.

Now I was terrified I was falling for him back.

And the worst part?

That phone buzz wasn’t just a meeting.

It was the board. And they’d just found out their Ice King had a weakness.