THE MISTAKE
1304 Words
Ava Collins woke to silence so heavy it pressed against her chest. She knew sleeping with him was a mistake the moment she opened her eyes and didn’t
recognize the room.
For a long moment, she lay still, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above her, trying to
remember how she had ended up here. The sheets beneath her were soft—too soft— and the air smelled faintly of citrus and something darker, masculine, expensive. The room was
immaculate—too immaculate. Nothing here felt accidental. Everything screamed money, control, power. And for a moment, her stomach sank at the thought that she didn’t belong.
She had spent twenty-three years scraping by—part-time jobs that barely covered rent,
late-night shifts at coffee shops, unpaid internships that offered experience but nothing else.
The word opportunity had always been just that: a word. She had applied to Blackwood
Enterprises months ago, never expecting a response. Never imagining she would stand here,
in someone else’s penthouse, staring at the city she could barely afford to dream about.
Her mind flickered to last night.
The charity gala. The glittering crowd. How out of place she had felt in her thrifted dress
among women in designer dresses, laughing like the world owed them everything. And
him—dangerous, magnetic, untouchable.
And then the memory of his eyes hit her like a jolt. Dark, sharp, assessing. As if he had seen straight through her, down to the part of her she tried to keep hidden: the part that feared she would never be enough.
She pushed herself up slowly, letting the sheet slip down. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across one wall, showing the city below, sparkling and relentless. She hadn’t stepped foot in a place like this before—not even in her dreams. It was breathtaking… and terrifying.
She had scraped by for years, juggling part-time jobs, late-night shifts, and endless
applications. Internships were her only ticket out of endless bills and living in a cramped
studio with a buzzing radiator that never worked. She had ambition, determination—but not
money, not influence. Until now, this life had been only something she stared at through shop windows.
Her stomach twisted at the thought.
She slid out of bed carefully, wincing as her heels clicked softly against the marble floor. Her dress from last night hung over a chair. She quickly gathered it, trembling slightly. She didn’t want a conversation. She didn’t want awkward explanations. She just wanted to get out.
The phone call ended. He turned slowly. He was behind her.
“You’re awake,” he said, his voice low, calm, controlled.
Ava froze. She tried to steady her racing pulse. “I… I should go,” she said.
Her voice sounded weaker than she intended.
He didn’t stop her. He didn’t ask her name. He didn’t apologize. He simply watched, like he
already knew what she would do.
He stood near the windows, phone pressed to his ear, shirtless, muscles flexing subtly. The city reflected in his dark eyes. The silence of the room pressed against her like a warning.
“Yes,” he said into the phone. “Cancel my morning meetings.”
Ava’s pulse quickened.
She remembered the way he had looked at her last night—like he could see straight into her, like he already knew her mistakes, her ambitions, her desperation.
Her hands trembled as she slid into her dress. “she forced herself to speak softly.
“This…was a mistake.”
“Mistakes,” he replied evenly, “tend to come with consequences.”
Her stomach lurched. “What… does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Her phone buzzed. She jumped slightly, and for a moment, she was grateful for the interruption. Her hands shook as she opened it, only to stop dead in her tracks.
Subject: Internship Application Status
Sender: Blackwood Enterprises HR
Her eyes widened.
She opened the email, holding her breath with fingers shaking.
Congratulations, Ava Collins.
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the Blackwood Enterprise Internship Program.
Ava’s chest tightened.
She had applied months ago, during a week she had spent more than forty hours on applications, juggling work shifts and unpaid gigs just to get noticed.
Thousands of applicants. And she had made it.
Her pulse raced. “I… I got it,” she whispered to herself, a shaky laugh escaping her lips.
He watched her. That same calm, assessing gaze that had haunted her all night. Recognition
flickered in his eyes for a second before vanishing.
“What?” she asked. “Do you—”
“Nothing,” he interrupted smoothly.
Her fingers tightened on her purse strap. “Your name. I should at least know that.”
He studied her, as if weighing how much to reveal.
“Sebastian.”
Just that.
She forced a nod. “Goodbye, Sebastian.”
Her legs carried her toward the door, though her chest felt tight. She didn’t see him pick up the phone again.
“Run a background check on Ava Collins,” he said quietly, calm as ever. “Immediately.”
Ava’s heart skipped again. She left the apartment building, clutching her bag, heart pounding, a strange mix of fear and exhilaration twisting in her chest. not just from fear, but from a strange thrill she couldn’t name. She had survived scraping by for years, fighting for scraps, making her way inch by inch through a world that never seemed to notice. And now… now
she had a foot in a place she had only imagined.
And she had a feeling she was about to meet it head-on.
The city around her buzzed with life, neon and honking horns and the faint scent of coffee and exhaust. It was real. The streets she had walked countless times were the same streets below this penthouse, yet everything felt changed. She was small. Insignificant. But she had something they couldn’t take from her: ambition.
She walked faster, heels clicking against the pavement, forcing herself to focus. One step at a time. Internship. That was all that mattered for now. And yet, the thought of him lingered, curling around her chest like smoke.
Last night hadn’t been a mistake.
It had been the first step into a world she didn’t belong to. And Sebastian… Sebastian had already decided how much of her life he would control.
She wasn’t sure she would ever escape him.
Her phone buzzed again. Another email. This time, it wasn’t from Blackwood HR.
“Welcome to your new life.”
No sender name. No signature. Just those words.
Ava’s pulse jumped.
She scrolled frantically. The message contained a single attachment: a confidential document labeled “Blackwood Enterprises—Internship Terms & Conditions”.
She hesitated, fingers hovering over the download button.
Why had it come so fast? Who had sent it?
She opened it. Her eyes widened. The document outlined her internship in painstaking,
almost obsessive detail. Every rule. Every task. Every expectation. And… a clause she couldn’t believe
“The CEO reserves the right to alter duties and privileges at will. Compliance is mandatory.”
A shiver ran down her spine.
Her heart raced, mind spinning. This wasn’t just an internship. This was a game she had unknowingly stepped into. And someone—someone who knew everything about her, even
last night—was already three moves ahead.
Ava swallowed hard, gripping the edges of the table in the cafe where she had stopped to catch her breath. She looked out at the city lights, and a thought struck her like ice:
Sebastian had planned this. From the beginning.
And if that was true… she wasn’t walking into the office tomorrow.
She was walking into a trap and wasn’t sure she would ever escape him.
- Writer
