The Heir I Hid From My Billionaire Ex

WorkForMe_5

The office building rose in front of her like a wall she had no strength left to climb.

Hazel stood across the street, her arms wrapped around herself despite the mild afternoon air. Above her, the glass tower gleamed with the King Corp logo, the same way its owner had looked at her two nights ago.

You can seduce your way into making Raven agree to help.

Her father's words still turned her stomach. She had spent the whole night convincing herself there was another way; there wasn't. Cox had made that clear enough.

If she didn't do this, he would use Owen instead. And she would rather burn everything of herself than let that happen.

She crossed the street before she could talk herself out of it again.

The lobby was all marble and cold light, the kind of place built to remind visitors how small they were. A receptionist looked up as she approached.

"I need to see Raven King," Hazel said.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. Tell him it's Hazel."

The receptionist's expression didn't change, but she picked up the phone anyway, murmured something Hazel couldn't hear, then set it down. "Mr. King will see you. Forty-second floor."

Hazel hadn't expected that. Some small, foolish part of her had hoped he would refuse just to make her suffer a little longer before the real suffering began.

The elevator ride felt endless. She caught her reflection at the doors looking composed, nothing like the storm underneath. She had gotten good at that. Years of practice.

His assistant left her straight into the office without a word, which told her Raven had been expecting this, maybe since the night he'd dropped that piece of information about her father like a knife and walked away smirking.

He didn't look up when she entered. He sat behind a desk the size of a small boat, a pen moving across some document, utterly unbothered.

"Sit," he said.

"I'll stand."

That got his attention. He set the pen down slowly and finally looked at her, and there it was again, that flatness in his eyes that made her chest ache more than his anger ever had.

"Suit yourself." He leaned back. "I assume your father sent you."

"You knew he would."

"I hoped." His mouth curved, though nothing about it looked like happiness. "Tell me, Hazel. What exactly did dear Cox instruct you to do? Cry? Beg? Or…" his gaze slid over her, slow and deliberate, “…something more creative?"

Heat crawled up her neck, not from want, but humiliation. "Don't."

"Don't what? I'm only asking what you came here to offer." He stood, rounding the desk unhurried, like a man who already knew the outcome of a game before it started.

"You walked into my office unannounced, after four years of silence, right after your father's company started drowning. Forgive me for connecting the dots."

She hated that he wasn't wrong. She hated more that some hollow part of her still reacted to him standing this close, the same way it had in the rain outside that hospital, the same way it had every time since.

"I need your help," she said instead, forcing the words out plainly, no performance, no seduction. If he wanted honesty, she'd give him that much. "My father's company is failing. If it collapses, he'll do something reckless, something that could hurt people who don't deserve it."

"People like your son."

Her breath caught. She hadn't said Owen's name. She hadn't needed to. He had already found that, how he managed to do that in a few days. For how long did she really think she could hide him from them?

"He's not a bargaining chip," she snapped." Whatever you think of me, leave him out of it."

Something shifted behind Raven's eyes, gone before she could name it. "I have no interest in a child that isn't mine," he said flatly. "Your father's delusions of using him as leverage are exactly that. Delusions."

It should have relieved her. Instead, the words landed like something closer to grief, though she couldn't say why.

"Then help him," she said. "Please."

Raven studied her for a long moment, long enough that she wanted to look away and refused to. "I'll help your father," he said finally. "Under conditions."

"Name them."

"You'll work for me. Here, in this building, where I can see exactly what you're doing and who you're doing it for," He paused. "And our engagement was never officially dissolved. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, it still stands."

Her stomach dropped. "Raven—"

“You should be glad I haven’t asked for his father.” He smirked, he had no intention of meddling with another man’s son. But Hazel was his to deal with.

"Those are the terms," he cut in, a voice like ice now. "You wanted my help. This is the price of it. You have until tomorrow morning to decide whether Cox Holdings is worth swallowing your pride for."

He turned back to his desk, already done with her, already moving on to the next line of some document that mattered more to him than she did.

Hazel stood there a moment longer, torn between fury and the crushing knowledge that she had no other option. Owen's face flashed in her mind his gap-toothed smile, the way he'd started asking questions about his father that she didn't know how to answer.

She would swallow anything for him. She always had.

"Fine," she said. "I accept."

Raven didn't look up. "Good. Start Monday." A beat. "And Hazel…"

She paused at the door.

"Don't mistake this for forgiveness," he said. "This is business. Nothing more."

She walked out without answering, because if she opened her mouth again, she wasn't sure what would come out and she couldn't afford to let him see any of it.