I woke up far earlier than any sane person should, blinking up at the unfamiliar ceiling and needing a full ten seconds to remember where I was, why I was here, and how on earth my life had spiralled into a situation where I was sleeping in a billionaire’s mansion with a bell cord by the door like I’d accidentally wandered into a period drama. The room was quiet—too quiet—the kind of silence that made you aware of your own heartbeat, and for a moment I lay there wondering if I should get up, stay put, or simply pretend I was invisible until someone told me what the morning protocol was supposed to be.
Before I could decide, a knock sounded on the door—firm, controlled, unmistakably Derek. I just knew it was him.
I opened it to find the man standing there, looking like he’d been carved fr
