One shot of whiskey was all it took to demolish Olivia Hayes’ meticulously planned future. Or, at least, that was the last drink she could remember.
She’d never imagined her world could unravel after a single night. Especially not one spent with Julian Ford—her father’s greatest enemy, a notorious business tycoon, and an infamous playboy.
His name was a fixture in the gossip columns, trending almost every weekend alongside photographs of some stunning, scantily clad woman draped over his arm.
And now...
That same dangerously handsome man was lying beside her. Julian Ford slept soundly, the white sheets tangled around his waist, leaving the sculpted planes of his chest and back exposed.
Oh, bloody hell, Liv... How could you?
She tried to slip out of the bed, moving with painstaking slowness, but the slightest shift sent a tremor through her entire body.
A deep, unfamiliar ache pulsed between her thighs, sharp and insistent.
It was a pain she had never known, a violation of her own making.
Catching a glimpse of her own naked form, marked with the faint, purpling evidence of their night, sent a cold shiver down her spine.
Finally free of the bed, careful not to wake him, Olivia snatched her clothes from the floor and dressed with frantic speed.
But just as she reached for her bag, her phone buzzed against the floorboards. The sound was so sudden it almost stopped her heart.
She grabbed the phone, her stomach twisting when she saw her sister’s name—Chloe—flash across the screen.
"Sister Liv, where are you? Why aren’t you in your room?"
"I’m still here!"
Olivia whispered sharply, casting a final, wary glance at the sleeping man before slipping out of the master bedroom.
"Here? You mean the Grandview Hotel?"
"Yes. I’ll explain later!"
"What the hell..."
She ended the call before her sister could demand any more answers.
Clutching one stiletto like a weapon, Olivia eased the suite door open, only to freeze. A man in a crisp gray suit stood directly in her path.
She blinked, her mind struggling to place him. He wasn't in the room, but stood sentinel in the hallway just outside.
Before she could form a question, he spoke, his voice calm and even. "Is he still inside?"
"Y-Yes..."
Her voice trembled. She pulled the door open a little wider, a silent confirmation that his boss was, in fact, inside.
But he didn’t move.
Instead, he asked, "Do you want me to drive you home?"
"No, thank you."
"Are you sure?"
Olivia just nodded, turning away without another word. She walked the length of the silent hallway and vanished into the elevator.
Barefoot.
Hayes Residence.
As Olivia pulled into her parking space in the basement garage, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Chloe was already there, leaning against a concrete pillar, arms crossed over the chest of her favorite loungewear. She looked for all the world like a mother who’d just caught her teenager sneaking in after curfew.
Chloe didn't even wait for her to cut the engine, yanking the driver's side door open the second the car stopped.
"Oh my god, Sister Liv, where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is? No, wait—what day it is?"
Olivia killed the engine with an eye-roll and slid out of the driver's seat, sweeping past her sister with the air of a hungover queen.
"Nice to see you too, Chloe," she muttered, heading straight for the elevator. Her mind was still in chaos.
The New Year's Liv party had been a blur of champagne and forced smiles with the country's most powerful snobs. She’d gotten far too drunk and had somehow, impossibly, ended up in bed with Julian Ford, her father’s arch-nemesis.
The memory alone sent a hot flush across her skin. An image of that half-naked devil was now seared into her brain like a brand.
But there was no way in hell she was telling Chloe that.
"I got too drunk to drive, alright? So I booked a room and slept there." As the elevator dinged on their floor, she cast a sideways glance. "Where’s Dad?"
"You are in such deep shit, sis," Chloe sang, trailing behind her with a dramatic flair, her eyes wide with mock horror.
"What deep shit?" Olivia stopped, arching a perfect brow. "What is this, a soap opera first thing in the morning?"
Chloe groaned, throwing her hands in the air.
"You seriously forgot you were supposed to go golfing with him this morning? He was already losing his mind when you weren't at breakfast. I had to endure his nonstop ranting while buttering my toast!"
"Oh, fabulous. Just what I needed."
Olivia sighed and fished her phone from her purse, but Chloe stopped her before she could call him.
"Relax. I told him you were on your monthly period and couldn't get up. You're welcome." She smirked, clearly expecting a round of applause.
Olivia blinked, then reached out and gave her sister’s cheek a teasing pinch.
"You magnificent liar. I love you. I owe you a designer bag for this… preferably one that comes with a silence clause."
"Deal," Chloe said, tossing her hair like a diva.
"Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to scrape the night off my soul and sleep before my brain explodes."
Olivia waved her off and disappeared into her bedroom.
The moment the door clicked shut behind her, Olivia’s knees went weak. The thought of her father ever finding out what she’d done last night was paralyzing.
"No," she whispered to the empty room. "He won't find out. No one can tell him. You'll be fine, Liv."
Shaking the terrifying thought away, she went straight to her en-suite bathroom, stripping off the black cocktail dress and the scraps of lingerie still clinging to her skin.
But when she faced her reflection in the mirror, a hot flush of shame washed over her. Dark bruises—love bites—were scattered across her neck, her collarbones, her hips.
Her breath hitched. You are so fucking screwed, Liv. How could you sleep with him? With Julian Ford?
She pressed a hand to her chest, taking a deep, shuddering breath, but it did nothing to ease the tightness there.
The tension only tightened when another thought hit her.
A new, colder panic seized her. Does he even know it was me? He was drunk, too. Surely, he was. He wouldn't remember her face. He wouldn't. The thought became a desperate, silent prayer.
She shoved the memory of Julian Ford into the deepest, darkest corner of her mind and resolved to leave it there to rot. Everything would be fine, as long as no one ever found out.
But Olivia’s wish did not come true.
For five weeks, she threw herself into her work with the management team at Hayes Corporation, burying the memory under spreadsheets and late nights. Life settled back into its usual routine.
Then her world was thrown into fresh turmoil when her father announced a new marriage arrangement, this time with the Spencer family.
The night before the family dinner with the Spencers, she stared in disbelief at the pregnancy test in her hand.
Two pink lines.
I’m pregnant…