Chapter 0 – The Unseen Beginning

The city was alive.

Not in the quiet, gentle way of small towns, but in the fierce, restless pulse of a place that never slept. Lights from towering skyscrapers spilled into the streets, casting long shadows that twisted and danced over polished black cars, wet asphalt, and hurried footsteps. Somewhere, faint jazz music mingled with the faint scent of rain still clinging to the air.

And in the center of it all—hidden behind a wall of tinted glass—sat a man everyone knew, but no one truly understood.

Adrian Knight.

The name alone carried weight in the corporate world. It wasn’t whispered—it was spoken with careful precision, like a deal signed in ink that could change fortunes overnight. He sat at the head of a table in the top floor of the Knight Enterprises building, his presence enough to silence an entire boardroom without a word. His jaw was cut sharp, his gaze sharper still, and in the dim light of the city skyline, his silhouette looked more like a king guarding his empire than a CEO running a company.

But tonight, his focus wasn’t on the numbers flashing across the screen or the report in front of him. His hand tapped a slow rhythm against the table, his eyes dark and unreadable, as if something—or someone—had already started to disturb the order of his perfectly controlled life.

Across the city, another story was quietly beginning.

The clatter of a coffee cup against the counter broke through the hum of chatter in a small, tucked-away café. A young woman, her hair still damp from the drizzle outside, adjusted the strap of her bag and tucked a stray strand behind her ear. Her world was different from his—quieter, warmer, messier in ways that didn’t always fit neatly into schedules or profit margins.

She didn’t know it yet, but her path was already aligning with his. Not in the gentle, romantic way of fairy tales, but in the unexpected collision of two worlds that weren’t meant to meet.

The city kept moving.

Somewhere, a phone rang.

Somewhere else, a contract was signed.

And somewhere between the two, fate began to stitch together the first thread.

It started with a look.

Not a long, lingering gaze, not an instant spark, but a moment—brief, electric, and dangerous. Eyes met across a crowded space. Her breath caught without reason. His brows lowered, curiosity flickering just for a fraction of a second before he looked away.

But that moment… that was all it took.

Weeks later, their names would be spoken in the same sentence.

Not out of friendship.

Not out of love.

But out of something sharper, something neither of them could define yet.

She would call him infuriating.

He would call her reckless.

And yet—both would find themselves unable to step back.

Rumors followed Adrian Knight like shadows. Ruthless. Impossible to please. A man who didn’t bend, didn’t break, didn’t believe in anything softer than the steel that built his empire. The kind of man who could ruin you with a signature.

But she was different.

She wasn’t afraid to meet his stare, to throw his own words back at him, to walk away when others would have stayed.

And maybe—just maybe—that was what made her dangerous.

Some stories begin with love.

Theirs began with defiance.

In the weeks to come, there would be rain-soaked nights, glass-shattering arguments, and moments too quiet for either of them to explain. There would be times when her voice would shake, when his walls would crack, when the city outside their window would feel like it belonged to them alone.

But for now, there was only the silence between them—the kind that wasn’t empty, but heavy, charged, waiting for something to break it.

Somewhere deep inside, both of them already knew:

Once this began, there would be no going back.

And so, under the restless heartbeat of the city, a dangerous dance began.

Not of love—not yet.

But of power, challenge, and the slow, undeniable pull of two people who should never have crossed paths.

They didn’t know it then, but the storm was already forming.

End of Chapter 0

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***