SARAH'S POV
Sarah didn't sleep after Dominic left the warehouse.
She sat on the floor surrounded by her sketches and watched the sun come up over Brooklyn, wondering if she'd hallucinated the entire night. Dominic Steele had walked into her studio. Dominic Steele had spent two hours asking questions about her designs. Dominic Steele had told her he wanted to be her partner.
It didn't feel real.
She texted Maya at six in the morning with shaking hands. Didn't sleep. Dominic Steele showed up. I think something amazing is happening.
Maya called immediately. "Are you serious right now? THE Dominic Steele? The billionaire?"
"I think so. Yes. I don't know. Maybe I'm dreaming."
"Send me a picture of you so I know you're alive because you're about to pass out from excitement."
Sarah laughed for the first time in weeks. It felt dangerous, like hope was a thing that could destroy her if she wasn't careful.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Dominic. Meet me for coffee. Ten AM. The address came through and Sarah changed clothes three times, finally settling on something that didn't look desperate but showed she was serious about her brand.
She got to the coffee shop early and ordered something she couldn't afford. While she waited, she tried to calm her hands. They shook when she was nervous. They shook when she was excited. They shook right now like they had a mind of their own.
Dominic walked in exactly at ten.
He was wearing an expensive suit that probably cost more than her monthly rent. He looked powerful and cold and completely out of place in a coffee shop that served mostly students and artists. But when he saw her, something shifted in his face. Like seeing her mattered.
He ordered black coffee and sat across from her.
"I couldn't sleep," he said, and it sounded like an admission.
Sarah's heart did something complicated.
"Me neither," she said.
He pulled out a folder and her breath caught. Inside were sketches. Five of them. Designs she'd described to him last night, but these were different. These were his interpretation of her ideas. He'd taken everything she said and turned it into something even better. Something that showed he didn't just listen. He understood.
"I was thinking about your sustainable manufacturing concept," he said, pointing to the sketches. "What if we approached it like this? Local production centers in different regions. Less shipping. Lower carbon footprint. Better labor conditions. You'd get creative control, and I'd handle the logistics."
Sarah stared at the sketches and felt something crack open inside her chest. Nobody had ever understood her vision this quickly. Nobody had ever taken her seriously enough to prepare something like this overnight.
"How did you do this?" she whispered.
"I couldn't stop thinking about your ideas," he said, and there was something in his eyes that made her want to believe him. "I wanted to show you that I'm serious. That this could work."
They spent three hours at that coffee shop. Dominic asked detailed questions about her supply chain. He wanted to know about her relationships with manufacturers. He took notes while she talked, actually writing down her words like they mattered. When their coffee got cold, they didn't move. He just kept listening.
By the end of the week, Dominic had introduced her to textile suppliers across Asia. He'd connected her with retailers who wanted to carry her designs. He'd arranged meetings with investors who looked at her like they actually believed in her vision instead of just her numbers.
He was everywhere.
At the warehouse helping her reorganize the workspace. At supplier meetings taking notes and asking the right questions. At retailer pitches standing silently in the background, watching her like she was the most important thing in the room.
He made Sarah feel chosen.
On Friday, he called her into his office. The building was all glass and steel, the kind of place that made Sarah feel small. But his office wasn't what she expected. It was large and beautiful and the walls were covered with sketches. Not just hers. Other designers too. He had taste. He had an eye for what mattered.
"I've been thinking about how we move forward," he said, closing the door behind her. "I want to make this official."
Sarah's hands trembled.
"I want to invest in Chen Designs. Not just money. I want to be your partner in every way that matters. I want to help you build this into something legendary."
He slid a folder across his desk.
"This is a partnership agreement. It outlines how we'll work together, how we'll handle decisions, how profits will be split. It's generous. More generous than you'd get anywhere else, I promise you that."
Sarah opened the folder with fingers that didn't feel like her own. The numbers were bigger than she'd dreamed. The funding amount would let her hire a team. Open a proper studio. Travel to Asia and meet her suppliers in person.
It was everything.
"There's one clause," Dominic said, moving closer. "Standard for partnerships like this. If the company fails to meet certain growth targets, I have the option to acquire full ownership. It's just insurance. A safety net. Nothing you need to worry about because you won't fail."
Sarah barely heard him. She was staring at the numbers. At the possibility. At the future he was handing her.
"Sign it whenever you're ready," he said softly. "But don't take too long. Good opportunities don't wait. And I need to know you're serious about this."
He stepped even closer and Sarah could smell his cologne. Something expensive and dangerous.
"This is the beginning of something amazing," he said, and she believed him.
She believed him completely.
Sarah looked up at him and saw the future. She saw her company becoming everything she'd dreamed. She saw herself building something real. She saw Dominic Steele believing in her in ways nobody else ever had.
She didn't see the trap closing around her.
She didn't see the predator smiling.
She only saw the man who'd chosen her when nobody else would.
"I want to sign tonight," she said.
Dominic's smile widened.
"I was hoping you'd say that."