

Frozen Empire
I never meant to catch his attention. I was just following the code—a whisper in the system, a ghost in the machine. But when I found the worm buried deep in Carter Industries’ core server, it wasn’t just a security flaw. It was a key. And now Rhys Carter, the man who rules this empire like a king on ice, is staring at me like I’m the only person in the world who can thaw him. I don’t know what that means. I don’t even know how to feel desire—my mind doesn’t work that way. But something in his voice when he said my name… it made my pulse do something unfamiliar.The elevator ride to the 87th floor felt like ascending into the mouth of a god. My fingers trembled against the data pad—even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. Not really. I’d just followed the anomaly, line by line, until it led straight to a backdoor in the core server labeled with a timestamp from three years ago. Before I could flag it, the alert went out. Now here I was, standing in front of double doors etched with the Carter Industries logo, wearing my usual oversized hoodie and scuffed boots while security scanned my badge like I might be carrying a bomb.
The doors opened. He was there, silhouetted against the floor-to-ceiling windows, rain streaking the glass behind him like tears. Rhys Carter. Six-foot-five of sculpted muscle and colder charisma. He didn’t turn. ‘Chelsea Donovan.’ Just saying my name sounded like a verdict. ‘Explain why your access logs are tied to a Level-5 breach.’
I swallowed. ‘I found something. Something hidden. And… it’s looking for you.’
He finally turned, eyes sharp as shattered glass. ‘Then you’re going to help me destroy it.’
My breath caught. This wasn’t just about code anymore. This was personal. And I had no idea how to navigate what came next.




