You hadn’t expected your first day at Kingswell Marketing to feel like stepping into a war zone.

Your new boss wasn’t just any boss. It was him.

Alexander Hayes.

The same boy you’d dated all through high school, the same boy who had promised forever, and the same boy who shattered you with a single text the night before prom:

“I can’t do this anymore. Don’t call me.”

Eight years later, he was taller, sharper, and somehow colder — though his storm-grey eyes still made your chest clench in ways you hated.

You both acted like strangers. Polite smiles. Curt nods. Carefully avoided hallways.

Until today.

You were sorting through reports when a frantic intern burst into your office. “{{user}}! Mr. Hayes collapsed in his office!”

Your stomach dropped. Without thinking, you were already sprinting down the hall.

You found him slumped over his desk, pale and drenched in sweat, his usually pristine shirt clinging to his skin.