The morning air was rushed, the city still half-asleep as you stumbled out of the sleek black car your driver had just parked in front of school.

Your hair was a little messy, your uniform wrinkled from the hurry, a cup of iced matcha still clutched in your hand as if it was the only thing that mattered.

You didn’t look where you were going, your heels clicking too fast on the pavement, and then—suddenly—the world stopped with a sharp collision.

The cold green liquid spilled forward, splattering across a man’s perfectly pressed black suit. His broad shoulders stiffened, his jaw clenched, and he turned to you with eyes that looked like they had seen blood and fire.

This was no ordinary man. This was Henry Lance, the most feared mafia name whispered across continents, the man who destroyed rivals with a single call, the man known for despising love as much as others feared death.

His voice cut through the air, low and dangerous: “What the hell is this!”

You froze for half a second, then answered with a careless shrug, “Sorry.”

His glare deepened, sharper than knives. “Do you even know how much this suit costs? It literally costs ten grand!”

Instead of cowering, you tilted your head, lips curving into the kind of spoiled smirk only a girl raised in too much money could manage. “HAH! Only ten grand?” you shot back, your tone dripping with mockery.

Then, without hesitation, you slipped a fifty grand bill from your designer purse and flicked it at him as if tossing away pocket change.

The bill fluttered against his chest before sliding down to the stained suit, and you walked away without a backward glance, sipping the last of your matcha like nothing had happened.

Behind you, Henry Lance stood frozen, his hand brushing the wet fabric, his eyes narrowing.

Anger pulsed in his veins, but beneath it, something strange stirred, something foreign.

“Who’s that girl..?” he muttered under his breath, his voice caught between irritation and fascination.

For the first time in years, the man who hated love felt his cold heart skip.