(Third person's POV)
Hailey jolted awake as the shrill chirp of her phone alarm pierced through the soft hum of morning light. Her hand scrambled under the blanket, knocking over her sketchpad before finally silencing the sound. 07:45.
Her eyes flew wide open.
"Oh no, Mom's gonna freak," she mumbled, springing upright. The blankets tangled around her legs as she kicked them off and scrambled to gather her things.
Her pencil case had rolled under the coffee table, and her manga draft—half-finished, pages full of intense stares and dramatic panels—was scattered across the futon she'd crashed on in the guest room.
She snatched everything up, stuffing it all into her tote bag, not even checking if the pages were in order. Her heart pounded with a mix of panic and embarrassment. No way could she let anyone see what she'd been drawing—especially not her brother or, god forbid, her dad.
She tiptoed out of the room, still trying to fix her hoodie and smooth down her bedhead, but the second she turned the corner toward the staircase, she slammed right into a solid chest.
Hailey stumbled back, barely keeping her bag from spilling open. She looked up.
Alex.
Mia's dad.
Tall. Impossibly put-together for this hour. And still annoyingly handsome in that effortless grown-up way.
"Oof—sorry!" Hailey gasped, cheeks flushing instantly.
Alex blinked, surprised but calm as ever. "Whoa there," he said with a low chuckle, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder. "Didn't mean to startle you. Early morning escape?"
"I, um—yeah. I just didn't want my mom to worry," she said, trying to step past him, but her foot caught on the strap of her bag, which was now awkwardly hanging off one shoulder.
He glanced down at the bag, noticing a corner of a page poking out—one with a rather intense-looking anime guy drawn on it. Hailey yanked it closed before he could get a better look.
Alex smiled, not mentioning it. "Hope you slept okay. The party didn't get too loud, did it?"
"No, it was fine! Super quiet, actually. I just... kinda crashed," she said, laughing nervously.
"Well, you're welcome to crash here any time," he said, voice easy, polite.
Hailey nodded quickly, muttering another thank you before hurrying past him toward the front door, heart still thudding.
As the door closed behind her, Alex raised a brow, amused. "Interesting girl," he murmured to himself before heading toward the kitchen for coffee.
----------------------------------------------------
The front door clicked shut behind her, and Hailey exhaled into the cold morning air, hugging her tote bag close. The sky was pale with dawnlight, and the upscale London neighborhood was still wrapped in that quiet, private calm she hadn't yet gotten used to. It felt like the kind of place where everyone had secrets.
She tapped her phone and tried calling Michael again.
Straight to voicemail.
She sighed and tried texting him this time: Can you pick me up? I'm outside.
No reply.
She glanced back at the grand house behind her. The guest room she'd stayed in had been bigger than her old bedroom back in New York, but something about the place made her feel like she didn't belong—not just the size of it, or the art on the walls, but the way it all felt too... perfect. Like a painting you weren't supposed to touch.
And then, of course, there was him.
Alex.
Mia's dad.
Tall. Controlled. Too calm, too collected. The kind of man who made you feel seen just by standing in the same room.
Hailey tried not to think about the way he'd looked at her the night before when she'd mumbled a rushed goodnight and disappeared into the guest room. She definitely wasn't thinking about how her heart had skipped when he'd smiled at her earlier.
Nope. Not thinking about that.
She hit redial. Still nothing. Her phone buzzed again. Voicemail.
"Seriously, Michael?" she muttered.
"Everything alright?"
She turned so fast she nearly dropped her phone.
Alex stood just outside the front door, mug in one hand, car keys in the other. He was wearing a black coat over a dark sweater, the collar turned up slightly, hair perfectly tousled like he hadn't even tried. The kind of look that wasn't just expensive—it was intentional. Effortless power.
Hailey swallowed. "I've been trying to call my brother, but he's not picking up. I was going to ask him to come get me."
Alex nodded once, his eyes scanning her like he was already thinking three steps ahead. "You live in Kensington, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'll drive you."
She blinked. "You don't have to—"
"I insist." His voice was firm, but not harsh. He turned, already unlocking the car with a casual flick of his wrist. "I'd feel better knowing you got home safe."
Hailey hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. Thanks."
As they climbed into the sleek black car—she didn't even know the brand, but it screamed money—Hailey found herself hyper-aware of every sound. The soft click of the door. The hum of the engine. His cologne, warm and clean with something darker underneath.
They pulled out onto the street in silence, the city slowly waking up around them.
"So," Alex said after a moment, his voice low. "Did you finish with your work that you told me yesterday ?"
She gave a short laugh. "I barely made it through the night I end up felling asleep."
He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. "Oh schoolwork get hard for you ?"
"Uh... something like that," she said, gripping her bag a little tighter, hoping he wouldn't ask. The last thing she needed was Mia's dad seeing her yaoi manga drafts.
He didn't press, just nodded. "I figured you might not be the party type."
"I'm not, really," she admitted. "My mom wanted me to go. She thinks I need to socialize more. Especially since I'm started my new school day yesterday ."
"Michael's school?"
"Yeah. Senior year. It was... interesting."
Alex's lips twitched into something that wasn't quite a smile. "I'm sure you made an impression."
Hailey looked at him then, a flicker of curiosity catching in her chest. There was something about the way he said things—measured, quiet, like every word was chosen with purpose.
There was an edge to him that she hadn't noticed before. It wasn't just the money. It was something deeper. A weight he carried that didn't match the polished world around him.
She found herself asking, "What do you do, anyway?"
His grip on the steering wheel tightened just slightly. "Real estate. Investments."
It didn't feel like the whole truth, but Hailey didn't push. She just nodded, eyes drifting back to the window.
A part of her knew she should be uncomfortable, sitting next to a man like him—so much older, so much more powerful, the father of her brother's girlfriend, no less.
But instead, all she could feel was warmth. And the quiet thrill of danger blooming in her chest like a secret.