Lila Hart was three espresso shots and one bad decision away from a full meltdown.
The café smelled like burnt coffee and bad decisions, and she was working the lunch rush with the enthusiasm of a zombie just trying to pay rent.
"Another cappuccino, double shot, for table five!" she yelled over the clatter of cups.
Behind the counter, Her manager's voice cut through the noise. "You're late again, Lila."
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered back, wiping a spill off her already stained apron. She didn't mean to be late. She was just unlucky with her alarm.
But today was worse than usual. Her bank account was empty, and her rent was due in three days.
Then, just as she balanced a tray with three steaming cups, the door burst open.
In strode a man in a dark hoodie and sunglasses, with his head down.
That was a new level of "don't look at me."
She barely glanced at him when her elbow caught the corner of a cup, a splash of hot coffee sloshed right onto the sharp crease of his designer hoodie.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she muttered.
The man jerked his head up, and even under the hoodie and shades, the face was impossible to miss.
Adrian Kane. The billionaire CEO who somehow made the news almost daily — mostly for scandals, boardroom battles, or that one infamous tweet that tanked a stock.
He yanked off the sunglasses, glaring as though she'd just ripped the last thread of his composure. "What the hell? Watch where you're going!"
Lila snapped back, "Maybe if you didn't sneak in like some shady criminal, I wouldn't have spilled it on you!"
A few heads turned at the raised voices. Then a few more. Conversations slowed as people realized drama was brewing. Customers whipped out their phones, cameras ready.
"Lila!" her manager's voice barked from behind the counter, but she ignored him, too locked into the man glaring at her.
Adrian sneered. "Low-class café girl. Figures."
That did it.
Her hand moved before her brain caught up—slap!—a sharp crack across his cheek.
For a second, everything stopped. Adrian's cheek burned where her hand had landed.
"Lila!" her manager's voice snapped again, harsher this time. "You're fired!"
Lila didn't wait. She grabbed her bag and bolted out the door, her heart pounding as her legs moved before she could even think.
By the time she hit the street, her phone was already buzzing. She unlocked it and nearly dropped it.
"Woman Slaps Billionaire CEO!""Who Is the Café Girl?""Adrian Kane Gets Hit—And Not in the Stock Market!"
Right at the top, trending worldwide: #ISlappedTheBillionaire.
Lila groaned.
Great. Just great.
"Oh, no. No, no, no…" someone on the sidewalk pointed at her. "Hey! That's her!"
Lila yanked the collar of her sweater up over her face and kept moving. "Great disguise, Lila. Totally invisible now," she muttered under her breath, half-running.
Lila's mind raced as she sprinted down the busy street, dodging confused pedestrians and one particularly excited group. "Hey, aren't you that girl who slapped Adrian Kane?" shouted from a group of teenagers.
She wasn't about to answer. Her cheeks burned from both the embarrassment and the absurdity of it all. How had one slap turned her life upside down?
Her phone buzzed nonstop, texts, calls, notifications. She ignored them, wishing she could disappear somewhere far, far away.
...
Meanwhile, inside a sleek high-rise, Adrian Kane was staring at the same viral clip on three different screens.
His assistant stood nearby. "Apparently, she's going viral for slapping you," the assistant said, trying not to laugh.
"Sir, this is a PR nightmare. We need to control the damage," she said, biting her lip.
Adrian rubbed his cheek, eyes still on the video. "She's got a good arm."
"Sir!"
He waved a hand. "Relax. Call the team. Let's fix this mess."
...
Back on the street, Lila ducked into a nearby bookstore, desperate for a break from the chaos. Hiding between shelves, her phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from a number she didn't recognize.
"Lila Hart? You're required at Kane Enterprises. PR emergency. Come now."
No signature or explanation, just a threat disguised as urgency.
"Great," she muttered, "Now what?"
...
Inside Kane Enterprises
Lila sat stiffly in the lobby, eyes darting around the sleek marble and glass. She felt like a stray cat in a lion's den.
Soon, she was ushered into a conference room where a team of serious-looking people waited—PR experts, lawyers, and a tall man with dark hair, wearing what could only be described as the perfect suit.
Adrian Kane.
Up close, he was even more handsome than he looked on social media. He was totally different from the boy wearing the hood, the one she slapped earlier in the day.
"Ms. Hart," he said, in a smooth voice that was quite authoritative, "You've made quite the splash."
Lila opened her mouth to respond, but the PR lead cut in.
"We need to control the narrative. Your… incident has gone viral."
"Obviously," Lila said with strange ease. Though inwardly her mind felt like it was going to explode.
Please don't sue me. I don't have any money. In fact I am still looking for a way to pay my rent
"We propose a solution," the PR lead continued. "You and Mr. Kane will enter into a contract relationship. We'll make it look like this was a staged lovers' quarrel. The public eats things like that up pretty quickly."
Lila blinked. "You want me to what?"
"Pretend to be his girlfriend," the woman said, as if that was a normal Tuesday request.
Adrian leaned back, unfazed. "Don't look at me. That wasn't my idea."
"What do you mean exactly?" she asked, suspicious.
"Six months," the woman said, sliding a contract across the table. "Public appearances, no unsanctioned contact outside what is staged, and one highlighted clause at the bottom: absolutely no falling in love."
"Wow," she muttered. "Romantic."
"Look," Adrian said, voice low, "You don't have to like me. You just have to play the part."
Lila sighed, weighing her options. Her rent notice flashed in her mind. Her empty bank account. Her very recently lost job.
Lose my job for slapping a billionaire without any gains, or sign a contract that might ruin my life, but also pay my rent and expenses for the next six months.
She signed.
...
The doors of Kane Enterprises slid open, and the flashes from outside hit her like a tide as she walked out. Cameras, reporters and voices shouting. It was overwhelming and not something she was used to.
"Smile!" someone yelled.
Adrian stepped beside her, as if to show support.
in that moment, her phone buzzed. Another headline:
"Billionaire Adrian Kane's Secret Girlfriend Revealed?"
Buzz. Again.
"PR Stunt or Real Romance?"
She glanced up at Adrian just as the elevator doors closed, his expression unreadable.
Six months.
A contract that bound them to a lie they both had to live.
But as the crowd's noise swallowed her words, a single thought echoed in her mind:
How long before the lie becomes real?
And just like that, the elevator doors slid shut, leaving her alone with the question…