Beneath Her Ice

Eliza Darcy didn't believe in accidents.

Everything in her life — every headline, every merger, every calculated silence — had been constructed with ruthless precision. From the moment she walked away from her family's crumbling legacy and built Darcy Innovations from the ashes, she'd made one thing clear to the world:

She would never be underestimated again.

So she didn't fidget when the board questioned her.She didn't blink when media called her "glacial."And she certainly didn't unravel over a pair of warm brown eyes and a challenge wrapped in charm.

Yet here she was.

Standing alone in her penthouse, lights off, staring out at a city that worshipped her while knowing nothing about her.

She hated when the silence got this loud.

The last time it had happened was six years ago — the night she signed over her soul to investors who promised to believe in her vision. They'd backed her, yes. Made her a titan. But only because she'd convinced them she didn't need anyone.

Not family.Not friends.Not love.

Just metrics. Results. Control.

She'd traded warmth for altitude.

And for a long time, it worked. Emotion was unpredictable — a risk she couldn't afford. Vulnerability was a currency men spent carelessly, but when a woman showed it, it was used to bankrupt her. So she locked it all down.

Her poise became armor. Her reputation? Unbreakable.

Until Will Bennett.

Damn him.

She didn't know why that meeting bothered her. It wasn't the pitch — though it was smarter than she expected. It wasn't his face — though she'd be a liar if she said she hadn't noticed the cut of his jaw, the tension in his mouth when he challenged her.

No, it was the way he saw her.

Like he wasn't afraid.Like he wasn't dazzled.Like he expected... more.

That was what made him dangerous.

Her phone buzzed on the counter. A message from Charlotte:

"Brunch. Tomorrow. You. Me. And him. Don't be late."

Eliza stared at the screen for a long time. Her first instinct was to cancel. Meetings were tactical. Brunch was personal. Too personal.

But then she thought about Will's voice — calm but quietly furious — when he said, "You get to matter."

And she realized, with a twist of something she didn't want to name, that he'd meant it.

Even if she hadn't believed it.

Not yet.

With a sigh, she set her phone down, pulled off her blazer, and crossed the room. Her heels clicked softly on polished floors no one ever walked but her.

In the stillness, her own reflection caught her off guard — the perfect lines of a woman the world admired... and didn't know at all.

Eliza Darcy had become exactly what she set out to be.

Untouchable.

But for the first time in a long time…She wondered if there was anything left beneath the ice.