The Return of the Billionaire Heiress and Her Cold CEO

"You knew it was me," Kylie said, her voice quieter this time. "So what now?"

Cole leaned against the edge of the kitchen counter, arms crossed, black shirt rolled to his elbows. He looked like he hadn't slept.

Maybe he hadn't.

They stood in silence, only the low hum of the refrigerator filling the space.

"I knew it was you," he said. "Before the message. Before the photo."

Kylie's eyes flickered. "How long?"

Cole stared at her.

"Since the night of the fundraiser," he said. "You introduced yourself as Kylie Reynolds, but you looked at me like you dared me to believe it."

He poured black coffee into a mug.

Didn't offer her any.

Didn't have to.

She already knew she wouldn't sleep either.

"You could've called me out," she said. "You didn't."

"I wanted to see what you wanted first."

She crossed her arms.

"Is that how you handle everyone you suspect?"

"No," he said. "Just the ones I'm not sure I want to stop."

The words lingered longer than they should have.

She turned toward the window. The city was still asleep, streetlights flickering below like promises waiting to be broken.

"I came back for the company," she said. "But I stayed for something else."

Cole raised a brow.

"Revenge?"

Kylie didn't deny it.

But she didn't confirm it either.

Instead, she looked over her shoulder. "Do you know a man named Sebastian Carter?"

He paused.

It wasn't much. Barely a beat.

But enough.

So he did know him.

"Briefly," Cole said. "He was on the board four years ago. Advisor during the restructuring phase after my father died."

"And?"

"He tried to buy a controlling share."

"Did he succeed?"

Cole's mouth hardened. "Not with me."

"But maybe with someone else," Kylie whispered.

She had found the file just hours ago.

In a forgotten section of Pioneer's archives old board notes, unsigned contracts, drafts of acquisition attempts that never reached the press.

And there, in messy cursive:

S. Carter — interest flagged in WestCorp dissolution. Recommended assessment.

WestCorp.

Her father's company.

The one she was meant to inherit.

The one she lost when the will was changed, rewritten, erased like her future had been a typo.

Cole crossed the kitchen slowly.

"Tread carefully," he said.

Kylie tilted her chin. "Why?"

"Because if Sebastian's name is on that file, he wants someone to find it."

She frowned. "You think he planted it?"

"I think you don't plant something unless you want it to grow into a war."

They didn't speak after that.

Not because there was nothing to say.

But because too much was already boiling beneath the surface.

And they were both smart enough to let it simmer for now.

By noon, Cole had disappeared.

No note. No call.

Just a silent absence that made Kylie hate how she noticed it.

She tried to distract herself.

She read.

Reviewed financial statements she wasn't supposed to have.

Texted Katherine once, who responded with a single word:

Careful.

By 2 p.m., Kylie walked into Pioneer Tower in full armor.

Cream silk blouse. Pencil skirt. Red lipstick. Hair pinned like a threat.

Victoria met her on the executive floor.

"You weren't expected," she said, clipboard clutched like it could block bullets.

Kylie didn't slow her steps.

"I wasn't asking."

She breezed into Cole's office without knocking.

Empty.

Just a neat desk. Two glasses. One open file folder she didn't touch.

And a sticky note beside the phone.

"2:30 — Investor Follow-up / SC."

Her heart dropped.

SC.

Sebastian Carter.

Cole wasn't just aware.

He was meeting him.

Right now.

She found him in the rooftop lounge.

Not with Sebastian yet.

Just pacing, phone in hand, tie loose, sleeves rolled.

Kylie didn't wait.

"Are you seriously meeting him?"

Cole didn't act surprised to see her.

"Someone has to," he said.

"He manipulated my father. He helped bury my name."

"I'm not doing this to help him," Cole said.

"Then why?"

"Because he's too close. And I need to know what he wants."

She took a breath.

Then stepped closer.

Close enough to smell the citrus of his cologne and something darker underneath.

"Don't do this alone," she said.

He held her gaze.

"I'm used to doing things alone."

"I'm not asking what you're used to," she said. "I'm asking you not to shut me out."

His eyes flicked away.

And for a second, he looked almost human.

The meeting was private.

In the marble-boardroom downstairs.

Kylie wasn't allowed inside.

But she didn't leave.

She stood across the hallway, arms folded, watching the door like it might betray her.

Victoria passed her once, smirking.

"You don't have clearance to be here," she said.

Kylie didn't even blink.

"I don't need it," she replied. "I'm the CEO's wife."

Victoria's smile faded. "Temporary title."

Kylie smiled back. "Permanent threat."

The meeting lasted thirty-seven minutes.

Cole walked out first.

Expression carved in stone.

Kylie stepped forward.

He didn't stop walking.

"Cole—"

"Not here."

They didn't speak again until they reached the parking garage.

He walked to his car, hit the unlock, opened the passenger side.

Waited.

When she slid in, he said, "He wants a deal."

Kylie stared at him.

"A deal?"

"He says he wants to invest in Pioneer's expansion."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because Sebastian doesn't want companies," Cole said. "He wants chaos."

Kylie gripped the door handle.

"Do you believe him?"

"I believe he's planning something," Cole said. "And he thinks he's smarter than both of us."

"He's not."

"No," Cole said. "But he's dangerous. And now he knows exactly who you are."

They drove in silence for several blocks.

Then Kylie said, "We can't play defense anymore."

"I know."

"He's not just after Pioneer. He's after me."

Cole didn't respond.

But she saw it in the tightness of his grip on the wheel.

He understood.

Back at the penthouse, Cole disappeared into his study.

Again.

And Kylie… she did something she hadn't done in years.

She opened her old laptop. The one she'd hidden behind books and layers of denial.

And opened a folder labeled:

"J.C. Legal — 2019."

Inside: recordings. Letters. Photos.

Everything she'd saved from the day her name was erased.

Her proof.

Her pain.

And her last remaining weapon.

One video stood out.

Her father.

Talking to Sebastian.

"…she's impulsive," her father said.

"She's young," Sebastian had said. "But a risk worth managing."

"Then make her manageable."

Kylie stopped the video.

Her throat felt like ash.

She sat very still for several seconds.

Then closed the laptop.

Cole found her in the guest bedroom an hour later.

Laptop closed. Face blank.

But her eyes

They were fire.

"Show me everything," he said.

And just like that, she handed him the laptop.

Not because she trusted him.

But because they had one thing left in common.

A shared enemy.

They stayed up for hours.

Going through files.

Dates. Contracts. Discrepancies in board voting patterns.

Sebastian had been in the background for years.

Invisible fingerprints on every page.

"What's his endgame?" Kylie asked.

Cole leaned back in the chair, rubbing his temple.

"He doesn't want Pioneer," he said. "He wants to bury every person who ever got in his way."

"And I'm next."

Cole didn't argue.

Didn't sugarcoat.

Just said, "We need to move first."

It was almost 2 a.m. when Kylie stood from her chair.

Legs stiff. Eyes burning.

Cole followed her gaze to the bedroom door.

But she didn't walk toward it.

She turned to him.

"Stay," she said.

Not loud.

Not pleading.

Just… simple.

Real.

And somehow, more intimate than anything she could've whispered.

He didn't move for a second.

Then he nodded.

And followed her.

They didn't touch.

Didn't speak.

She lay on the bed. He sat beside it.

Like guards keeping watch over each other.

And in the quiet between midnight and morning, something broke open.

Not love.

Not trust.

But the first crack in a wall neither of them realized they'd built so high.