CHAPTER 1: THE FALL
The scream came from the top of the marble staircase.
Everyone turned.
A little boy had slipped through the crowd and was tumbling down twenty stone steps.
His mother froze.
Guests gasped.
No one moved.
Except Olivia Brooks.
Olivia was carrying a tray of champagne.
Twenty-nine years old.
Overworked.
Underpaid.
Invisible.
Without thinking, she dropped the tray and lunged forward.
Glass exploded across the floor.
She threw herself onto the staircase.
The child slammed into her shoulder.
Pain shot through her body.
But the boy stopped falling.
The ballroom erupted.
The little boy burst into tears.
His mother rushed over.
"Oh my God! Ethan!"
Olivia slowly sat up, wincing.
Her arm was bleeding.
Her uniform was ruined.
The crowd began whispering.
Then someone said a name.
A name that instantly changed the atmosphere.
"That's Harrison Blackwell's son."
The room went silent.
Olivia had heard the name.
Everyone in New York had.
Harrison Blackwell owned media companies, hotels, private security firms, and enough influence to make politicians nervous.
He was standing only a few feet away.
Watching her.
His face showed no emotion.
But his eyes never left her.
For the first time in years, Harrison Blackwell felt something he rarely experienced.
Gratitude.
May you like
And he never forgot a debt.
Olivia had no idea that saving one little boy had just changed her life forever.
