Sylvie didn't stop speeding until the city lights drove into the familiar private district where her family's mansion sat behind iron gates. Her fingers trembled on the steering wheel, her heart still punching against her ribs. The mysterious car had managed to throw the van off for good, but her nerves didn't settle even for a second.

By the time she reached the mansion's driveway, her entire body felt like it was vibrating.

The gates opened automatically, her father had security systems synced to her license plate but tonight the motion felt ominous rather than comforting.

The porch lights were on. Her stomach dropped. That meant he was awake, her father.

She parked and stepped out on unsteady legs. Before she even reached the door, it swung open.

Her father stood there. Cole Wilfred. Tonight, he looked worse than furious. He looked terrified, but burying it under steel.

"Sylvie." Her name came out like a verdict.

She swallowed. "Dad, I..."

"Get inside." His voice left no room for choice.

She walked past him into the living room. The lights were too bright, the silence too sharp. She could almost hear her heartbeat echoing off the marble floor.

Her father shut the door slowly, then turned.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded.

"I..."

"You went out late again." His tone rose like a cracking whip. "Despite the warnings. Despite me telling you this city is not safe for you. And tonight...tonight...you were almost dragged out of your car by strangers!"

Sylvie flinched.

He knew. Of course he knew, but how?

"How did you...?"

"Because..." he said through clenched teeth, "the person I assigned to keep an eye on you called me mid-chase."

Her eyes widened. "Wait...you had someone following me?"

He didn't even blink. "Yes. And thank goodness I did, because your carelessness nearly got you kidnapped."

Sylvie's jaw clenched.

Carelessness?

Her voice trembled, part shock, part anger. "I wasn't careless. I got away, didn't I?"

"You should never have been in that situation in the first place!" he barked. "You're out partying, drinking, running around the city at night as if you're untouchable, your mother is halfway across the world in Tokyo with emails full of business reports, overseeing projects, living in boardrooms for weeks at a time. How do you think she will feel when she hears her daughter almost got kidnapped?"

"You're more worried about your company's image than my actual life!" she snapped.

Her father froze.

Sylvie continued, her breath shaking. "Every time you lecture me, it's the same thing, 'stay out of trouble,' 'don't attract attention,' 'don't bring problems to the Wilfred name.' You care more about protecting your empire than protecting me!"

"That is not fair." Cole said, low and dangerous.

"It is fair!" Her voice cracked. "You're angry because this incident could cause headlines. You're angry because someone targeted your heir, not because I was scared out of my mind!"

Her father's expression flickered, pain, guilt, something she couldn't name, but it hardened just as quickly.

"Sylvie... you are my daughter." he said quietly. "Do you think I was sitting here calm while your car was being chased through the city? I was terrified." His voice strained for a second before he forced it under control. "You think I don't care. But I do. More than you know."

The room went silent. Cole exhaled slowly, stepping closer.

"This can't happen again."

"I know." she whispered.

"No." he said firmly. "You don't know. Not yet."

Sylvie became tensed. What does he mean?

Her father continued, "From tonight onward, you will not go anywhere alone. I don't care if it's a café, a party, a friend's house, or the grocery store. You will not take one step outside this property without protection."

"Dad..."

"A bodyguard will be arriving tonight."

Her breath hitched.

"Tonight?" she repeated, stunned. "Isn't that too fast? I just got home!"

"I already arranged it. Plus I was always going to get you a bodyguard and I've been working on getting one" he replied. "He's the best. Highly trained. Disciplined. You're going to follow his instructions exactly."

"Dad, this is ridiculous."

"This is survival." he shot back. "The world is different for someone like you. I won't lose my daughter because she believes she can outrun danger."

Sylvie folded her arms, anger bubbling up again. "And what if I don't want a stranger breathing down my neck all day?"

Cole stepped closer, his expression cold.

"This is not a negotiation, Sylvie."

She stiffened. Her father rarely used that tone unless the decision was final.

"I'm your father." he said quietly. "Protecting you is not optional."

Sylvie looked away, her chest felt tight, memories of the chase flashing behind her eyelids. The black van, the masked men the screeching tires, the other car that saved her. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"And what if I said I don't want protection?"

He stared at her for a long, heavy moment.

"Then..." he said, "you'll still get it."

She didn't respond.

Footsteps echoed across the hallway from outside, firm and steady, someone approaching the front door. Cole inhaled sharply.

"That should be him, the bodyguard."

The front door opened before Sylvie even had time to compose her expression.

He stepped inside without hesitation. He was tall, broad-shouldered and dressed in all black. His posture carried the precision of someone who had spent years training their body into a weapon. There was not a single flicker of emotion on his face as his gaze swept the room.

Ryan Finley.

Sylvie felt her breath hitch, but it was because of annoyance. It was as if his presence sucked the air out of the hallway.

Cole moved forward. "Ryan"

"Sir." Ryan gave a single clipped nod while he shook hands with him.

His voice was deep and cold. There was nothing warm in it.

Sylvie watched him openly, with her arms folded. He didn’t acknowledge her yet.

Instead, his eyes moved over the house like he was assessing it, the way an engineer might assess a flawed structure.

Ryan stepped further in and the moment he did, something in the atmosphere shifted. He scanned the corners of the ceiling, the doors, the staircase, the windows.

Ryan’s tone remained flat. “Your perimeter lighting is insufficient between the garden walls. North gate sensors are delayed by 2.3 seconds. Also, I noticed while coming in that there’s a blind spot in the camera at the west side of the garage.”

Sylvie blinked. Her father blinked too. Ryan hadn’t even walked ten full steps inside.

"How..." Cole began.

"You hired me." Ryan replied simply. "This is what I do."

Sylvie muttered under her breath, "Well, hello to you too."

Ryan finally turned his head toward her. He have heard about her, read about her rebellion on the media and so he felt she is spoiled and reckless. His gaze locked onto hers, steady and unblinking. It felt like she was being X-rayed.

His eyes weren’t warm brown or soft hazel, they were cold, storm-gray. And the look waa intense.

Sylvie lifted her chin. Ryan didn’t speak to her at first. She hated him instantly.

Her father cleared his throat. "Ryan, this is my daughter, Sylvie."

Ryan remained perfectly still as he replied, "I know."

Sylvie scoffed. "Wow. Charming."

His expression didn't change. "Your safety is my assignment."

"Assignment?" she repeated, bristling.

"Yes."

The bluntness stunned her.

Cole exhaled. "Sylvie, Ryan will be staying in the east wing guest suite. He’ll begin full protection protocol tomorrow morning."

Ryan corrected him quietly. "Tonight."

Sylvie frowned. "Tonight? It’s past midnight. I’m not leaving the house."

Ryan didn’t look at her. "Threats don’t follow business hours."

Cole nodded, relieved someone else was taking control. "Good. Good."

Sylvie’s annoyance flared. "You know, most normal people say ‘nice to meet you."

Ryan glanced at her with the faintest trace of boredom. "If I wanted to exchange pleasantries, Miss Wilfred, I’d work at a hotel front desk."

Her jaw dropped for a second.

Cole stifled a cough, half shock, half approval.

Sylvie recovered quickly, her eyes narrowing. "You seriously talk to clients like that?"

"Only the ones who think they don’t need protection."

Her pulse jumped.

She stepped closer. "You don’t even know me."

"I know enough." he replied.

His tone didn’t rise or soften.

"Let me guess..." she shot back. "You read one report about me and now you think you understand everything?"

Ryan’s jaw ticked once. "Your behavior creates vulnerabilities. Recklessness attracts danger.

Cole stepped in quickly. "Ryan, Sylvie, I think that's enough for the night"

"No," Sylvie cut in. "Let him finish. Apparently my bodyguard has all the answers."

Ryan stared at her, utterly unaffected by her sarcasm.

"You don’t have to like what I say." he replied. "You just have to stay safe long enough for me to do my job."

Sylvie’s fingers curled into fists. She turned to her father. "You hired a robot."

"A highly efficient one." Ryan added without blinking.

"I wasn’t agreeing with you!" she snapped. Ryan ignored the outburst, turning slightly toward Cole again. "I’ll inspect the outdoor perimeter and her floor."

Sylvie’s eyebrows shot up. "My floor?"

"Yes"

"I didn’t ask for a shadow."

"I didn’t ask for an assignment who disobeys basic safety."

"Basic safety?" she echoed, voice rising. "You don’t even know me!"

Ryan stepped forward, just one step, but it was enough to make her heart kick. His voice dropped lower, colder.

"I don’t need to know you. I only need to protect you."

She hated the way he said it, It sounded so detached and cold.

Cole rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Let him work, Sylvie."

Ryan turned and walked toward the east wing without another word.

She shot a glare at his retreating back, with her voice ringing through the hallway.

"This isn’t over, you know!"

Ryan didn’t stop walking. 'The nerve of him,' she thought.

"I will make you quit,"she yelled. "Before the week is over."

Two months.

That was how long Sylvie had endured Ryan Finley shadowing her. Sixty one days of clipped and annoying commands. Eight whole weeks of his icy gray eyes evaluating her every move with. She felt like she was losing her mind.

Ryan followed her everywhere she went. The café, boutique, every charity gala and corporate dinner, every walk to her car.

He existed in silence, with his black clothes and unreadable expression and he never spoke unless it was about protocol. He never smiled too. Today was no different.

Sylvie stepped out of a luxury boutique on Fifth Avenue, an oversized sunglasses perched on her head, shopping bags dangling from both hands. Ryan stood beside the entrance before she even noticed him move, his gaze sweeping the street.

"That is not the exit I was supposed to come out from." Sylvie snapped.

"That exit was too exposed." he replied simply. "This angle gives better visibility."

"Visibility for who? You? Because I don’t recall asking for surveillance." she said walking to her car.

Ryan didn’t respond. He opened the car door. Sylvie didn’t move.

"You know," she said, "for someone who’s supposed to be protecting me, you seem very determined to ruin my day."

"No," Ryan said. "I’m preventing opportunities for someone else to ruin it.

He didn’t even bother looking at her as he added, "Get in the car, Miss Wilfred."

"I am not a mission."

"No," he said. "You are a high-target individual with poor impulse control."

Her jaw dropped. "What did you just...?"

"Car. Now."

Sylvie stomped into the car so hard the vehicle rocked. Ryan closed the door calmly behind her.

---

Attempt 7: Operation Ditch Ryan

That night, she tried ditching him again. Her plan was flawless, at least that was what she thought.

She waited until he turned to answer a call from her father’s head of security, then snuck out through the kitchen garden, climbed over the smaller stone wall, and slipped into the alley behind the mansion barefoot so her heels wouldn’t click.

She smirked to herself, whispering, "Checkmate."

She made it all the way to the side gate and reached for the lock. Then a shadow fell over her.

She froze. Ryan stood there with his arms crossed and a deadpan expression.

"How... how did you get here before me?" Sylvie demanded.

Ryan offered the faintest tilt of his head. "Protocol."

"That’s not an answer!"

"You used the garden exit. You always try the garden exit."

"I do not!"

"You’ve attempted it six times." he replied.

Sylvie scoffed. "You keep count?!"

"Yes."

He stepped aside and opened the gate for her to go back inside the mansion to get her car.

"Let’s go. We'll go to wherever you are going together."

"Ughh, you are unbelievable." Sylvie hissed, marching past him.

Ryan followed silently behind her, not even breathing loud enough to satisfy her need to be annoyed.

"You know," she said over her shoulder, "normal bodyguards don’t treat their clients like this"

"I’m not a normal bodyguard."

"You can say that again."

"I’m not a normal bodyguard."

"I DIDN’T MEAN... Ugh... forget it!"

He didn't say anything else. He always said nothing when she was trying to ignite him which only infuriated her more.

The next morning, Sylvie stormed into the foyer with her handbag slung over her shoulder. Ryan was already waiting by the door with a straight posture.

He didn’t need to ask where she was going. She never told him.

"Can I just be alone today?" she asked.

"No" he replied flatly.

"Why are you like this?"

"I’m not your friend, Miss Wilfred. I’m not here to impress you or argue with you. I’m here to keep you safe."

"And I’m here to live my life without a six-foot freezer following me everywhere!"

Ryan lifted an eyebrow, unfazed. "Then stop trying to get kidnapped."

Sylvie’s eyes widened. "Wow. You really know how to charm a girl."

"Protocol requires honesty." he replied.

"Protocol requires you to have a personality!"

Ryan blinked slowly.

"No," he said flatly. "Personality is a distraction."

Sylvie threw her hands up. "I can’t do this! I cannot do this with you for another day."

"You don’t have a choice."

"Watch me."

She turned on her heel and began running toward her car.

Ryan stepped in front of the door before she even reached the handle.

"Move." He requested.

"No" she replied stubbornly.

"I could call you father"

Sylvie’s voice was almost a whisper. “You’re evil.”

"No," Ryan corrected. "I’m efficient."

She shoved past him and stomped toward the living room, deciding not go out again while muttering curses under her breath.

Ryan followed.

Hours later, the house finally quieted. The tension between them lingered, but exhaustion eventually dragged Sylvie into a calmer mood.

She walked downstairs for water.

As she approached her father’s office, she heard murmurs through the slightly open door. Cole Wilfred never murmured, he only lowered his voice when something was very, very wrong. Sylvie paused.

Her father whispered sharply into the phone.

"Yes… yes, I already told you. It wasn’t an accident. Someone sabotaged the expansion deal. Sabotaged us. They’re pushing, and they know exactly where to strike."

Sylvie’s eyes widened.

Sabotage?