Chapter 1 One
“Who the hell are you and why are you standing on my art piece.” a voice rang cold from behind
“Get your feet off them if you still want to keep your legs.”
Mira turned around and everything in her stilled.
Salvatore Corvin Aka Black Raven. The most feared man in all of Clatain. One of the biggest billionaires the city had ever seen.
Drop-dead gorgeous.
And... A murderer.
“Sorry… my bad,” Mira said, stepping off the piece, forcing her voice not to shake. “My name is Mira Voss. And I’m your new PR assistant.”
Sixteen hours earlier..,
“Another murder has occurred.”
Mira froze just outside the door, her right hand hovering mid-air, ready to knock. The voices inside were low, tense.
“This is the sixth wife… that’s two women in just six months.”
Her brows pulled together. Sixth wife? Who were they even talking about?
It had been three months since she got transferred from Truthscope, Arizona, to another branch in a town she had never even heard of. Instead of the promotion she earned, they shipped her out here with no explanation other than
“You’re the best on the team and they need you over there.”
Every time she thought about it, anger crawled under her skin. She had worked her ass off to be the best reporter, given years sleepless night and surviving on junk and instant noodles only to end up here .. making coffee and covering stories about missing cows and goats in a town of barely five thousand people.
Mira tightened her grip on the tray in her hands.
And here she was… about to deliver coffee Anita had asked her to make for her and Matthew.
One thing was certain.
Anna hated her.
From the very first day Mira arrived, Anna had been cold.
Not just cold… but brutal.
Every word laced with shade, every look sharp enough to cut. Mira never understood why. But she was used to it. The envy. The jealousy. The quiet hate.
And the fear.
Fear that she might take their positions.
Honestly… they had every right to be.
Because in her book playing small wasn’t her style. Her goal was simple… to be the best. To be the boss.
And she always got her way. And she planned to do the same here.
Mira knocked on the door, then pushed it open, balancing the coffee tray in her left hand.
“Here’s your coffee,” she said.
“Thanks. You may leave.”
Mira turned slightly… to leave
“It’s forbidden to do a cover on the Corvin. That family is untouchable. But Salvatore Corvin his the worst.. if we mess with him, we’ll get burned. Really bad,” Matthew said.
“Aren’t you tired of covering lame stories? Remember why we need this—”
Anna stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Mira still standing there.
“I asked you to leave,” Anna said again, colder this time, her voice rising slightly.
Mira didn’t move. She stood still. Her mind was racing.
Who the hell was this Salvatore Corvin… and why were they all scared of him?
Something in her chest sparked.
Maybe this was it.
Her chance.
“A chance to prove myself,” she thought.
“What if we go undercover?” she blurted before she could stop herself.
“What?” Matthew turned to her, confused.
“Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Get out, Mira,” Anna snapped, already standing.
But Mira didn’t back down.. or even glance at her.
She was done with stupid reports.
One more day on reporting a stolen goat or the weather or making coffee she might go mad.
“We could go undercover. Get the information we need… real proof. Video evidence. Something big, something to nail this family for good.” Mira said, her eyes fixed on Matthew.
He looked… interested.
“How do we do that?” he asked.
Anna let out a sharp breath. “Don’t tell me you’re actually buying this. We can’t send anyone—Corvin knows every face at Truthscope.”
“They don’t know mine,” Mira cut in, her voice firm.
She stepped forward slightly.
“You need information on this guy? Send me.”
A pause.
“And I promise… I’ll do a good job.”
Anna let out a short, humorless laugh.
“That won’t work.”
She stepped closer to the desk, folding her arms like the decision was already final.
“You think this is some small-town story you can wing your way through? We’re talking about Salvatore Corvin.. A man who doesn’t just have security… but owns the system. People. Eyes.. cameras.., everywhere.”
Her gaze snapped back to Mira.
“And you? You think because you’ve done a few undercover pieces and chased wherever big stories you’ve done from whatever hole you crawled from, you’re ready for him?”
Mira didn’t flinch.
Anna wasn’t done.
“The Corvins don’t forget faces. They don’t miss patterns. They don’t miss anything. If we send someone known from Truthscope, they’ll know within seconds. And if they find out we’re digging into them—”
She stopped, as if the rest didn’t need saying.
Matthew shifted slightly in his chair, clearly unsettled now.
Anna pointed lightly toward Mira, voice sharpening again.
“And don’t forget where you are. This isn’t Arizona. This isn’t I wanna be outlet where you can play hero. One wrong move and this branch doesn’t just lose a story…. we lose everything.”
Silence settled for a moment.
Mira finally stepped forward.
Calm. Focused.
“You’re right,” she said.
Anna blinked, slightly caught off guard.
Mira didn’t stop.
“I don’t know everything about this guy or this family. But I know field work. I know how to blend in. I’ve done undercover assignments… real ones. Not coffee runs or missing pet stories you guy do over here.”
Her eyes shifted to Matthew now, locking in.
“I worked at Truthscope Arizona’s investigative team for six years before the transfer. I’ve done corruption pieces. Corporate leaks. Two months embedded in a trafficking ring case in Tucson before it got shut down.”
Matthew frowned slightly, listening more carefully now.
Mira continued, her voice steady.
“I know how to stay invisible when I need to. I know how to get close to people without raising suspicion. And I know how to leave with evidence without being caught.”
Anna scoffed softly, shaking her head.
“That doesn’t make you immune to death .”
Mira turned back to her.
“If I was scared of death I wouldn’t have chosen this line for a profession.”
A beat passed.
Then Mira looked back at Matthew again, softer now… but certain.
“Give me a chance. Not because I’m the only safest option… but because I’m the only one who’s actually asking for it.”
Matthew didn’t speak immediately.
He leaned back slightly, studying her.
Anna looked between them, jaw tight.and her face red with anger.