Chapter 30 – The Billionaire’s Intern

“Dr. Beckett?” Her body tensed. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled-wide, warm, practiced.

“I hope I didn’t scare you,” he said quickly, hands raised in a calming gesture. “I just… wanted to see you before I go.”

“Go?” she echoed.

“I’m leaving tonight,” he said, voice low and slightly breathless, like this conversation mattered deeply. “Director picked me for this year’s outreach program. Humanitarian rotation. I’ll be gone for months – maybe a year. Rural placement. So… we won’t be seeing each other again.” He gave a sheepish shrug. “So… this is goodbye.”

She blinked, unsure what to say.

“I just…” Beckett scratched the back of his neck, playing at humble. “Before I leave, I wanted to ask – one last time. Just coffee. Fifteen minutes. As friends.”

Her lips parted. She didn’t know what to say.

“I know you’re not interested. I get it,” he said quickly. “You’ve got a lot on your plate – your brother, your internship, classes. I’m not trying to pressure you, I promise. I just thought… maybe we could talk. No pressure. Just two people getting coffee. No strings. Closure, maybe?”

He glanced toward the sky, then back at her with a sheepish smile. “Besides, if you’re heading to work… we could go to the café near your office? You won’t be late. I’ll drop you off right after.”

Maya hesitated.

Something about it felt… off.

But his tone was soft. His expression, disarming. And it was daylight. Public. Near her workplace. Her gut whispered no. But she was tired. He was leaving. And fifteen minutes wasn’t a lifetime.

And maybe – maybe it was her exhaustion, or the weight of too many sleepless nights, or the fact that she was so used to putting others first that she couldn’t bring herself to say no – but she nodded.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “Fifteen minutes.”

Beckett’s smile widened. Too much.

“Perfect,” he said, too smoothly. “You won’t regret it.”

He opened the passenger door for her like a gentleman.

As soon as she slid inside, he closed the door gently behind her – too gently.

But when he turned away, his expression changed. This time, there was no softness in it.

His eyes darkened.

His lips curved into something twisted.

Not kind. Not friendly.

Only triumph. And malice.

Because Maya had just made a mistake.

One she wouldn’t realize… until it was far too late.

Inside the car, Maya fidgeted with the strap of her bag, her fingers lightly trembling. She told herself it was nothing. Just nerves. She hadn’t slept. She hadn’t eaten. That was all.

But as the engine purred and Beckett slid into the driver’s seat beside her, something inside her refused to settle.

He didn’t speak right away. Just started the car and merged onto the quiet street, one hand on the wheel, the other resting too casually near the gearshift.

“I’m glad you agreed,” he said after a moment. His voice was smooth. Practiced. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

Maya forced a polite smile. “You caught me on a tired morning, I guess.”

He chuckled lightly, but something about it grated against her. “Well, I’ll make it worth your while. Promise.”

She gave a faint nod, staring out the window, trying to focus on anything but the tension coiling in her stomach.

“So,” Beckett said casually, like they were two friends on a morning drive, “where is it you’re interning again?”

“Blackwood Enterprises,” she said, carefully.

That got a reaction.

It was subtle – the way his grip tightened slightly on the wheel. The faint twitch at the corner of his mouth. But it was there.

“Oh,” he said. “That’s… impressive.” His tone was unreadable. “Didn’t realize you were one of those interns. Isn’t that, like, top-tier?”

Maya gave a soft shrug, not liking the edge in his voice.

“It’s just an internship.”

“Right.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Just curious. Wouldn’t want to drop you off at the wrong building.”

She nodded again, unease crawling higher up her spine.

Something in the way he said “drop you off” scratched at the edge of her nerves.

She turned to glance out the window. The city passed in soft morning colors – gray buildings, sleepy sidewalks, a few early joggers weaving past storefronts.

This road doesn’t lead to my office.

The thought crept into her mind quietly, like a whisper she didn’t want to hear.

She glanced at the dashboard. No GPS.

Then the mirror.

Then him.

“Um… Dr. Beckett?” she asked, gently. “You said the café near my work, right?”

“Oh, I know a better one,” he said smoothly, his eyes still on the road. “Less crowded. You’ll love it.”

She hesitated.

“Don’t worry,” he added, his voice warm. “We’ll still make it in time. I wouldn’t let you be late, Maya.”

Her name in his mouth felt wrong.

Like something sacred was being handled with bloodied hands.

Something’s wrong.

The morning sun bled gold over the skyline, but inside the car, the air felt strangely thick.

She didn’t know where he was taking her.

But it wasn’t to coffee.

Maya’s throat tightened. Her fingers itched to reach for her phone, but it was buried deep in her bag and her limbs felt too slow, too heavy. Her heartbeat thudded louder with every second, but her body… her body was slipping. Numb. Disconnected.

Outside the window, the buildings smeared into colorless shapes. Her stomach twisted.

Two hours of sleep. That had to be it. Or the stress. The fourteen-hour shift. The relentless pressure.

Her hands rested in her lap like stone.

Beckett’s voice floated from the driver’s seat – casual, low – but the words scattered before they reached her.

She turned her head toward him slowly.

He was sipping from a large water bottle, nearly empty now. She hadn’t noticed it before- the way he drank from it repeatedly. The way he kept glancing at her like he was… waiting.

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