TAMED BY THE BILLIONAIRE

Sophie's POV

I screamed so loud , like I had been yelling for hours. My eyes flew open, and I realized I was sitting straight up in bed, drenched in sweat. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest. The room was pitch-black except for the dim glow of my phone on the nightstand.

But I couldn't stop. The images from the dream were still fresh, still real. Cassandra's sharp smirk, the icy grip of her hand on my arm, the gleaming knife she held like she had used it a hundred times before. My breaths came out in short, panicked gasps as my scream turned into shaky sobs.

"Sophie!"

Hannah burst into the room like a superhero, her face pale and her hair all over the place. She looked like she had run a marathon. "What's wrong? Are you okay?!" She rushed to my side, grabbing my shoulders like she needed to hold me together.

I blinked, still trying to process everything, my words coming out in a mess. "It was...it was...Cassandra!"

Hannah's eyebrows shot up. "Cassandra? What about her? Sophie, you're scaring me!"

I sucked in a shaky breath and tried to explain. "It was a nightmare. But it wasn't just any nightmare, Hannah...it felt so real. Like, I could feel her. We broke into her house...you and me. We snuck in, looking for... something, I don't even know what. And then we got caught."

Hannah's jaw dropped. "Wait, hold on. Back up. We did what now?"

I nodded frantically, my words tumbling out like they were on a timer. "We broke into her house, okay? We were sneaking around, being all Mission Impossible and stuff, and then she caught us. And, oh my gosh, Hannah, she had a knife!"

"A knife?"

"Yes! A big one. Like one of those shiny kitchen knives you see in horror movies. And she grabbed me, and she was laughing, and she said..." My voice cracked, and tears started spilling down my cheeks. "She said she was going to make me disappear."

Hannah looked like she didn't know whether to comfort me or call for backup. Finally, she sat down on the bed beside me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. "Sophie, it was just a dream. A really, really awful dream, but that's all it was. I'm here, okay? You're safe."

I buried my face in her shoulder, trying to calm down, but my body wouldn't stop shaking. "It didn't feel like just a dream," I mumbled. "It felt like... like a warning."

Hannah pulled back, looking me in the eyes. "A warning about what?"

I hesitated, chewing on my bottom lip. "About the job," I finally admitted. "About taking Damien's money and agreeing to take Cassandra down. It's like my brain is telling me I'm in way over my head."

Hannah's face twisted into a mix of frustration and concern. "Sophie, I've been telling you that from the start! This whole thing is crazy. Do you even hear yourself right now? You're having nightmares about this woman, and you still think it's a good idea to go through with it?"

I didn't know what to say. She was right. Of course, she was right. But the money...

"Sophie," Hannah said firmly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Listen to me. That 70 million...or whatever insane amount it is...it's not worth your life. You need to give it back. Walk away before it's too late."

I glanced at the clock. The glowing numbers read 3:14 a.m. The room felt too quiet, like the whole world was holding its breath.

"But what if..."

"No 'what ifs,' Sophie!" Hannah cut me off, standing up and pacing the room like a mom about to give a lecture. "You're playing with fire, and you don't even know how big the flames are. This isn't just some little PR job. You're going up against someone dangerous, someone who probably has skeletons in her closet..literal ones! Do you really want to mess with that?"

I hugged my knees to my chest, feeling small and stupid. "But the money, Hannah. It's not just for me. It's for the company, for everything we've been working toward. Do you know how much that money could change things?"

Hannah stopped pacing and looked at me, her eyes softening. "I get it, Soph. I do. But no amount of money is worth losing yourself over. And definitely not worth losing your life."

Her words hit me like a slap. I sat there, silent, staring at the floor as the weight of everything pressed down on me.

Finally, Hannah sighed and sat back down, pulling me into another hug. "Just think about it, okay? You don't have to decide right this second. But please, promise me you'll at least consider giving the money back. I can't lose my sister over something like this."

I nodded slowly, my throat too tight to speak.

I lay there, still hugging my knees, trying to steady my breathing. Hannah, now standing at the door, turned to me with a tired but playful look.

"Look, Sophie," she muttered, her hands on her hips, "you're lucky I love you, because if you wake me up screaming like that again, I might have a nightmare of my own about strangling you!"

I blinked, then let out a weak laugh. "Wow, thanks for the love and support, sis."

Hannah grinned, the kind of grin that said she was way too sleepy to be dealing with my drama. "I mean it. You scared me so bad, I almost called the Ghostbusters. Next time, scream into your pillow or something, okay?"

That did it...I laughed harder, and so did she. It felt good, even if it was just for a moment, to laugh like everything was normal again.

"Thank you, Hannah," I said softly, my voice still shaky but sincere. "For coming in here, for calming me down, for... everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

She gave me a mock-serious look, crossing her arms. "Yeah, yeah, I'm basically your unpaid therapist at this point. But seriously, Sophie, don't ever scream like that again. My heart can't take it."

I smiled, feeling a little lighter. "I'll try not to. But if Cassandra shows up in my dreams again, I'm blaming you for making me watch that crime documentary with you."

Hannah chuckled, shaking her head. "Fair enough. But don't even think about sneaking into someone's house in real life, okay? Dream or no dream, you're terrible at breaking and entering."

We both laughed again, the sound filling the room like a warm blanket. She gave me one last smile before disappearing back into her room, muttering something about how she needed her beauty sleep.

"Goodnight big head" she said as she closed my room door .