Title: The CEO Clause A Billionaire CEO Romance
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Chapter One: The Offer
Ivy Grant didn't believe in luck. Not anymore.
She believed in bills. In hunger. In waking up with her heart in her throat because the rent was past due and her bank account balance was laughable.
So when an email showed up in her inbox with the subject line: "INTERVIEW: Lysander Technologies", she assumed it was a scam. Probably some phishing trick wrapped in a fake job posting.
But it wasn't.
Lysander Technologies was real. So real it ran half the city. The other half just depended on it. The company was a tech monolith with an impossible reputation and a ghost for a CEO. Alexander Lysander. Billionaire. Genius. Control freak. Known for building an empire out of code and willpower—and for chewing through assistants like expired gum.
And somehow, Ivy had landed an interview.
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Chapter Two: Him
The office was cold. Not in temperature, but in tone. White, sterile, and quiet enough to hear your own panic. Ivy sat straight, her hands pressed flat against her cheap black skirt.
Then the door opened.
Alexander Lysander walked in like the room belonged to him. Like the world did. He wore black, head to toe, sharp lines and colder eyes. No smile. No handshake.
He looked at her once.
"You're hired," he said.
Just like that.
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Chapter Three: Terms and Conditions
He gave her three rules on her first day:
1. No personal questions.
2. No physical contact.
3. Don't fall in love.
He said the last part without flinching. Like it was protocol. Like it had happened before.
Ivy just blinked. "I'm not in the habit of falling for my boss."
"Good," he said. "Let's keep it that way."
But things didn't stay professional for long.
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Chapter Four: Glitches
He didn't talk much. She liked that.
He worked late. So did she.
He never looked tired. She always did.
But Ivy noticed the little things. How he rubbed the bridge of his nose after meetings. How he typed code when he thought no one was watching. How he didn't trust anyone—except her.
And one night, around 2 a.m., she saw him break.
He was barefoot, in a hoodie, pacing the office like he was fighting a war inside his head.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
He stopped. Looked at her like he forgot she existed.
"I don't sleep."
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Chapter Five: Close
It started small.
He let her fix his code. Trusted her to handle board calls. Even let her order him lunch—a task that got two of her predecessors fired.
He stopped correcting her when she cursed.
He stopped hiding how often he watched her.
And one night, after a gala full of plastic smiles and fake networking, in the backseat of a town car, he finally cracked.
"You hate these events," she said.
He looked at her. Really looked.
"I hate pretending."
She didn't know what made her do it. The wine, the tension, or the way he said it like it cost him something.
But she reached for his hand.
He didn't pull away.
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Chapter Six: Breach
They kissed.
Once. Hard. Like it had been building since day one.
Then they didn't talk about it.
Work continued. Projects, deadlines, late nights.
But everything felt off. He was colder. She was distant. And something was breaking between them, quiet and sharp.
Then Ivy found the contract.
A file buried deep in the server. Marked private. With her name on it.
He'd bought out a company linked to her ex. And in the fine print: "Non-compete clause: Ivy Grant."
She wasn't just his assistant.
She was part of the acquisition.
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Chapter Seven: Fallout
She didn't cry.
Didn't yell.
Just printed the contract, dropped it on his desk, and said, "Tell me I'm wrong."
He didn't even look surprised. "You're not."
"So I was a move on your chessboard?"
His jaw flexed. "It wasn't supposed to go this far."
She nodded. Once.
Then walked out.
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Chapter Eight: Static
He didn't stop her.
Didn't call.
Didn't explain.
But the next morning, the whole system glitched. Projects crashed. Meetings spiraled.
Because Ivy hadn't just organized his calendar. She'd kept the company breathing.
And now it was suffocating without her.
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Chapter Nine: Rewrite
Three weeks passed.
Then a package arrived at Ivy's door. No return label.
Inside: a flash drive. One file. A line of code.
Lysander.system.core += IvyGrant;
Under it, a message.
You weren't collateral. You were the correction.
She read the message twice.
Then three times.
She didn't cry. She didn't smile either. She just sat there on her apartment floor, staring at the line of code that said more than he ever could in words.
And still, she didn't know what to do.
He had broken her trust. But not her belief in what they had been building—even if it was messy, even if it was unplanned.
She stood up, grabbed her coat, and locked the door behind her.
If he wanted to talk, he could do it face-to-face. She was done reading between the lines.
Chapter Ten: The Fix
The building hadn't changed. But she had.
She walked through security like she belonged there. Because she had. Because she still did.
He was standing at the window when she entered his office. Back to her. Hands in his pockets.
"I got your message," she said.
He turned. Tired eyes. Sharp suit. Same man, only not.
"It was never about control," he said. "I didn't plan on needing you. But I do."
"You should've told me the truth."
"I was afraid the truth would make you leave."
"Lying did that anyway."
He nodded. Quiet. Like he accepted that.
"So what now?" he asked.
Ivy stepped forward. "Now, you start again. No contracts. No code. Just this."
She placed his hand on her heart.
"You feel that? It's still broken. But it's yours if you want to fix it."
He pulled her close.
"I never stopped wanting to."
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Epilogue
Six months later, Ivy Grant was listed as Co-CEO of Lysander Technologies.
The company was thriving.
So were they.
They argued about software, kissed between meetings, and rewrote the rulebook together.
She kept his chaos in check. He made her feel seen.
And somewhere in between the late nights and the power plays, they built something more powerful than any algorithm.
Love. Real. Raw. Untested. But theirs.
No more rules.
Just one condition: they never stop choosing each other.
The End.