A Man Saved a Female CEO’s Life One Night—Then Walked Into Her Company for an Interview the Very Next Morning
Chapter 1
The rain had turned downtown Chicago into a maze of reflections.
Streetlights shimmered across the wet pavement, taxis hissed through puddles, and office towers disappeared into the low clouds hanging over the city.
Ethan Carter walked quickly beneath a black umbrella, one hand holding the worn leather folder containing his résumé.
Tomorrow morning mattered.
He had been unemployed for four months.
His savings were almost gone.
His landlord had already given him one final warning.
And at 9:00 a.m., he had an interview at Halston Technologies, one of Chicago’s largest technology companies.
The position wasn’t glamorous.
Operations assistant.
But to Ethan, it was a lifeline.
He had spent the afternoon practicing answers in his tiny apartment.
Why should we hire you?
What are your strengths?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
He had repeated the answers so many times that they no longer sounded natural.
Still, he needed the job.
At 11:43 p.m., Ethan cut through a parking garage to save time.
He was halfway across the third level when he heard a woman’s voice.
“Please…”
He stopped.
At first, he thought it was someone talking on the phone.
Then he heard it again.
“Help!”
Ethan dropped his umbrella.
The voice came from behind a concrete pillar.
He ran.
A black luxury sedan sat crookedly near the edge of the garage.
The driver’s door was open.
A woman was trapped beside the vehicle.
Her expensive black coat was soaked.
One hand pressed against her side.
Blood stained her fingers.
Ethan immediately called 911.
“There’s been an attack,” he said. “A woman is injured at the Franklin Street parking garage.”
The woman looked at him.
Her eyes were sharp despite the fear.
“Don’t call anyone else.”
“I’m already calling the police.”
“No.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“They’ll find me.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Who?”
She struggled to breathe.
“I don’t know.”
Then headlights appeared at the entrance.
A second vehicle.
The woman’s face went pale.
“They’re back.”
Ethan looked toward the approaching car.
He didn’t know who was inside.
He only knew one thing.
If those people reached her, she might die.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded weakly.
“Then we’re leaving.”
He pulled her toward the emergency staircase.
A gunshot cracked through the garage.
The bullet struck the concrete wall beside Ethan’s head.
He pushed the woman down.
“Stay low!”
Another shot.
Ethan grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the stairs.
They ran.
The woman stumbled.
Ethan caught her before she fell.
“Keep moving.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
They reached the stairwell.
Ethan slammed the fire door behind them.
Then he noticed blood dripping onto the floor.
“Where are you hurt?”
She pressed her side.
“Knife.”
Ethan tore off his jacket and wrapped it around her wound.
“You’re going to be okay.”
She stared at him.
“You don’t even know me.”
“No.”
He tightened the makeshift bandage.
“But you’re bleeding.”
Sirens finally approached.
The attackers fled.
Paramedics arrived minutes later.
Before the woman was taken away, she grabbed Ethan’s wrist.
“What is your name?”
“Ethan.”
“Ethan what?”
“Carter.”
She looked at him as if the name meant something.
Then she whispered,
“Thank you.”
Ethan watched the ambulance disappear into the rain.
He picked up his ruined résumé.
The ink had blurred.
His interview was only a few hours away.
He had no idea that the woman he had just saved was the one person who could decide whether he got that job.
Her name was Victoria Halston.
And she was the CEO of Halston Technologies.
