System Error: The Tycoon's Broken Toy

I lost my memory. The last thing I remembered was giving my boyfriend the silent treatment.

Now, some furious billionaire had just slammed a set of limitededition supercar keys and an unlimited black card onto the table in front of me, warning me to drop the attitude.

I had absolutely no clue who this psycho glaring holes into my skull was. My only thought was to quickly call my boyfriend and finally end our stupid fight.

The second the call connected, the arrogant man towering over me crushed the glass in his hand with his bare grip.

A muscle feathered in his tightly clenched jaw as he ground out, "Riley, don't you dare." "Do I look fucking dead to you?" Chapter 1 "Riley, how long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?

I already told you, there's nothing going on between me and her. We grew up together. "It's been forever since we saw each other.

What's the big deal about one little kiss?" I woke up to the sterile smell of a hospital room, my vision blurring on a strange man in an impeccably tailored suit who was currently dragging a hand through his hair in deep frustration.

When I didn't say a word, he unclasped his watch and tossed it casually onto my lap. "On top of this, I'll transfer the deed to that Upper East Side penthouse to your name.

Is that enough?" I shook my throbbing head, picking up the diamondencrusted watch and trying to force my eyes to focus. The man let out a low chuckle.

He sat on the edge of the bed and patted my head like I was an obedient pet. "That's a good girl." "Running out into the middle of the street and getting yourself banged up like this… what was the point?

Pack up your things. I'll take you home." Honestly, he had the kind of sharp, arrogant features that belonged on a billboard. He was aggressively handsome.

Too bad his temper was pure garbage. Definitely not my type. I pulled away from his touch and held the watch back out to him. "It's fivethirty.

My boyfriend will be off work soon to pick me up. I won't bother you." I thought that was a pretty polite way to kick him out.

But the man's expression instantly darkened into a thundercloud. He narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly register. "Riley.

Say that one more fucking time. Which boyfriend is coming to pick you up?" Bennett and I had been together for three years. Who else would my boyfriend be?

The words were still stuck in my throat when the man shoved my phone aggressively into my hand. "Call him! Call him right now.

Let's see exactly which man shows up for you!" I shot him a wronged glare. Bumping my head in a car crash was bad enough luck, but waking up to a total psycho was just unfair.

The psycho manspread on the sofa opposite me. Under his intense scrutiny, I went into my phone and unblocked Bennett's number.

Come to think of it, Bennett and I rarely gave each other the silent treatment. But sometimes he was just too prudish.

The last time I bought a dress that was a little on the short side, he relentlessly lectured me about it for days.

The dial tone echoed twice in the quiet hospital room before the call connected.

A rich, pleasant voice came through the speaker, laced with a hint of hesitation as Bennett spoke up tentatively. "Riley, is that you?" I let out a soft "Mhm," and the person on the other end seemed massively encouraged, launching into a rapidfire string of questions. "I heard you were in a car accident.

Is it serious? Which hospital are you at? I'm coming right now." With every question asked through the phone, the face of the man sitting in front of me grew a shade darker.

I quickly rattled off my location, making sure to throw in a sweet, coaxing tone at the end to make peace. "Babe, I'll wear that new dress for you tomorrow, okay?" The moment the words left my mouth, a loud shatter split the air.

I whipped my head around. The man in front of me had crushed his water glass with his bare hand. Blood and shards of jagged glass dripped onto the floor by his expensive shoes.

Yet he acted like he couldn't feel the pain at all. A muscle jumped in his jaw as he interrogated me. "Riley, say that again if you have the guts!

Do I look fucking dead to you?" A nurse rushed into the room at the noise, gasping at the gruesome scene. "Mr. Vance, please calm down!

The patient needs to rest." His wound looked genuinely terrifying. He was forced to sit back on the sofa while they bandaged him up for a good while.

Halfway through, his phone started ringing. He took a deep breath, an eyelid twitching with suppressed rage, his tone clipped and harsh. "I told you, something came up.

I can't make it." A carefree, reckless voice echoed through the receiver. "Your 'childhood sweetheart' Genevieve is still waiting for you in the VIP booth to cut the cake.

What could possibly be more important than that?" Chapter 2 Vance's gaze locked onto me, unblinking. He let the words out slow. "Catching. A. Cheater.

Would you call that important?" The nurse practically vibrated with curiosity, her ears burning as she pretended to focus on his bandages. My skin prickled under his stare.

I shifted my gaze to the ceiling tiles. Yep.

Just a perfectly white, incredibly fascinating ceiling. "Keep the wound dry," the nurse mumbled. "Come back in three days for a dressing change." The man couldn't have cared less.

He flicked his wrist, a silent command for her to get out. Before the door could click shut, a rushed figure shoved past it.

His black trench coat hung crooked, the belt trailing uselessly by his hip. Bennett was five years older than me, always the calm and steady one.

When we lived together, I'd wake up every morning to perfectly squeezed toothpaste on my brush and towels folded with military precision right where I needed them.

I had never seen Bennett this unraveled.

I tilted my head up, snagged his dangling belt, and pulled myself close to his waist. "Take me home," I murmured. "The discharge papers are already done." Bennett froze.

His Adam's apple bobbed heavily, and his hand hovered just above my hair, radiating the outdoor chill. "Riley, I…" A slow, mocking clap cut him off from across the room.

The man sat back, his dark eyes narrowed, half his face swallowed by the shadows of the hospital room. "How fucking touching.

Riley trailed after my ass like a pathetic puppy for three years, and at the end of it all, you get to play the boyfriend, Bennett." Absolute psychotic nonsense.

But before I could even stand up, Bennett tore out of my grip and slammed his fist straight into Vance's jaw. "Vance, watch your fucking mouth." Forget Vance—my mind blanked.

Bennett barely even raised his voice at people, let alone threw a punch. I immediately threw my arms around his waist.

Before Vance could retaliate, I dragged Bennett backwards out of the room. A vicious metallic crash echoed as Vance kicked the heavy hospital door. "Riley! You're taking his side?!

Fuck! Riley, get your ass back here!" I left the unhinged shouting behind us. Sitting in the passenger seat of Bennett's car, I gently rubbed his knuckles. "Does it hurt?

What were you thinking?" I whispered. "You could have broken your hand." The streetlights cast dim shadows inside the car. Bennett didn't answer.

The second I looked up, he lunged over the console and boxed me in. He crushed his mouth against mine. It wasn't our usual kiss. He was frantic, raw, his lips rough and impatient.

Underneath the force of it, he felt almost wounded. I gasped against his lips, my face burning up. He was breathing just as hard.

He slid a warm hand to the nape of my neck, easing me back into the seat. "Get some sleep. We're almost home." The adrenaline crash hit me hard.

I was too exhausted to even question his erratic behavior. The whole drive back, my brain felt like a sloshing bowl of mush.

Just as we pulled into the driveway, a deafening sound erupted inside my skull—like a Las Vegas slot machine hitting the massive jackpot. [Host! Host!

You're finally awake!] [The progress for capturing Vance has already hit sixty percent!] [Victory is right around the corner!] Wait, what the hell? Me? Capturing Vance?

This thing claiming to be a "Capture System" kept pinging frantically inside my head. I sat there in silent disbelief, my throat tight.

Chapter 3 I was about to bang my head against the wall to wake myself up when a damp, warm palm pressed against my forehead. My eyes dropped straight to an eightpack.

Bennett always kept himself buttoned up tight, but today, a single towel hung dangerously low beneath his Vline. Beads of water slid down the deep grooves of his defined abs.

It was lethally sexy. "Does your head hurt? Let me rub it for you." I looked up, my gaze dragging down from his Adam's apple. To hell with the system.

To hell with the capture mission. I threw it all out the window. My knees buckled, and I collapsed right into his chest. I fell for Bennett at first sight.

The day we made it official, all my friends told me I had lost my mind. Lexi led the charge, leaving sarcastic comments all over my timeline. "Riley, you sheltered good girl.

A highIQ, buttonedup guy like Bennett… can he even satisfy you?" As it turned out, Bennett didn't just satisfy me. He exceeded all expectations.

The only downside was his insane selfcontrol. He made me initiate every single time. Bennett turned his head, exposing the pale line of his neck.

His Adam's apple bobbed heavily, catching a single drop of water right at its peak before it fell. With the mood this heavy, I'd be less than human not to jump him.

But the second my hand brushed the light switch, a harsh ringtone shattered the silence behind me. It was none other than Vance. Why the hell did I have his number?

Was everything that system said actually true? I shoved down my suspicion and declined the call. But Vance was relentless. The phone rang again, lighting up the screen. And again.

Bennett's gaze lingered on the glowing screen for a fraction of a second. He pressed his lips into a tight line and walked out of the room without looking back.

Watching my perfect moment slip right through my fingers, I swiped answer with a scowl. "Vance, someone better be dying, or I'm hanging up." A scoff echoed through the speaker before the guy turned away to talk to someone else. "Looks like you're going to fail this dare, Vance." It sounded exactly like the guy who had called Vance at the hospital.

The phone rustled as someone else grabbed it. Vance's voice overlapped with the system's sudden chime in my head. "Utopia Bar.

Come pick me up." [Host, you're Vance's pinned contact.] [Whenever Vance gets drunk, you're the first person he calls.

His affection meter for you went from negative to zero specifically because you drove out to get him during that freak blizzard on Christmas Eve!] The system dutifully forced the memories back into my brain.

The image flashed behind my eyes. Through the blinding snow, I saw Bennett standing behind me. He stood shivering by the car, holding a black umbrella.

The harsh yellow headlights threw his lean, isolated silhouette into sharp relief. If I remembered correctly, Bennett's birthday was on Christmas Eve.

Was the system telling the truth? Did I actually dump Bennett three years ago just to finish this stupid capture mission?

The voice on the phone kept rushing me, acting like demanding I drive out in the middle of the night was his absolute right. A spike of pure rage hit my chest.

I unloaded right into the receiver. "Find someone else to play chauffeur. I quit." Without waiting for a reaction, I ended the call and bolted out of the room.

The system let out an earpiercing shriek inside my head. I clamped my hands over my ears and dove straight back into Bennett's arms in the hallway.

In the dim light, his skin was burning hot against mine.

He blinked down at me, his eyes dark and slightly wet. "If you want to leave…" He swallowed hard, his grip tightening on my waist. "I'll drive you." That look sparked an intense heat in me.

Specifically, low in my stomach. I buried my face deeper into his chest, my voice dropping to a soft murmur. "You're right here.

Where else would I go?" Chapter 4 [Host, your top priority right now is to go pick him up, not waste time staring at pecs, abs, and biceps… drool.] I didn't have the patience to entertain it.

I traced the pad of my thumb over the corner of Bennett's eye. In the three years we'd been together, he always maintained this suffocatingly perfect, composed facade.

Only when I pushed him right to the edge, backing him into a corner until he couldn't take it anymore, would he finally let out a reluctant, low groan.

Bennett's voice was rough with static as he asked tentatively. "You're really… not leaving?" I tossed my phone onto the rug.

My lips dragged blindly against his Adam's apple. "I'm not leaving.

I'm never leaving you again." The system was forced into dead silence for the entire night, while I was thoroughly wrecked, my lower back screaming in protest.

By the time I woke up, Bennett was already gone. A glass of warm milk and breakfast sat on the nightstand, next to a sticky note with his elegant handwriting.

Remember to eat breakfast. If you're sore, there are painkillers in the drawer. I'm sorry.

I couldn't even suppress the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth before the system chimed in my ear. [Tsk tsk. Unbelievable.

You locked me in the dark room for a whole night!] [An ENTIRE night!!!] I clapped a hand over one ear and dragged myself out of bed.

Since Bennett wasn't here, it was time to get to the bottom of this system nonsense. "Oh?

You come with a safeforwork mode?" I muttered. "Right, you mentioned yesterday… who exactly am I supposed to be capturing?

Vance?" Thrilled that I was finally acknowledging it, the system's tone instantly became insufferably smug. [Hmph. Finally starting to panic, are we?] [Did you know?

Vance waited for you at the bar until 4 AM yesterday. His affection meter has already plummeted to…] [Holy shit. Sixtyeight percent?

Why did it go UP?!] I scooped my phone off the rug. I had eight missed calls from Vance, along with a dozen text messages.

The system practically vibrated with barely contained excitement. [This is the first time Vance has ever initiated a text to you!] [Passing the passing grade really makes a difference!] I flicked my thumb, scrolling up through our chat history.

Over the past three years, it was basically just me sending pathetic, desperate checkins. Whenever Vance got annoyed, he'd just call.

The conversations never lasted longer than thirty seconds. I didn't need to hear the audio to know how vile his tone had been. My blood pressure spiked with every swipe.

Meanwhile, the system kept fanning the flames. [Host, you used to be so dedicated!

Playing his personal chauffeur, no matter how late he worked or how drunk he got, you were always the first person he saw when he walked out the door.] [So? Sparking any memories?

We need to get back to work!] I hit the very top of the chat history. I stared at the screen, a cold knot tightening in my stomach.

Even if it was Bennett on the receiving end, my patience would have tapped out at three months max. I waved the phone in the air. "Spit it out.

What's the reward if I successfully capture him?" The system stammered. [Well… a dozen of Las Vegas' top male strippers.] Hah. I knew it.

It had definitely eavesdropped on the stupid shit I said when Bennett and I were giving each other the silent treatment.

A cold laugh slipped out. "And the penalty?" [There is no penalty. If you fail the capture mission, I'll just stick with you. Forever.] My mouth twitched.

The last time I dealt with a stagefive clinger this relentless was when a telemarketer tried to extend my car's warranty for six months straight.

My chest felt tight with a sudden surge of suffocation. I rolled over, gripped my phone, and shot off a text to Bennett. Babe, what time do you get off work? I'll come pick you up.

Bennett was teaching classes all day. I didn't expect him to reply immediately.

Chapter 5 By the time I finished washing up and checked my phone, I was met with a barrage of texts. "Riley, I can let yesterday slide. 5:10 PM.

Outside the Wall Street Financial Center. If you don't show up, you're dead meat." I stared at the glowing screen for ten solid seconds. Holy shit. I texted the wrong person.

Panicking, I immediately blocked Vance and resent my original message straight to Bennett