When I get to Natalie’s office on the fifteenth floor, her assistant, Layla, is waiting for me.Prim and proper, large glasses hiding a youthful face, and long hair tied in an immaculate braid, Layla is the picture of professionalism.“Natalie’s waiting for you.Go right in.”
Exhaling sharply, I open the door to Natalie’s office.
Unlike other department heads who seem to be competing in an unspoken contest of who-can-display-the-most-family-photos-without-being-called-unprofessional, Natalie keeps a very minimalist office.No personal effects, no pictures, nothing.It’s the kind of space that whispers ‘I care about efficiency more than comfort’ in stereo.At least, that’s how it used to be.
She’s made one small change.A photograph stands on her pristine desk, the single personal item in a sea of organizational perfection.As she gets up to greet me, she accidentally knocks it over.I get a brief view of an older man leaning on a fancy-looking cane, gripping it with both hands, before she straightens the frame with a speed suggesting the photo matters more than she’d like to admit.
I glance at her, taking in the changes since I last saw her up close.
Her blue eyes look tired but have a new softness around the edges, like someone who’s finally found a reason to smile.Her once-long red hair is now shorter, framing her face in a way that makes her look both more approachable and somehow more intimidating.She used to look stern and elegant before.Now she looks gentle and happy, but still just as professional.She’s quite pregnant and it shows, her slim figure now sporting a rounded belly beneath her tailored blouse.
Everyone knows who the child’s father is.Nobody dares to mention it, despite the fact that Natalie wears a rock on her finger and Ethan Wilder takes her home every day.A tyrant CEO, yet a devoted fiancé.
“You called me?”I ask slowly, anticipating the very worst.
“Yes.Sit down, Eve.”Natalie gestures towards the visitor’s chair before struggling back into her seat.She winches.
“Are you okay?”My voice is concerned now.
“Fine, fine.My back is killing me.Sit.”She groans before settling into her chair.“I’m fine.”
There’s a serious glint in her eyes as she fixates them on me.“I believe you met the new addition to the Marketing Department.”
Everything inside me goes still, like a prey animal that’s just spotted a predator across the savanna.“Yes,” I answer slowly, calculating my words with the precision of someone defusing a bomb.“Caleb Reynolds.”
Natalie studies me, her gaze as penetrating as an MRI.“Yes.”
The silence that falls between us is almost stifling, and my fingers grip the edge of the chair hard enough to leave fingerprints in the wood.“What is this about again?”
Natalie sighs, looking slightly amused, like someone watching a child try to lie about eating a cookie while crumbs still cling to their face.“Caleb believes you have recognized him.”
I knew it!I knew he remembered me!That conniving, manipulative, two-faced?—
Despite the situation, I feel a sense of smug satisfaction blooming in my chest like a particularly vindictive flower.My victory is short-lived, though, because Natalie leans forward, her gaze intensified.“Am I right?”
I purse my lips before admitting, “We went to the same college, Grandview International College.I know his name is Caleb Wilder.”
She closes her eyes briefly, leaning back in her chair and exhaling.Finally, she opens them.“I see.So you are aware of the link between?—”
“I’m assuming there’s a family connection with the new CEO.I wasn’t born yesterday, Miss Thorne.You clearly sent him here to find out who the leak in the department is.”
Natalie’s voice is firm.“I understand your loyalty to your teammates, Miss Lopez?—”
“If someone leaked the campaign plan we put our blood, sweat, and tears into, I have no loyalty to them.”I tap my fingers on the armrest of the chair.“But I trust my team, Miss Thorne.We’ve worked together for two years now.I’d like to believe no one would work so hard only to sell out our campaign.”
Natalie gives me a firm look.“When it comes to corporate espionage, there’s a lot you have to learn.I have seen firsthand how the most hardworking individuals turn out to be the ones who are stabbing you in the back.”
There’s a knock on the door, and she calls out, “Come in.”
“Hey, Nat.”
Caleb’s voice has me stiffening like I’ve been dipped in liquid nitrogen.He walks over to lean on the wall rather than sit down.Of course he doesn’t sit like a normal person.His hands are in his pockets, a casual pose, one I remember a little too clearly from college when he’d slouch in the back row, somehow absorbing information by osmosis while the rest of us mortals had to actually study.The sun streaming through the window catches in his hair, turning it to spun gold, as if even the laws of physics bend to make him look better than everyone else.
‘Nat.’
That’s too casual.Almost like?—
“Caleb’s my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Eve,” Natalie says lightly, her eyes trained on me.“He vouches for your work ethic.”
