Chapter 5

[Maria]

‘Maria. I’m still busy. I’ll send Grace over.’

I clenched my phone tightly when I received the message from Damian. After someone from HR asked to be involved (they said they had to make sure the hired employee met the minimum standards), now a senior secretary is coming too. That’s bureaucracy for you.

But I don’t need them. I just need Damian to pick one who looks attractive to him.

It was past 2:00. I opened the door to make sure all the candidates were present.

Suddenly, someone spoke to me.

“I think you’re late. We candidates were supposed to be here before 2:00.”

Was I being scolded?

“So, I’m not supposed to be here?”

“No, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

I held back a laugh. She didn’t know who I was. Lucky for her, I wouldn’t make a big deal out of something this trivial.

Wait.

I recognized her face. The girl who beat up the thugs. She didn’t look bad, to be honest. She was pretty enough when dressed like this. Quite suitable to be a secretary.

“Please come in, Ma’am. Mr. Lee is still in a meeting. We should go ahead with the interview,” Grace, who had just arrived, invited me in.

I nodded and then walked over to the executive chair. Meanwhile, a representative from HR and Grace, Damian’s secretary, sat on my right and left.

“Good afternoon. Thank you for coming to today’s interview. I am Maria.”

“I’m Andrew, from HR.”

“Grace, senior secretary.”

“As mentioned in the ad, we’re currently hiring for a secretary position on the executive assistant team. This team reports directly to Mr. Damian Lee, the Chief Strategy Officer here. Actually, this position was originally intended to be temporary. But depending on your performance, it could become permanent.”

It depends on how well they manage to impress Damian.

“Well then… please introduce yourselves.”

One by one, they introduced themselves. Andrew handed me an evaluation sheet with various checklists and notes.

According to those notes, HR had already conducted background checks on the candidates because the position was important and involved handling sensitive and confidential documents. 

The first woman, Emily Carter, had 7 years of experience in administration and was a graduate of a tier-2 university. But that wasn’t really important. In my opinion, she wasn’t as pretty as the photo she had sent, but she had a sexy figure and was quite tall. Proportionally speaking, she’d be a good match for Damian.

The second one, Jasmine Brooks. A fresh graduate with a near-perfect GPA, a graduate of a top-tier university. Her face was sweet and adorable. The only thing was, she actually looked way younger in person than in the photo she had sent. Standing next to her could make Damian look like a pedophile. But I didn’t know if that was his taste.

The third one, Lauren Mitchell, didn’t go to college. But she had work experience as a model for adult magazines. Very beautiful, very sexy. Unfortunately, she stammered as if she wasn’t ready. Too bad HR was here; otherwise, her profile would be perfect for Damian’s mistress… oops, I mean, Damian’s secretary.

Fourth, Hannah Barker. She had no work experience or impressive educational background.

“Honestly, I can do almost anything as long as I’m not fired.”

“Anything?” I laughed. I always enjoyed this girl’s answers.

“Miss Barker. Compared to other candidates, you have no experience as a secretary. Are you sure you want to apply for this position?” Andrew asked.

“I don’t have secretarial experience because I was never given the opportunity to be one. That doesn’t mean I can’t do the job. That’s why I’m applying.”

Hannah Barker never failed to amuse me. 

It was Grace’s turn to ask.

“Your previous jobs were only part-time. They don’t carry the same pressure as full-time work where you have to meet targets. Especially for a secretary position. We often work overtime until late at night.”

I furrowed my brow. Late at night? Damian hardly ever came home late at night during our marriage.

“I’m very familiar with that. My part-time job was thirteen hours a day. I usually got home at 10 PM.”

What a rough life. 

Also, I noticed there was a note from HR stating that this girl had a fairly large debt. Although, according to them, there were no office rules regarding employee debts.

Maybe that’s why she said that earlier. Anything as long as I’m not fired.

Good.

A knock on the door from Mr. Ed. As he walked in, Damian Lee smoothed out his suit jacket. I watched the expressions of the four candidates inside.

Ooh, they’ve fallen for him hard.

Damian sat down in Grace’s chair.

“Maria. Sorry I’m late,” he whispered to me.

I gave a slight nod, almost not seen.

Damian turned to look at the candidates. “Good afternoon, I am Damian Lee.”

I leaned in closer to him, then spoke in a soft voice. “Which one do you think is the prettiest?”

“In this room?”

“Yep.”

“Mm. The one in the black skirt.”

Ah, Hannah Barker?

“Got it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep. Thank you.”

Damian immediately stood up and left the room.

I clapped my hands once, drawing everyone’s attention away from Damian.

“Okay. That concludes our interview. We’ll be in touch with the selected candidate soon. Thank you for your time.”

The candidates were dismissed. I informed Andrew of the selected candidate so HR could process it further.

“To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with her profile; we can give her a chance. But why?”

“Simply, Damian Lee chose her.”

“Alright. We’ll take care of this.”

“Okay, thank you. You two can get back to work.”

I grabbed my phone, opened the app, then tapped the “accept” button on Hannah Barker’s profile.

Actually, something was bothering me.

Did Damian see her skirt? Didn’t Hannah Barker sit behind the desk the whole time Damian was in the room?

***

At nine o’clock at night, Damian had already changed into his pajamas. I lay down on the bed after turning off the TV monitor I hadn’t really been watching. The soft yellow light was the only source of illumination.

Our room was big enough for the two of us, and our bed was spacious enough for us each to have our own sleeping space. Even so, Damian chose to lie down next to me.

“Maria. You don’t have to stay up late tonight, do you? Is everything taken care of?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Nothing. Just relieved you won’t be glued to your phone tonight.”

Ah, right. UV rays and whatever radiation it is that disrupts his sleep quality.

Damian wrapped his arms around me, rested his head on my arm, and started kissing it. I always let him do that—or even more than that.

After all, Damian is my husband. Even though he doesn’t love me, of course, as a man, he has a need for physical intimacy or whatever it is. I understand.

“Hug me back.”

“Okay.”

Since that’s an order.

My phone rang. Damian sat up.

I always turn off my phone’s ringer during sleep hours. My phone only rings at night from numbers I’ve marked because I have to answer their calls. My family.

“I have to answer it,” I said, though it was more to myself.

I reached out to grab the phone from the nightstand next to the bed.

Cecilia.

My heart felt a sharp pang of pain just from seeing that name on the screen.

I cleared my throat before picking it up.

“Yes?”

“Maria, you haven’t forgotten that this Saturday is my father’s birthday, have you?”

Take a breath. Exhale. I must not sound weak.

“No. I remember.”

“I don’t want you to come. You haven’t been showing up lately, well, that’s good. But this time, it’s my father’s birthday. People will think I’m the one who’s forbidding you from coming. And that will make me look like a bad person.”

But you are indeed a bad person.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t you get what I’m saying? It’s up to you whether you come or not, but don’t make people think badly of me.”

“I can’t control what people think.” I rubbed my temples; talking to her always gave me a headache. “I’ll come. People won’t care about me.”

“How can they not care? You’re a child of an affair. Your existence will always be the focus of people’s gossip because your birth is a disgrace. Think about my mother’s feelings. Don’t you have—"

I even moved my ear away from the phone so I wouldn’t have to hear her ranting nonsensically.

I took a deep breath before responding.

“I’ll do my best not to draw attention to myself.”

I hung up the phone.

After everything I’ve done for my family—even marrying a man I don’t love to smooth out the family business—of course they still see me as trash.

I bit my lip hard. My hands were clenched tightly. I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

I needed an outlet for my emotions.

“Maria, is there something wrong?”

I gave him a soft smile with a blank expression.

“Nothing.”

I pressed my lips against his.