Her Space.

“Fuck!” I cursed underneath my breath, slowly placing my hand on my chest suppressing the rising and falling rapidly of my heart.

“Ariella! Why are you here?” I asked, staring at the lady dressed in office wear standing inside my kitchen, holding my spoon and making out food. I rolled my eyes, folding my hand to my chest as I waited for an explanation.

“I am sure you have a lot to explain.”

I watched her fidget on her nails before clearing her throat. “Gabby, it's been one week. One whole week and you have missed a lot of work. You have rescheduled your schedule and now they have all gone. You need to get back to work. A lot of files are piled up for you and I can't even bring it here because of your policy. Let's move on. I know you are the boss and I am the staff but let's change it now and I advise you as my very good friend. Move on…..

“Ariella.” I warned, my eyes turning red already and she raised her hand up in surrender.

“Okay. Okay. I won't talk about that anymore but, there is this one man that isn't even leaving. Since you started to reschedule the meeting, he has been coming to the office everything from morning till night. I tried to always inform you but you won't even allow me. Basically, we can't just bail on him. Please c….

“Ariella! Leave. I need my peace and cancel whatever contracts I am building up.” I yelled, flinging my hand to the direction of the door. “Out.”

“Please.” She yelled desperately and I could see she wasn't backing out soon. “No, let's give this man a chance. He is a big fish to our company and we can't possibly lose him because of some..” she trailed off and I raised my brows at her.

I sighed. I wanted my space but it seems I don't even have entitlement to that as well.

“And why are you making breakfast in my house?” I asked, my eyes trailing down to the eggs in her hand. “I told you not to….

“Gabby,” she whined, pouring out her puppy eyes at me. “Just this once. You look thin now. It is bad for the company.”

“Oh please,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I slowly went upstairs to get dressed.

Today marked a week and three days since I filed a divorce on Ethan and still he hasn't signed it. Insisting that I have no proof he cheated on me.

God.! I have never seen a man so shameless as he is, trust me. He is a manipulator and a whore!.

Going as far as telling me I have to give him some of my properties if I want to divorce him because doesn't like the idea of us divorcing. And I won't even…even do that.

I would sweat it till I see his end.

`

People say rock bottom is the end of the road.

They’re wrong.

Rock bottom is just the first step….because once you’re there, the only thing left is choice. Stay shattered, or start gathering the pieces with bloodied fingers.

I chose the latter.

And now, I was sitting in a high-rise boardroom with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and enough silence to make a person see through thoughts. All of these because of Ariella's constant pleading and pressure.

My palms were sweating despite the cool temperature, and the man across the table hadn’t said a word since I’d walked in.

Aidan Voss.

Founder and CEO of VossTech. Self-made billionaire. Infamous for buying out legacy firms, flipping companies like real estate, and leaving boardrooms in smoking ruins behind him. There were rumors that he made brutal negotiations, lawsuits that vanished, lovers that did the same.

And now I was here, being considered to design the interior for his new global headquarters.

“Well,” he finally said, tapping a sleek pen against his thumb, “You’re not what I expected. I waited calmly, thinking the lady is someone interesting for not showing up and meeting up to her schedules. ”

I stiffened. “I’m sorry?”

“You’re quieter,” he said. “Most designers pitch before I even sit down.”

I forced a polite smile. “I believe in letting the work speak first.”

He slid my portfolio toward him. No logo. Just black and gold details and my initials printed on the front. I’d spent hours assembling it….bold. I’d buried before, afraid of being too much. Ethan had always said I should tone it down. “Timeless sells,” he’d insisted.

Aidan’s eyes were unreadable as he flipped through each page and he looked curious.

“This is aggressive,” he murmured, pausing on one of my favorite spreads. “Who approved this one?”

“I did.”

He looked up.

And in that moment, I realized how cold his eyes were. Silver-blue, like frost under moonlight. The kind of gaze that made you feel like you were being scanned, measured, and sorted.

“You worked with Ethan Reilly,” he said.

There it was.

The name felt like a stone thrown through glass, shattering the room and everything around me.

“Yes.”

He went stiffened for a moment before the expression dissipated. “And now you don’t.”

“No,” I said, carefully.

He didn’t ask why. And I knew he knew it wasn't his business to know why I wasn't.

“Some would see that as… instability,” he said.

“I see it as clarity.”

His mouth curved….barely into a brief smile, and I knew I’d passed some invisible test.

He closed the portfolio.

“This building is important,” he said, gesturing to the blueprints beside him. “Five floors. A central atrium. Executive offices on the top. I want it to feel like a fortress. But one person wants to step inside.”

I nodded. “You want elegance with power, no weakness.”

“You get that from a few pictures?”

I lifted my chin. “I get that from you.”

Then he leaned back in his chair. “You’re hired. You’ll report directly to me. My assistant will coordinate the timeline.”

I blinked. “That’s it? No second interview?”

“You either know how to rebuild or you don’t,” he said simply. “And you? I do not want reschedules upon reschedules. I have waited enough and I think I deserve the best from you. I go with the term that, he who stays last, gets the best. This isn’t a threat but I can ruin you if things come out bad.” He stared at me for a while before rising up to his feet.

He walked towards the exit and turned his face back to me, clearing his throat. “My assistant will get across you with the signing of the contracts. We will meet next time.”

And with that, he left, leaving me standing and staring at the place he had left a scent of him.

I wasn't freaked out by his threat but the fact that he waited for weeks without giving up on me.

Definitely, he sees the potential in me.