CHAPTER 4: TOO CLOSE.

Chloe stared at the message for a while with thoughts flying through her head. Who could have sent that to her? She had absolutely no idea. Besides, no one knew she was working on the international campaign apart from…..

She buried her head in her palms as she got lost in thoughts.

“Hi," someone said to her.

She lifted her head to see a guy standing close.

“Hello," she said while still trying to assess who he was.

“I'm Marcus from the finance department," the guy said and extended his hand.

Chloe adjusted her position. “Marcus. Nice meeting you, Marcus."

“You are the new girl making the headlines. I just wanted to say hello. What are you working on currently?"

Chloe let out a chortle. She quickly exited the mail on display and turned to Marcus again.

“Uhm, about that, nothing much. Just the financial records of—"

Before she could complete the statement, she noticed the scowl on his face.

“Is there a problem here?” She asked him.

"If I should give you a little advice, stay off the financial records and focus on your primary duty.”

Before she could say the next words, Marcus was already on the move. She needed time to process what was going on, but Ethan's message popped in again.

"...my office. Now.”

Apparently, there was no greeting in his archives. She got up and went back to his office.

They went over the proposal she dropped earlier on. Soon, they got involved in a heated talk over the projected income on the display screen. Ethan got up and walked to her. When Chloe finally pointed out the figures, they were too close for comfort.

Ethan turned and looked down at her from his height.

“That makes sense now," he said.

The scent of his cologne got into her nose. She was suddenly noticing his eyes. No.

"You are standing in my personal space," she said calmly.

“This is my office," he replied.

“So, here, there's nothing like a personal space. You—”

Before she could complete the next words, the doors flung open and Vanessa Sterling walked in without any announcement. Ethan walked back to his chair and sat down.

"Hello, Sunshine,” she said to Ethan.

"You didn't tell me you were coming,” Ethan chipped in.

Vanessa glanced at Chloe. "Do I need to take permission before I come? Am I interrupting something?”

“Good evening, Ma'am," Chloe greeted her.

"I'm guessing you are new,” Vanessa said.

Ethan saw the tension that was trying to build up.

“Vanessa, meet Chloe. She's new and currently working with me on the international campaign project.” He looked at Chloe. "Chloe, meet Vanessa Sterling.”

Vanessa smiled. "You must be the fortunate one. Ethan rarely gives anyone this much of his time.”

Ethan knew it was only right to dismiss Chloe now. He cut in.

"Chloe, I agree with you on the proposal. We will give it a proper test. We can go with your plan."

A warm smile of fulfillment crossed her lips. “You agree with me. Thank you, Sir."

“Don't make me regret it. You can go."

As she was gathering her stuff to leave, Vanessa spoke to her again.

“Will you be at the stakeholder's gala that's coming up?”

Chloe eyed Ethan. "I didn't know there was a stakeholder's gala coming up. Well, I've not been invited.”

Vanessa got closer and said almost in a whisper, “I'm sure, my dear, that you will be busy on that day."

Chloe understood the message. She wrapped up and headed out. Getting to the door, she heard Vanessa say to Ethan, “Since when did you start letting new employees share your space with you?"

Chloe didn't want to care about that, but somehow every detail stuck in her thoughts.

When she returned to her desk, she sat down for a moment and decided to go over a few documents again. That was when she realized it. Every file she had saved concerning the finance records seemed to have completely disappeared from her system.

“Oh my goodness," she muttered in frustration.

She looked for it everywhere but couldn't find anything. Everything was gone. Someone definitely tampered with her computer. Who?

She scratched her hair frustratedly and didn't notice when Ethan approached her desk.

“What is it?" He asked her.

His voice sent multiple chills down her spine. She wasn't expecting him to be there. Besides, it wasn't the right time to tell him about this. She would look paranoid.

“Nothing, Sir," she replied.

“Something is obviously wrong," Ethan pressed on. “Why haven't you gone yet?"

Chloe explained all her findings on the financial records to him. Ethan frowned immediately.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

“Because I wasn't sure about anything. I needed better clarity on the situation."

“Do you have evidence?"

“I did, but not anymore," she replied. “All the files have disappeared from my system."

Ethan got closer. “Are you saying someone deleted them?"

“I'm saying they were here, but they've magically disappeared."

"Don't investigate this alone,” he said with concern in his tone. "I'm not hiring you to be a target in my company. It's getting late already. Take your leave.”

With that, Ethan disappeared. For the first time, Chloe saw genuine concern in him. She shut down her system, gathered her things and left.

Many moments later, she got home. Her mom was seated in the living room when she entered. The woman was going through some old business documents.

“Good evening, mom," she greeted her and sank into one of the couches.

“Good evening, my dear. Welcome."

“What are you…doing?" Chloe asked.

The woman looked at her. “Someone called earlier asking questions about your father and the company he once owned."

Chloe froze. Her dad's tech company collapsed many years ago after a controversial business acquisition. They lost everything.

“Who's that?" She queried.

“Well, the caller didn't leave a name."

Chloe's thoughts began to fly. She remembered one of the subsidiary companies affiliated with the international campaign. The name was linked to the same business that acquired her father's tech business.

Her jaw dropped to the floor. What did she walk into at Montgomery Global????