Chapter 5 Thief

Realizing she was confusing Theo, Laura forced a smile.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, sorry... I'm a little nervous." Laura sat in the chair Theo indicated.

Laura's hands were clasped together, twisting nervously. She couldn't bring herself to look at the man opposite her. Until her eyes, scanning the desk, found an object that looked familiar.

Laura squinted to observe the necklace near Asher's hand. After seeing it clearly, her eyes widened dramatically.

'That necklace...' Laura narrowed her eyes, focusing on the familiar object Asher was holding.

Laura had lost her necklace. She started to recall that a few weeks ago, while showering, she had searched everywhere but still hadn't found it. Seeing the necklace in Asher's hand, Laura wanted to ask to confirm if it was truly hers.

Unbeknownst to Laura, the necklace she had been searching for over the last few weeks had fallen off when she rushed out of the hotel room and was picked up by Asher.

Without that necklace, even though it was just an inanimate object, Laura felt incomplete. That necklace was the only thing that reminded Laura of her late mother.

Laura's restlessness was apparently noticed by Asher. Asher looked at Laura and the necklace interchangeably. He intentionally slid the necklace slightly, and Laura's blue irises followed its movement.

Asher raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Why was Laura so interested in the necklace?

"Miss Laura Wilson... why do you seem surprised to see this?" Asher dangled the necklace between his fingers. "Do you recognize this necklace?"

Laura didn't want Asher to know that she was the owner of the necklace. Seeing that Asher didn't recognize her, yet held her necklace, it was highly likely that Asher was searching for her.

Even if Asher only wanted to return her necklace, Laura didn't want to discuss that passionate night. Especially not with the man himself!

"N-no. It's a very beautiful necklace," Laura replied.

Laura was relieved after Asher steered the conversation toward company rules and the work Laura would be doing. Laura just nodded blankly until she flinched when Asher pushed a work contract toward her.

"Remember well," Asher slightly straightened his posture as he stared into Laura's blue eyes, "if you quit before the specified time, you will have to pay a penalty fee. Read and understand before signing."

Laura swallowed hard. She never thought her future boss would be the man who had ruined her future. However, Laura couldn't give up now either.

Alan had gone to great lengths to find Laura a job. In addition, Alan had also helped change the last name on all of Laura's documents to her mother's maiden name.

Laura didn't want to disappoint the people who had helped her so much. Besides, finding a job wasn't easy. Laura didn't want to waste the opportunity given to her just because of the man in front of her. Most importantly, Laura needed to get her necklace back. Laura couldn't bear for her mother's heirloom to fall into this man's hands.

With a firm scratch, Laura signed the work contract paper. "Thank you for accepting me to work at this company, Mr. Asher Smith," Laura said, bowing her head to avoid looking into the eyes of her conversational partner.

"You can start work now." Asher turned to look at Theo. "Show her to her desk."

"Yes, sir." Laura glanced at her necklace one last time before leaving the room.

Asher raised the hand holding the necklace. The inner circle of the necklace was aligned with Laura's retreating back.

The necklace was indeed beautiful. Any woman would want to own it. However, Laura's reaction was too intense for a woman who merely wanted a piece of jewelry—one of only two in the country.

And those blue eyes... Asher felt like he had seen them before. They felt so familiar and heartwarming when he looked into those beautiful eyes.

But... where had he seen them?

-

The day passed almost without incident. Asher didn't leave his office even once. Even lunch was delivered to his room by Theo.

Laura grew increasingly anxious because she had been waiting for Asher to leave, even for a moment. Naturally, Laura desperately wanted to retrieve her valuable item.

After she saw the necklace, Laura's mind became even more restless. Laura even worked slowly, often daydreaming and wondering if the necklace Asher held was hers or not.

Laura wanted to confirm again that the object she had been searching for was right in front of her eyes, but Laura couldn't even touch it.

The opportunity Laura was waiting for finally arrived. The door to Asher's room opened. He walked out, leaving his office, passing Laura's desk without looking in her direction.

After making sure Asher had entered the elevator and that no one else was around, Laura hurriedly slipped into Asher's office. Her heart pounded fiercely as her hands began to open drawers to search for her necklace.

Laura's palms were trembling and sweating as she rummaged through Asher's desk drawers one by one. Finally, her eyes found the glittering object in the bottom drawer.

Laura covered her mouth with her hand and was nearly moved to tears when she saw that the necklace was indeed hers, because there was a small pendant—a crescent moon—in the same wrapping as the necklace.

The corner of Laura's mouth lifted as she looked at the necklace she had taken out of its wrapping and was now holding in her grasp.

However, Laura quickly realized she needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Laura hastily stood up, clutching her knees which felt sore. Her head swam slightly from squatting for too long.

As Laura was about to step away from the desk, Asher was standing right in front of her, both hands tucked into his trouser pockets.

"What are you doing?" Asher asked in an icy tone.

Laura quickly hid both hands behind her back. Her face went pale and sweat dripped from her brow due to overwhelming fear.

"I-I...." Laura's voice caught in her throat, words failing her.

Asher took a long stride toward Laura. His hand roughly grabbed Laura's right hand, which was holding the necklace. Laura winced in pain, feeling Asher's iron grip on her wrist.

Asher's dark eyes stared straight into the blue eyes, which were starting to water, before him. "What is this?"

Laura shook her head rapidly, unable to answer.

If Laura said she was the owner of the necklace, what would Asher do to her? Laura didn't want Asher to assault her like he did that night. However, if Laura didn't tell him, she feared losing the job she had just secured.

'What should I do? I don't want to lose this necklace again,' Laura lamented internally.

"Were you trying to steal this necklace?!" Asher snapped.