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The Test I Wasn’t Meant to Pass

Author: mscelene
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-25 17:31:58

Amara’s POV

If working under Damian Cruz had taught me anything, it was that the man didn’t believe in easy.

Easy days? Nonexistent. Easy tasks? A myth. Easy boss? Absolutely not.

So, when he stalked over to my desk Monday morning, I should’ve known better than to hope for a quiet start to the week.

“Lopez,” he said sharply, tossing a thick folder onto my desk. The thud made my poor coffee tremble in its cup. “You’ll be presenting at the operations review.”

I blinked at him. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” His eyes never lifted from his tablet, his fingers already swiping like my slow descent into career disaster was a minor line item in his schedule. “You have two hours.”

I opened the folder. Charts. Graphs. Numbers so messy they looked like spilled alphabet soup. My jaw dropped. “You want me to make sense of this? In two hours?”

“That is what ‘presenting’ usually entails.” he replied, deadpan.

My blood boiled. “You’re trying to sabotage me.”

Finally, his gray eyes lifted. They were merciless, cut
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