Chapter Four: Ophelia

There had to be a way out of this. Surely, he should know I wouldn't have slammed the door if I'd known he was inside.

I took a deep breath to collect my thoughts. “It's not what you think.”

“It certainly is, Miss. I don't need to be a brainaic to know what you exhibited was utter disrespect “

“I didn't even know you were in there.” My tone came out sharp.. He narrowed his eyes at me. “I'm sorry. But I didn't know you were there or anyone was.”

“That's not an excuse. Out of my office “ he concluded, going back to his computer.

How could someone be this hardhearted. He was Aaron Donovan, the CEO of Donovan Corporation. He was known to be ruthless, but I hadn't imagined him to be this cruel. Anger surged within me. Nobody had ever treated me with such disrespect.

Suddenly, he looked up at me and his brows shot up. “You're still standing there?”

“I need this job. Please. I've put my all into this interview. I have a lot of goals, goals that I believe will help the company.”

He regarded me condescendingly. “You should have taught about that before doing what you did.” Taking his eyes off me, he returned his attention to his computer.

There was no point begging. I'd rather kiss a toilet seat than destroy my pride.

I stomped away, not caring that I shut the door rather loudly.

“Ms Hilary?” the receptionist called after me but I didn't turn back. I didn't stop walking till I reached a park, filled with trees, and lit with sunshine.

Listlessly, I trudged towards a bench and buried my face in my hands, mulling over what just happened.

It was partially my fault. Then again, Mr. Aaron played a role too. He had overrated and the termination was highly uncalled for.

If it had been when I was my former self, I would have clapped back by stripping him of every rights to Lewis & Hale. In fact, he wouldn't have dared look at me the way he'd done if I had been Ophelia Lewis.

I shoved all this off my mind to concentrate in the future. My plan to infiltrate Lewis & Hale stood. I needed to attach myself to one of the shareholders. Donovan's Corporation was out of question now. Onto the next one.

I pulled out my phone from my bag and went to my notes app. In there were lists of shareholders who currently offered employment. Parklies Limited was looking for an errand person. It was way below what I aimed for, way below the position of a secretary which Aaron's company had offered. But other companies weren't hiring for now, so I had no choice. I had to accept the one available.

“Parklies Limited it is.” I made a mental note of getting my fake CV ready. Then, I relaxed back in the bench to relish the serenity of the park.

My peace was shattered when my phone rang. Reaching for it, my heart sank. It was Caleb's school teacher.

“Ms Hilary, there was a mishap this morning.”

I sprang to my feet, feeling my heart throb fast and hard.

“Caleb had a seizure.” It was all she needed to say for me to start sprinting. “What, how, when?”

Seizure was one thing had Caleb suffered as an infant. He'd frequented the hospital as a result. For some time now, he had gone into remission. This was beyond shocking to me.

Most of what the teacher said flew past my head as my mind processed too many things at once. I hopped on the first available cab, stuttering orders to the driver.

It felt like ages but eventually we got to the school premises. I rushed to the principal's office and was directed me to the sick baby.

There on the bed laid Caleb. I rushed towards him and cupped his face. “Baby.” I hugged him. “Mommy's here now. Everything is alright. Mommy's here.”

I thanked the nurse and principal profusely for calling my attention quickly, and also helping to stabilise the situation. Then, I went straight to the hospital with Caleb, for a major checkup, just to be sure the seizure hadn't been caused by something much more omnious. I held my heart in my mouth, praying that the worst hadn't yet occurred.

The doctor ran some checks on Caleb.

“There's nothing out of the ordinary. He should just have more rest time and moderate play levels. We're good to go,” the doctor said.

A wave of relief filled me. Holding him close, I shut my eyes. I needed to pay closer attention to him. Perhaps, homeschool him.

After consultation with the doctor, Caleb and I returned to the receiption where I stayed to wrap my head around all that had happened today.

“Hello,” said a voice. I looked up to see it was a girl on a wheelchair stationed directly opposite Caleb. Caleb smiled back at her. I couldn't but smile too.

Seeing the girl in that condition broke my heart. She couldn't be more than 20, and here she was having had her life shattered by what could perhaps have been an accident. It reminded me of my little boy too.

But then the smile on my face disappeared when another person walked into the room towards the girl. I recognised the air of arrogance. I recognised the dark hair and dark piercing glance.

And when he stared back at me, my fist curled.

Aaron Donovan was here.