Seven.

Noelle’s POV

One hour. It took me an entire hour plus a few mii to escape from whatever situation I found myself in earlier.

Today has been many ways bad and I couldn’t wait to go back home and soak myself in the tub. And possibly fall asleep there.

I had forged a signature, got nearly assaulted not once but twice in a row.

And now, due to the negligence of the PR department, there has been an emergency meeting scheduled which requires all four of them here as soon as possible. And I was the one who was going to call all four.

Luckily for me, Adrien and Kael were already nearby and had received the news first hand. So I was left with Lucien and Dante. The less overbearing pair. And yet the kinder pair.

I made a mental debate on who to call first between the two and decided on Lucien. He was more easier albeit stoic.

And again, three rings and the line disconnects only for a call from a private number to come in.

“Mr. Kai, there has been an issue with the company and…”

“And my presence is needed. I am aware and I am thirty minutes away from the company”

“Oh. Okay then Mr. Kai”

He ended the call and I was still reeling in how easy it felt. One down, one to go.

“Hello, Mr. Moretti. This is Noelle Sinclair speaking. There has been an emoergency at the company and your presence is required for an emergency meeting.”

“When is this meeting scheduled to happen then?”

“Thirty minutes from now Sir. It truly was unprecedented”

There was a long silence from the other end of the line before a dragged out fine was heard. I proceeded to end the call and I may be overreacting but I could swear I heard a strained voice at the end of the line before it disconnected.

It wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on as I hurriedly gathered all related information needed and printed them into five documents.

I also made arrangements for the tea and coffees and made my way to the conference room to hold down the fort till they made their way.

And true to their word, they were all present before the thirty minutes elapsed and the meeting began in full swing.

I stood behind Adrien, taking notes of every word and numbers brought forth while the four of them kept mute. Slowly accessing the view in front of them.

And I finally got to witness why they were the main powerhouses. The beacons of authority. They didn’t say anything at all but yet you could feel every single emotion from their looks. Everyone was trembling. A scene I was familiar with as I had once been in this position.

Where you controlled the fate of thousands of people at the get go. But I seemed to forget that at the moment, my fate was the same as theirs. And that was the problem.

“Earth to Noelle!!”

Adrien semi yelled for God knows how many times as he looked at me with a look of utter disgust and shame.

“What kind of secretary zones out on one of the most important meetings of the company? Do you think we are here to tender to your own fucking needs? Are you that selfish?”

What the …

On a normal day, I would have swallowed it. (Heck never). But today, today I was going to go all out. Especially with how crazy this day has been.

“Excuse me sir, pardon me for zoning out but please don’t doubt my devotion to the company or the skills that I possess.”

“Are you talking back at…”

I ignored him completely as I continued firing my own statement.

“If you so much as glanced properly at the documents handed over to you, you would know that the numbers from the Singapore and London contract are way different from what you are currently holding. Secondly, the number of workers are way different from before. For the Singapore contract, we hired a total of fifty male workers and twenty female workers in total. That’s a total of seventy workers. For the London contract, a total number of fifty workers were hired.

Although the number of workers do not differ in both contracts, the payment section does. The payment section in the Singapore contract isn’t equivalent to a seventy-worker pay but rather a hundred and fifty-worker pay while the London contract has a hundred-worker pay.

And if I might add, I have kept original copies of all the documents you have signed partaining any foreign country as any slip up might cause an international rift. Just now, I compared tge two contracts and found a new clause in the London contract that wasn’t there initially, which means it’s either all four of your signatures were falsified or the clause was added after the contract was signed.

Is there anything else you need Mr. Velrose?”

All four pairs of eyes stained at me intently. Tge looks in them were so different. Adrien, was fuming.

“If you knew all these, then why keep shut and allow me listen to these fools yap?!”

“With all due respect Sir, both documents are lying on your table. You have a working pair of eyes and the differences in both contracts are not even that hard to find.”

Kael snickered in his seet as he tried to hold onto his laugh while Lucien Kai simply smiled!

He smiled!!! That was the first time in history I had seen him smile. The smile was contagious as I found myself smiling along while keeping my face stuck facing towards the floor. All of a sudden, the floor seemed intresting. I hurriedly glanced at Adrien when the weight of my words stuck. I had just indirectly threw a jab at my boss. Infront of other employees.

But again, it wasn’t my fault. He started it. Hmph.

I was still gazing at Lucien’s side profile as the smile stuck on his face when I felt a torrid of cold wind. And it seemed to be coming from … Dante?

He had a sour expression on his face as his gaze turned from me to the other three men in the room. And he seemed to be sulking…

His gaze met mine as he scoffed and turned away. Scoffed… He just scoffed! At me!!

I internally scowled, forgetting momentarily that we were in a conference room. This seemed to happen anytime the five of us were gathered together. It wasn’t an intentional act but it seemed to be the case now.

I brought my focus on Adrien when I felt his stare heavy on me.

“Sorry for letting loose Sir”

I did a slight bow with what I could make out as an apologetic face and it seemed to work as I watched his facial structures visibly relax.

“Since you are so smart, maybe you can finish up here then”

I looked at him in surprise. It was meant to be a diss. But why did it seem like he was encouraging me to take the reins. And with the motion he gave me, and a chair I didn’t even know was empty all this while.

He pulled out the seat that was three feet away from his and dragged me to it before pulling me down to sit. When he was done, he sat on the table, facing me squarely as the others gasped.

Four powerful men, watching me. Giving me the reins to handle two of the most important contracts of the company. Although one of them was sulking at the moment.

But pinch me, cause I was sure as hell I was dreaming.