Chapter 3

(Amaka's POV)

After I finished having my breakfast in the kitchen, I stepped out of the house and made my way outside of the compound. The house was a rented apartment, not like Mrs. Ann owned it.

Luckily, as I got outside onto the busy road, I saw a yellow bus and got in. I sat beside a tall man who wore a black suit, and he smiled at me.

I was too preoccupied to smile back. After what Joseph had done to me, I limited smiling with any man. It was very painful that Joseph would break up with me like that. He should have told me that he wanted only sex, not that he wanted to marry me.

I was a decent girl in my area, which was why I became a laughingstock among my peers. They hadn't expected a good girl like me to become pregnant.

I wiped my sobs away and kept my gaze focused on the road. The man who sat beside me spoke. "Hi, dear. I have paid your fare."

"Huh!" I looked taken aback that a total stranger would help me clear my bill. As I looked at this man's face, I gulped. He was fair-skinned like me, and he had short brown hair like my son. Though he wasn't Joseph Ericson, he was handsome and masculine.

"Thank you, sir, but you shouldn't have done that. I don't need any favors from you," I replied, as the bus continued to drive towards our destination.

"I understand, but I cannot help but appreciate your beauty. Do you live around here, or where are you heading to now?" he asked, and I grimaced.

Gross! I hated it whenever a guy poked his nose into my affairs.

"I am sorry, sir, but I cannot tell you anything about myself. These days, people easily get kidnapped, and trusting a stranger is a risk," I stated, my voice lowered so as not to embarrass him, as we had other passengers seated behind us.

"Fine. I will keep that in mind," he replied, while I looked away.

"Industrial estate. Anyone getting down?" the driver of the yellow bus asked, and I responded, "Yes, sir."

I dropped down from the bus, and the tall man in the black suit also came down. My brows furrowed, wondering if he didn't have a job by this early hour of the day.

I wanted to pay the bus conductor, but he told me, "Your husband has paid."

"What? He's not my husband," I warned the conductor, who gasped. "Oh! Sorry, madam. But you two resemble each other."

"Alright." I turned and quickly made my way to the company I was heading to: J.E Globals.

I didn't speak to the tall man who walked along with me. I believed that by the time I got into the company's gate, he would find his way. However, as I got to the gate, he checked in with his identity badge, and the security man let him in. I was surprised that the man was already working there, but I wasn't allowed inside.

"Yes. What do you want, madam?" the security man asked me, and I replied, "I'm here for my interview." I showed him the email on my phone, and he finally allowed me into the company.

I had to wait for my interview with the boss, as the company was very strict, like Maureen had told me. I hadn't researched this company, believing I would secure the job. A lady told me to sit and wait for the boss to arrive, and it was already 9 a.m. before he did.

I didn't raise my head to look at the boss who strode into the company's lobby. I heard whispering from other new members who had come for their interview. We were up to ten candidates who came for this mouthwatering job—five men and five women.

Soon, the lady in charge of ushering us came with her folder to introduce herself, as she had previously told us to sit and wait.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to J.E Global. We do not entertain cheating or breach of our contracts. We expect our staff to keep our company name high to motivate other brands out there to partner with us and our goods and services. So we will proceed with a quick introduction. I am Anita Edward, your new coach. I will give out this consent form to each and every one of you. Once you sign it, it shows that you have agreed with our company's agreement. Then I will assign you to your partner, who will mentor you on how our system operates. But before that, you will have to go in one by one for your interview with our boss. Once he approves of you and why you're here to work with us, then you can sign this form. Agreed?" she asked, and I swallowed hard.

I sat in the lobby on the long guest chairs, waiting. I could see their clients coming in and going out of the building. I was nervous, wondering who that man I had seen earlier was. There was no way the boss of J.E Globals would be entering a bus like I did. Although I had the money to afford a small car, I didn't want to show off.

I was earning more money than Maureen, who taught me how to blog. So if I purchased a car now, it would seem like I was trying to compete with her. I don't know if that's how Maureen feels, but that's how I think she might feel, so I limited doing anything to piss her off. She doesn't get pissed off, but I don't want to show off.

"Amaka Richard. It's your time now to go in for your interview," Anita said.

"Okay, ma." I quickly snapped out of my trance, rose from the guest chair, and adjusted my red top and black skirt properly.

"Ma, can I go in there with my handbag?" I asked, not knowing if I could carry it in.

"No. Come with me," Anita ushered me to follow her, and she showed me a safe where I could keep my bag and hold the key until I returned to take it.

"Thank you, ma," I told her, and she smiled.

"Hurry up and don't keep our boss waiting," she said.

"Okay," I replied and walked to the boss's office.

I drew a deep breath and entered the vast office on the fifth floor, and my eyes landed on the dark-skinned man in the black suit seated behind the desk.

"What?!" I gasped, shocked to see Joseph Ericson as the boss of this new company.

Why didn't I research about him?

How did I forget to check about the new company I was coming to work for?

I tried to look away from his face and to leave his office. He appeared indifferent, like he didn't know me.

"Are you Amaka Richard?" he asked, pretending not to know me.

Unbelievable! Did I change that much? How could he not recognize me after just four years of our relationship?

My lips trembled as I tried to respond to him. "Jo... Joseph. You own this company?" I asked him, tears welling up in my brown eyes.

"Excuse me, have we met before?" he asked me. I shook my head. Since he was pretending not to know me, then I would pretend that I didn't know him too.

We dated for one year before he ran away with his family. How couldn't he recognize me?