Chapter 5

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The day finally arrived.

True to her word, Mrs. Hail showed up that morning with the documents Grace had asked for. She had also prepared a small envelope with some extra cash inside.

Grace looked inside the envelope and frowned.  “Mmm, what is this?”

“Money,” Mrs. Hail replied simply.

She raised her head. “I can see that. But I already have enough with me.”

“Good, use this as an extra.”

Grace groaned.

Mrs. Hail smiled and pushed the envelope back into her hand. “You are leaving the country for the first. So, keep it. You never know when you might need it.”

Grace shook her head but accepted it anyway. “Fine. Thank you.”

Mrs. Hail's smile softened. “Come here.”

Before Grace could react, Mrs. Hail pulled her into a hug.

For a second, Grace froze. Then she slowly hugged her back.

“Take care of yourself,” Mrs. Hail whispered.

“I will.”

“And stop using bad language every five minutes.”

Grace laughed. “No promises.”

Mrs. Hail pulled away and looked at her carefully.

There was pride in her eyes, but there was also worry. “You are going to do great things, Grace.”

Grace swallowed the lump in her throat. “I hope so.”

A few hours later, they arrived at the airport.

After checking in and saying their final goodbyes, Grace stood for a moment, staring through the glass walls.

This had been her home for years.

The place where she lost everything, where she healed, and where she learned how to survive.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up her bag and headed for boarding.

Soon, their plane was in the air.

Most of the others slept during the flight, but Grace could not.

Every now and then, she looked out the window, still finding it hard to believe this was actually happening.

New York.

Before she knew it, the plane landed. The moment they stepped out of the airport, Grace's eyes widened.

New York was exactly how she had imagined it. The tall buildings.

The crowds. The energy. Everything.

While the others were busy taking pictures and recording videos, Grace stood there quietly. Tears slowly filled her eyes.

For the first time in a very long time, she felt like she was moving forward instead of being stuck in one place.

It was only the first step, but she was happy.

Without wasting much time, they headed to the hotel. Once everyone had checked in, Mr. Berk gathered them together.

“Get some rest,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, we report to headquarters. And from what I've heard, the new boss will be there as well.”

A few excited murmurs spread through the group.

“The boss himself?”

“Seriously?”

“I heard he's ridiculously handsome.”

Mr. Berk rolled his eyes.

“Save the gossip for later. Be ready by morning.” With that, he left them to settle in.

Grace had planned to look around the city once she arrived, but the long trip had drained every bit of energy from her body. The moment she dropped onto the bed, she fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, sunlight was already pouring through the curtains.

Grace blinked. Then she looked at the clock.

Her eyes widened.

“What the hell?!”

She jumped out of bed so fast that she nearly tripped over her bag. The other recruits looked up from where they were getting ready.

“Look who's finally awake,” one of them said with a laugh.

Grace stared at them. “Why didn't anybody wake me up?”

“We tried.”

A girl standing near the mirror pointed at another recruit.

“Blame her. she said if we woke you up, you'd probably bite our heads off.”

“That is not what I said,” the girl protested.

“That is exactly what you said.”

Grace groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “How much time do we have left?”

“Thirty minutes,” one of them replied.

“… That should be enough.”

“You sound way too confident.”

Grace pointed the middle finger at them as she hurried toward the bathroom.

“Watch and learn.”

The others burst out laughing.

True to her word, she freshened up and got dressed in record time.

By the time Mr. Berk arrived with the driver, she was ready.

During the drive, Mr. Berk spent most of the journey lecturing them about the company.

Grace learned that O.S. Publishing was one of the leading publishing firms in the country.

The conversation soon shifted to the company's new president.

According to Mr. Berk, the new boss was the only child of the Creed family and had more wealth, businesses, and properties under his name than most people could dream of.

His name was Noah Creed. Grace stared out the window.

Noah Creed.

What kind of name was that?

Curious, she decided to look him up herself.

There was no picture of him online, which she found strange, but there was plenty of information about him.

He was in his early thirties. Married three times. Now divorced. A father.

And about a month ago, his engagement to a beautiful young model had been made public.

Grace blinked. “Okay... that's not crazy at all.”

Three marriages before thirty-something?

The man was definitely living up to the rich billionaire stereotype.

Just as she started imagining what it would be like working for someone like that, Mr. Berk's voice cut through her thoughts.

“We're here.”

Grace looked up.

The moment she saw the O.S. Publishing headquarters, her mouth fell open.

The building was massive, covered in silver glass that reflected the morning sunlight. Several buildings were connected together, forming one giant structure.

“This is the biggest building I have ever seen in my fucking life.”

“No doubt, it is.”

A woman's voice came from behind her.

Grace turned around.

Standing there was a woman she had never seen before, dressed in a fitted black gown. Just as Grace was about to say something, Mr. Berk called out again.

“Grace! Come on. We don't have all day, and I need to get back to Canada today.”

“Oh! Right. Sorry.” She glanced back at the woman. “Well... if you don't mind.”

The woman smiled slightly and stepped aside.

Grace hurried after the others.

The moment they walked into the building, she nearly stopped again. The inside was even more impressive than the outside.

Marble floors. Glass walls. Large chandeliers.

People moving around with purpose. Everything about the place screamed money.

Real money.

After a brief discussion with the receptionist, a lady from the first floor came to escort them upstairs.

The moment the elevator doors opened, cool air washed over Grace's face.

“Now this is what I call an office,” one of the recruits muttered beside her.

Grace silently agreed. The floor was packed.

There were recruits from different branches, some chatting nervously, others scrolling through their phones while they waited.

After what felt like forever, Mr. Berk finally came over, handed them a few documents, gave them a short lecture, wished them luck, and left.

Just like everyone else, Grace found a seat and waited.

Time crawled by.

A little after 12:30 p.m., the office elevator opened, causing a lot of commotion.

Almost immediately, the atmosphere changed.

The staff who had been chatting on their phones and among themselves suddenly started acting busy.

Everyone, both senior and junior staff, became so coordinated that it was almost unbelievable.

Grace looked at them, confused.

“What’s happening?” she asked quietly.

One of the recruits shrugged. “No idea.”

Then she noticed the expressions on some of the others around her. A few of the women were staring toward the elevator. One even fixed her hair.

Now curious, Grace turned around to the elevator. And froze.

It was her turn to stare.

A man stepped out of the elevator. Tall, with a well-built frame.

With a face that looked like it belonged on a magazine cover, he looked almost too perfect to be real.

His golden hair was neatly pushed back, his eyes a mix of blue and gold.

 Even from a distance, there was something about him that naturally drew attention.

The room had practically gone silent.

Grace blinked. “Okay...” she muttered under her breath.

Now she understood why everyone was staring.

The man just kept walking, completely ignoring the eyes on him. Or maybe he was simply used to it. Grace's gaze tracked him with the rest of the crowd, but her eyes got stuck on the details.

He wore a black tuxedo, but he had the sleeves rolled up a bit. She couldn't take her eyes off his arms. They were lean and strong, and she found herself imagining exactly what those hands and arms could do to a woman in the dark.

Then she looked at his chest, and her mind went straight to the gutter.

Her eyes traveled all the way down his long legs. The way he was standing made the fabric tight in certain places, leaving very little to the imagination about what he was hiding under those trousers.

Grace, stop it.

She looked away too quickly, her face suddenly burning.

But then she noticed the silence. Why weren't his shoes moving anymore?

Her heart dropped.

The only reason she’d been able to look him up and down like that was because he had stopped walking. He was standing right in front of her. Grace swallowed hard, tried to calm her nerves, and slowly lifted her head.

When she looked at his face, she stopped.

Earlier, she had thought he looked like an angel. She was wrong.

He looked incredible, his lips were curved into a sharp, annoyed frown, but Grace barely noticed. Her mind was already wandering again. Looking at his mouth, she couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if he kissed her.

Stop, Grace, seriously. Get it together.

Just as she started to feel guilty for staring, he spoke. His voice was deep, smooth, and completely ruined the moment.

"If you're done ogling, do you mind getting out of the way?" he asked. He looked down at her. "And please wipe the drool off your face."

"What? I don’t..." Grace couldn't even finish before he pushed right past her, looking completely disgusted.

The heat rushed to her face. It was brutal, and she knew the whole office had just seen the entire thing.

“Was I actually drooling…?” she whispered, covering her face. “God, someone just kill me.

"Yeah, at this point, that might be your only option," a voice said from behind her.

Grace turned around and saw the woman from outside. Of course, someone this beautiful worked here.

"Seriously, I'm a woman, you know?" the stranger teased, noticing Grace staring at her.

"I can see that," Grace muttered. The two massive curves on the woman's chest made it pretty obvious, but whatever.

"Well," the woman said, smirking. "You can stop checking me out now."

"What is your problem?" Grace snapped, completely frustrated. "I was not checking you out."

"Didn't look that way to me," she replied, clearly loving how annoyed Grace was getting.

Losing her filter entirely, Grace blurted out, "Well, too bad, I love dicks—you know, the long, big, and real ones." It was a pretty bold claim for someone who hadn't even seen one yet, but she didn't care.

The woman just laughed. "What a coincidence, so do I, but I love them a lot bigger, if you know what I mean."

She laughed so hard she practically teared up. Finally, she wiped her eyes and held a hand out to Grace. "I'm Susan Freeman. Nice to meet you. I have a feeling we're going to be best friends," she said with a massive grin.

Grace looked at Susan's hand, then up at her face. "I highly doubt that."

She marched over to her seat, completely annoyed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Susan still laughing.

When Grace glanced back, Susan gave her a little wave, but Grace just ignored her and looked away.

Sitting at her desk, Grace couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

What was wrong with her today? She couldn't believe this was happening on her very first day. She had never cared about dating or guys before, but suddenly, she was daydreaming about her new boss's.

Shit. Let's see how this goes, she thought.