CHAPTER 4: WHO IS YOUR BOSS?

8:00 AM. Walker & Montefalco Tower. 60th Floor.

Alison Carter had never been this nervous in her entire life.

She was wearing the same white blouse from yesterday, but she washed it last night in the hospital sink. She had dark circles under her eyes because she only slept for two hours. Her mother was still sleeping in the VIP room, with two private nurses watching.

And she had to choose.

Noah's office was on the 60th floor.

Agustin's office was on the 59th floor.

Both told her: "Report to MY office at 8 AM."

She was standing in the elevator, holding a small paper bag with her lunch - one boiled egg and rice. The elevator stopped at 59th floor first.

The door opened.

Agustin Montefalco was standing there, waiting for the elevator. As if he knew she would come.

He was wearing a black suit again, but today he had no tie. His top button was open, showing his gold chain. His scar looked darker in the morning light.

"Alison," he smiled. A rare smile. "You came. You chose me."

Alison swallowed. "Sir Agustin, I..."

"Come inside," Agustin took her small hand and pulled her out of the elevator gently but firmly. "Your office is ready."

His 59th floor office was not like Noah's. Noah's office was white, modern, clean. Agustin's office was dark, wooden, with a big bookshelf, a bar, and a painting of a wolf. It smelled like cigarettes and expensive perfume.

On the desk, there was a new laptop, a new phone, and a small box.

"For you," Agustin said, pointing to the box.

Alison opened it. Inside was a gold necklace with a small diamond. And a key card that said: "VIP - 59TH FLOOR SECRETARY - ALISON CARTER"

"That's 50,000 pesos," Agustin said casually. "The necklace. The key card is your access. You can enter anywhere. Even my bedroom... I mean, my rest room."

Alison's face turned red. "Sir, I can't accept this! It's too expensive!"

"You saved my boring life yesterday," Agustin sat on his desk, looking at her. "You shouted at me. No one has shouted at me in 10 years. Everyone is scared of me. But you are not. I like that."

"I'm scared of you, Sir," Alison admitted honestly.

"Good," Agustin laughed. "Be scared. But also be mine."

Before Alison could answer, the elevator dinged again. It was coming from the 60th floor, going down.

The door opened. Noah Walker was inside.

Noah was wearing a white suit today. His hair was perfectly combed. He looked like a prince. But when he saw Alison inside Agustin's office, holding a necklace box, his prince face turned into a jealous CEO face.

"Alison!" Noah walked out of the elevator fast. "What are you doing here? Your office is on the 60th floor! Not here!"

He saw the necklace. "What's that? Did he give you that?"

Alison hid the box behind her. "Sir Noah, I... I was just..."

Noah grabbed the box and looked at it. His blue eyes became cold. "A gold necklace on the first day? Agustin, what are you doing? Are you trying to buy her?"

"I'm not buying her," Agustin stood up, his black eyes also cold. "I'm giving her a welcome gift. Unlike you, cousin, who gave her a sandwich."

"I gave her a job that will save her mother!" Noah shouted.

"I saved her mother!" Agustin shouted back.

Again. They were fighting over her. In front of her.

"Stop! Stop fighting!" Alison shouted, louder than both of them. "You are both my bosses! You are both CEOs! Can you please stop fighting like kids?"

Both men went silent.

Alison was breathing hard. Tears were forming again. "I am just a secretary from Tondo! I'm not beautiful like your girlfriends! I'm not rich! Why are you fighting over me? I don't understand!"

Noah and Agustin stared at her. They didn't understand it either.

Noah spoke first, his voice soft. "Alison, you're wrong. You are the most beautiful woman I've seen. Not because of your face, but because of your heart. Yesterday, you were kind to a janitor. No one has ever been kind to me when I was pretending to be poor."

Agustin spoke second, his voice deeper. "Alison, you're wrong too. You are not just a secretary from Tondo. You are the first woman who made me want to go home early from work. I have 100 women in my phone. I deleted them all last night. Because of you."

Alison's heart beat fast. Two confessions. In one morning.

She didn't know what to say.

Then her new phone - the one Agustin gave her - rang. It was the hospital.

"Hello? Ma? Mama?"

It was the nurse. "Ms. Carter, your mother woke up! She is looking for you!"

"Mama woke up!" Alison smiled, her tears falling. "My Mama woke up!"

She ran to the elevator, forgetting about the two CEOs.

"I need to go to the hospital! My Mama woke up!"

Noah ran with her. "I'll drive you!"

Agustin also ran with her. "No, I'll drive you! My car is faster!"

They both squeezed into the elevator with her. The elevator was small. Alison was in the middle. Noah on her left, Agustin on her right. The elevator smelled like two expensive perfumes mixing.

"My car is a Ferrari," Agustin said.

"My car is a Lamborghini," Noah said.

"My car is bulletproof," Agustin said.

"My car is... also bulletproof," Noah said.

Alison wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

When they arrived at the hospital, Elena Carter was awake. She was sitting on the bed, pale but smiling.

"Alison, anak..."

"Mama!" Alison hugged her mother.

Elena saw the two handsome men behind her daughter. She was shocked.

"Alison, who are they? Are they... your boyfriends?"

Alison's face turned super red. "No, Mama! They are my bosses! Both of them!"

Elena looked at Noah, then at Agustin. As a mother, she knew.

"Anak, you have two bosses? But why are they both looking at you like you are their wife?"

Noah and Agustin both coughed.

"Ma'am, I'm Noah Walker," Noah said politely, bowing. "I'm Alison's boss on the 60th floor."

"And I'm Agustin Montefalco," Agustin said, also bowing, but more like a mafia boss bowing. "I'm Alison's boss on the 59th floor. And I'm the one who paid for your operation."

Elena's eyes widened. "You paid? How much?"

"1 million, Ma'am," Agustin said.

"No, I also paid!" Noah said quickly. "I also paid 1 million!"

Elena looked at her daughter, then at the two billionaires. She smiled like a mother who knows a teleserye is happening in real life.

"Alison, anak, you have to choose one boss only. You cannot have two bosses. It's not allowed. Who is your real boss?"

All eyes were on Alison.

Noah's blue eyes: "Choose me."

Agustin's black eyes: "Choose me."

Alison's mother: "Choose wisely, anak."

Alison took a deep breath. Her heart was beating so loud.

She looked at Noah, who pretended to be a janitor to find true love.

She looked at Agustin, who was a mafia but saved her mother without asking for anything.

"I... I choose..."

The heart monitor of Elena suddenly beeped fast. Elena held her chest.

"Mama!"

The nurse ran in. "The patient needs rest! Everyone out! Out!"

Alison was pushed out of the room. Noah and Agustin were pushed out too.

In the hallway, Alison was crying again.

And the question was still unanswered: Who is her boss?

Noah held her left hand. "Choose me, Alison."

Agustin held her right hand. "Choose me, Alison."