chapter five

Mr. Williams left Jeremy Whitmore's office with his back straight and his jaw clenched.

He had spent years keeping Whitmore Global running smoothly, yet the new heir had dismissed him with barely a glance, as though his experience were an inconvenience.

And Ray had witnessed every second of it.

That thought irritated him almost as much as Jeremy's attitude.

By the time Mr. Williams reached the main office, his composure was hanging by a thread. Conversations faded as employees noticed him approaching. A woman stopped mid-sentence while two men hurried back to their screens.

Mr. Williams noticed everything. He did not need to shout to make the room tense; his clipped questions were usually enough to send people scrambling.

“Is there a reason half this office looks as though it has forgotten how to work?” he demanded.

Keys began clicking. Papers shuffled. A telephone was answered with unnecessary enthusiasm.

Apparently, everyone had remembered their jobs at once.

Mr. Williams stopped beside a junior employee and picked up the report on his desk. He scanned the pages and frowned.

“Did you prepare this?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then explain why I'm looking at it.”

The young man blinked. “I'm sorry, sir?”

“Review the entire report. Check every figure and prepare a new record. I want it on my desk as soon as possible.”

The employee had checked the figures twice. Everything matched the source documents.

“Sir, I checked it before submitting it. The figures are consistent with the original records.”

Mr. Williams's eyes narrowed.

“Are you suggesting I don't know what I'm talking about?”

“No, sir. I only meant—”

“Then do as you're told.”

The junior employee swallowed the rest of his explanation.

“And arrange the figures according to the revised format I just explained,” Mr. Williams added before walking away.

The young man stared at him. The revised format contradicted the instructions he'd received earlier.

“Understood, sir,” he replied anyway.

He turned back to his computer and stared at the screen. He had done the work correctly, yet now had to redo it because his boss had changed the instructions.

Across the office, Sophie Bennett leaned toward Annie.

“Something tells me today is going to be very long,” she whispered.

Annie kept her eyes on her documents. “Something tells me you should stop talking before he hears you.”

“He looks like he wants to fire the entire company.”

“Then don't volunteer to be first.”

Annie wasn't in the mood. She had enough problems waiting at home, and her salary mattered too much to risk workplace drama.

She returned to work, determined to keep her head down.

Unfortunately, Mr. Williams was heading straight for their desk.

He stopped and inspected the neatly stacked papers. Annie watched him, ready to defend her work if he found fault.

Mr. Williams examined two documents. Annie waited, composed but alert. Sophie sat unusually still.

After a few uncomfortable seconds, he put the papers down.

“Miss Bennett. Come with me.”

Sophie looked at him, then at Annie, as if hoping he meant someone else.

“Me, sir?”

“Do you see another Miss Bennett sitting here?”

“No, sir.”

“Then come.”

Sophie rose, smoothing her skirt. She gave Annie one last look of silent alarm before following him.

Annie exchanged a glance with the employee at the next desk. He raised his eyebrows; she gave a small shrug.

Nobody knew what Sophie had done wrong. That was the problem with Mr. Williams. Sometimes, there was no mistake to explain.

In his office, he handed Sophie a thick stack of documents.

“Organize these by department, check them against the current staff records, and prepare a clear summary. I want everything ready before the end of the day.”

Sophie looked at the stack. It was enough work for several people, and her regular assignments were waiting.

“Sir, should I put aside my current tasks to finish this?”

“Your priorities are whatever I tell you they are.”

She closed her mouth. She could already picture the hours she would spend cross-checking names and files while her own work piled up untouched.

“And I don't want careless work,” he added. “Check everything twice.”

“Yes, sir.”

He dismissed her with a wave.

Sophie returned to Annie's desk carrying the documents against her chest. Once seated, she leaned close and whispered, “He just gave me enough work to keep an entire department busy.”

Annie glanced at the stack. “What did you do?”

“Apparently, I had the terrible misfortune of being available.”

Annie bit back a smile.

“Don't laugh,” Sophie murmured. “If I disappear before five, tell everyone I died under a mountain of paperwork.”

“Just make sure your ghost finishes the report.”

Sophie gave her a wounded look and began sorting the documents.

A few desks away, the junior employee rearranged the figures, then checked the original request. The new format contradicted the old one.

He looked around for help.

Everyone suddenly found something else to do.

Mr. Williams passed through the office once more, and the staff straightened in unison. Satisfied by the sudden silence and frantic activity, he returned to his office believing he had restored order.

As soon as his door closed, employees exchanged weary looks.

Annie glanced at Sophie, already buried in paperwork, then at the junior employee staring helplessly at his screen.

One man's wounded pride had turned an ordinary workday into punishment for everyone else.

Annie faced her computer again. She couldn't afford to get involved. She needed her job, her salary, and every bit of patience she had left.

Whatever was happening at the top of Whitmore Global, she wanted no part of it.

For now, she had enough trouble of her own.