Chapter 3 The Man Everyone Feared

"Name and business?" the security guard at the front desk demanded, his sharp voice slicing clean through the sudden, blaring sound of the emergency alarm.

I swallowed hard, holding my breath as the lobby's backup lights flickered on, casting a dim golden glow over the massive marble floor. I stepped up to the high desk, gripping my document folder tightly against my ribs. "Aria Vance. I am here for an interview for the Executive Personal Assistant position."

The guard glanced down at his tablet, his eyes scanning the screen before he tapped a button. The loud alarm cut off as quickly as it had started, leaving behind a heavy silence across the vast lobby. "Seventeenth floor. Use the central elevators," he said, handing me a silver visitor badge. "Head straight to HR."

I took the badge with trembling fingers, pinned it to my blazer, and walked toward the bank of central elevators. Around me, dozens of polished employees moved with swift precision, their shoes clicking sharply against the spotless floor. Everything about the building breathed unimaginable wealth, power, and high prestige.

Standing near the elevator doors, I glanced at the three other women waiting alongside me. They wore designer suit jackets, carried expensive leather bags, and exuded an effortless air of corporate confidence. Looking down at my plain black blazer, my cheap trousers, and my scuffed flats, a sudden wave of sharp inadequacy washed over my chest. They looked like they belonged in a palace of high finance; I looked like an imposter who had wandered in off the street.

To stop it, I scolded myself silently, clenching my hands into tight fists inside my pockets as the elevator doors slid open with a soft chime. I had spent four agonizing months starving, hunting, and praying for a single chance to save my family from absolute ruin. I had worked far too hard and suffered far too much to let my own foolish self-doubt defeat me before I even stepped into the interview room.

I held my head up high, squared my shoulders, and stepped directly into the elevator.

The elevator doors closed silently, gliding smoothly upward until they opened onto the bright seventeenth floor. I stepped out into the quiet hallway and walked straight to the visitor registration desk. I handed my identification card to the receptionist, signed my name on the digital roster, and waited as she checked my details. She gave me a brief, polite nod and pointed down the hall toward a spacious waiting area filled with soft leather chairs.

I walked over and took a seat near the back, resting my document folder neatly on my lap. Across the room, five other applicants were already waiting. Two of them were sitting close together, whispering confidently about their Ivy League degrees, top corporate internships, and impressive business qualifications. Another candidate nearby was carefully reviewing a thick stack of professional certificates. Watching them chat so effortlessly made a fresh wave of nervous tension twist inside my stomach. My hands grew cold as my self-doubt returned, making me feel smaller and far less prepared than everyone else in the room.

I took a slow breath and tried to focus, trying to block out their confident voices. That was when I noticed two female employees standing near the water dispenser just outside the waiting area. They were speaking in hushed, urgent tones.

"Is he really already in the building?" the younger employee asked, her eyes wide with obvious anxiety.

"Yes, his car pulled up a few minutes ago," the second woman replied, lowering her voice even further. "Mr. Blackwood is already heading up to the executive suite. You know how completely terrified everyone gets whenever he steps foot in this place. Nobody wants to make a single mistake today."

"I need to get back to my desk right now," the first woman said, smoothing down her skirt with trembling hands. "If he catches anyone slacking off, we are all dead meat."

They turned and walked away quickly, their urgent footsteps fading down the long hallway. Silence returned to the waiting area, heavy and filled with unspoken fear. I sat back in my chair, staring at the empty corridor where the two women had been standing.

A strange, cold prickle of curiosity began to stir deep inside my chest. What kind of man possessed so much power that his mere arrival made an entire office of adult professionals panic? I wondered what Mr. Blackwood was truly like behind those closed executive doors. I wanted to know why everyone seemed to fear him so deeply, and what meeting him meant.

The quiet atmosphere in the waiting area suddenly vanished as a sharp, heavy shift rippled through the hallway.

Employees who had been casually chatting immediately stopped talking and hurried back to their desks. Secretaries sat up straight, typing frantically with rigid shoulders, while managers walking down the corridor quickly backed against the wall and lowered their heads. The entire floor became completely silent, holding its breath as the large glass doors at the end of the private corridor swung open.

Everyone in the hallway respectfully cleared a wide path, making way for someone very important. A tight group of serious men in dark suits stepped through the doors, surrounding a tall figure at the center. I leaned forward in my leather chair, my heart beating fast against my ribs. I strained my neck to see who had just arrived, but two tall executives standing near the glass partition completely blocked my view. I could only catch a brief glimpse of broad shoulders moving with slow, cold power through the crowd.

My pulse raced with intense curiosity. Was that him? Was that the feared billionaire CEO everyone was terrified of? Instinctively, I turned my body toward the movement, eager to finally catch a clear glimpse of the mysterious man’s face before he disappeared into the private wing.

"Aria Vance?"

A sharp, clear voice suddenly called out my name from the front desk, breaking the heavy silence in the room.

I froze on the spot, turning my head to see a stern female HR officer standing by the doorway with a thick clipboard in her hands. "Miss Vance? Please come with me. Your interview is starting right now."

My breath caught in my throat. I swallowed the lump in my neck, grabbed my document folder, and smoothed down my cheap black blazer. I took a deep breath to steady my trembling hands and stepped forward to follow the officer down the long corridor.

I walked behind her with steady steps, completely unaware that she was leading me directly down the same hallway where the feared man had just gone, bringing me straight toward the very person I was about to face.