Chapter 5

ELENA'S POV

“Elena Hart? Is there an Elena Hart here?"

I quickly took in a deep breath and smiled. “I'm here," I immediately answered, standing from my seat. “I'm here. I'm Elena Hart."

The lady standing at the door looked me over, clearly unimpressed with my look. Sighing, she turned to the side, gesturing for me to follow her. I gave her a half smile, my worn shoes clapping embarrassingly against the polished tiles.

I rubbed my sweaty palms against my blouse, my lips quivering as I followed closely behind the lady. I couldn't tell if it was the cold air seeping from the air-conditioning or my nerves but I found my teeth chattering uncontrollably.

“Right this way," the lady said as she led me down a small hallway.

We walked past people working behind desks. They all had their gazes fixed on the monitor before then as they typed away on their keyboard, not even sparing me a glance.

At least they were better than the girls in the waiting room.

We finally stopped in front of a wide oak door, a silver nameplate hanging above the frame. Before I could take my time to read the name engraved on it, the lady pushed the door open and gestured me in.

“Sir," she called, entering after me. “The next applicant is here."

The office was modern–clean lines, walls lined with bookshelves stacked to the top and the faint smell of cappuccino wafting through the air. Behind the large mahogany desk in front of me sat a man wearing glasses. He seemed too focused on whatever he was working on in the laptop in front of him to even notice my presence.

“You can go," he said quietly, waving his hands.

The lady nodded, whispered good luck to me and walked out the door. Now by myself, I clutched my phone and folder tight, staring at the man. I glanced at the seat, wondering if I should go sit down myself when he suddenly spoke up.

“Why you still standing over there?” he asked, glancing up from his system to look at me. "Take a seat.”

"Thank you,” I answered under my breath as I walked over to the seat and sat down slowly.

I watched him type away and my gaze lingered longer than I wanted to. He looked young–possibly in his late twenties–and his skin was a rich blend of light brown and gold. He had a sharp feature and smooth black curly hair. When he finally looked up, his brown eyes met mine.

“Is there a reason for your state, Miss…” he paused, looking down at the file in front of him, "... Hart?”

"Oh, s-sorry,” I stuttered, taking my gaze off him as I realized how long I had been staring. “I just… I had heard some stories back at the waiting room. People said the CEO was cold and ruthless. I didn't expect to see someone this… calm.”

The frown on his face slowly faded and he let out a soft chuckle. “Well, the stories you heard were definitely not wrong," he said with a wide grin as he sank into his seat. “I'm actually not the CEO. My name's Liam Bennett, Secretary to the CEO. My boss is a bit tied up today so I'll be handling the interviews.”

"Oh,” I muttered, my cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "I… I didn't know."

“It's alright," Liam said as he sat back up, the warm smile on his face instantly disappearing. “So, it says here you applied for the assistant position." I grunted in response. “Do you have your CV with you?"

I tapped on my phone and handed it to him. “My CV’s digital,” I explained after seeing the look on his face. "I couldn’t print it because my printer stopped working this morning.”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “And… the folder you have with you?”

"Oh, just for show,” I said with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't want it to look like I was coming here empty-handed so I… took a folder with me.”

Liam paused, staring at me with amusement in his eyes. “Usually, that’s an automatic disqualificatio.” My heart sank. "But," he sighed, turning his attention to the phone, “you came all the way here, so I'll take a look anyway."

“Thank you,” I whispered, relief flooding through me.

He gave me a soft grunt and began scrolling through my resume silently. The sound of the air conditioner filled the room and I sat there, watching, trying to steady my breathing as I waited for him to say something—anything.

Finally, he nodded. “It says here you worked for a customer service company before,” he said, his eyes not leaving the phone. "And you handled most of their work, earning a good track record of consecutive employee of the month for a whole year plus."

“Yes, sir," I replied. “It wasn't a big place but I managed to—”

"It also says here that your customer satisfaction rate dropped and you accumulated a lot of losses for the company after your four year stay with them,” Liam suddenly cut in, his tone sharp and blunt. "Seems like a…" his eyes dropped to the smudge on my shirt, “... bad stain on your good record, Miss Hart.”

I gulped, my heart racing as I kicked my dry lips. "A whole lot began to happen and it distracted me a bit during those times but… they're all over now and I'm ready to work.”

Liam nodded, picking his own and jotting something down on the notepad in front of him. “You seem quite honest,” he said finally after what felt like an eternity. “That’s rare in interviews.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, unsure if it was a compliment or a warning.

Without saying anything else, he turned back to my phone, glancing through the CV. But as he scrolled a bit further, his expression suddenly changed. His eyes narrowed. He stopped moving his thumb and tilted the screen slightly.

My heart jumped to my throat–it was a photo of Elijah in the onesies I had put him in before sending him to bed last night. He was staring at the camera, grinning widely as he showed me his toy truck.

How did I forget to delete that?

“Who's… this?” he asked, his expression switching to curiosity. "Who's the little boy in the picture?”

"Oh, it's my friend's son,” I answers quickly. "I sometimes babysit him for her. I took the cute picture yesterday and… forgot to delete.”

"Oh,” Liam muttered as he turned to phone back to himself. "It's alright. Just that his features look really… familiar.”

I could tell from his expressions that he didn't believe me, but that wasn't what worried me. It was the way he stared at Elijah's picture, like he recognized him somewhere.

“Do… do you have the phone number of your–”

Before he could finish talking, his phone rang. He picked it up, glancing at the screen with a soft frown before tapping on the screen.

“Hello, sir," he said as he placed the phone on his ear. “Yes, sir…. She's here, sir. Alright, understood.” He ended the call and looked back at me with a faint smirk. "Well, looks like you're in luck.”

I blinked. "I… I am?"

“My boss is here now," he answered, standing from the seat with a soft grunt. “You'll get to meet the cold, ruthless CEO yourself now and…”

His voice trailed off as the door clicked open. I quickly stood up from my seat, making sure to wear a polite smile as I turned to the door. But the moment my eyes met the CEO’s, everything inside me stopped and the air left my lungs. .

The young CEO stepped in, wearing a dark crisp suit that fitted his physique perfectly. He had a strong jawline and a face that sent shivers down my spine, but his eyes–I could never forget those eyes. It was the same that had stared down at mine as we made love after he'd saved me.

“Elena Hart," Liam said with a soft smile. “I'd like you to meet my boss…”

"Damien Cross.”