Chapter 5 - Midnight At The Office

ELISHA POV

It's been two weeks since I started working here, and I can honestly say it hasn't been easy, especially with my boss. But if he thinks he can make me give up, then he's mistaken.

I was on my way back to my desk with a cup of coffee when I overheard several employees talking. It looked like they were working overtime too.

"This is so tiring."

"I didn't expect we'd have overtime today; I thought it was next week."

"And you know what? I kinda feel sorry for his new secretary. She needs to finish all the documents given to her every single day. And it’s not a few files only. Imagine that?”

"Exactly! I'm sure she won't even last a month. And she’ll resign.”

When I returned to my workstation, I frowned after seeing another stack of documents waiting on my desk.

Is my boss doing this on purpose?

I let out a sigh before sitting down.

A sticky note was attached to the documents.

‘You need to finish this report. I need it by tomorrow.’

He needs it tomorrow, yet he only gave it to me now?

At this point, I was convinced he was making my life difficult on purpose.

I'd already finished about half of my workload.

I had lost count of how many cups of coffee I'd drunk just to keep myself awake.

There weren't many people left in the office anymore.

Only Caden, the accounting department, and I are still here in the company working.

While organizing the contracts and invoices, something caught my attention.

One supplier...

But two invoices?

How did that happen?

Was it just an error?

I searched through the other files related to that supplier to make sure before bringing it to Caden's attention.

CADEN POV

I quietly stepped out of my office to check whether Elisha was still awake or if she'd fallen asleep at her desk.

I knew I'd been hard on her from the very beginning.

But I had to.

It was part of my way of testing her.

Every employee who worked under me had gone through the same thing.

I saw her staring intently at the documents in front of her.

Judging from the expression on her face, she seemed to be searching for something.

"Finally! I found it!" she exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She flinched in surprise.

"S-Sir... How long have you been standing there?"

I shook my head.

"I just came out to check whether you were still working or if you'd already gone home."

"As if I'd leave without telling you."

"So?"

She handed me several documents.

I looked at them in confusion.

"Take a look at these files," she said. "I noticed something strange earlier, so I checked everything one by one."

"And?"

"Our finance department approved the same supplier twice."

I immediately examined the documents she'd given me.

"This can't be... How did this happen?"

"If those contracts get signed tomorrow, the company will lose a huge amount of money. 

They'll end up paying the same supplier twice."

I immediately returned to my office and ordered someone to call the head of finance.

How could they make such a careless mistake?

What if Elisha hadn't found it?

Fifty million wasn't a small amount of money.

"S-Sir... You wanted to see me?"

I looked up as the head of finance entered.

Without saying a word, I threw the documents onto his desk.

"What are these?" he asked.

"See for yourself."

He quickly scanned the documents.

A second later, his eyes widened.

"S-Sir..."

"Can you explain that?" I asked calmly. "One supplier. Two invoices."

"I'm sorry, Sir. We overlooked it."

"Sorry?" My voice remained calm, but every word carried weight. "Do you have any idea how much money this company would've lost if Elisha hadn't caught this? What if the contracts had already been signed and the payment had gone through? Could you get that money back?"

"I-I'm really sorry, Sir. I'll take care of it immediately."

The panic in his voice was obvious.

"Make sure you do. If this isn't resolved before tomorrow, you already know what will happen."

"Y-Yes, Sir."

He hurried out of my office.

I hated it when people made careless mistakes.

Fifty million wasn't something to joke about.

Even though my company was already successful, I refused to waste money.

The office door opened again.

I looked up and saw Elisha standing there with a small smile, holding a cup of coffee.

"What do you want?" I asked. "If you're asking to go home, then go."

She walked over and quietly placed the coffee on my desk.

Without saying anything else, she turned to leave.

"Elisha."

She stopped and looked back.

"Yes, Sir? Do you need something?"

I met her eyes.

"Thank you."

A brief pause.

"And... good job."