Chapter 1

The intern, Mia Sinclair, jabbed a finger right at my nose. "If you understood plain English, you'd already be downstairs! Quit stalling!"

Honestly, I had to admire her nerve a little. Seven years ago, I fought my own brother and sister for the right to inherit this company. Since then, nobody dared talk to me like this.

Today's orientation was for the new interns, so it made sense they didn't recognize me. But regardless of recognizing me, no job title gave anyone the right to treat another person like garbage.

I glanced around. People were already watching, whispering to each other.

"Did you hear that? Mia's aunt is actually the CEO! Such an important person is standing right next to me!"

"Mia just gave an order and the guard still won't go get the coffee. Does he have a death wish?"

Someone turned and flashed her a greasy smile. "Don't waste your breath on a security guard, Mia. Guys like him couldn't afford one of your handbags if they worked their whole lives."

Watching a room full of highly educated interns fall over themselves to flatter her, I realized something. A fancy degree doesn't always come with decent character.

Mia noticed everyone watching and got even more full of herself.

She flipped me off. "You hear that, Security? If you want to keep your minimum wage job, you better get down there and grab that coffee."

"And if I don't?" I asked calmly.

Mia clearly hadn't expected someone she assumed was an ordinary security guard to talk back to her in front of everyone.

Her face went red with anger. "Then, I'm firing you right now! Get out of my sight!"

Just when things were getting tense, a guy in glasses, Leo Smith, nervously said, "M-Mia, maybe don't give the guard such a hard time. He might have his own work to do. How about I just run down and grab everyone's coffee instead? No need to fire him."

It was the perfect excuse for Mia to back down.

Instead, she scoffed. "Is this guard your relative or something? Why are you so eager to help him?"

She shot me a cold look. "I'll say it one more time. My aunt is the CEO of this company. I'm only interning here to pass the time. In a few days, I'll be a department head. You people are the kind of nobodies who'll never even get close to someone like me.

"If you know what's good for you, you've got three seconds to get downstairs and bring me my coffee. Otherwise, I'll make sure you never work in this industry again."

I wasn't the least bit intimidated. If anything, I almost laughed as I said, "Mia, why don't you go ask around and find out who actually runs this company? Your aunt, or me, Ethan Caldwell."

I figured once I gave her my name, she'd either back off or go check for herself.

Instead, she shoved me hard. "Who do you think you are, pretending to be the CEO?

"Oh, I get it now. You heard my aunt was the CEO and decided you'd try to worm your way into her good graces, didn't you? Save yourself the trouble. The Sinclairs are old money. We wouldn't look twice at trash like you."