Chapter 01 - The Man Who Hated Missy Sutton (Part 2)

Like Jonathan in his youth, they wanted to fulfill themselves professionally. Their father had created a renowned engineering company and made it prosper for years, giving the three of them an extremely comfortable life, and only sold it after discovering that he was sick, in order to have more time to spend with his daughters and take care of his own health. And finally, when the doctors told him there was nothing more to be done, Jonathan had also made sure to provide them with the largest inheritance possible. It seemed almost disrespectful to use the money his father had accumulated after so many years of tireless work just to spend his life enjoying himself.

So she and her sister turned to professions that involved what they loved, where they would be not only useful but also happy, as they always knew Jonathan's greatest desire was: Megan, who was born with the gift of communication, she had initially graduated in Publicity and Propaganda, but after creating several social media focused on tarot and other subjects that were part of her daily life, she had quickly become a well-known digital influencer, reaching a degree of fame that she had never even expected. . Fortunately, Missy still managed to remain anonymous most of the time, but she couldn't help but blush fiercely whenever, eventually, some stranger asked her for a photo after recognizing her voice from one of the videos Megan had already convinced her to participate in, behind the cameras. Or, worse, when someone recognized her from one of the few photos she had with Megan on her sister's I*******m. Still, those inevitable little awkwardnesses aside, Missy couldn't be more proud or happy for Megan. Her sister loved what she did and her fans loved her back. It was everything Megan had ever wanted, although she cared more about recognition in her profession than fame itself.

And, at least so Missy liked to think, she, too, was getting her own way. She had a good resume for a 25-year-old and the software she had been involved in developing throughout her career, working for several well-respected multinational companies, had been highly praised in the technology market. Starting to autonomously develop her own software had been a great challenge and not always pleasant, but she felt accomplished most of the time, despite the adversities. And she was hopeful that her work might help many people, in case any company was interested in it, when it was finalized.

Well, at least Megan, who had offered to be her manager when future negotiations could begin, was pretty optimistic about that. And Missy really hoped she was right, but not because of how much market value her software could have. She just hoped it could fulfill the purpose she designed it for and make a difference for those who needed it. After all, Missy didn't need money: she had her own office, her project, her job, her family, her friends, a boyfriend, a cozy apartment and a very cute little dog that made her very happy. She didn't need anything else.

Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true after all...

Seriously, Missy?! I swear I've never met anyone more frigid! Do you really have a boner in there or are you a complete ice cube? You better stop being a prude and enjoy this moment! It's not like another guy would be as godly as I am and go to the effort of trying to fuck you!

- Oh, Missy! Thank God you arrived!

Trying to control the uncomfortable clench of humiliation in her stomach at the memory of those words, Missy smiled in Simon's direction as soon as she spotted him, sitting behind his desk in the room that preceded the largest office in that place – Logan Knight's office. Simon Montgomery, secretary to Devon's brother, had been her first friend at the Knight Agency, and when they were together, they could spend hours talking about video games and anime – in fact, they had actually already done that, on a night when she stayed until later finishing a slightly more complex setup and Mr. Knight had also coincidentally put in some overtime, which led to Simon staying with the company to help out. Laughing, she saw her friend nearly lose his balance as he shifted a large pile of papers around and typed a few things into his computer, all the while talking, frantically.

- Mr. Knight has already asked for you three times in the last five minutes! I don't know what happened, but today is one of those days where he's in a really bad mood! Simon confided, speaking softly as she stopped in front of his desk, as he glanced nervously at the large, dark wood door that led to his boss's office. Well and technically her boss too.

- Oh. Missy just sighed. If Logan was in a bad mood, then unfortunately seeing her would only make it worse. “I'm sorry, Simon.

- Do not worry about me. – Her friend sighed, giving her a half smile – I'll make up for all the work today by eating the shrimp dumplings you promised me for today's party.

- I already gave them to my mother-in-law. – Missy smiled back, although thinking about the party that night woke up the ghost of that uncomfortable feeling of insecurity inside her – I guarantee you won't regret having waited.

"Wonderful..." Simon started to say, excitedly, when the noise of the phone next to him interrupted them. Quickly pressing one of the buttons, Simon smiled nervously and said, "She's just arrived, Mr. Knight. I'll ask you to come in right now.

There's no response from the other end other than the sound of the line going dead, indicating that Logan has hung up. Blowing out a breath tensely, Simon shook his head ruefully. - Good luck, Missy.

Smiling to calm him down, Missy walked to the door of Logan's office, a little nervous, though not as nervous as Simon. The truth was, Logan Knight didn't like her at all, but she had accepted that fact a long time ago and it no longer bothered her. Since the day she'd met him two years ago, when she'd first visited the Knight family, his dislike for her had been pretty obvious, especially the way he'd avoided her like a demon ever since. day. At first, she'd been confused, wondering what she'd done wrong to make him hate her before they'd even exchanged a single word.

However, when Megan began to resent Logan for the way he was treating her sister and this began to generate friction, Missy was quick to try to appease the situation and began to pretend that Logan's dislike did not matter to her. And she'd done it for so long that the pretense had become reality. Her sister and Devon had the most loving, passionate relationship Missy had ever seen outside the pages of her romance novels... And she would hate to be the cause of any friction between them. Fortunately, Megan and the other Knights, while still quite annoyed by Logan's behavior, seemed to accept that things had to be this way and conflicts were reduced to zero. After all, it wasn't like Logan had ever been truly rude to her or offended her.

He just couldn't stand being in the same room with her.

Or at least had it was like that at the beginning. Those first few months when she was introduced to the Knights were undoubtedly the worst, as Devon's brother always snarled and looked at her almost with hate when she was around, leaving whatever the environment was soon after. Gradually, however, this changed, albeit minimally. He had started to simply ignore her existence and avoid exchanging glances with her as much as possible.

However, it was still a step forward: he no longer stared at her as if she were the worst person in the world or snarled as if her mere existence was torturing him to death. Obviously, that bothered and disconcerted her at first, but, well, she had been trying to be understanding with him. It was normal that sometimes you just didn't like a person at first sight, right? He was exaggerating a lot, of course, but still, she had tried to convince herself that he didn't have to like her. At least that was the mantra she repeated to herself whenever he gave her one of those strange, intense looks... Until he let out another snarl and walked away, more annoyed than ever.

The real positive change had come when Devon had offered her that job. At first, she had considered refusing. After all, she had the clear impression – in fact, the certainty – that Logan would rather die than have to live with her at the agency as well. But, to her surprise, during a dinner with the Knights where Devon had again asked her if she would like to work with them, Logan had muttered softly that she would be welcome if she wanted... table and left, almost running. Even if it wasn't exactly a declaration of peace, Missy was really happy with that small advance and accepted the job, which was certainly the best decision she could have made: she had made great friends, made huge advances in her project and even found a boyfriend.

And in the last year, Logan had even started to be able to be in the same room with her without seeming to be suffering because of it. They weren't friends, colleagues, or anything like that yet... To be honest, he didn't even look in her direction. But at least Logan seemed to have learned to live with her presence this past year. Probably because he had the bad luck to only buy faulty computers, which always forced her to go to his office to fix some problem. She had advised him to change his braces a total of three times in the last ten months, making replacements increasingly expensive and technological, but strangely, even that had not been able to solve his recurring problems. Thankfully most of them were simple and could be easily solved if he just looked up a short video tutorial... But she'd suggested it once and he'd just mumbled that he didn't know how to deal with any technology at all, preferring that just her, one professional, deal with those defects.

Come to think of it, that had been the longest conversation they had ever had.

Well, at least they had begun to get along civilly.

Which was certainly something to celebrate.

So, taking a quick breath first to build up some courage, Missy knocked softly on the door before stepping inside, praying Logan's bad mood that day wasn't compounded by her presence.