Chapter two

The first thing Amani learned about Vaughn Empire was that silence had structure. Every hallway she walked through seemed to carry it, clean, intentional, almost rehearsed. Even the sound of her heels felt too loud, like she was disturbing something delicate.

She adjusted the file in her arms and kept moving.

“Junior Legal Assistants don’t usually start with executive case files.”

The voice came from behind her, Amani turned slightly. It was the supervisor from yesterday. Same composed expression, same careful tone.

“I’m just following instructions,” Amani replied.

The woman nodded slowly. “Good. That’s the safest way to survive here.”

The word survive lingered longer than it should have. Before Amani could ask what she meant, the woman was already walking again.

By mid morning, Amani had settled into her desk. Or at least, what passing for “settled” looked like in a place like this.

She reviewed documents, cross checked names, highlighted clauses that felt important even when she wasn’t sure why. Every page carried the same stamp ‘Vaughn Empire’. It was starting to feel less like a name and more like a signature pressed into everything.

Across the room, Clarissa’s voice cut through the air again.

“She’s still here?”

Amani didn’t look up this time. But she felt it, Clarissa’s eyes were on her again.

“I thought they would’ve corrected that by now,” Clarissa added, almost amused.

A junior associate nearby laughed softly. Not unkindly but not defending her either.

Amani kept typing.

She refused to give them the reaction they wanted. Still, something about it sat heavy in her chest.

At lunch, she stayed at her desk.

Most people left in groups. Conversations drifted down the hallway like they belonged there more than she did. Instead she opened her bag and pulled out her phone. Just one message, from Liya. She quickly typed a reply assuring her that she was okay.

She opened i*******m and there he was in all handsomeness. Avan Cole. She felt a stir in her heart and a soft smile creep up her face, then a full on blush. She opened his page catching up on the minutes of update she might have missed. She sighed heavily he was so perfect.

She took a screenshot of a picture and sent it to liya. Aarghhh tempted she was to drop everything and keep looking at his perfect face .

Instead, she locked the phone and exhaled slowly.

“You don’t talk much.” A voice said and Amani startled.

A man stood a few feet away, one of the junior lawyers she hadn’t met yet. Relaxed posture, friendly eyes, the kind of person who looked like he didn’t belong in this building either.

“I’m still figuring things out,” Amani said.

He smiled slightly. “That’s honest. Dangerous here, but honest.”

Amani frowned. “Why dangerous?”

He glanced toward Clarissa’s direction without turning his head fully.

“People notice honesty. And they don’t always like what they see.”

Before she could respond, he added lightly, “I’m Theo, by the way.”

“Amani.”

“Yeah,” he said, like he was testing the name in his head. “I’ve heard about you.”

That made her pause.

“From who?”

Theo hesitated just a fraction too long.

“From around.” He said sipping his coffee it was not an answer but surely it wasn’t a lie either.

Later that afternoon, everything changed in a way that looked small at first. Amani was sent to retrieve files from a restricted section on the floor below. It was meant to be a Simple task but it felt like a test. The corridor was quieter, less movement, less sounds, suspicious even.

She found the file room and stepped inside. Rows of cabinets and darkness was all she could see, weird how there was no light switch. So she used the torchlight from her phone. She pulled the drawer open and froze a folder sat on top. Unmarked, No label. Just a seal stamped across it

VAUGHN EMPIRE ~EXECUTIVE CLEARANCE

Her breath slowed, something told her this wasn’t normal, that she shouldn’t touch it but her fingers hovered.

Footsteps outside the room.

Amani panicked, she couldn’t leave but she also couldn’t stay, she glanced around the room frantically considering her next line of action. Closer, she snapped her hand back instinctively and turned slightly, heart tightening.

The file drawer remained open, The unmarked folder still visible, And whoever was about to walk in would know she had been there.

Amani pressed herself against the shelving unit, not daring to breathe.

The narrow gap between the cabinets gave her a limited view of the room,she couldn’t see clearly but Just enough to recognize that one agitating voice.

Clarissa stood at the vast corridor but close to the doorway, arms crossed, she was with a man. They were walking at a painfully slow pace it only made Amani panic more.

“I still don’t understand it,” Clarissa said.

The man sighed.

“You say that a lot.”

“Because it doesn’t make sense.”

Amani’s stomach tightened.

The conversation was heading somewhere she wasn’t sure she wanted it to go.

Clarissa continued.

“We have people from the best schools in the country applying every year.”

The man remained silent.

“We have associates fighting for promotion … And then she just arrives.”

Amani froze.

Me.

“Maybe she was qualified.”

Clarissa laughed.

Neither of them sounded convinced.

“You didn’t see her file.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“No. Unlike you, I don’t make a habit of reading things that aren’t assigned to me.”

Clarissa ignored the jab.

“The Vaughns personally approved her.”

For the first time, the man’s expression shifted, although slightly but enough.

“Personally?”

“That’s what I heard.”

Amani frowned.

Personally approved?

The receptionist had said something similar, but why? She was just snother applicant

“Maybe there’s a reason.”

“Then I’d love to hear it.” Clarissa’s voice sharpened. “Because no one else seems to know.”

The man looked toward the far end of the corridor. Like he felt something was off.

“Not knowing things doesn’t mean there isn’t an answer.”

Clarissa rolled her eyes.

“Spoken like someone who’s worked here too long.”

A brief silence followed. Then Clarissa changed subjects.

“Have you heard about the Celebrity case?”

The man groaned dramatically.

“Unfortunately.”

“The entire city is talking about it.”

“That’s because the entire city is obsessed with celebrities.”

Amani frowned.

A celebrity? That sounds interesting.

Maybe an actor?

A singer? curious, she leaned a bit further to hear more.

“The media is circling like vultures,” Clarissa continued.

“If Vaughn Empire wins this one, it’ll be everywhere.”

The man smiled faintly.

“When does Vaughn Empire ever lose?”

Clarissa couldn’t answer that.

Neither could Amani. The confidence in his voice was almost scary

“Anyway, if you see our mystery hire doing something she’s not supposed to, let me know.”

The man chuckled.

“You really don’t like her.”

“I don’t like people skipping the line.”

Something flickered in Amani’s chest.

Inferiority.

Anger.

Maybe both.

She had worked for everything she had. Clarissa didn’t know a thing about her.

The man suddenly came in and glanced around the room. His gaze traveled across the shelves slowly like he was searching for something . His gaze landed on the section Amani was hiding, Her breath stopped.

For a second she was certain he’d seen her. But if he had, his expression didn’t change.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly.

Clarissa frowned.

“What?”

“Let’s go.”

His eyes lingered on the shelves for half a second longer then he smiled.

And with that, he walked out the already opened door and guided Clarissa out. As the door clicked shut behind them silence returned.

Amani remained frozen because she couldn’t shake the feeling that the man had known she was there the entire time.