جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 168

SereneI looked at my laptop screen, reading the email for the fifth time, still not able to believe the words in front of me.*Dear Russell,**After talking with my brother over the weekend, I am happy to tell you that your job at Arden & Sons is yours again, starting right now. Maxwell has agreed to give you another try, and I believe you will not waste this chance.**Please come to the office at 8:30 AM exactly on Monday morning.**Best regards,**Lucan Arden**P.S. - Maxwell said he was very impressed by how much you care about family. Good job.*I kept staring at the screen. Maxwell was impressed by my family values? The same Maxwell who had yelled at me and thrown me out of his office on my very first day?"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I said under my breath, moving the page down to see if there was more.Right then, my bedroom door flew open without any notice, and my mother rushed in, pulling a suitcase."Serene, sweetheart!" she declared. "It is all done!""Mom!"

Serene's Pov"First of all," Maxwell started. He walked back to his desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms. "You will get my coffee every morning on your way in. I drink it black, and it has to be from Taylor's Cafe, right across the street. Not from the cheap place downstairs, not whatever you drink, Taylor's. They know what I want."*Naturally. He could not just have normal coffee like a regular person. Of course not.*"You will be in this office no later than a quarter past eight," he went on. "That way, my coffee will be on my desk by eight-thirty. There is no discussion about this."I nodded, committing it to memory. "I understand, sir.""Second." His eyes were locked on me, intense and focused. "You will carry my briefcase, my laptop bag, and any other bags I need to move. I should not have to bother with such simple jobs when I have an assistant."*A donkey. He wants me to be his personal donkey.*"Of course, Mr. Arden," I said, my teeth pressed together."Third, you wil

Serene’s PovBy the time lunch arrived, I felt completely destroyed. It was as if I had been taken apart and put back together all wrong.Maxwell had given me a job that looked like it needed three people. He said it was left by his last assistant, who had walked out without any warning. The piles of paper, folders, and little notes formed a small tower on my desk. It looked like it would fall over every time someone walked past my terrible little corner.“You need to sort all of this, put it in order, and connect the related files before you leave today,” Maxwell had said, dropping one last heavy pile. “My last assistant let things become a mess. I am certain you will do a much better job.”What he really meant was: *Welcome to your nightmare, Russell.*I walked to the cafeteria like someone who had lost a fight. My stomach was making loud, hungry noises. I kept my eyes on the floor and went the longest way possible, just to make sure I would not see Kaelon.The idea of looking at hi

SereneThe elevator doors slid shut, trapping me inside a silent, metal box. Maxwell’s question was stuck in my head, playing over and over. “Why does a woman wanting you scare you so much, Mr. Carrow?”It was not a simple question. It was an attack. He had watched me escape from Patricia, and with perfect aim, he had found the center of my fear. He did not know my secret, but he knew I had one. He was hunting for it.Back at my small desk, the pile of papers looked even bigger. It was like the lie I was living had become a real, heavy thing I could touch. Every time I tried to read a page, I heard the men from the bathroom again. “Sobbing in the supply closet… quit being lawyers for good… I give him three days.”I would not make it three days. I could feel my fake self, Russell, starting to fall apart. My body hurt from fighting with the furniture. My face was tired from trying to look hard and manly. My brain was drained from all the work: keeping my voice low, holding my body in a