CH 1

The Blackwood Corporation towered over the city like a silent ruler—cold, untouchable, and terrifyingly powerful. People whispered about the man who ran it, a man with no patience for weakness and no tolerance for mistakes.

Lucian Blackwood.

A name that sent shivers down spines.

Inside his office, the air was thick with tension. The man himself sat behind his massive desk, exuding authority without effort. His dark eyes skimmed through reports, his jaw tight with irritation. Everything in his world was precise, controlled.

Until today.

Because today, she walked in.

The doors opened without hesitation, heels clicking against the marble floor. She didn’t wait to be invited in, didn’t hesitate like the others did.

Eleanor Hayes.

His new secretary.

Lucian didn’t look up immediately. He wanted to make her sweat, to let the silence stretch until discomfort settled in.

But when he finally did look up—his world tilted just slightly.

She wasn’t what he expected.

Confidence radiated off her like heat from a fire. She stood tall, gaze unwavering, lips curved into the faintest smirk. Unlike the others who had stepped into this office before her, she wasn’t afraid.

That irritated him.

“You’re late,” he said, voice like steel.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, then back at him. “It’s exactly 9:00 AM.”

Lucian’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I expect my employees to be here before time, not just on time.”

Her expression didn’t falter. “Duly noted.”

A storm brewed in his eyes, but Eleanor didn’t flinch. Instead, she placed a neatly organized file on his desk. “Your schedule for the day. I’ve also reorganized the meeting briefs. Your previous assistant’s work was... subpar.”

Lucian arched a brow. Bold.

He picked up the file, flipping through it. To his surprise, it was impeccable. Efficient. Flawless.

Still, he wasn’t impressed so easily.

“You won’t last long,” he said, leaning back in his chair, watching her like a predator sizing up its prey.

Eleanor met his gaze, unwavering. “Try me.”

| Flashback |

Lucian Blackwood had never been the type to let anyone meddle in his affairs. His life was built on discipline, control, and a ruthless ability to cut out anything—or anyone—that threatened his order.

But his father?

His father was the one person he couldn’t ignore.

“You will hire her,” his father had said, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. “She’s smart, capable, and exactly what this company needs.”

Lucian knew better. This wasn’t about the company.

It was about her.

Eleanor Hayes.

His father’s best friend’s daughter. The woman he was being forced to tolerate.

Lucian clenched his jaw as he leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping impatiently against the polished wood of his desk. His father’s intentions were obvious—placing her in his office, pushing them together under the pretense of work, all because he and Eleanor’s father had already decided on something he never agreed to.

Marriage.

The very word left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He didn’t need a wife. He didn’t need a personal distraction sitting outside his office every day. What he needed was for his father to stop interfering in his life.

| Fb ended |

HIS POV ~

I wanted silence.

Peace.

But with her in my office, I wasn’t going to get it.

Eleanor Hayes sat across from me, too damn comfortable for someone who had just been forced into my space. She didn’t fidget. Didn’t look nervous. Instead, she sat there like she had every right to be here.

She didn’t.

I didn’t bother looking up from the document in my hand. “I don’t recall asking you to sit.”

A pause.

Then, in that maddeningly smooth voice of hers, she said, “You also didn’t ask me to stand.”

I clenched my jaw.

Lifting my gaze, I met hers. She wasn’t mocking me outright, but there was something in her expression—defiance. A quiet, stubborn challenge that made my fingers twitch with irritation.

“You don’t belong here,” I said coldly. “If you think your father’s friendship with mine gives you any special privileges, let me make one thing clear—you are nothing but an unwanted presence in my office.”

She didn’t even blink.

If anything, she smirked. “Good. That means we’re on the same page.”

My eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t want to be here either,” she said simply, tilting her head. “But since I am here, I might as well do my job.”

Then, before I could stop her, she reached for the stack of files on my desk, flipping through them like she owned them.

I barely resisted the urge to snatch them back.

“Since you’re so against me being here,” she continued, still flipping pages, “let me prove that I’m not just some ‘unwanted presence.’ Give me a task. Something impossible, something you don’t think I can handle. If I fail, you can tell our fathers that I wasn’t competent enough and have me fired.”

I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms. Bold.

But boldness wouldn’t save her.

A slow, cold smirk tugged at my lips. “Fine,” I said smoothly. “Since you’re so eager to prove yourself, let’s see how well you handle drowning.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Drowning?”

I pulled out a thick folder, placing it in front of her. “These are proposals from the last two months. Revise them all, filter out the useless ones, and have a detailed report on my desk by tomorrow morning.”

If she expected me to go easy on her, she was a fool.

She looked at the folder. It was an impossible workload for a single night.

But instead of looking overwhelmed, she smiled.

Not a fake, polite smile. A real one.

Like she was actually enjoying this.

My smirk faded slightly.

“I’ll have it done,” she said, standing up and tucking the folder under her arm. Then she glanced back at me, amusement flickering in her gaze. “Oh, and Mr. Blackwood?”

I exhaled impatiently. “What?”

She leaned slightly over my desk, lowering her voice.

“Try harder next time.”

Then she turned and walked out, leaving me staring after her, irritation simmering under my skin.

I clenched my jaw.

If she thought this was just some game, she had no idea what she was up against.

Because I wasn’t just going to make her fail.

I was going to make her regret ever stepping into my office.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***