CH 4

Checking the time, she exhaled sharply—11:45 PM. The office was practically deserted. Only the faint hum of the air conditioning and the distant sound of traffic outside filled the silence.

Gathering the files, she stood, stretching her stiff limbs before making her way to Lucian’s office. She didn’t bother knocking, pushing the door open without hesitation.

Lucian, who had been sipping his whiskey near the window, glanced at her lazily. “Brave of you to walk in uninvited.”

Eleanor strode forward, dropping the files onto his desk. “Brave of you to assume I care.”

His lips twitched, almost like he was amused, but the cold glint in his eyes remained. “You finished all of them?”

She crossed her arms. “Yes. Summaries, key points, even corrections where needed. You’re welcome.”

Lucian set his glass down, stepping closer. “Impressive.”

Eleanor raised a brow. “What, expecting me to fail?”

Lucian smirked, slow and taunting. “I was hoping you would. Would’ve saved me the trouble.”

She scoffed. “Sorry to disappoint, boss.”

He studied her, his sharp gaze searching for any sign of exhaustion or frustration, but she met his stare with unwavering defiance. That same fire in her eyes. He hated it. And yet… he couldn’t look away.

“Do you always overestimate yourself, or is it just around me?” he murmured, stepping closer.

Eleanor tilted her chin up. “Do you always underestimate people, or am I just special?”

Lucian exhaled a dry chuckle, shaking his head. “You’re bold, I’ll give you that.”

She smirked. “And you’re predictable.”

His eyes darkened at that, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. The tension between them was sharp, neither backing down.

Then, Lucian turned away, picking up the files. “You can leave now.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes. “Gladly.”

Just as she reached the door, he called out, “Be here by 7 AM tomorrow.”

She paused, glancing over her shoulder. “7 AM?”

Lucian smirked. “You said you could handle it. Prove it.”

Eleanor narrowed her eyes. “Fine.”

With that, she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Lucian stared at the closed door for a long moment, before glancing down at the reports. A small, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips.

NEXT MORNING ~

The next morning arrived far too quickly. The city was still waking up, the streets buzzing with early commuters, and the sun barely peeked through the horizon when Eleanor stepped into the towering glass building of Lucian’s company.

7 AM sharp.

She exhaled, adjusting the strap of her bag as she walked through the lobby. The receptionist, clearly surprised to see her this early, gave a hesitant nod. Eleanor didn’t stop to chat—she had a point to prove.

Stepping into the elevator, she pressed the button for the top floor, mentally preparing herself for whatever Lucian had planned for her today. If he thought she’d break this easily, he had another thing coming.

The elevator doors slid open, and the office floor was eerily silent. No one else had arrived yet—except for him, of course.

Lucian was already there, sitting behind his desk, looking as if he had never left. His suit was perfectly pressed, his expression unreadable as he glanced up from the documents he was reviewing. A steaming cup of coffee sat beside him, untouched.

Eleanor walked in, standing tall despite the exhaustion still clinging to her. “Morning,” she greeted, her voice even.

Lucian didn’t look impressed. “You’re late.”

Her brows furrowed. “It’s exactly 7 AM.”

He leaned back, lips curling into an infuriating smirk. “I expected you here before me.”

She let out a humorless chuckle. “Didn’t realize my job description included predicting your unreasonable expectations.”

Lucian stood, rounding his desk slowly, his gaze sharp as he studied her. “You’re good with words, aren’t you?”

Eleanor crossed her arms. “Better than you expected?”

His smirk remained, but his eyes darkened slightly. “We’ll see about that. Follow me.”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second before walking after him. He led her down the hallway, past the rows of empty desks, before stopping in front of a conference room.

Lucian pushed the door open. Inside, neatly stacked folders and documents covered the long table. A laptop was already set up at one end.

Eleanor raised a brow. “And this is?”

Lucian turned to her, his expression unreadable. “Your first real test.”

She glanced at the paperwork. “Which is?”

He leaned slightly closer, his voice lower. “A presentation. You’ll be handling it.”

Eleanor blinked. “Excuse me?”

Lucian’s smirk deepened. “You heard me. A client will be here in an hour. You’ll be the one presenting our latest proposal to them.”

Her jaw clenched. “You’re throwing me into a meeting on my second day?”

Lucian shrugged. “You wanted to prove yourself, didn’t you? Consider this your opportunity.”

Eleanor exhaled sharply, staring at the pile of information she had barely glanced at before. She could feel the challenge in his gaze, waiting for her to back down.

But she wouldn’t.

Squaring her shoulders, she met his eyes with fierce determination. “Fine.”

Lucian’s gaze flickered with something unreadable before he nodded. “Good. You have one hour. Don’t mess it up.”

With that, he walked out, leaving her standing in the conference room.

HER POV ~

Oh, how thoughtful of Lucian to give me a whole hour to prepare for a presentation I knew nothing about. Truly, what a generous boss. Maybe I should send him a thank-you card. Or better yet, a resignation letter.

But no, quitting wasn’t an option—not when I had something to prove.

So there I was, standing in the sleek, glass-walled conference room, a polite smile plastered onto my face as the client settled into their seat across from me.

Lucian sat at the head of the table, arms crossed, his ever-present scowl in place. I could practically feel him waiting for me to fail. Well, too bad for him—I didn’t do failure.

“Shall we begin?” I said, flipping open the folder in front of me.

The client, a middle-aged man in an expensive suit, nodded. “Go ahead.”

I launched into the presentation, my voice steady despite the absolute chaos going on in my brain. I had read through the documents as fast as humanly possible, but of course, Lucian hadn’t made it easy. The numbers were complicated, the terms dense, and I was fairly certain I was supposed to be some kind of financial wizard to understand half of it.

Still, I adapted.

“… And as you can see, this strategy will increase your company’s efficiency by approximately 30% over the next fiscal year.” I turned to the screen, pointing at a graph that I had barely made sense of twenty minutes ago. “That is, assuming your team implements the proposed adjustments in their operational workflow.”

The client nodded, his expression thoughtful. “And what about risk factors?”

Oh, wonderful. My favorite question.

I flicked a glance at Lucian, who was watching me like a hawk. Of course, he wasn’t going to step in. That would be too easy.

“Well,” I said smoothly, “like any business strategy, there are always risks. However, our analysis shows that with proper execution, the likelihood of negative impact is minimal.”

The client didn’t look convinced. “But let’s say something does go wrong. How do you mitigate potential losses?”

I smiled, sweet as honey. “Simple. We don’t let things go wrong.”

The man blinked, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught the faintest flicker of amusement on Lucian’s face.

“Of course,” I added, leaning forward slightly, “we have contingency plans in place. I can walk you through them if you’d like.”

The client nodded, and I dove into the next segment, answering his questions with as much confidence as I could fake.

By the time the meeting wrapped up, I could feel the tension slowly seep from my shoulders. The client seemed satisfied, at least.

He shook my hand, offering a nod of approval before turning to Lucian. “She’s sharp. You made a good choice.”

Lucian’s expression remained unreadable as he simply nodded.

The client left, and the second the door shut behind him, I exhaled. “Well, that was fun.”

Lucian didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just stared at me with those cold, assessing eyes.

Finally, he said, “You got lucky.”

I let out a laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, come on. At least admit I did well.”