The trending topic hadn’t really affected her for now—Maria was still clocking in and out like usual at the office.
The afternoon passed in a blur.
James didn’t call her in, and she didn’t have any tasks lined up.
So, she wound up aimlessly scrolling on her phone for a solid few hours.
Not sure if he actually took what she said to heart.
With one hand fidgeting with her phone, she kept glancing toward the CEO’s office, totally bored out of her mind.
Just as the clock hit quitting time and she was getting ready to leave, her phone rang—David.
“You off work yet?
I’ll come pick you up.”
“No need,” Maria replied instantly, zero hesitation.
Sure, she had feelings for him once, but those days were long gone.
She didn’t want anything more to do with David.
He seemed to expect her response but still sounded pretty smug.
“Don’t forget, in James’s eyes, you’re my wife.
First day back at work—I should pick you up.
Might help him drop any ideas he’s got about you.”
He said it all so casually, like this wasn’t part of some game.
Maria hesitated.
Daniel Lewis had already let it slip a couple days ago that she wasn’t actually married, but he hadn’t mentioned the kids.
James probably still thought Ella was David’s daughter.
“Okay.” She nodded.
May as well play along.
Though, in her heart, she totally disagreed about James having any “ideas” about her.
If anything, all he ever did was hold a grudge.
Everything he’d done so far felt more like punishment than interest.
“I’ll head over now.
Should be there in about 20 minutes.
Just hang tight and I’ll call once I’m downstairs,” David added eagerly before hanging up.
Since she had nothing better to do, Maria pulled up the home security feed to check on the twins.
When she left for work, Isabella had come over to help watch them.
In the footage, Isabella was watching cartoons with the kids.
The two little ones were clearly fighting sleep, but Isabella looked like she was genuinely enjoying the show.
Maria’s heart softened, and a gentle smile crept onto her face.
Right at that moment, James came out to get some water and caught that smile.
She looked so peaceful, so content—it lit a fire in his chest for no reason he could name.
She’d never smiled at him like that.
Not once.
Stopping by her office door, his face went dark.
His voice was cold: “Why are you still here?”
Startled, Maria quickly locked her screen.
Hopefully, he hadn’t seen anything.
“Waiting for David,” she said.
“He’s picking me up.”
His expression dropped.
He slammed his water cup down hard on her desk.
“Get me some water.”
“It’s after office hours,” she snapped.
This guy had gotten way more controlling than she remembered.
“Not anymore.
You’re working overtime with me,” James replied.
She was so pissed, she shot to her feet.
“Since when does Bennett Corp force people to stay late?”
He didn’t even flinch.
Just gave her a look like he’d won.
“Clause Eight of your contract—you must assist me with work unconditionally.
That includes overtime.”
Maria was stunned.
What was this, a job contract or a life sentence?
“After you get the water, meet me in my office.” And with that, James turned and left.Maria rolled her eyes with zero patience, grabbed her water cup, and headed straight to the break room.
She clutched the cup so tightly her knuckles turned white—if she could crush it, she honestly might have.
Agreeing to that messed-up contract in the first place?
Big mistake.
Later, she went back to check the contract and realized—surprise, surprise—that clause didn’t even exist.
Yeah, James totally played her.
She marched back into his office with the water and slammed the cup onto his desk, hard enough to slosh some water onto his papers.
Maria braced herself for another round of cold snaps from him, but to her shock, he simply grabbed a couple napkins and dabbed off the water—didn’t even say a word.
She bit her lip.
“So…
can I clock out now?”
“Nope.” James didn’t even look up as he handed her another file.
“Get this sorted first.”
Maria snatched the folder, annoyed, but as she flipped it open, her face froze.
It was full of figures on embezzlement in the company’s middle management.
“You’ve been digging into this?” she asked, stunned.
James paused his typing, looked up.
“Yeah.
I hadn’t paid much attention before.
Thought you’d help me pull it together.”
Something in Maria shifted. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Here she was throwing attitude while her boss was buried in actual work.
Okay, maybe she had overreacted.
She took a deep breath and made up her mind—fine, she’d do it properly.
The preliminary investigation by Cody wasn’t bad, but still had gaps.
Those managers weren’t easy to pin down—they all were sly, old foxes.
Hunting them down completely?
Not gonna be simple.
Once he wrapped up his part, James carried his cup to the couch and took a sip of water.
“So?” he asked.
“We should probably start with Oliver Perez,” Maria said, sliding closer and pointing at his picture.
“He’s the worst offender, and we’ve got solid proof.
Make an example out of him.”
“You sure you’re not the type to just fire the whole lot?” James raised an eyebrow.
Maria shook her head.
“Sure, firing everyone would feel great.
But come on, it won’t solve the root issue.
Oliver and his crew?
They’ve got people backing them.
If our proof isn’t airtight and we kick them out, they’ll run crying to the press.
That’ll just tank our reputation.”
Which, actually, aligned pretty well with what James was already thinking.
He leaned in to scan the files with her.
“Not bad.
You’ve definitely grown.”
“Of course they all gotta go eventually.
But with how critical their roles are, we can’t just wipe everyone out at once.
The company won’t run.
So we need to train up trustworthy replacements and have them ready—then do a proper sweep.”
…
Time ticked by, and Maria went from puzzled at first to catching on quickly as James walked her through everything.
He explained the whole play with a clarity that made her rethink the way she saw him.
Gotta admit, the guy was sharp.
Just a few days, and he’d already broken everything down using the evidence they had like a pro.
Maria found herself nodding along…
and then kind of just staring at him.
Right as he was wrapping up, James looked up and their eyes met.
They were sitting close already, but now it felt like they were breathing in sync.
James’s gaze was quiet and focused, totally in work mode.
And for a second, Maria’s heart skipped a beat.
Her head was blank.