Aurora shifted in her seat inside her new office that’s just outside Silas Black’s executive suite.
She had clocked in two hours ago, arriving before the sun fully came out into the sky.
Her office wasn’t too big or too small; it was just right, with a medium-sized desk and a comfortable yet firm chair.
She had lost count of how many calls she had answered since morning, not to mention the group of files that keep growing in height in front of her.
Her eyes started toward the entrance of her office, where she could see the hallway through the glass.
Two employees just passed, burning holes into her office while they whispered to themselves.
She had been getting those weird stares all day, and she wasn’t worried about them anymore.
Just then, Jaxson appears outside by the doorway.
He paused for a second before he knocked and pushed the door, without stepping in.
“Come in, Jaxson,” Aurora said without him having to ask.
He nodded at her before he walked inside, a huge stack of papers in his hands.
His lips were drawn in a stiff line, and he looked like he wanted to apologize.
“Morning, Aurora,” he greeted.
“Jaxson.” Aurora raised a brow at the files.
“What’s all that?”
He sighed before he dropped the tower of folders on the corner of her desk with a heavy thud.
“They’re files from the hotel branch. Cassian wants them to be cross-checked, every single one of them, and he wants the report by the end of the day.”
Aurora stared at the pile of folders, then up at Jackson, her mouth hanging open slightly.
It was at least a month’s worth of work.
“Cross-checked for what?” she asked, already getting annoyed.
“He didn’t specify,” Jackson winced.
Both of them already know that this was Cassian’s way of trying to make her life hell.
“Of course, he didn’t,” Aurora scoffed, shaking her head slightly.
“He’s already busy trying to get me to quit, not that I expected him to just sit on his hands.”
Jackson doesn’t answer; he just shifts on his legs awkwardly.
“I really tried to talk him out of it, but you know him, he wouldn’t listen,” Jackson said apologetically.
“It’s fine. Thank you for your effort,” Aurora said.
She picked the top folder and flipped through it, her eyes scanning all the jargon that had nothing to do with her.
These were all old reports that are supposed to be stored in an archive and not even touched for years to come, but she’s been forced to go through them.
“Tell him I said thank you.”
“Thank you?” Jackson raised a brow.
“Yes, for the challenge,” Aurora said, closing the file and looking up at Jackson.
“I’ll have this done before I leave today and tell him that he needs to step up his game if he really wants to kick me out.”
Jaxson just stares at her, his eyes slightly wide, not expecting her response, then he nods hesitantly before he turns and walks out.
Aurora sighed before she turned back to the files and began the work.
Four hours later, it was late into the afternoon, a few minutes past four, and Aurora’s head was still buried in Cassian’s folders.
She hadn’t even noticed that she skipped lunch while downing three cups of the questionable instant coffee she got from her coffee pot. Find the original chapter at g.com.
But as she said she will, she did it.
She typed the final line of the report before slamming the last folder shut.
She was finally done.
She couldn’t believe that she had gone through every single page of all these reports, but her rivalry with Cassian drove her to do things she never would have been capable of doing.
She clicked ‘Save’ on the report before sending it to Cassian’s email.
A triumphant smile lifting on her lips.
She would love to see his face at this moment, after realizing that he had lost once again.
She leaned back in her chair, resting her back, which was completely stiff from how hunched over she was for the past hours.
She rubbed at her tired eyes, finally ready to go home after a long day of work.
The door was pushed open sharply this time; Aurora’s head shot up, thinking it was Jackson or Rhett.
But instead, it was a woman, an impeccably dressed woman wearing an elegant cream suit that displayed her status before she even introduced herself.
Her honey-blonde hair was skillfully styled in an intricate bun, and there was a small smile on her face, one of the fake ones that Aurora could always recognize from the people that looked down on her.
The woman’s eyes were sharp; they made Aurora instinctively sit up.
It was Savannah Black.
Aurora instantly recognized her from the magazines.
She was just as popular as her husband.
She was the face of the Black clothing line and also the owner of it.
Astrid was obsessed with her and probably aspires to be her.
“Mrs. Black, how may I help you?” Aurora said, toning her voice to sound professional.
Savannah walked further into the office, her legs moving forward in measured steps until she finally stopped in front of Aurora’s desk, looking down at her from the height she stood.
“Aurora Bennett,” she said.
“You’re younger than I expected and pretty, nonetheless. Now I see why Silas hired you.”
Aurora swallowed, hearing other employees insinuate about her, and Silas was bearable, but hearing his own wife do it makes the hair at the back of her neck rise.
“Mrs. Black, your husband hired me simply because I’m qualified and not because of any other reason, I can assure you.”
“Did he?” Savannah smiled, and it only made Aurora’s stomach drop.
“That’s exactly what he told me too, twenty years ago when I was his secretary.” The words jeered at Aurora, and she sucked a silent breath.
“I apologize if I may sound rude, but I am not you, Mrs. Black,” Aurora says.
“Oh, dear God, of course not.” Savannah says, her eyes going slightly wide, like it was an insult to herself.
“You see, I was very patient, and I learned to play the long game. Unlike you, who’s already making enemies, Cassian despises you, and so do all the staff.”
“You are currently sitting in the position in which I first started. And I truly wonder how long it will take before history repeats itself.”
Aurora’s fingers curled into fists under her desk, and she raised her chin to meet Savannah’s gaze.
“I’m not interested in your husband.”
“Let’s hope not,” Savannah says.
Her face is devoid of any malice.
“You should be careful, Miss Bennett, being in the midst of us. I must tell you, my family has a bad habit of consuming people who get ahead of themselves.”
She didn’t wait for Aurora to react before she turned around and walked out, leaving Aurora frozen in place, her heart still pounding from the exchange, her mind still brooding from the warning and the threat.
Savannah Black’s office was its own establishment, located on the 15th floor of the Black Corp Tower.
Everything was white, sleek, and beige, with chrome and gold details, which was the signature color from her brand, the fashion division that she had proudly built after she had married Silas.
She had done well for herself, putting her sweat, blood, and tears into it.
Savannah paced around the wide space of her office.
The sound of her heels was a perfect rhythm in the quiet room.
There was a firm knock on the door before the door was pushed open and Greg walked in.
Her personal assistant and right-hand man.
He gripped the tablet in his hands tighter as Savannah turned to face him.
“Speak.”
Greg steps forward at her order and hands her the tablet.
“Her full name is Aurora Ivy Bennett.
She is 26 years old.
Both parents are deceased from a gas explosion 20 years ago.
She has two siblings: an older sister, Astrid, married to Marcus Webb, and a younger brother, Jude.
They were all raised by their paternal grandmother, Margaret Bennett.
“Jude Bennett?” Savannah repeated.
“The same one who attacked Zachary?”
“The same,” Greg confirmed.
“They currently live in a small house in East LA. Grandma has a heart condition. I confirmed her prescriptions at the clinic while her brother Jude’s tuition is still overdue, though a payment was made just yesterday, and their relationship with Astrid Webb is not the best.”
“Hmm,” Savannah scrolled through all the details on the tablet.
“Friends?”
“Just one,” Greg said.
“Name is Amber Chang. She’s a small-time, struggling attorney, completely harmless.”
“No allies or support systems,” Savannah stated, her eyes scanning a picture of Aurora.
“Just an ill grandmother and a brother who already has a criminal record.” Her lips curve up in a sinister smile.
“She’s weak.”
Greg doesn’t respond.
His face stays neutral as he awaits her orders.
Savannah’s sharp, manicured fingers swiped across the screen, and a picture of Grandma Maggie displayed on the screen.
Her smile continued to grow as she stared darkly at Maggie’s face.
“Hmm.”
She turned to look at Greg.
“You know what to do.”
Greg nods before he takes the tablet back and leaves.