Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED HIS MONEY|
Sera returned the envelope the next morning.
She didn't call first. She simply walked into Adrian's office, placed it on his desk, and announced that she wasn't accepting it.
His assistant looked horrified.
Adrian looked amused.
“Most people would at least ask how much the consultant charges.”
“Most people aren't trying to figure out whether a wealthy stranger has mistaken them for a charity project.”
“Do I look like someone who runs a charity?”
“You look like someone who expects everyone to owe him something.”
His amusement disappeared.
“That's an interesting opinion from someone who knows almost nothing about me.”
“I know enough to recognize that you investigated my life before inviting me here.”
“You were working at a public event attended by several people who would gladly exploit an opportunity to approach me. I wanted to know whether you were one of them.”
“And now?”
“Now I know you returned an envelope that could have changed your life.”
Sera folded her arms.
“I want to change my life by earning something, not by becoming an interesting distraction for a billionaire.”
“I'm not interested in buying you.”
“Good. I'm not for sale.”
She turned toward the elevator.
Adrian's voice stopped her.
“What if I offered you a job?”
She faced him again.
“What kind?”
“Temporary assistant. Six weeks. Help me organize the private correspondence for a charitable foundation I'm restructuring. You'd earn a proper salary, keep your other work if you wanted, and have no obligation to discuss your novel.”
“Why me?”
“Because you notice details other people overlook.”
“And because you want to keep me where you can watch me?”
He didn't deny it.
Sera considered the offer. Her rent was overdue, and the café had cut her hours. The position would give her time to write without requiring her to surrender her independence.
“Six weeks,” she said. “A written contract. No personal favors. No surprise investigations.”
“Agreed.”
“And I won't lie for you.”
Adrian's eyebrows lifted.
“About what?”
“Anything.”
He extended his hand.
“Then I suppose we'll have an honest working relationship.”
She shook it.
Neither noticed Marcus standing outside the office, listening.
Later that afternoon, Marcus entered Adrian's private study.
“You hired her.”
“Yes.”
“You know who her father was?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“No.”
Marcus placed a thin folder on the desk.
Inside was an old photograph of a man standing outside a warehouse beside several crates. The man looked strikingly like Sera.
His name was Daniel Walsh.
Seven years earlier, Daniel had disappeared after allegedly stealing confidential financial records from a company connected to Adrian's former associates.
The official report said he'd fled the country.
The private report said something else.
Adrian studied the photograph.
“Why wasn't this in the background check?”
“Because the file was sealed.”
“By whom?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he answered.
“Your father.”
Adrian closed the folder.
For the first time since meeting Sera, he wasn't thinking about her intelligence, her courage, or the strange way she made his office feel less empty.
May you like
He was thinking about whether the woman he'd invited into his life had unknowingly brought the past to his door.
And whether someone else had arranged their meeting long before the wine touched his sleeve.
