Chapter 143

I woke up the next morning and bolted from my bed. Test day was here!

Even though the test wasn’t scheduled until early afternoon, I wasn’t going to school today because I was too nervous to sit in class. Alex agreed I should stay home and relax this morning.

Resisting the urge to do some last-minute studying, I dressed and went downstairs.

Alex was in the dining room eating breakfast. “Good morning, sweetheart. Sit down and eat something.”

“I’m not hungry,” I replied. I was sure I couldn’t eat a bite. My stomach was gurgling and fluttering madly.

“You should try to eat, honey,” he advised. “You’ll be able to think better with something in your stomach.”

I sat down and nibbled on a piece of toast and accepted a glass of juice from Benson.

“There’s no reason to be nervous,” Alex said. “Victor assured me you are more than prepared.”

“What if he’s wrong,” I mumbled.

“Judging from the company reports I’ve seen, you know what you’re doing,” Alex said as he patted my hand. “Believe in yourself.”

“What are the Alphas like who are giving me the test?“ I asked. “Do you know them?”

I had never met the three Alpha company owners and CEOs, even though they had been at the first big dinner party Alex had thrown to announce I was his daughter to all the high-ranking Alphas in the area.

They were Russ Edwards, Charles Thomas, and Daniel Foster. They are Alex’s age and had inherited thriving companies when they were young men.

All three companies were listed in the top twenty of the most successful in the city, along with Wilson, Inc.

Alex nodded. “I know them well. Everyone respects them as good people and seasoned businessmen. After the test is over, we will have them here for dinner so you can get better acquainted.”

At one o’clock that afternoon, I remembered these moments with my father as I entered the conference room at the office. Alex’s words helped me to stay calm.

And thank the Goddess for Victor. He maintained a confidence-building dialogue during our drive into the city and up the elevator.

“You’ve got this,” he said as I took a seat at the far end of the long table. “I can’t stay in the room while you’re taking the test, but I’ll be waiting in your office for you.”

“Wish me luck,” I said, crossing my fingers.

Victor smiled. “You don’t need luck, Daisy. You know what you’re doing. Think about how you want to celebrate when this is over.”

I returned his smile, but my stomach was in knots.

Three familiar-looking men walked into the room. Their demeanor was severe but not unfriendly.

They all greeted me by name before Charles Thomas, a tall thin man with salt and pepper hair, pulled a file from his briefcase.

“You will have an hour to complete the test,” he said. “One of us will be in the room with you at all times.”

“You didn’t bring anything other than a pen into the room with you, right?” Russ Edwards asked. He was the oldest of the trio and had a calming personality.

“Correct,” I said and held the pen up for them to see.

Daniel Foster, a large man with graying blonde hair, asked me to stand and pull my long hair back to ensure I wasn’t wearing an earpiece.

Charles Thomas checked his watch and placed the test paper in front of me. “Begin,” he said.

I checked out both sides of the test and saw there were ten questions on each side. After taking a deep breath, I read the first question.

It was about the stock market. I knew the answer, but my mind was frozen.

All I could think of was the look of glee on John Cameron’s face when he learned I flunked and the disappointment I would give Alex, Victor, and William.

I began to feel physically sick as I stared at that first question with the pen clutched in my hand.

“Come on, Daisy,” I scolded myself. “You know the answer.”

“You do know the answer,” Diana said. “Don’t let your fear and nervousness control you. Picture us running through the field behind the mansion in your mind. You’re happy and content. And let your body relax.”

“I do know the answer!” I exclaimed to Diana.

Lowering the pen to the paper, I answered the question thoroughly and read the next one. It was about interest rates.

As I began to fill in the answer, I smiled to myself. My smile grew wider when I read several questions ahead and realized I knew the answers to all of them.

Concentrating on each question, I completed the test and double-checked my answers long before the hour was over.

I raised my hand to get Charles Thomas’s attention.

“Yes, Daisy?” he asked.

“I’m finished, Mr. Thomas,” I said.

“Wonderful.” He walked across the room and took my test from the table. “You may leave the room now.”

He placed the test on the far end of the table. “We will grade the test soon and let you know the results.”

A sense of relief washed over me as I followed him from the room. I politely nodded to Mr. Edwards and Mr. Foster, who were talking quietly in the hallway.

Eager to tell Victor all about the test, I hurried past the receptionist's bullpen and almost ran into the cleaning lady’s cart as I rounded the corner.

“Careful, Miss Wilson,” Vicky, one of the receptionists, said as she walked toward the conference room hallway. “You don’t want to get hurt before you find out the results of your test.”

I chuckled and hurried into my office. “The test wasn’t hard at all after I calmed down,” I told Victor and threw myself into his arms. “I’m positive I aced it!”

He held me tightly. “I knew you could do it. You inherited all of your father’s business abilities.”

“I can’t believe it’s over,” I giggled. “I’m so happy.”

“How do you want to celebrate?” Victor asked.

“I couldn’t eat much until now, so I’m starving,” I replied. “How about a cheeseburger and a milkshake?”

Victor lifted me from my feet and swung me in a circle. “You can have anything you want.”

Before we decided where to go for my burger, Mr. Foster appeared in my office doorway. His bulk almost hid Mr. Edwards and Mr. Thomas, who were standing behind him.

The expressions on their faces were stern.

“Excuse us, Miss Wilson,” Mr. Foster said. “But you were not permitted to remove the test from the conference room before it was graded.”

My smile froze, and I pulled away from Victor. “I …I didn’t. I …I gah …gave my …my test to Mr. Thomas before I left the room.”

I was mortified to be stuttering in front of these Alphas, and I didn’t understand what happened.

Mr. Thomas stepped in front of the other men. “I placed your test on the table and joined the others in the hallway. I wasn’t watching you as you followed me out of the room.”

“I … I didn’t take it,” I stammered.

“You finished quickly,” Mr. Foster said. “Did you not know the answers and want to get rid of the test?”

“Forgive us if we are wrong, Miss Wilson,” Mr. Edwards said. “But we don’t know what else to think.”

“Have you checked the floor in the conference room?” Victor asked. His face was pale. “Maybe it slipped under the table.”

“We searched the room,” Mr Foster replied gruffly. “It has vanished. Now we need to search this room.”

“Please do,” I said.

Anger was beginning to smolder inside me. “Someone took my test. Someone was helping John Cameron.

“Call security,” Victor instructed. The cameras in the hallway and conference room will tell us where it went and who took it.”

I nodded and hurried to the receptionist's desks while the three Alphas searched my office for the missing test.

If it left the building or was replaced with a fake test, Wilson, Inc. would be lost to me.