Chapter 5
When Stella rounded the corner and stepped back into the office area, the scene she saw made her pause. Vivian stood with her face twisted in fury–her white dress stained with sploshes of brown– standing in front of an older woman on the floor in a pool of water. Clara was using a handkerchief to dab at Vivian’s dress trying to reduce the damage.
“Oh, enough” Vivian shouted, pushing Clara aside. She turned to the woman still crouched on the floor–clearly one of the janitorial staff—her uniform was damp, most likely from Vivian’s collision with the mop bucket.
“I’m sorry Miss Stone, but the bucket was by the wall, if you weren’t so focused on your phone, there was no way you would have run into the bucket,” The woman replied. Her tone was firm and apologetic but showed she wasn’t afraid of Vivian. Who was this woman?
“You. You– Ahhh,” Vivian screamed in frustration, stomping her feet. “I would have fired you if you weren’t one of the chairman’s people,” She snorted, before stomping away from the mess, her hells clicking furiously against the marbled floor. Clara scurried after her and shot Stella a dirty look when they passed her.
Once they were gone, Stella walked to the woman and gently helped her up. “Here,” she said gently, handing her handkerchief. “Are you all right?’
The woman looked up, startled.“Thank you. You’re the new secretary, right?” She said softly, not taking the handkerchief. “I’ll only get this dirty.”
Stella nodded. “Yes I am. I’m Stella Moore.” The woman was in her late forties. There was a warmth in her eyes, a kindness Stella hadn’t encountered from anyone else in the office..aside from Liam. It didn’t matter, she wasn’t here to make friends anyway.
“I’m Evelyn, nice to meet you,” the woman continued, her voice light. “I handle the cleaning on this floor. I noticed Vivian has been dumping a lot on you. That lady is quite the firecracker. She shot a pointed glance at Vivian’s workstation, her head shaking in disapproval. “I’ve been watching you these past few days, you are very patient.”
Stella blinked in surprise. “Oh, well… I’m just a young woman trying to get by,” She said with a small shrug, “King’s corporation pays well.
“Not many young people can stomach being treated like that,” Evelyn chuckled. “You’re too modest.”
“No. No. It’s nothing like that, but you are amazing— taking care of the entire floor all by yourself.” She worked with Evelyn, picking up the scattered cleaning tools. They moved to a small room at the other end of the hall and carefully stored away the tools.
Evelyn smiled, patting her hands on her trousers. “The chairman only trusts me.” She said with a note of pride. Then her tone softened. “Don’t mind Vivian, she’s not really here to work. You should have noticed by now a lot of the secretaries here treat this place like a fashion show. They’ll be gone soon, trust me.”
Stella looked up, her brows knitting in confusion. “Were they just temporary workers? Why were they here?” She asked quietly, curiosity getting the better of her. King’s corporation wasn’t somewhere people came for vacation jobs
Mia sighed. “Their fathers are either part of the shareholders or important business partners. They all have connections — and are only here for a chance to get together with the new president.” She paused meaningfully. “Their families want them to become the Mrs. Carson.”
Stella’s stomach flipped.
The new president.
Who else was there to take over? The chairman’s first son was dead and the second son was already the president. Or was he planning to retire early? That seemed very unlikely. In a power-hungry family like the Carsons, it was impossible for one of them to give up their power that easily, not even for their own son.
“Let me tell you a secret,” Evelyn whispered, leaning close to Stella. “It’s the chairman’s first grandson, the old man and his second son have been having disagreements these past few years, but he is getting on in age and can’t be active as before so he called his grandson back.”
Stella had never heard of the first grandson before. It was common knowledge that the second son had two children, a son and a daughter, both currently schooling abroad. After the first son died, no news reported on him being survived by children. The chairman hid his trumpcard very well.
“Wow, I’ve never heard of him.”
“Of course you haven’t,” Evelyn sighed. “That poor child…. after tragedy struck the family. She shook her head. “Well it’s all in the past now. He—“
Before Stella could ask more, her stomach rumbled loudly, interrupting the conversation
“My goodness, why haven’t you had lunch,” Evelyn exclaimed. “Don’t let me keep you, off you go child.”
“Goodbye,” Stella said as she watched the other woman walk away. She had learned a lot from her conversation with Evelyn. The Carson family had more secrets than she’d realized.
*************************************************************************************************************Stella sat in the sitting area on the rooftop, the cool breeze tugging at her hair as she ate her sandwich. It was quite, compared to the lounge downstairs that everyone else preferred. She was able to find solace in her thoughts here since few people came here for lunch.
Stella wondered how she was going to get into “Archive room 1”.Her hacker friend that she sent the pictures to, had gotten back to her. The documents were incomplete, luckily they were able to trace the accounts to an offshore account in Switzerland. They just needed to find out who it belongs to.
“Hello, you started eating lunch without me.” The call interrupted Stella from her thoughts.
When she turned around, a coffee cup was in front of her. “This is what you like, right? Cracked Coffee Latte?” Liam said, slightly shaking the cup.
They had been running into each other often over the past couple of days since their first meeting and started having lunch together.
She arched a brow and took the cup from him. “Yeah, thank you.”
He settled into the chair across from her.“I went out with the lawyers to sign a contract and bought it on my way back.” Liam continued. Two fingers pinched his ear as he looked down at it shoe. “How’s the office today, still getting trouble from—I forgot her name”
“Vivian. Nah, today she shifted her target to someone else.” Stella replied taking a sip of the coffee.
“When the new CEO arrives, I’m sure there would be a thorough cleanup.”
“Oh,” Stella replied.
How did he know about the new CEO? That information was only privy to specific people. Maybe Liam was also one of the higher-ups' children. Her eyes caught the watch on his wrist, It was a vintage piece.
The next Monday when Stella walked into the King’s corporation building, she felt a difference in the air, but couldn’t quite place it. When she got to the executive floor, the difference felt even more pronounced. Her coworkers, who usually came late ,were already at their work stations when she arrived. Before she could dwell more on it, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Mia stepped forward first, her heels clicking against the polished floor.”Ladies and gentlemen,” Her voice rang out. “The new CEO would be arriving soon. Please stand at attention to welcome him”
As if on cue, the elevator doors dinged and started to open. Everybody scrambled to their feet and stood at attention by their workstations.
“Welcome, sir.” Mia greeted, her voice crisp and professional.
Stella’s heart pounded, she adjusted the cuffs of her sleeves, forcing herself to stay calm.
But then she saw him.
And everything froze.
Liam stepped into the room, his dark hair falling just slightly over his forehead–he had gotten a haircut–his hazel eyes sweeping the room with quiet authority. Gone were the semi-casual button-down and slacks, in their place he wore a perfectly tailored grey suit that molded to his frame, his expression was cool and unreadable–distant.
Stella’s breath caught. Liam?
The office erupted into murmurs as everyone scrambled to greet him–but Stella stood frozen in place, her mind reeling. How could it be Liam?
“Omg he’s so handsome.”
“I made the right choice coming here.”
Stella blocked the surrounding conversations from her mind. When his gaze finally landed on her, something flickered in his eyes– joy? Delight? Surprise? She couldn't quite tell.
She forced her face into a neutral mask, standing at attention. Liam walked towards her and stopped right in front of her desk.
“Hello, let me reintroduce myself. I am Liam Carson, nice to meet you…again.” He said holding out his hand for a handshake.