The rain hadn’t stopped since morning. Manhattan’s streets shimmered under it, the lights breaking across
puddles like scattered glass. Maya Rivers clutched her damp résumé to her chest and dashed across the
road, heart pounding louder than the thunder rolling above.
Late again. Just her luck.
King Enterprises towered ahead, swallowing the skyline. The building disappeared into the clouds like it
didn’t believe in limits. Maya stopped at the doors, catching her reflection in the glass hair frizzy, blazer
wrinkled, shoes a total mess.
“Great first impression,” she muttered, pushing inside.
The lobby hit her like a wave of money. Polished marble, quiet footsteps, that expensive cologne that
hung in the air of places people like her didn’t belong. She felt instantly small, like she’d crashed a world
meant for sharper, richer people.
“Good morning,” she said, trying to sound calm. “I’m here for the assistant interview. Maya Rivers.”
The receptionist didn’t smile. “You’re seven minutes late.”
“I there was traffic, and the rain”
“The CEO hates excuses.” The woman’s voice was flat. “Take the elevator to the top floor. He’ll see you
now.”
Maya froze. The CEO himself? Usually HR did interviews, not billionaires.
“Right. Thank you,” she said, stepping into the elevator before her nerves changed their mind.
As it climbed, she ran her fingers through her damp hair, whispering her introduction again and again. By
the time the doors opened, she had it memorized except her words died the moment she saw him.
Adrian King.
The man looked like he’d been carved out of ambition and control. He stood by the window, staring at the
storm like he owned it. Every photo she’d seen of him came rushing back the ruthless CEO, the heartless
genius, the man who’d fired a board member mid-meeting. She’d thought the media exaggerated. They
didn’t.
When he turned, his eyes locked onto her, cold and impossibly blue. “You’re
late.”
Maya swallowed. “I’m sorry, Mr. King. It won’t happen again.”
“I know.”
The words were soft but final no second chances.
She stepped forward, holding out her résumé. “Thank you for seeing me. I”
He didn’t take it. He just walked past her, calm and exact. “You have a degree in business administration.
Barely any experience. Why should I hire you?”
Because rent is due, because Mom’s medical bills won’t wait.
“I’m capable,” she said instead. “I learn fast, and I don’t quit.”
For a second, the only sound was the rain. Then, a flicker tugged at his lips not quite a smile. “You’re
bold. Most people stutter around me.”
“Maybe they don’t know how to talk to people,” she blurted, and instantly wished she hadn’t.
His eyebrow lifted. “People?”
“I mean… powerful people, sir.”
Something unreadable passed through his eyes before he said, “Sit.”
Maya obeyed, clutching her folder.
“This job requires precision,” he said, sitting behind his desk. “No distractions. Long hours. Absolute
discretion. I don’t tolerate mistakes.”
“I understand.”
“You say that now,” he murmured, typing something. “Everyone does before they break.”
Her stomach turned. “Break?”
He looked up, amusement ghosting across his face. “Emotionally. Mentally. Sometimes physically.”
Was that supposed to be a joke? She couldn’t tell.
“Do you think you can handle working under me, Miss Rivers?”
“Yes,” she said, more firmly than she felt.
“Prove it.”
Her brows knit. “Now?”
He nodded toward a folder on the desk. “That contract needs to be printed, signed by legal, and back on
my desk in twenty minutes. The last assistant couldn’t do it in an hour.”
She stood so fast the chair scraped the floor. “Twenty minutes. Got it.”
Maya hurried out, pulse racing. Even outside his office she could still feel his stare cold, measuring, like
she was an experiment he didn’t expect to survive.
Downstairs, chaos ruled. Printers jammed, people barked into phones, doors locked without warning.
Still, she pushed through asking questions, smiling when she didn’t feel like it, begging a favor from
legal, sprinting across the office floor. By minute nineteen, she was back upstairs, panting but triumphant,
a signed file in her hand.
She set it on his desk. “Done.”
Adrian didn’t glance up. “You’re one minute early.”
Her chest still heaved. “I said I’d do it.”
Finally, he looked at her again. Those eyes softened, only slightly. “So you did.”
The silence stretched between them, heavy with something she couldn’t name. Then he stood and
extended his hand.
“Welcome to King Enterprises, Miss Rivers.”
She blinked. “I thank you.”
His grip was firm, warm. Electricity or maybe adrenaline flashed through her.
When she left his office, she couldn’t slow her heartbeat. Something about him unsettled her. Something
about the whole morning felt like a turning point she couldn’t undo.
What Maya didn’t know was that Adrian King never hired on instinct.
He hired challenges.
And those who stayed long enough always learned that behind his brilliance was a storm far darker than
the one outside his window.
