[ALESSIA POV]
"Alessia?" Mirabel leaned over from the next cubicle, her eyes wide. "Did you just—"
"I hung up on him."
"On Harrison? THE Harrison?" I nodded, my hands trembling.
"Girl, you're dead. He's one of the biggest accounts. He personally knows the CEO."
My Heart almost stopped working. Really?
The CEO. Fernandes Woods.
I'd never met him. Never even seen him in person. He existed somewhere on the top floor in an office probably bigger than my entire apartment, making decisions that affected thousands of employees he'd never meet.
And now, because of me, he was about to lose a multi-million-dollar account.
"Maybe he won't find out," I said weakly.
Mirabel gave me a look that said you poor, deluded child.
"Harrison's probably already on the phone with him right now."
She was right.
Five minutes later, my computer pinged with an email notification.
My hands shook as I opened it.
FROM: Board of Directors TO: Alessia Davison SUBJECT: Immediate Summons
"You are required to report to the Executive Board Room on the 30th floor at 2:00 PM today. Do not be late. This is not optional."
The blood drained from my face immediately.
"What is it?" Mirabel asked.
"I'm being summoned omg!!. To the top floor. The board room."
"Oh shit."
"Yeah."
I looked at the clock. 1:47 PM.
Thirteen minutes.
Thirteen minutes until I walked into that room and got fired.
The elevator ride to the 30th floor felt like riding to my own execution.
My reflection stared back at me from the polished doors. I looked pale and Scared. My blazer was wrinkled from clutching my notepad too tightly.
You're going to get fired. You're going to lose your job. How are you going to pay rent? How are you going to survive?
The doors opened. The executive floor was like stepping into another world. Marble floors, Glass walls, and Expensive art. Everything gleamed with wealth and power.
I found the board room at the end of a long hallway. The double doors were massive with dark wood, polished to perfection.
I hesitated.
Maybe I could run or Just turn around, go back downstairs, pack my things, and leave before they could officially fire me.
But that would be cowardly and I wasn't a coward.
I pushed the doors open and the room was enormous. A glass table stretched down the center, surrounded by leather chairs that probably cost more than my car. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city, the view so high it made my stomach twist but the room was empty.
No board of directors and panel of executives ready to tear me apart.
Just one man.
He stood at the windows, hands in his pockets, looking out at the city like he owned it which, technically, he did.
He turned when I entered and I forgot how to breathe.
Fernandes Woods was younger than I expected. Maybe early thirties. Tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of presence that filled a room without effort. Dark suit tailored perfectly to his frame. Sharp jawline. Dark eyes that seemed to see right through me and his handsomeness didn't even begin to cover it.
He was devastatingly, unfairly, dangerously attractive. And he was looking at me like I was something he was deciding whether to keep or throw away.
"Ms. Davison." His voice was deep, calm, controlled. "Sit."
My legs moved on autopilot. I sat in the chair across from where he'd been standing, my hands folded in my lap to keep them from shaking.
He didn't sit. He walked slowly around the table, his gaze never leaving me.
I felt like a prey being circled by a predator.
Finally, he stopped directly across from me, his hands resting on the back of the chair.
"Do you know why you're here?"
My voice came out smaller than I wanted. "Yes, sir."
"Tell me."
"I... I hung up on a premium client. Mr. Harrison."
"You hung up on a man who spends $3 million annually with this company."
I flinched. Three million. God.
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
I swallowed hard. "He was being verbally abusive. He insulted me personally. Made comments about my mother. I... I shouldn't have hung up. I know that. But I—"
"Stop."
I stopped.
He looked at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
Then he did something unexpected.
He sat down.
Directly across from me eye level.
"What did he say about your mother?"
I blinked. "Sir?"
"What exactly did he say?"
Heat flooded my cheeks. "I'd rather not repeat it, sir."
"I'm asking you to repeat it."
I looked down at my hands. "He said... he said my mother should have raised me better than to be such a useless bitch."
Silence.
When I finally looked up, something dark had crossed his face.
"And before that? What else did he say?"
"He called me incompetent and stupid. Said I didn't deserve my job. That he was going to make sure I was fired and that no other company would ever hire me."
"For how long?"
"Sir?"
"How long did he verbally abuse you before you hung up?"
"About... about ten minutes."
His jaw tightened.Then he leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving mine.
"You're not fired."
I stared at him. "I'm... what?"
"You're not fired, Ms. Davison. In fact, I'm giving you a new assignment."
My brain couldn't process what was happening.
"I don't understand."
"Mr. Harrison is a valuable client. But he's also an asshole who thinks his money gives him the right to abuse my employees." His eyes locked on mine. "It doesn't."
My heart was racing now.
"You will call him back. You will apologize for hanging up,not for standing up for yourself, but for the disconnection. You will resolve his issue professionally. And you will document everything he says. If he steps out of line again, you will report it directly to me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." He stood. "Consider this your test, Ms. Davison. Handle it well, and you'll prove you belong here. Handle it poorly, and we'll have another conversation. One that won't end as well."
I stood quickly. "I won't let you down, sir."
"See that you don't."
I turned to leave.
"Ms. Davison?"
I stopped, turning back.
He was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"For what it's worth... you did the right thing. No one should have to tolerate that kind of treatment. Not even for $3 million."
Something warm bloomed in my chest.
"Thank you, sir."
As I walked out of that board room, my legs shaking and my heart racing, one thought kept running through my mind:
Fernandes Woods just defended me.
The CEO. The most powerful man in the company. And God help me, I think I just fell a little bit in love with him.