Valeria's pov
I was on a midnight watch. My Almighty Boss, had left around 7:00 PM and didn't even say so much as a goodnight.
It was now 3:00 AM, and I was still digging through the stockpile of mess he'd dumped on me.
I was exhausted. My eyes were dry, I'd forgotten to eat, and the coffee downstairs tasted like burnt rubber and regret.
For a man with such refined taste in clothing, his taste buds were seriously lacking.
As a former med student, I'm used to all-nighters, but I hadn't slept a wink in the past few days. It was starting to take a toll. My brain felt like it was floating in a jar, but I couldn't stop. Not when my bank account was a joke.
I kept performing triage on the merger papers, organizing them into piles: Stable, Critical, and Dead on Arrival until I lost track of time.
The door to the office opened at 7:50 AM. Alaric entered, rubbing his temples. His shirt buttons were undone, and he actually looked slightly human—except for that cold, hard look that never left his face. He looked surprised to see me still there, or awake, or both.
"I wasn't expecting much from you," he said, his voice cold. "I thought you were all bite and no strength."
"I bet you'd like me to bite you with your hands on my neck," I retorted.
He came closer, staring at the files. I'd used yellow, red, and black sticky notes to categorize his mess. Up close, he smelled like scotch.
I probably just smelled like heat and hunger.
"You have a lot of casualties in your company, and I suggest you fix it," I said.
"Casualties?" he asked, looking confused.
"Yes, Boss. First, the money coming into this company and the money leaving do not match."
"Before you continue your analysis, I need a bottle of scotch," he stated.
No wonder the company is a mess when the boss is a mess.
I sat back down and went back to work.
"What do you think you're doing? Go get the scotch," he barked.
"You know, a little please and some soft-spoken words hurt no one, Boss," I said, putting my hands on my hips.
Once I brought the scotch, he told me to take it to his office and bring my work with me.
"As I was saying before I was made a butler," I said, dropping the files on his desk. "Your company has a financial tumor and it isn't thriving."
"How fast can you find the leak?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
"If I could get my bonus today, I'd try to figure it out by the end of the week."
"Done. Leave my office," he commanded.
I thought about saying something snarky, but I was too exhausted to speak again. I retreated to my desk and drifted off.
"YOU'RE FIRED! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
A voice boomed, waking me from my nap. I saw a man leaving Alaric's office, trembling.
"You do know that conversations can be had in a low tone?" I asked as Alaric stepped out.
"You do know you're not above being fired?"
"Your previous Ivy League secretaries couldn't even notice a defect in your company. I doubt you'd want to lose your only hope."
Before he could reply, I kept going. "Have you had any breakfast besides that scotch?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Your brain runs on glucose and not ego... Boss."
A few moments later, I walked back in.
"Eat," I said, dropping a cupcake I'd grabbed from the café opposite the building and two hot cups of coffee. "If you don't eat it, I will stay here and continue making you uncomfortable. So, have a bite."
He actually took a bite. He made a move for his scotch again, but I pushed the coffee toward him.
"See? It wasn't so hard. Bye, Boss," I said. "It's already 4:00 PM. I am closing for the day."
I headed for the elevator, but as I got closer, a familiar voice stopped me.
"What are you doing here, Valeria?"
It was Vivian—my former best friend. The woman who stole my small man.
"I don't see how that's any of your business," I said.
"Here to beg for a job since Jack obviously won't pay your tuition fee again?" She blocked my way to the elevator. "Even if you were to miraculously get a job here... since you couldn't keep a man, I wonder how you'd keep a job."
"Isn't it pathetic that you already have the man, yet you're still insecure and concerned about me?" I stepped closer. "Afraid you won't have anything to take from me again?"
I shoved past her and entered the elevator. As the silver doors slid shut, I pulled out my phone, my fingers still smelling like the coffee I'd served the man who destroyed my life.
"I'm in," I whispered into the receiver. "He has no idea who I am. I'll have the internal ledger by the end of the agreed time."
I stared at my reflection in the polished metal.
Five years ago, my father wasn't a fraud. He was a CEO. Then Marcus Sterling poisoned his investors and turned his allies into predators. And Alaric? He was the golden protégé my father loved like a son.
The night of the fire, Marcus provided the match, but Alaric stood on the ashes and told the world my father was a thief.
They didn't just kill a man. They erased a legacy and left me with a $2.24 funeral.
I had just survived the most terrifying boss in the city and my worst enemy. A grin spread across my face.
"Yeah… I think I'll survive here. Long enough to watch him burn"
🧚♂️
[Alaric Von's POV]
I had followed her out, intending to bark one last order, but I stopped when I saw a woman block the elevator.
She was small-minded, attacking Valeria's failure to keep a man. It was pathetic.
I expected the exhaustion of the last twenty hours to finally break my secretary.
Instead, she looked at the lady- completely unimpressed. It was the most intriguing thing I'd seen in years. She didn't just defend herself, she called out the other girl's insecurity.
The elevator doors closed, cutting off the view of Valeria's smug, exhausted grin. I felt a strange, dark prickle of protectiveness hit my chest.
She was a headache in a worn out blazer. But as I watched the other woman stand there, red-faced and humiliated, one thing became very clear.
No one insults my secretary. If anyone is going to break Valeria Onyx, it's going to be me.
There was something in her eyes when she looked at me—a flicker of something that felt like a hauntingly familiar fire. I hated her guts, but I couldn't stop wondering where I had seen that look before.