Hypocrite

Noticing his friend's expressions, Lucas followed his gaze and glanced at the woman standing at the doorway. 

Donned in an elegant knee-length black dress that enhanced her curves, she had her hair tied in a high ponytail. Her face was bare of any makeup except for the minimal touch-ups but that did not hide her striking beauty. 

And to top it off, her expressions were not better than Niklaus'. 

'Did I miss something?' Lucas couldn't help but wonder. He glanced at Hannah questioningly. 

Hannah looked back at him with her usual indifferent gaze. Even she did not know why these two people had such expressions. 

''You…''

''You…''

Both Niklaus and Bella spoke up at the same time and the former pushed himself to his feet. He walked around the huge glass desk before he came to stand in front of her. 

It took her a moment to calm herself, ''Mr. Niklaus,'' her tone was polite, unlike the familiar tone that slipped earlier. 

''You both know each other?" Hannah asked. 

Bella glanced at the woman, ''Just a coincidence,'' she answered. 

Niklaus' mouth opened and closed. Hannah spoke up, ''President, she is Bella Ashton, your new secretary,'' she then glanced at Bella, ''Bella, he is the current CEO of Trident Empires, Mr. Niklaus Kingsley.'' 

And all Bella knew was that this was not what she expected when she made her master plan to earn money for her survival in this world during her short stay here. 

…

''So…'' Bella glanced at the cappuccino on the table, ''I totally understand if you decide to not hire me.'' 

They were sitting inside a cafe which was opposite the company building and Bella could see people looking their way. He was like a magnet attracting all iron particles like gazes wherever he went. 

But she was certain that they were not aware of his identity or else it would have been chaotic around. So, even if there were a lot of eyes on them, they were mostly because of this godly man's charms.

Perhaps, the Kingsleys have kept their identities hidden. But then again, it was only an assumption on her part and she did not know how things worked in their family. 

''Why do you think so?" Niklaus unbuttoned his suit jacket as he leaned back on the chair. 

''Think what?" 

''That I won't hire you?" 

''For obvious reasons. First, I wrote you love letters back in the old days. Second, your fiance's family assumes that I am trying to seduce you. Third, you believed the same,'' Fourth, you have the same face as my crush, and fifth, this face of yours makes my mind run all illegal at times. 

Her reasons for staying away from him were more than enough but she voiced only 3 of them and spoke the remaining 2 in her mind instead of saying it aloud. 

''First, love letters were left in 'old days' as you said and I have no interest in dwelling on the past. Second, I don't care what they assume. Third, you did try to seduce me before but I believe we are over that phase, am I right?" He straightened up, placing his elbow on the table before he propped his forehead on his fist. 

Bella nodded. 

''That concludes it then…'' 

''What if you fall for me?" Bella interrupted him. 

''Miss Bella, I believe you are overestimating yourself,'' Niklaus looked particularly uninterested at this part, ''I believe you should look in the mirror more often.'' 

''Well, we can't help it when you are blind,'' Bella shook her head. 

''You are hired and you will be working for a trial period of 2 weeks. Whether you make it or not, it depends on your abilities,'' he pushed himself to his feet. 

Bella frowned, ''Did I offend you somehow?" Earlier, she was still touched by his kind attitude towards her. He helped her with that bill issue and asked his driver to drop her but his tone was so distant right now. 

And that reminded her, earlier when he left the cafe, his tone was just like this. She was so busy feeling touched that she had dodged the thought at that time. 

Niklaus glanced at the bracelet on her wrist before looking at her face, ''I was coming to believe you are different from what I thought but then, it turned out you are just like that.'' 

''Like what?" Bella glanced at her bracelet before she looked back at him. 

Niklaus stepped towards her and she did not take her eyes off his face. His footsteps came to a halt when he was standing right in front of her, with their bodies a few inches away, ''Manipulative and a liar, and more so, a hypocrite,'' his expressions remained indifferent as ever. 

But Bella was one step away from digging her heels right into his feet through his leather boots, ''And what made you conclude that?" 

''When we were young, you once told me that you cherished this bracelet…'' Niklaus did not beat around the bush, ''...and you were emotionally attached to it because it was the only thing you had from your family. And even though you never saw them, you will always cherish this bracelet that they left for you. But today, you didn't even consider it once when you were giving it to the waitress to settle the bill.'' 

Bella's lips parted but no words came out of her mouth. She raised her hand and glanced at the bracelet sitting on her wrist. The diamond was a very ordinary one and the material was old and it looked like an antique. She never knew that it had a story attached to it. 

She just found this to be the best solution at that time.