Chapter 19

He had arrived at his office early, unable to sleep much last night. It was already dawn, and his eyes still kept fluttering open. Finally, he gave up as light flooded into his room.

Liam kept saying that staying in this hotel room was not comfortable. He needed a more permanent place where he could stay. Maybe an apartment or a big house. That might work.

But he had lived in countless hotels before, and it had not bothered him, not one bit. Besides, the hotel was one of the best in the city. Still, he would rather blame it on the facility than himself.

"Jennifer," Liam pressed on the dialer. Only to realize that it was still early. His secretary was still due to arrive in the next thirty minutes, checking on his watch.

He turned to look at the fast-moving clouds pushed by the strong winds. It would seem that rain would come soon. But that was the least of his worries for today.

"Sir, do you need anything?" A knock on his door sounded in the room, followed by the appearance of the last person he wanted to see.

Of course, he had not forgotten about her. He was another thorn in his side that he had to deal with whether he liked it or not. For now, he had to endure her existence.

After his lengthy discussion with his HR head yesterday, he learned that he could not fire her without due cause or face a lawsuit for unlawful termination.

But his lawyers also did not say he could not make her quit on her own accord. He was sure that somehow, he would find a way so she would willingly give up her job without the need for him to threaten her.

"Ms. Richmond, how long have you been out there?" Liam asked since he did not notice her when he walked into his office.

It did not surprise him to see her, but he did not expect her this early morning. But maybe, Jennifer already briefed her yesterday, giving her a heads up of what he liked.

He did expect his assistant to be alert to his every need. To know what he wanted before he could even figure out he wanted it. To fix his schedule so he would not have to deal with it. And many more.

He needed someone capable of doing this job with perfection. He required a qualified assistant, and that was not Ms. Luisa Richmond.

"Just now. But I heard you called for Jennifer. So..." Luisa stopped explaining, probably noticing the irritation on his face. "What do you need? Coffee, dry cleaning? Do you need me to run an errand?" But she continued with her list of things to do.

That only annoyed him more. "Stop." He held his hand on her, avoiding shouting at her on her first day.

In truth, it was not her voice or her questions he heard but the sound of his grandfather asking him to bring her to him. Was it guilt that he had not told him he had found her?

But why would he feel guilty when he knew he was doing the right thing? She was no one he should be wasting his time with, especially with his busy schedule. So thus, his grandfather.

"Just coffee for now. I want it black, with no sugar." The strong kick from the caffeinated drink was all he needed to jumpstart his day.

He wished he could tell her something complicated so she would mess up, but he just needed this simple black liquid to bring him back to life.

"Coffee, black, no sugar." It seemed like she was mentally listing that in her brain as he observed her. "Ok. Got it." Her words sounded convincing, but if she failed in this simple task, she would be saying goodbye to this job.

However, he was about to return to his routine when he realized she was still standing there. Her face was a picture of fear and determination, which was hard to distinguish.

If Mona Lisa had that famous smile, maybe he should have her face painted and sold for millions. It was kind of funny, but he was not laughing.

"Good, so can you go get it?" He pointed to the door, wanting the room to himself when she did not seem to move from her spot.

"Sir, I hope you don't mind, but I just like to take this opportunity while no one is still around but us." She had slightly stepped a few feet closer and then stopped, dropping her eyes to the floor.

What was she doing? He wondered. Was she planning to seduce him like the many who had tried to work for him? Well, she was doing a terrible job.

"Go on." He could not wait to hear what else she had to say and do because he could use it the other way around, immediately tapping on his phone to record their conversation.

"I never had the opportunity to thank you the other night for saving me." She finally said quickly as her eyes looked everywhere in the room except directly at him.

He was not expecting that it was what she would say. Of course, he had not forgotten that incident, but he had hoped she would not bring it up.

"I only did what I had to do. Now, can we forget about it?" Dismissing the entire scene as nothing important. "Anything else?" Liam asked when she remained standing there like a statue this time.

"I am also guessing that you are the one who took the video out of the sites. Thank you so much for doing that." Luisa finally looked at him with a timid smile.

"Well, no need to thank me. I did not do it for you." He did not wish to sound harsh, but he had to guarantee that she understood what he meant by it.

He did not need an obsessive assistant who would think that he was her savior.

"Still, I need to thank you for taking it down. I promise that I will forget all about it. You will not hear anything about that incident from me. I hope you will also do the same." Luisa said without hesitation, breathing one big breath after saying it this time.

Then, she turned around, walking away from him. She was gone.

Wow! That was new. He did not anticipate that kind of response from her. He was sure she would have exploited that incident to her advantage.

Still, he could not trust her. Doubt clouded his judgment.

What was her game?