Chapter Eleven

It has been a week since Chloe joined the Monroe group and started her position as a junior bookkeeper. All she has been in charge of is counting the cashes and vaults at the beginning of her shift and making sure they match the numbers left from the crew the night before and overlooking to account books as they come in for any mistakes or errors, and any possible embezzlement.

She rarely leaves the small back corner office, hidden at the end of the narrow hallway that leads to the stairwell of the basement, where they keep the surplus of cash and chips. The office has no windows like Gabriel's, and a single swinging lamp light above her, making the whole room seem shady, unlike the glamorous casino located just down the hall.

Now, it's time for her first tutoring session with Gabriel. She has tried to learn what she can from observing around her, but being stuck so far in the back, she never gets to see how anything is done up close.

"Have you ever been on a date, Miss Rose?"

It's the first thing Gabriel Monroe asks her when she walks through his office door.

"Is that supposed to be some double edge sword idiom?"

He lets out a light chuckle, placing the papers he was looking at by the window down on his office table, giving her a curious look.

As expected, she saw right through me.

"You're extremely punctual."

She raises a brow at him. "This is a business meeting in a sense, one has too always be professional. Am I wrong?"

He looks at her for a long time, to the point where she thinks she might have said something wrong, before cracking a smile and pulling the chair out for her.

"Shall we begin?"

***

The session only lasted an hour, and they only covered the basics of business management, and how some techniques could apply to hospitality and entertainment industries of business.

So, why does she feel utterly exhausted, yet the man in front of her looks like he just woke up from a full 12-hour sleep?

He did most of the talking and researching, but his voice sounds just as smooth and deep as before, no croak or crack in his tone to show how much he has strained his voice over the last hour, and his steely grey eyes still bright and showing no signs of constant screen time.

Whereas Chloe on the other hand, could be mistook for a college student who just pulled an all-nighter working on a last-minute project.

"I think that should cover it for today, take the day tomorrow to rest up before work Monday, I'll have a new assignment for you based on what we learned today."

This causes her to perk up. "You mean I'll get some hands-on experience?"

In other words, she won't be stuffed in the corner office again for the entire week and will at least get to see the sun for one day during work.

"Do you dislike that idea?"

She gives him a dumbfounded look. "Of course not, that office was getting stuffy anyway."

"What office?" Gabriel asks. It has been a while since he ventured down to where the bookkeepers stay, and since she is their only current full-time bookkeeper, she has been the only one to use the office recently.

"The one that sits at the end of the hall, just before you turn downstairs, the one for bookkeepers," she says, as if it is information he should already know.

Does he really not know his own building?

Not much more can be expected from a powerful president, they only work from above. But for some reason, she doesn't want to see Gabriel Monroe as that kind of person. He hasn't treated her any different than one employee to another, or one business associate to another. The status difference between them isn't noticeable to her when she is with him.

He doesn't comment on it further and she takes that as the conversation has ended.

"Thank you for today, I will see you Monday morning."

As she is getting into her awaiting car, Margaret phones her.

"Miss, your father has returned to the manor."

***

"What are you doing here?" She can't even seem to fake calling him 'dad'. No one who exploits their daughter like this for their secret love affair, can be called a father.

The man in front of her doesn't even resemble Athena, with dark hair and the same dark blue eyes and chiseled cheekbones as Stella. He is a slender man dressed in a designer suit and shoes, neither looking like they belong on him, with the face that screams mongrel.

It's a wonder what he looked like when he was younger, to make two women blindly fall for a face like that.

"Am I not allowed to return home? This is still my house, and I am still your father."

"Do you really think you're allowed to call yourself that, after you haven't come to see your own daughter after she woke from her coma, or after your other daughter attacked her? A father cares for their children, all of them."

By the bewildered look on his face, Athena has never spoken to her father like this in the past.

He is about to get a rude awakening. Chloe was known for being an outspoken child growing up, and always challenged everything they said that she didn't agree with. Children have better intuition than adults, something that she supposes is dulled as they get older and are exposed to different personalities and perspectives of people. Therefore, it's easier for them to tell if an adult's intent is cruel or not, or if they're faking affection and kindness.

Thankfully being stuck in Athena's body, Chloe still has her past intuition, something that grew from many desperate attempts and consistently getting screwed over, there isn't a new type of scum she hasn't already seen.

Jaden Heroux is no different from any of the sleezy men who tried to take advantage of her desperation and weak backbone.

"Whatever you're here for, it isn't here," she sneers.

"Who says I'm here for anything? I worked a long week of overtime at the company and I'm coming home to relax. What's with the interrogation as soon as I get home?"

"The fact that your daughter showed up a few days ago and attacked me, in my own home. You were informed and didn't bother to even come and see if I was okay, instead you've spent the week with them, and don't sit there and try to lie to me. I'm through playing these childish games with a man who is supposed to be my guardian."

He scoffs, the façade falling from his face instantly and revealing the scumbag behind the mask. He has never had such a confrontation with Athena, she was always obedient and stayed out of family affairs, never wanting to take over the business or the responsibility. She was more than happy to have her father handle everything, if it wasn't for his mistress and her daughter, making her life a living hell and trying to rob her of everything she has left.

"You seem to forget who you're talking to. I believe there is still just over 6-months until your turn 21, but it seems you're getting ahead of yourself already. You think I'm not aware that you visited the lawyer's office and retrieved some documents you have no right withholding from me? Your mother left me those properties and assets in her will, you can be rebellious and cunning all you want, but there is no deceiving me, so why don't you just hand over the documents now, and I'll leave. It's a win-win."

Does this man really take his own daughter for a fool? He thinks so highly of himself, why would he not assume that his daughter is the same? Just because he produced one dimwit daughter, it seems that has made him underestimate his other.

"I haven't seen her will, so how am I to believe that? Show me where in her will it states what assets and properties you get, and I will be happy to speak with Mr. Collins about transferring those properties in your name and dispersing the assets."

She knows very well that he hasn't seen the will, or else he wouldn't be here. It's a lie that he is there for the documents she took from Mr. Collins, and if he kept his word to her, her father doesn't know exactly what she took from Mr. Collins. He is searching for the will, that's all he needs to demand she hand over everything, once he has the chance to change it that is.

The irritated look on his face confirms her theory; he hasn't read the will.

But he won't admit that he is also trying to get information out of her. He wants to know why she was at the lawyer's office and exactly what she took. Chloe is aware there is a certain property of a house close to the main office of the Rose Company, a rather nice mansion that is almost equivalent to the main house, but slightly smaller with less yard space due to being so close to the inner city.

He wants to put that house in the name of his mistress.

That way, Athena or her family can't touch it.

"I have it locked away at the office, you can read it when I get back from my business trip, it's overseas so I don't know how long I'll be gone."

Typical, buying himself time to think of another plan and look for it.

"Have a safe trip," she says, smiling sweetly before retreating to her room. She'll let him have this one, hopefully this means he will stop coming by the house and looking, also buying her some time to search it herself.

She hasn't given Athena's body the proper time to heal, and it's clear that she already had a weak body before her coma, so running around and getting attacked several times in the couple weeks she's lived in this body probably wasn't the best idea.

For the next week she asked to take reduced hours at the casino due to her health, something she knows they can't say no to, but Gabriel did remind her that it would mean that will delay paying back her debt. A small price to pay for getting the time to make her body healthier than before, so if she is ever attacked again, she won't faint so easily.

Her plan is easy; change her entire diet to contain mostly protein and vitamins, cardio work outs every morning by either running or swimming, and another work out before dinner. It also wouldn't hurt to try taking some self-defense classes, in case Stella or any of her goons try and sneak attack her one day. Stella has already showed up at the main house and openly attacked her in front of staff members.

There is no telling what she will do if she ever gets her alone, and with others on her side. Chloe also now has to worry about a new threat from working with Gabriel and being the only female, he works so closely with. She needs to find the time to figure out more of just who Gabriel Monroe is, and the company his family runs. On the outside it seems like your average hotel and casino.

But then why does she have people chasing and trying to kidnap her, before she even officially started working there? That isn't something that happens casually every day.

On top of all of this, she hasn't called her agent back or given her a single response for any job offers she has given her. At this point, it almost seems like her pursuit of wealth and fame has dulled, now that she already has it.

But does she really? She has the face and body of Athena Rose, but she is still the same plain, boring Chloe Brass inside. Does everything she has now really belong to her? She isn't the one who worked for it, Athena did. She can't even call herself by that name, afraid that if she lets go of Chloe Brass, she will disappear forever.

What's holding her back from letting go of her, though?

It hasn't been long since she awoke in this body and strange world, still unsure if she is still even on Earth, or stuck in another dimension, but there haven't been any signs of her returning to her old life any time soon.

So, why not let go? Can she still achieve her revenge and dream of leisure, if she gives up her identity as Chloe Brass?

There is too much for her to think about, and the sun is getting lower, meaning she will have to get ready for bed to work early with Gabriel in the morning.

Another annoying factor in her life. He isn't someone Athena has met in her past life, but for some reason he makes her nervous. She doesn't like the way he seems to be able to know the exact personality of Athena and see right through Chloe's act of her, just from watching a few interviews and videos online, and reading a handful of tabloid articles, which are full of rumors and fake news.

He hasn't indicated anything recently to make her panic, but from their first meeting she could tell that he felt something off about her and has been observing her closely since then. Which in turn, puts her on edge and constantly aware of how she is speaking and acting in front of him.

It doesn't help that he is the first handsome man she has met in this lifetime, and knows that with her new looks as Athena, she has a higher chance of scoring a man like him than she would have as Chloe. The temptation to test that theory out is too enticing, it's a shame the first man she meets like that has to be her superior, and someone so much higher in status.

She thought as a celebrity there was no one who could be higher in status then her, but she had never met a president before, and it seems Athena hasn't had her fair share of experience with a president or CEO either, mostly mingling in social events that contain other media stars.

Working with the Monroe group will open up a whole new world for her, a world that will hopefully help her get the revenge she needs for Athena, and to finally enjoy the life of leisure and luxury.

First thing she needs to do is put her modeling career on hold. If Stella really wants to overrun her in that department, she can have it.

Chloe, or should she say Athena, has a new career path in mind. One that will rise her to a position where she can make Stella disappear from the face of high society with the wave of her hand.

Time to start stage one of her plan, the race for her mother's will against her father.

May the best member win.