Free Web NovelChapter 5: Chapter 4 The Wrong Monroe
Laziel didn’t interview me. He didn’t ask about my qualifications, my background, or why I was wearing a suit that could double as a parachute.
Instead, he gave me a tablet.
"My previous assistant was an idiot. "She managed to double-book flights to Paris and Tokyo on the same afternoon. Fix it."
"Where are the backup manifests stored?"
"If I had to do your job for you, Miss Brenner, your salary would be going into my account, not yours," he replied. "You have until five p.m."
He didn’t say another word. He went straight back to work, completely erasing my presence from the room.
I sat on the couch at the far side of the office. For the next four hours, I buried myself in the mess. It was a nightmare. The previous assistant had completely cross-wired his international schedule, but I refused to let him see me struggle.
Around us, employees moved quickly, avoiding his office door like it was cursed.
Every time someone stepped inside, they left looking ten years older.
For the next three hours, I worked.
I discovered quickly that Laziel Monroe was impossible to impress.
He didn’t just speak Italian. Over the course of the afternoon, I heard him switch effortlessly between English and French.
By three p.m., he was on his fourth cup of black coffee. And not once did his face soften. He never smiled.
At exactly four-thirty, I walked over and placed the tablet back on his desk.
"The calendar is clear."
Laziel finally raised his eyes. He scanned the tablet screen for less than ten seconds.
His face didn’t show a hint of approval. He just slid the tablet to the side.
"Acceptable," he murmured.
Acceptable? I had just untangled a week’s worth of corporate sabotage in four hours, and that was all he had to say?
"You’re dismissed for the day, Miss Brenner. Six a.m. tomorrow. Don’t be late."
"You’re welcome," I muttered.
One dark eyebrow lifted.
"You’ll find gratitude is not included in your job description, Miss Brenner."
I hated that his voice stayed in my head long after he looked away.
Minutes later, I gathered my things and stood to leave.
Then I heard it.
Snap.
One of the safety pins holding Giulia’s oversized blazer together gave up.
I stood frozen, mortified, my back still turned to his desk.
Behind me, I heard footsteps approach from behind. I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
Suddenly, his suit jacket was tossed over my shoulder from behind.
"Put it on," Laziel’s voice rasped right near my ear, close enough that his breath brushed the stray hairs of my messy bun.
I quickly slid my arms into the sleeves. I turned around, my cheeks burning as I looked up at him.
"Thank you, Mr. Monroe. I’ll have it dry cleaned and—"
"Save the speech," he interrupted, "I can’t have my executive assistant blinding high-profile clients with wardrobe malfunctions in the hallway. It’s bad for branding."
I hated his arrogance. I hated his sarcastic mouth. But as I walked out, I realised that I found him attractive. And in my world, finding a Monroe attractive was the quickest way to get destroyed.
.......
The train ride back to our small apartment felt longer than usual. My body was exhausted, but my mind was still spinning from the scent of the jacket still resting on my shoulders.
The moment I unlocked the front door, Anastelle was sitting at the small kitchen table as she shook a toy.
"Mommy!" she squealed, dropping the toy and running straight into my legs. "Look! Look what Auntie Giulia bought me!"
I caught her, lifting her small body into my arms, but my eyes immediately drifted past her shoulder to the table.
Giulia was standing by the stove, stirring a pot of sauce, but she looked completely pale. Her phone was sitting face-up on the counter, a news article open on the screen.
"Mireya," Giulia said, her voice shaking. "Tell me you didn’t take that job. Tell me you walked out of that building."
I lowered Anastelle back to the floor, my eyes narrowing. "I took it, Giulia. The pay is exactly what we need. What’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
Giulia didn’t speak. She just reached over, grabbed her phone, and turned the screen toward me.
"I didn’t know," Giulia whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I swear to God, Mireya, I didn’t know his subsidiary holdings reached this far into Italy until the press release dropped ten minutes ago."
I looked down at the screen.
It was an article detailing the upcoming international merger. Right at the top of the page was a family tree of the Monroe Global empire. My eyes scanned the text.
Following the retirement of Marcus Monroe, full executive control of the European logistics branch has been handed to his eldest son, Laziel Monroe...
My breath hitched. I scrolled down.
...co-managing the North American luxury transport divisions alongside his younger brother, Helix Monroe.
The phone slipped from my fingers.
The room went entirely black at the edges.
Laziel wasn’t just a random billionaire with a matching surname.
He was Helix’s older brother.
Anastelle’s uncle.
And I had just signed a contract to sit five feet away from him every single day.
