Free Web NovelChapter 6: Chapter 5 The Devil Pays Better
...alongside his younger brother, Helix Monroe.
"Mireya?" Giulia was by my side in an instant.
Does Laziel know who I am? Did Helix ever tell his brother about me?
My eyes locked onto Anastelle, who was still playing happily on the rug. What if Laziel sees her? What if he catches a single glimpse of those striking, piercing forest green eyes that she inherited from his brother?
"You have to quit," Giulia said. "You can’t go back there tomorrow. If they find out about Anastelle—"
"With what money, Giulia?" I snapped. I pointed a trembling finger at the kitchen table. "Look at the table. Look at the stack of unpaid bills. Look at the rent notice I’m too terrified to open."
I looked back at my daughter, who was still clutching that leaking teddy bear because I couldn’t afford to buy her the shiny new dolls the other girls had.
"I’ve spent five years running and starving," I whispered. "I finally have a job that pays enough for us to survive. I’d rather work for the devil than let my daughter go hungry."
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5:45 Am.
I woke up, repeating my new rules over and over again.
Rule number one: Never mention New York.
Rule number two: Never mention I have a daughter.
Rule number three: Never, under any circumstances, let Laziel Monroe see me panic.
If I kept my head down, did my work perfectly, and kept our interactions strictly corporate, there was no reason for him to ever suspect a thing. To him, I was just Mireya Brenner—a desperate, poorly dressed assistant in a borrowed suit. I just had to survive him.
The elevator doors chimed open on the forty-fifth floor at exactly 5:55 AM.
I stepped into his office.
Laziel was already at his desk.
He didn’t even look up from the tablet in front of him as I approached.
Without a word, he pushed a steaming cup of black coffee across the desk toward me.
"Drink it," he murmured, "You look like you didn’t sleep a single wink last night."
I froze mid-step, my hand hovering in the air.
How did he notice?
"I slept perfectly fine, Mr. Monroe," I lied. "Thank you for the coffee."
"Lie to HR, Miss Brenner. Don’t lie to me. It wastes my time," he replied, his dark blue eyes finally snapping up to lock onto mine.
I quickly set the cup down. "It’s just the caffeine."
Throughout the rest of the day, I stayed glued to my desk outside his door, but Laziel kept the communication lines completely open, dragging me into every single file regarding the upcoming international merger.
And he noticed everything.
At 11:00 AM, a senior director walked into the suite, discussing the logistics timeline. "The board needs the final approval from the main branch in New York, and old Marcus Monroe wants a direct report by Friday."
The moment the name Monroe left the man’s mouth, I gasped, dropping my pen against the desk.
From inside the office, through the open glass partition, Laziel’s eyes immediately tracked the sound, narrowing slightly as he watched me fumble to pick it up.
Later, during a review of the family tree documents for the merger contracts, I found myself completely frozen, staring at Helix’s name printed in bold black ink.
"Miss Brenner," Laziel called.
I jumped, quickly closing the tab on my screen.
He was leaning against the doorframe, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, watching me. He walked over slowly, stopping just inches from my desk.
"Every time a document mentions the headquarters, you look like you’re staring at a ghost," he said. "And you completely skip over the family profile pages. Why is that?"
My throat went entirely dry. I could smell his cologne—the same scent that had covered me when I wore his jacket the day before.
"I’m just focusing on the financial data, Mr. Monroe," I said, forcing myself to look straight at his chin, avoiding those piercing eyes. "The family dynamics aren’t part of my job description."
Laziel didn’t move. He just stared down at me, a smile threatening to touch his lips.
"Careful, Brenner," he murmured, "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a personal problem with my family."
