Chapter 2

Zane furrowed his brows as the girl unabashedly checked him out. As if his position as the CEO of the Atlas Group was not enough, women were all over Zane because of his good looks, and it was off-putting. Willow gave Lianne a nudge. “What are you standing there for?” Snapping out of her trance, Lianne gathered herself. “Hello, Mr. Atlas. My name is Lianne Simpson. It hasn’t been a full year since my transfer to the Atlas Group’s headquarters.” Lianne delivered her brief introduction with confidence, outperforming the previous two. “Lianne Simpson?” Zane murmured the name as a sense of familiarity lingered over him. He took another glance at Lianne. She was not much of an eyesore now that she quit staring at him. “She can stay.” “Okay,” Willow responded before leading the trio out of the office. “Lianne, move your things into the executive assistant’s office.” “Sure.” Lianne returned to her desk to pack her personal belongings. Since the salary was at least double for the job as the CEO’s personal assistant, the trio beat the competition through multiple rounds of screening to land themselves the job. The job finally fell on Lianne, who had the least experience, so the other two were not too happy about it. Nevertheless, Yvonne quickly saw the error in her thinking. Lianne’s lack of experience was not an excuse to deny her capabilities. Yvonne gave Lianne a hug with a smile. “Congrats, Lianne.” Lianne replied, “Thank you.” Acting like a sore loser, Dave said sarcastically, “Watch and learn, Yvonne. It doesn’t take skills to climb to the top. You need to brush up on the art of seduction too.” Dave did not name any names. The person would get defensive if the remark struck a nerve. It was not like Lianne could do anything to him. Lianne stared at Dave chillingly. “Mr. Atlas isn’t someone you can speak ill of, Dave.” Getting the meaning behind her words, Dave went white in the face. Yvonne said, “Dave, you have no class for making false accusations just because a girl is better than you.” “I’ve got to go, Yvonne.” Lianne gave Yvonne a thankful look before walking away with her box of stuff. Lianne reported herself at the executive assistant’s office. Willow sized her up. “Mr. Atlas might have picked you today, but your work performance will be the deciding factor on whether or not you keep the job.” Willow gave a warning in hushed tones, “Please keep in mind that Mr. Atlas has a thing against employees who have a romantic interest in him. Please don’t ruin your career.” Zane never showed his face in the presence of the media, so the public had no idea what he looked like. Still, he topped the list of the hottest bachelors to marry in Rosewood for many years. Lianne had no intention of pursuing any more than a professional career with her boss. However, no one would probably believe her even if she said so. Nothing beats explanation than her work achievement. She replied, “Thanks for the heads-up, Ms. Spencer. I will keep that in mind.” Willow’s gaze softened following Lianne’s positive attitude. “I’ll proceed with the handover now.” The CEO of the Atlas Group had a huge team of secretaries and two executive assistants, leading Willow and Liam to share different responsibilities. With her job description matching more that of a personal assistant, Willow oversaw the business and personal sides of things. A secretary needed to know the CEO’s personal preferences, habits, and dislikes, and Lianne had the information down-pat. Willow and Lianne spent the whole morning on the handover. By the time afternoon rolled around, Lianne would have to face the CEO on her own. After lunch, Lianne brewed a cup of iced Americano and knocked on the door of the CEO’s office. The man’s husky voice came from inside. “Come in.” Lianne entered the room to find Zane sitting behind his desk. He was going through a file. She placed the coffee thirty centimeters from his left hand. “Mr. Atlas, the meeting with Jefferson Tech starts at ten-past two. It is two o’clock now.” Without picking his head up, Zane grabbed the cup of coffee and took a sip. “Okay.” … Ten minutes later, Lianne and the other executive assistant, Liam, attended the meeting with Zane. While the meeting was in session, Liam was in charge of the minutes, and Lianne laid out the documents for the CEO. Zane was a man of few words, leaving his subordinates to do most of the talking with the representatives from Jefferson Tech. Zane would chime in with a comment every now and then, capturing the key points of the meeting. Through his minute hand gestures and the look on his face, Lianne picked up on his needs and presented Zane with the much-needed documents in a timely manner. Even Liam was in disbelief at their work chemistry. If Liam did not know Lianne’s promotion was recent, he would think that Lianne had years of working directly with Mr. Atlas under her belt. The meeting ended three hours later. Lianne and Liam followed Zane back into the office. They were about to report on the subsequent work when Zane’s personal phone rang. Zane took the call, and Sally’s feeble voice came on the other end of the line. “Zane, now that you’re back, hurry and bring your wife home. You can’t let her stay elsewhere on her own. I won’t leave Southhill Estate if you don’t bring her home.” The man pushed his silver-framed glasses up his nose bridge. “I intend to pick her up today anyway.” Thrilled with the news, the old lady forgot she was feigning sickness. Her voice turned high-pitched. “I will text you her address. You can pick her up after work.” “Sure.” Zane then hung up and gave attention to Lianne and Liam’s notes. To everybody’s surprise, Zane did not ask about work after getting the work report from his employees. “What do you think I should bring when meeting a girl?” Since Liam had been working alongside Zane for many years, he could speak freely. “That would depend on the girl.” Zane chuckled. “My wife.” The Atlas Group’s company in the States had run into some problems when Zane got his marriage license last year. After getting his marriage paperwork done with the girl, Zane took a flight straight to the States, and it took a year before his work there was done. The girl never reached out to him throughout the year, and Zane was too busy to contact her too. It would have slipped his mind that he was married if his grandmother had not stopped nagging him about it. Now that Zane was back, he was ready to start his marriage with her and make up for the year of absence. Liam knew his boss had tied the knot with a woman a year ago. Nevertheless, the CEO had not gotten in touch with the woman, so Liam thought the marriage was an act to appease his grandmother. Now, that did not seem like the case. Liam was struck by a thought. “Mr. Atlas, did you fly to Paris before coming back and spent two hundred million dollars to buy the necklace called the Stellar as a gift for your wife?” Zane gave him an affirmative look. “You have not answered my question.” Liam had been single all his life. No good advice could come from a guy who had not been in a relationship. “What else would you need when you have the two-hundred-million-dollar necklace?” Zane looked coldly at Liam, sending shivers down the latter’s spine. Liam pushed Lianne ahead. “Mr. Atlas, you should ask a girl to find out about what young women are into.”