Page 25

There it is.

Her final blow.

She knows I've been here for a week. Everyone here knows I’ve been here for a fucking week.

But since I'm the newbie, ergo the inexperienced one, no one dares refute Amanda’s claim. If anything, the silent tension in the room tells me I'm alone in fighting against this attack.

Still having the strength in me to continue the fight, I’m about to open my mouth when the man next to me stops me.

Alaric leans forward.

The room falls into immediate silence.

He smirks. My heart nearly falls into my stomach because I know that smirk. I remember him giving me that smirk six years ago, right before he made me orgasm so hard I felt it for days.

Right now, that challenging smirk is thrown at Amanda.

“If experience is what matters, let’s put it to the test,” Alaric grits out.

Amanda’s face turns pale. “Alaric?”

“Amanda, why don’t you outline our three most profitable sectors from last quarter and how the new strategy aims to improve them?”

Amanda stiffens. She looks around the room for help, and when she starts speaking. I know for a fact she doesn’t know squat.

“Alaric I-I thought…if you can give me a minute to…”

“To read the reports? I thought reading the reports was as easy as A to Z,” Alaric taunts. I don’t know where he’s going with this, but I love it.

Amanda expected me to crumble and shrink under the weight of her challenge, but Alaric just flipped the game on her. Right now, she’s the one who’s squirming.

The anticipation of seeing her fail thrums in my veins as I watch her confidence slip and her shoulders stiffen.

Tearing his gaze away from Amanda, Alaric looks at me and asks the same question he fired at Amanda.

“Lila, outline our three most profitable sectors from last quarter and how the new strategy aims to improve them.”

He framed it as a question for Amanda.

But for me, he says it as a statement. Like he truly believes I know the answer to whatever he just stated.

He’s testing me and helping me, too, I realize.

If I fail to answer him, I lose my credibility and Amanda is proven right, but if I answer the question, I prove I'm capable of being his secretary, and no one has the right to question me.

“Of course,” I say smoothly. “Last quarter’s financial reports show that our top three performing sectors were technology investments, international trade expansion, and private client acquisitions.”

I shift my gaze to Amanda, allowing a small pause before continuing.

“To optimize our continued growth in these areas, the company has initiated a strategy that includes expanding our cybersecurity partnerships, securing key global trade agreements with our European sector, and enhancing our elite client services by streamlining high-value accounts.”

I turn back to Alaric. “Would you like me to go into specific numerical projections?”

Alaric holds my gaze for a while, and those dark orbs make me more nervous than Amanda ever did. Then he shakes his head. There’s pride in his voice as he says, “No need.”

Shifting his attention back to Amanda, he asks, “Anything else you need to clarify?”

Amanda looks like she’s about to choke. “No.”