Page 34 of The Secretary Volume II

I check my calendar.No prior invite.No warning.

But it’s not phrased like an invitation.

It’s an order.

I glance around the office.I ask a few people if they’re going, only to be told it’s mandatory.It seems strange to me, after hours and on such short notice, but no one else seems surprised.A few people are glued to their screens, others are quietly packing up.

This isn’t unusual for them.

For me?

It feels like a shift.The first ripple of something pulling me under.

I reach into my pocket, fingers brushing against crumpled paper.I exhale slowly.Then I log off.And I go to dinner.

The restaurant is upscale.Private.

The kind of place where the lighting is too soft, the music is just loud enough to distract, and the menus have no prices.

I sit near the end of the table, watching.

Andra is here.Carrie.Stewy.Others I barely know.

And at the head of the table?—

Him.

Ellis Harrison doesn’t look at me right away.He’s talking to Andra, discussing something I can’t hear, his gaze flicking in my direction as if I wouldn’t have the clearance to understand anyway.The conversation drifts, flowing around me in carefully measured tones.

I see it now.

This isn’t a normal work dinner.

It’s a performance, a test.

And I don’t know the rules yet.

Ellis’s voice cuts through the noise.

“Lena.”

My brows raise.

He’s looking at me now.

Assessing.

“You’ve adjusted well, I take it?”

It’s a simple question.A normal question.

Then why does it feel heavy?

I nod.“I think so.”

He tilts his head slightly, like he’s deciding if that was the right answer.

I hold his gaze.