Compared to the pretentious answers given by the candidates before, Corinne's answer was like a breath of fresh air.'Wait a minute. Why does her voice sound so familiar?' thought Edmund. He looked up and his eyes immediately widened in recognition. 'Corinne Carew?!'Corinne smiled amicably at him.Edmund snapped out of his shock and frowned. He reminded himself to be wary of her since her history with both Lucas and Anya were less than desirable."Miss Carew, what are you doing here?""I came here for the interview, of course."The frown on Edmund's forehead became deeper. "You want to be Mister Lucas' executive secretary?"Corinne nodded confidently. "Yup."Edmund did not have a good impression of her. He thought she came here to make trouble for the Riveras so he said coldly, "I'm sorry but, given your past, I don't think Mister Lucas would have to have you as his executive secretary. You may leave now. Next!"Corinne remained seated. "How do you know he wouldn't want me to
Edmund hung up the phone."Miss Carew, please follow me. Mister Lucas would like to see you."Corinne was not surprised. She got up and followed Edmund to Lucas' office. His office was just like his — elegant but cold."Mister Lucas, I've brought Miss Carew here to see you," said Edmund with a bow.There were a few unique handicrafts on the desk and behind the desk was a large office chair with its back facing them. However, Lucas did not turn around even after Edmund greeted him.After bringing Corinne here and greeting Lucas, he then turned around and walked out of the room without being prompted.'I guess his job is to only bring me here,' thought Corinne. She waited patiently for Lucas to turn around but when he did not, she politely said, "Mister Lucas, my name is Corine Carew and I wish to work as your executive secretary."After a few seconds, Lucas finally slowly turned around. He was holding a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand. His elegance gave him both a dignifie
Corinne walked up to the desk, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat down on it."Mister Lucas, I highly suggest you reconsider your decision."Lucas frowned. He was not happy that she took a seat without his permission."Why should I?"Corinne looked at his handsome face and said matter-of-factly, "While I was waiting for my interview, I helped you assess every candidate that walked in the door. Except for me, all the girls who came did not come for the job. Instead, they came in the hopes of getting close to you. I believe you wouldn't want someone who's trying to climb into your bed to be your executive secretary, right?"Lucas laughed coldly. "That's quite a fair warning, Miss Carew, but the fact that I won't hire them doesn't mean that I'll hire you either. I can hire a man for the job to avoid getting myself into the tricky situation you so kindly warned me about."Corinne expected he would say that. She smiled and continued, "There were a few guys who came for the intervie
'If I leave the office now I'd bump into Anya and Jeremy! What should I do?' thought Corinne.Lucas looked at the panicking Corinne and thought he liked her better this way. 'She's way cuter like this than when she's all huffy-puffy,' he raised his eyebrow and said mockingly, "So the great and mighty Corinne does know how to panic as well."Corinne was speechless. She was not in the mood for Lucas's mockery. 'D*mmit! Of all the things I've expected to go wrong, this is certainly one I didn't see coming.'She banked on the fact that the Holdens and the Riveras were at odds with each other. Therefore, she was confident Jeremy would not appear in the company. She even remembered the bad vibe clashing in the air whenever Jeremy and Lucas were in the same room.'Things must be going well between Jeremy and Anya in the one month I was gone. Maybe the elders have started to accept each other? If that's true, that'll explain why they're getting engaged so soon,' thought Corinne, clenching
Jeremy checked the time on his wristwatch. "Yes."Lucas lifted Anya off him, stood up gracefully, and put on his suit jacket. "That settles it then. The three of us will go over the details of the engagement over lunch.""Okay," said Jeremy.Corinne — who was still hiding behind the bookshelf and two months pregnant — touched her belly subconsciously. Her eyes were filled with coldness and irony.'So they're going to talk about Jeremy's and Anya's engagement eh? I'm sure their parents would not object to them being together since they already have a kid together. Maybe this will be the start of them putting away their differences and coming together as a real family,' thought Corinne.Lucas put his arm around Anya's shoulders and the three of them walked over to the door when suddenly Lucas paused in his tracks and said, "Jeremy, might I trouble you to bring Anya to the restaurant first? I just remember I have urgent matters to attend to. I'll ask Edmund to make a reservation for
Anya looked at Corinne with pure hatred in her eyes. 'What the h*ll is Corinne doing in Lucas' office? What is she trying to pull this time?'Corinne did not back down from her gaze.At the same time, they could hear the sound of steady footsteps getting closer to them.Anya knew Jeremy was walking over to see what was going on and she did not want him to see Corinne.After thinking it over, she smiled cunningly and said loudly for everyone in the room to hear, "Oh Lucas, why didn't you tell me that you've gotten yourself a cat for the office? It was choking on some dried fish. Good thing it spat the dried fish out now. If not, it would have gone to cat heaven. You gotta be more careful next time. You shouldn't feed a kitten this small snack like that."Lucas narrowed his eyes. He immediately understood what she was trying to do so he said nonchalantly, "You're right. This is my first time having a pet so I'm still not quite sure how to take care of it. I'll make sure to be more c
Corinne was too lazy to explain herself. Instead, she asked, "So you're okay with Anya getting engaged with someone from the Holden family?"A look of resignation flashed across Lucas' face. "Considering my family's stance on this, I, for one, don't wish to see them getting married because my elders will rain down their disapproval on me. But, my sister is too stubborn to ever let Jeremy go. It's as if she'll die if she's not with him, and as her brother, it's my job to protect her and make sure she lives happily ever after with the man she loves. I'll never forgive those who wish her harm so I hope you can understand where I'm coming from, Miss Carew."Corinne looked quietly at Lucas. Suddenly, she smiled. "Yes, I do understand where you're coming from. She's lucky to have a brother like you."Lucas could not tell whether she was being sincere in her praise but he did not care one way or another. He did his job in warning her so that if she knew what was good for her, she would sta
Hearing this, both Lucas and Edmund looked her up and down in unison.After two seconds of silence, Lucas narrowed his eyes and asked suspiciously, "You know Aburian?"Corinne smiled. "A little."Edmund snorted. 'Why, this woman would lie through her teeth to achieve her goals,' he thought. His impression of her took a nosedive as compared to when he was interviewing her just now."Miss Carew, you do know this job requires you to be fluent in the language, right? Knowing hello or goodbye doesn't count so please don't butt in while I'm speaking with Mister Lucas."Corinne's resume did not say that she knew any foreign languages so it was understandable Edmund did not believe her when she said she knows a little Aburian. 'Why wouldn't she list that down in her resume if she knows Aburian?'Corinne remained calm. "I might not be at the native level but I'm pretty confident that I can be of help to the client."Edmund scoffed. This time, he chose to say anything to her and instead,