Falling for the enemy

Chapter 4–Cold blood Warm bonds

Chapter 4

The sleek white Benz pulled up in front of the tallest building in NYC. Hazel stepped out while the car moved ahead to the underground garage.

She looked up, tracing the building’s height to its peak, where the name *Rivera Corporation* stood boldly like a crown.

Rivera Corps was one of the tallest buildings in the city. It could be seen from almost anywhere, standing unapologetically at the center — born to rule, not to blend in.

Hazel stared up at it, her face expressionless. Then the corners of her lips curved into a mocking smile. With the stride of a queen, she walked through the doors.

“Where’s the HR department?” she asked the receptionist.

“Name?” the woman—Anne—spat out without looking up.

Hazel paused and tilted her head, letting her gaze drop to the ID card swinging from Anne’s lanyard.

**Anne Sinclair.**

"Hazel Rivera," she said flatly, looking away.

“What appointment do you have with the HR department?” Anne asked, flaunting her lack of work ethic like a badge.

Hazel didn’t blink. “Where is the HR department? You may not be able to pay the price if I repeat myself again.”

Anne choked on her coffee, laughing loudly.

“I may not be able to pay the price? Do you think you’re the heiress or something, strutting around with the name *Rivera*?”

“Anne Sinclair,” Hazel repeated quietly, before walking forward.

“Where do you think you’re going?! Security! Securi—” Anne began to yell until two bulky men appeared silently behind Hazel, like shadows responding to a signal.

The silence shut Anne up instantly.

Hazel got into the elevator, relying on the map etched in her memory from childhood visits. Floor after floor slid past until the doors opened again.

She stepped out. Her heels clicked crisply against the marble as she moved down the corridor. At the entrance of the HR department, she stopped a passing employee.

“Who’s in charge of new employees here?”

“The second office inside is Mrs. Blake’s. She’s the HR manager,” the employee answered quickly, glancing back over her shoulder as she hurried away.

“Who was that?” she muttered to herself.

Hazel headed straight to the office and entered without knocking.

“I’m Hazel Rivera. I was directly employed yesterday by the CEO. I’d like to know where I’ve been assigned.”

Mrs. Blake looked up, ready to scold the rudeness—but stopped. Something about Hazel’s gaze made her throat tighten.

“Hazel Rivera…” she echoed, checking the system. “I’m sorry, but there’s no record or report of you here.”

Hazel didn’t respond. The silence grew heavy.

Mrs. Blake glanced away and reached for the desk phone. “You said you were employed directly, right? Please, allow me to call the CEO’s office.”

She dialed. “Good morning, Secretary Jake. There’s a new employee here, hired directly by the CEO. Could you tell me where she’s been posted?”

“Well, that would have to wait. The CEO isn’t in yet—he’s out for his monthly checks,” Jake replied from the other end.

“Oh. Thank you,” she said, hanging up.

“The CEO is not yet in the office. You could wait here for him,” Mrs. Blake offered, still unable to meet Hazel’s eyes for long.

Hazel said nothing and turned on her heel, her steps brisk. She entered the elevator and jabbed the button for the last floor.

When it arrived, she stepped out and took the stairs to the rooftop.

Alone, she stood facing the open sky, breathing in the early air. The city buzzed below. Her hair swayed softly in the breeze as her gaze steadied—no longer stormy, but cold.

She pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar sequence.

“I’m at the corporation. You really wiped me out of your life, didn’t ya?” Her lips curved into a mocking smile.

“No one knows Hazel Rivera is daughter to Melvin Rivera, their beloved CEO. For the heiress of the corporation... that’s cold.”

A pause.

“But that changes nothing, as far as the pure branch is concerned,” she continued, her voice dropping into disdain.

“Get back and give me my position. Or better still, tell your secretary what to do,” she finished sharply, ending the call without another word.

She stayed on the rooftop for a while before heading back down. Eventually, she arrived at the HR Manager's office.

Without a word, Hazel took a seat, waiting for her father’s decision. After what felt like an hour, the telecom on the desk rang.

"Mrs. Blake, the CEO is back and he’s asking for the new employee," Jake said before ending the call abruptly.

"Miss—" Mrs. Blake began, but her words were cut short. Hazel was already out the door.

The HR manager exhaled deeply.

"If she's working here, I hope I never run into her," she muttered under her breath.

Hazel stepped into the elevator and rode it up to the executive floor. As the doors opened, a flicker of nostalgia flashed in her eyes. She could see her younger self running through these corridors, her mother’s voice calling after her to slow down. Her mother always walked ahead, a thermos of home-cooked food in hand, destined for Melvin’s office.

Nothing had changed here — not the place, not the people.

It felt like she was the only one who had.

The sentiment disappeared as quickly as it came. She straightened her back and walked toward her father's office with confident steps.

Hazel pushed the glass door open and stepped in. Her gaze lifted, meeting the sight of her father seated in his executive chair. Her hands trembled slightly at her sides.

That seat.

That throne.

That was all that ever mattered to him. Not her. Not her mother.

She slipped her hands into her pants pockets and sauntered toward one of the couches. Making herself comfortable, she leaned back onto the cushions like she owned the place.

"You've become too wild," Melvin's voice finally broke the silence.

"Last time I checked, there's no such position in this corporation," Hazel replied coolly, eyes still shut, head tilted back against the couch.

"I'd give you a position, but you'd better behave yourself. No leaking of information, as you have the habit to," Melvin warned.

"Position?" Hazel repeated lazily, as if the last part of his sentence hadn't even registered.

Silence fell between them, broken only by the flipping of papers on his desk. Hazel remained still, eyes closed, waiting.

"Funny how long it's taking you to decide a position for your daughter. In your very own company," she said at last, voice smooth with sarcasm.

"Shut it," Melvin snapped.

"You're going to work in the Public Relations department."

Hazel slowly opened her eyes.

"PRO, really?" she mocked, an amused smirk tugging at her lips.

"I’ll eventually be heiress — I don’t know how great it’s going to look when word gets out that the heiress of Rivera Corps, who studied abroad and graduated top of her class in Business Management, started out as a PRO in her father's company." Her tone was half-scorn, half-entertainment.

"I see you’ve grown to be more generous with your image — something you couldn’t do six years ago," she added, her words sharp and deliberate.

"Shut up, girl. Executive Assistant, it is then. And... six years ago, I had no choice," Melvin said stiffly, his tone faltering slightly.

"Good decision, CEO. Communicate that to your assistant... I assume duty today," she said, standing and grabbing her bag.

As she reached the door and pulled it open, she paused.

"And six years ago, you could do everything. But you chose to do nothing."

She didn’t look back.

Then she walked out, leaving silence and memory in her wake.

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