The billionaire hidden heir

chapter 4

It had been a week of a particular woman haunting my brain.I couldn’t shake off her first interview. The way she’d looked at me—shocked, like she knew me—yet insisted she didn’t. Emilia Jones.I should have forgotten her name as soon as she walked out. I had far bigger problems to deal with, ones that gnawed at me daily. But every time she stepped into my office or passed my line of sight, it was like something snagged inside my head.On Monday morning, I’d called her in.“Miss Jones,” I said flatly, pushing a file across my desk. “Organize this by noon. Don’t miss a single error.”The file was a graveyard of misfiled contracts and broken signatures. Most new hires would sweat through it for days.She blinked, nodded, and said, “Yes, sir.”No hesitation. No stammering. Just determination.By eleven-thirty, she walked back in, placed the pile neatly in front of me, and folded her hands behind her back.“All done.”I picked it apart, searching for mistakes. I wanted to see cracks, evidence that her confidence was only a mask. But damn it, she’d been meticulous.I still found something.“Next time, highlight the clauses, not just tab them. It’s sloppy.”Her lips twitched like she wanted to protest but didn’t. She just nodded and left.Sloppy? No. It was perfect. But I couldn’t let her think she impressed me.Tuesday, she did something that nearly made me forget myself.She sat at her desk outside my office, head bent, reviewing reports. At one point, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. A simple, unconscious gesture.And just like that, a memory hit me blurry, drunken, half-buried. A laugh, a hand brushing against mine, the scent of perfume.Where the hell had I seen that before?I found myself staring, and before I could stop myself, I called her back into my office.She entered, brown eyes steady. “Yes, Mr. Miller?”I leaned back in my chair. “Do I know you from somewhere?”Her breath hitched. Barely, but I caught it. Then she blurted, “I’m married,so I doubt that's a possibility.”The words dropped between us like stones.Married? What the hell did that have to do with anything?I narrowed my eyes. “That wasn’t the question.”Color flushed her cheeks. “No, sir. You don’t know me.”I let the silence stretch, watching her shift on her feet. Then I gave a cold nod. “Good. Get back to work.”She left quickly, as though afraid I’d pry further.Married. I didn’t believe her.By Wednesday, she had wormed herself under my skin without even trying.She worked fast, efficiently, and worse she smiled at people. By midweek, half the department already liked her. That was dangerous. People who climbed too quickly usually fell just as fast.I gave her more assignments, ones designed to trip her up. She stumbled, but didn’t complain. Her resilience irritated me more than failure would have.And yet, I caught myself watching her too often. The line of her jaw when she was determined. The way her brows furrowed when she concentrated.Something about her presence unsettled me.Thursday dragged me into a foul mood. One of the junior staff botched a major account. My patience snapped.“You’re done,” I said coldly across the boardroom. “Security will escort you out.”The room froze. No one breathed. Everyone knew what it meant to be on the receiving end of my words.Everyone but Emilia.She pushed her chair back and stood.“Sir, with all due respect, it wasn’t entirely his fault. The numbers weren’t updated from accounting. Firing him without checking the full story is unfair.”My head snapped toward her.The room went silent enough to hear the hum of the air conditioning.Did she just—Did she just question me?Nobody questioned me. Not my executives, not my board. Certainly not a woman barely a week into her job.My voice came out like steel. “Sit down, Miss Jones. This doesn’t concern you.”Her chin lifted, eyes blazing. “If you want me to sit down, then fire me too. Because I won’t stand by and watch someone lose their job over something that wasn’t entirely their fault.”A pin could have dropped in that silence.The audacity.The sheer, insane audacity.My jaw clenched, but instead of lashing out, something else coiled hot in my chest.Who the hell did she think she was?And why did I like that she dared?When the meeting ended, the employee kept his job for now. Emilia walked out without sparing me a glance.I stayed behind, hands braced against the table, anger simmering low in my veins.Anger at her.Anger at myself.Because for the first time in years, someone had pushed back against me. And I couldn’t stop replaying the fire in her eyes when she did it.Emilia Jones was a problem.A problem I couldn’t get out of my head.