Chapter 3:The CEO’s Private Offer
1621 Words
At 8:59 the next morning, Ethan Carter stood outside Sophia Anderson’s office wondering whether ten thousand dollars had been worth ruining his life.
Probably not.
The receptionist had taken one look at his chauffeur’s uniform and said, “Mrs. Anderson is expecting you.”
That somehow made it worse.
At exactly nine, the door opened.
“Come in, Mr. Carter.”
Sophia stood beside the floor-to-ceiling windows of Anderson Capital’s forty-second floor, a tablet in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
No security guards.
No Marcus.
No Olivia.
Just Sophia.
Ethan stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
Sophia glanced at the clock.
“You're punctual.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“Sit.”
He sat.
She didn't.
Sophia returned to her desk and studied him for several seconds.
Ethan resisted the urge to adjust his tie.
Last night she had been a betrayed wife.
This morning she was unmistakably the CEO.
And Ethan suddenly understood why senior executives feared meetings with her.
She didn't waste words.
“How much did Marcus pay you?”
Straight to it.
Ethan kept his expression neutral.
“For what?”
Sophia almost smiled.
“Apparently not enough.”
“I don't discuss my employer's private business.”
“Even with his wife?”
“Especially with his wife.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
Ethan immediately wondered whether unemployment could happen faster than expected.
Sophia set down her coffee.
“Ten years working for Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“No accidents.”
“No.”
“No complaints.”
“Depends who you ask.”
“I did ask.”
That surprised him.
Sophia tapped her tablet.
“Your personnel file says you haven't taken an unscheduled day off in four years.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why are you reading my personnel file?”
“Because I'm considering hiring you.”
He stared at her.
“You already employ me.”
“No. Marcus does.”
“Anderson Energy paid his salary, but Ethan understood the distinction.
Sophia walked around the desk.
“I need a private driver.”
“You have six.”
“I have corporate drivers.”
“That's usually enough.”
“I need one who reports directly to me.”
Ethan leaned back.
Something wasn't right.
“Why me?”
“You know how to keep secrets.”
“So last night was an interview?”
“No.”
“That's comforting.”
“But it was informative.”
Sophia sat opposite him.
“You walked into a hotel room knowing Marcus was with another woman. You lied to my face. You nearly kissed his mistress because your employer told you to protect him.”
When she put it that way, Ethan sounded terrible.
He exhaled.
“If you're waiting for an apology—”
“I’m not.”
That stopped him.
Sophia's expression remained composed.
“I've known Marcus was unfaithful for eighteen months.”
Ethan stared at her.
She might as well have announced that the building was on fire.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you come to the hotel?”
“Because I wanted to know where he was.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
“It isn't.”
Ethan watched her carefully.
“What were you actually looking for?”
Sophia picked up her coffee.
“That's not your concern.”
“Then we're back to why I'm here.”
“Because I want you to work for me.”
“For how long?”
“Thirty days.”
“And after that?”
“If I'm satisfied, permanently.”
Ethan almost laughed.
“You watched me lie to you and decided I was trustworthy?”
“I watched you protect Olivia.”
His amusement disappeared.
Sophia continued.
“Marcus was safe in that closet. You could have told me the truth and blamed everything on her.”
“I wasn't going to do that.”
“I know.”
Something in her voice made him look at her differently.
Last night Sophia had seemed cold.
This morning he noticed the exhaustion beneath the polish.
Not weakness.
Just someone who hadn't slept much.
She caught him looking.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Don't lie badly now. It ruins yesterday's performance.”
Ethan looked away.
“You don't seem very upset about Olivia.”
Sophia's expression changed.
“She made a bad decision.”
“With your husband.”
“Yes.”
“You don't hate her?”
“I don't have enough time to hate every woman Marcus has lied to.”
That landed harder than Ethan expected.
Sophia put her cup down.
“Olivia isn't the first.”
Ethan said nothing.
He'd suspected.
Knowing felt different.
“And Marcus?” he asked.
“What about him?”
“Do you hate him?”
Sophia met his eyes.
“For what I need you to do, that question doesn't matter.”
There it was again.
Something underneath the conversation.
Something larger than an affair.
Ethan leaned forward.
“What exactly would I be driving you to?”
“Meetings.”
“Where?”
“Wherever I need to go.”
“What kind of meetings?”
“The private kind.”
“That answer has never ended well for me.”
Sophia's mouth curved slightly.
Then she slid a folder across the desk.
Ethan opened it.
His eyes stopped at the salary.
He looked again.
“That can't be right.”
“It is.”
“This is almost triple what I make.”
“Plus health insurance, retirement contribution, overtime, and a housing allowance if travel requires it.”
Ethan slowly closed the folder.
“What’s the catch?”
“You don't tell Marcus where I go.”
There it was.
He looked at her.
“You want me to spy on my boss?”
“No.”
“Lie to him?”
“If necessary.”
“So exactly what I did to you last night.”
“Now you understand why experience matters.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Almost.
Then he remembered Marcus had trusted him for ten years.
Whatever kind of husband Marcus was, he'd given Ethan a job when Ethan had barely had anything.
“I can't.”
Sophia didn't react.
“You haven't considered it.”
“I don't need to.”
“Loyalty.”
“Yes.”
“To Marcus.”
“He hired me when nobody else would.”
“And that means he owns the next thirty years?”
“No.”
“But it means you'll help him betray his wife?”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“That isn't fair.”
“No. It isn't.”
For the first time, a hint of anger entered Sophia's voice.
Not loud.
That made it sharper.
“I don't care who Marcus sleeps with anymore, Ethan.”
“Then what do you care about?”
She went silent.
For several seconds, he thought she wouldn't answer.
Then Sophia opened a drawer and removed a photograph.
She placed it on the desk.
Ethan looked down.
Marcus stood outside a warehouse beside two men Ethan didn't recognize.
The date in the corner was six weeks earlier.
Ethan frowned.
“I drove him there.”
“I know.”
“He said it was a supplier meeting.”
“It wasn't.”
Sophia placed another photograph beside it.
Same warehouse.
Different night.
Marcus again.
This time carrying a silver briefcase.
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“What is this?”
“Three months ago, twelve million dollars disappeared from a subsidiary Marcus controls.”
Ethan looked up.
Sophia's face had become unreadable.
“I initially thought it was an accounting problem.”
“And now?”
“I think my husband is hiding something.”
“That still doesn't explain me.”
“You've been driving him for ten years. He doesn't notice you anymore.”
Ethan understood immediately.
Marcus talked freely in the car.
Phone calls.
Arguments.
Names.
Locations.
Things Ethan had trained himself not to hear.
Sophia pushed the employment contract closer.
“I don't need you to investigate him.”
“Sounds very much like you do.”
“I need someone I can trust to drive where I ask, wait when I ask, and keep his mouth shut.”
“About you.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if Marcus finds out?”
“He'll fire you.”
“Excellent.”
“I'll already be your employer.”
Ethan stared at her.
Sophia stared back.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Sophia glanced at the screen.
“Answer it.”
Ethan hesitated before putting it to his ear.
“Morning, sir.”
“Where are you?”
Ethan looked at Sophia.
She said nothing.
“In traffic.”
Sophia's eyebrow rose.
Marcus cursed.
“Forget the car. Come straight to the office. We have a problem.”
“What happened?”
A pause.
Then Marcus lowered his voice.
“Sophia froze one of my corporate accounts.”
Ethan's gaze snapped to her.
She calmly drank her coffee.
Marcus continued.
“And I need you to do something before she figures out why.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“What?”
“I need you to take a package somewhere.”
Sophia slowly placed her cup down.
Her eyes never left Ethan's.
On the desk between them sat her contract.
On the phone was the man he'd served for ten years.
And suddenly Ethan understood that whichever job he chose next might determine far more than who signed his paycheck.
“Where?” he asked.
Marcus gave him an address.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
The warehouse in Sophia's photograph.
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