His Obsession

Chapter 2: The First Punishment

Amelia didn't sleep well that night.

She kept seeing the name on the screen. Daniel Carter. Consultant. Verified 2019. Her father had never worked in Lagos. He had never mentioned Blackwood Enterprises. Not once.

By morning, she told herself she'd imagined it. Maybe it was a different Daniel Carter. It wasn't a rare name.

She almost believed it.

She arrived at the office ten minutes early this time. She wasn't going to be late again.

Mrs. Grey was already at her desk. "Mr. Blackwood wants you in his office. Now."

"Is something wrong?"

"He'll tell you."

Amelia's stomach tightened as she walked down the hallway. She knocked once and stepped inside.

Adrian was standing by the window, his back to her, phone in hand. He didn't turn around.

"Yesterday's meeting notes," he said. "Send them to me by end of day."

"I already sent them last night."

"I know." He finally turned. "You also sent them to Mr. Kendrick."

Amelia blinked. "He asked me to. He said he needed a copy for—"

"Rule four," Adrian said, cutting her off. "My schedule and my meetings are confidential. That includes notes. You don't send anything to anyone without asking me first."

"He's your own executive…"

"That's not the point." His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it now, something sharpening underneath. "The point is you didn't ask."

Amelia felt her face heat up. "I made a judgment call. I thought it was harmless."

"I don't pay you to make judgment calls." He stepped closer, and for the first time she noticed how tall he actually was up close, how the whole room seemed to shrink around him. "I pay you to follow instructions."

"Then maybe you should've told me the notes were confidential," she snapped, before she could stop herself.

Silence.

She watched something shift in his expression…surprise, maybe. No one talked back to him. She could tell by the way Mrs. Grey had looked at her in the hallway.

For a second, Amelia thought she'd made a terrible mistake.

Then, quietly, Adrian said, "You have a point."

That wasn't what she expected.

"But," he continued, "you still broke a rule. There are consequences."

"What kind of consequences?"

"You'll stay late tonight," he said. "Every file from the last quarter needs to be reorganized before tomorrow morning. Alone."

Amelia's mouth fell open. "That'll take hours."

"Then you'd better start now."

He turned back to the window, done with her. Dismissed.

Amelia opened her mouth to argue…then closed it. She thought of rent. She thought of her father, and the name she couldn't stop thinking about, and how she needed this job long enough to figure out what it meant.

She left without another word.

By 9 p.m., the office had emptied out. Floor after floor of glass and light had gone dark, except for one small room where Amelia sat surrounded by boxes of files, her fingers stained with paper dust.

She hadn't expected him to still be there.

Adrian appeared in the doorway around 9:30, jacket off, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He didn't say anything. He just stood there, watching her work.

"Come to make sure I'm suffering?" she asked, not looking up.

"Come to get my laptop." He nodded toward the desk behind her. "It's a shared office today. Apparently."

She almost smiled. Almost.

He crossed the room and picked up his bag, then paused near the table where she'd stacked a pile of contracts.

His eyes moved over them. Amelia saw him go still.

It was quick…barely a second…but she caught it. His jaw tightened. His hand, halfway to the pile, stopped in midair.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing." He picked up his laptop instead. "Finish the files. Lock up when you're done."

He was almost at the door when she said it. She didn't plan to. It just came out.

"Why is my father's name in one of your contracts?"

He stopped walking.

For a long moment, he didn't turn around.

"What did you say?" His voice was different now. Quiet. Careful.

"Daniel Carter. Consultant. From a meeting yesterday. That's my father's name." She stood up. "Do you know him?"

Adrian turned around slowly. Whatever had been on his face a moment ago was gone now, replaced by something unreadable.

"You shouldn't have seen that file," he said.

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting tonight."

"Adrian…"

"Mr. Blackwood," he corrected, sharp and immediate. "And finish the files, Miss Carter. We're done here."

He walked out without looking back.

Amelia stood alone in the room, her heart pounding, staring at the empty doorway.

He hadn't said I don't know your father.

He hadn't said you're mistaken.

He'd said you shouldn't have seen that file…which meant there was something to see.

And for the first time since she'd taken this job, Amelia understood one thing clearly:

She wasn't going to stop until she found out what it was.