chapter 3: The Interview
1268 Words
Isabella barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Adrian Kingsley's face staring back at her from the television screen.
She had spent an entire night in the home of one of the most powerful men in the country.
Not only that...
She had unknowingly walked away from him without even asking his name.
Tessa had laughed until she cried when Isabella finally confessed everything.
"You actually left a billionaire's penthouse because you thought he was just some handsome stranger?"
"I didn't know!" Isabella groaned, burying her face in a pillow.
Tessa shook her head dramatically.
"You really are something else."
"I'm serious, Tess."
"So am I."
Tessa sat beside her.
"What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"I'll attend the interview."
"And if he's there?"
Isabella hesitated.
"He owns the company."
"I'd be more surprised if he wasn't."
"But..."
She looked down.
"What if he thinks I came because of him?"
Tessa reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Then prove him wrong."
---
The following morning...
Kingsley Group Headquarters towered over the city like a monument to success.
Employees hurried through the revolving doors dressed in perfectly tailored suits, each carrying an air of confidence Isabella wished she possessed.
She stood across the street for nearly five minutes.
Her palms were sweating.
Her interview folder suddenly felt much heavier.
"You've faced worse," she whispered to herself.
Taking a deep breath, she crossed the road.
The lobby was breathtaking.
Polished marble floors reflected sparkling chandeliers.
Fresh white lilies decorated every corner.
A large silver logo reading KINGSLEY GROUP stretched across the reception wall.
Everything screamed elegance.
Everything reminded Isabella that she didn't belong there.
She approached the reception desk.
"Good morning."
The receptionist smiled politely.
"How may I help you?"
"I'm Isabella Hart."
"I have an interview."
The woman typed quickly into her computer.
A second later, her smile widened.
"Miss Hart."
"Welcome."
She picked up the phone.
"She's here."
Isabella frowned.
The receptionist sounded as though someone had been expecting her personally.
Moments later...
A familiar voice spoke behind her.
"Miss Hart?"
She turned.
Ethan Brooks stood there wearing the same navy-blue suit he'd worn to the café.
"Good morning."
He offered a friendly smile.
"I'm here to escort you upstairs."
"Personally?"
"Yes."
She found that unusual.
Most companies simply pointed applicants toward the interview room.
Instead, Ethan led her to a private elevator requiring a fingerprint scan.
The doors opened silently.
Inside, there were no floor buttons.
Only one.
Executive Level.
Isabella looked at Ethan.
"I thought this was an interview for the graduate program."
"It is."
"Then why are we going to the executive floor?"
Ethan smiled mysteriously.
"You'll find out soon."
---
The elevator doors opened onto a quiet hallway lined with artwork and glass walls overlooking the city.
Everything felt calmer here.
Almost intimidatingly so.
Ethan stopped before a pair of enormous wooden doors.
A silver nameplate was mounted beside them.
Adrian Kingsley Chief Executive Officer
Isabella's heart stopped.
"No..."
She looked at Ethan.
"There must be some mistake."
"There isn't."
"I can't interview with the CEO."
"You can."
"I've never even worked in a corporate office."
Ethan knocked gently.
A familiar deep voice answered.
"Come in."
Her stomach twisted.
She wanted to run.
Instead...
She walked inside.
---
Adrian looked up from a file.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
The same gray eyes.
The same calm expression.
The same man she'd left behind three days ago.
Only this time...
He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit.
Behind him stretched floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.
Power surrounded him.
Yet strangely...
His expression softened the moment he saw her.
"Good morning, Isabella."
Her name sounded different coming from him.
More personal.
"Good morning... Mr. Kingsley."
He smiled faintly.
"You know who I am now."
"I do."
He gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.
"Please."
She sat carefully.
Trying not to look nervous.
Trying not to remember waking up beside him.
Adrian closed the folder in front of him.
"I imagine you're surprised."
"A little."
"Only a little?"
She laughed awkwardly.
"I've had enough surprises this week."
For the first time...
Adrian laughed.
It wasn't loud.
Just enough to make Ethan, standing quietly near the door, stare in disbelief.
He had worked for Adrian for seven years.
He had never seen his boss laugh during an interview.
---
Adrian picked up Isabella's résumé.
"You graduated with first-class honors."
"Yes."
"Why are you working in a café?"
"No one wanted to hire someone without experience."
"You applied to twelve companies."
"I did."
"And every one rejected you."
She nodded.
"I stopped taking it personally after the fifth rejection."
"What kept you going?"
She looked out the window.
"My father."
Adrian waited.
"He owned a small grocery store."
"He always said..."
She smiled sadly.
"'Success isn't about where you begin. It's about refusing to stop walking.'"
Silence settled over the room.
Adrian wasn't reading her résumé anymore.
He was watching her.
There was sincerity in her words.
No rehearsed answers.
No attempt to impress him.
She was simply honest.
Something inside him admired that.
---
"So..."
Adrian folded his hands.
"What would you do if Kingsley Group hired you today?"
"I'd work harder than anyone you've ever employed."
"You sound confident."
"I have to be."
"Why?"
"Because opportunities don't come twice."
Their eyes met.
Neither of them realized the irony of her words.
---
Before Adrian could ask another question...
His office door burst open.
"Adrian!"
A woman in a cream-colored designer dress walked inside without waiting for permission.
Victoria Sinclair.
She stopped the moment she saw Isabella.
Her smile disappeared.
"I'm sorry."
Her tone suggested she wasn't sorry at all.
"I didn't realize you were busy."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"We're in the middle of an interview."
Victoria walked closer.
Her eyes never left Isabella.
"So..."
"This is the famous Isabella Hart."
The room went silent.
Isabella frowned.
"Excuse me?"
Victoria smiled sweetly.
"Oh..."
"I've heard so much about you."
Adrian stood.
"Victoria."
She ignored him.
Instead, she extended her hand toward Isabella.
"I'm Victoria Sinclair."
She smiled brightly.
"Adrian's fiancée."
The words struck Isabella like ice water.
Fiancée?
She instinctively looked toward Adrian.
He didn't smile.
He didn't confirm it.
He simply looked annoyed.
"You've misunderstood."
Victoria laughed softly.
"Oh?"
"Haven't we been discussing our wedding with both families?"
"Our families."
Adrian corrected calmly.
"Not me."
Victoria's smile froze.
---
The tension became unbearable.
Isabella immediately stood.
"I think I should leave."
"No."
Both Adrian and Victoria spoke at the same time.
The awkwardness grew even worse.
Adrian took a slow breath.
"Your interview isn't over."
Before Isabella could respond...
Ethan's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His face instantly lost color.
"Sir..."
"What is it?"
Ethan turned the phone toward Adrian.
A newly published entertainment article filled the screen.
The headline read:
MYSTERY WOMAN FROM THE CHARITY GALA IDENTIFIED!
Below it...
A clear photograph showed Isabella walking into Kingsley Group headquarters less than twenty minutes earlier.
Someone had photographed her arriving.
The article continued:
"Sources claim the unidentified woman who spent the night with billionaire CEO Adrian Kingsley has now appeared at Kingsley Group Headquarters, raising questions about her relationship with the CEO."
Attached beneath the article...
Was another photograph.
One neither Adrian nor Isabella had ever seen before.
It showed them leaving the charity gala together.
Adrian frowned.
"I've never seen this picture."
Neither had Isabella.
Which meant only one thing.
Someone had been following them long before they reached the penthouse.
And whoever that person was...
Wanted the whole world to watch.
- Writer
