BETWEEN US

Chapter 4: Just Another Assistant

(Ethan’s POV – Cold & Uninterested)

Ethan barely spared Veronica a second glance.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

That was what he had said. But the truth? He didn’t care.

It didn’t matter if she was competent, brilliant, or the best assistant on the planet. She wouldn’t last.

His mother would see to that. She always did.

Without waiting for her response, he turned his attention back to his desk, flipping through documents. Veronica St. James was already irrelevant.

“That will be all.” His voice was clipped, dismissive.

She hesitated for half a second before turning and walking out. Good.

Ethan exhaled and reached for his phone. Right on time.

The Blackwood Family’s Control

“Yes, Mother?” Ethan answered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Ethan, darling. How’s the new assistant?”

He let out a slow breath, already exhausted by the conversation. It was always the same.

“She’s fine,” he said flatly.

“Fine? That’s all?” His mother scoffed. “I hope she’s better than the last one. We can’t afford incompetence in your office, you know that.”

“She does her job.”

“So did the others. But they weren’t the right fit, were they?”

Ethan gritted his teeth. The right fit. That was her way of saying they weren’t controllable.

The Blackwood family didn’t just want his assistants to be efficient—they wanted them to be obedient. Malleable. Easy to push out whenever they felt like it.

And Ethan? He was tired of the cycle.

His mother and Adrian would find some excuse to fire Veronica, just like they always did. It didn’t matter how competent she was—they would manufacture a reason.

“I don’t have time for this,” he muttered, glancing at the stack of reports on his desk.

“Then make time,” she snapped. “I’ll be in the office next week. I want to see how she handles herself.”

Ethan clenched his jaw. That was exactly what he had been expecting.

“As you wish,” he said coolly before ending the call.

He set his phone down, his fingers tapping against the desk.

Why He Didn’t Care About Veronica

This was the fourth assistant in the past year.

Every single one had started the same way—walking into his office with confidence, thinking they had a shot at keeping the job. And every single one had walked out defeated, either by his mother’s interference or by Adrian’s subtle manipulation.

He didn’t bother learning their names anymore.

He didn’t waste time testing them, training them, or even acknowledging them. What was the point? They wouldn’t last.

So he would continue as he always had.

Ignore her. Keep his focus on work. And when his mother inevitably fired her, he would move on to the next one.

It wasn’t his problem.

It never was.