THE HEIRESS THEY BURIED

GROWING IMPRESSION

CHAPTER 5

ADRIAN POV


Success isn't measured by how many deals you close; it is measured by what still stands after chaos tries to tear everything apart. That was the first thing I checked when I arrived at the office the next morning. I walked into my office before sunrise, placed my coffee on the desk, and opened yesterday’s schedule.

Every meeting had started on time, every client had been attended to, every report had been submitted, and not a single complaint. I leaned back in my chair and stared at the screen. "Interesting," I whispered; most assistants never made it through their first day without making costly mistakes; some cried before lunch, and others resigned before the day ended.

Dina Grant had done neither. Instead, she walked into chaos and somehow brought order to it. I opened the incident report from yesterday.

The Singapore delegation arrived an hour early.

Handled.

Missing board presentation.

Resolved.

Schedule conflict.

Corrected before it became a problem.

Flight rescheduled.

Client accommodated.

Each report ended with the same name.

Dina Grant.

A faint smile almost reached my lips. “you surprised me,” the words slipped out before I realized I had spoken. A knock interrupted my thoughts.

“Come in.”

Claire stepped inside carrying today’s documents.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Morning.”

She placed the files on my desk.

“I thought you’d like to know how several department heads complimented Miss Grant this morning.”

I looked up. “They did?”

“Yes.”

Claire smiled. “They admitted they underestimated her.”

I gave a small nod. “They weren’t the only ones.”

Claire looked surprised but wisely chose not to comment. The moment she left, silence settled over my office again; without meaning to, my thoughts drifted to yesterday. I could still picture Dina standing beside her desk.

Her shoulders had been tense, dark circles rested beneath her eyes, and she looked exhausted. Then I remembered the untouched lunch sitting beside her keyboard.

“You didn’t eat.”

“I was busy.”

I frowned. Why had I even noticed?

It shouldn’t have mattered; employees skipped meals all the time; it wasn’t my concern. Yet the image refused to leave my mind.

I stood and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city. For twenty-two years, I had kept one promise, to protect her, nothing more, nothing less; getting emotionally involved had never been part of the agreement.

I exhaled slowly. "So why am I paying attention?” The answer never came. Instead, another memory surfaced. The impossible workload I gave her yesterday, I had not given it to her because I wanted her to fail; I needed to know what kind of person Daniel Grant's daughter had become.

Pressure reveals character faster than comfort ever will.

Would she complain?

Would she blame others?

Would she freeze?

She had done none of those things; she stayed calm, she found solutions, and she quietly earned respect instead of demanding it, just like her father, who used to say, “Problems don’t disappear because you’re afraid of them. Face one, then the next.”

Yesterday, his daughter had done exactly that. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. “You’d be proud of her, Daniel.” The words barely left my lips before another knock sounded on the door. I already knew who it was.

“Come in, Ethan.”

He walked into my office carrying a file under his arm.

“You wanted to see me?”

I motioned for him to close the door; the moment it clicked shut, my expression turned serious.

“I need you to handle something personally.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds important.”

“It is.”

I slid a folder across the desk, and he opened it. The first page held only one name. Dina Grant. He looked up at me.

“Our new executive assistant?”

“Yes.”

“I want discreet security assigned to her.”

His eyebrows shot up.“Security?”

“She shouldn't know about it.”

He frowned, “What kind of security?”

“I want someone watching her apartment, another keeping an eye on her movement, and additional surveillance around the office.”

He stared at me for several seconds. “Adrian, she’s only been here one day.”

“I know.”

“She hasn’t received any threats.”

“Not yet.”

The room fell silent. Ethan slowly closed the file. “You are treating her like someone is already after her.”

I didn’t answer; he studied my face before a teasing smile appeared.

“Should I be congratulating you?”

I looked at him. “For what?”

“You’ve finally taken an interest in a woman.”

I didn’t even blink. “This isn’t funny.”

His smile faded immediately. “Alright.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Then tell me what’s going on.”

I walked toward the window, slipping my hands into my pockets.

“There are things you don’t need to know.”

He stood and joined me. “I disagree; we have been friends for almost fifteen years. I have never seen you act like this over an employee.”

“She isn’t just an employee.”

The words escaped before I could stop them.

Ethan caught them immediately. “So who is she?”

I remained silent; when it became obvious I wasn’t going to answer, he sighed.

“I don’t like protecting people without knowing what I’m protecting them from.”

“You’re protecting her.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know yet.”

That answer surprised even me, because it was the truth. For twenty-two years, nothing had happened, but now, Daniel Grant’s daughter had stepped into AJ Global.

If anyone connected to the past was still watching, she would become a target.

Ethan finally nodded. “I will arrange everything.”

“One more thing, no reports go through anyone else.”

“Not even HR?”

“Especially HR.”

His expression grew serious. “You really think this is that dangerous?”

“I think we’re running out of time.”

He looked at me for another moment before quietly leaving the office; the door clicked shut behind him.

I stood there alone; after a long silence, I unlocked the bottom drawer of my desk. Inside lay an old photograph.

Daniel and I stood side by side, both smiling, long before either of us knew how cruel life could become; beneath it rested a scratched silver keychain.

The last thing he ever handed me, I picked it up for the hundredth time, my thumb brushing over the worn metal.

Twenty-two years later, I still carried it. "I have kept my promise, Daniel,” I whispered. My grip tightened around the keychain. “But I don’t know how much longer I can keep the truth from her.”

Outside my office, Ethan paused before entering the elevator; he looked back at my closed glass door, a troubled expression crossing his face, like he just realized Dina Grant wasn’t just another employee. She was the center of a secret I had been protecting for more than two decades.