THE HEIRESS THEY BURIED

THE COLD CEO

CHAPTER TWO

THE COLD CEO

ADRIAN POV

People think power makes life easier; they are wrong. Power only teaches you how to hide your emotions better. By the time my car pulled into AJ Global this morning, I had already finished two meetings, rejected three proposals, and signed enough documents to keep an entire department busy for a week. Predictable routine, exactly how I liked it. The driver opened the door, and I stepped out.

“Good morning, Mr. Jacob.” Voices greeted me from every direction; I gave a slight nod without slowing my pace. The moment I entered the lobby, the familiar silence followed.

Employees straightened, executives stopped talking, and security stood a little taller. I never asked them to; it simply happened. My attention was already on the meeting waiting upstairs when movement ahead caught my eye.

A young woman had dropped to her knees, helping another applicant gather documents scattered across the floor.

The papers were everywhere. Instead of walking around them, she carefully picked up every single sheet as though she had all the time in the world. Most people would have kept walking.

She didn’t. As she stood, she unknowingly stepped directly into my path.

Security moved first. “Miss”

I raised a hand, stopping them, and the woman looked up. The moment our eyes met, she froze; embarrassment flashed across her face.

“I’m so sorry.”

Her voice was soft but sincere; for reasons I couldn’t explain, I found myself studying her instead of walking away. There was something strangely familiar about her eyes, something I couldn’t place.

“It’s alright, excuse me.”

She immediately stepped aside; I continued walking, but my mind remained behind. Who was she?

Inside the private elevator, Ethan glanced at me.

“You’ve been unusually quiet.” he said.

“I always am.”

He laughed.

“No, you have been quieter than usual,” he remarked.

I ignored him.

The elevator doors closed, shutting out the noise of the lobby. My assistant, Claire, stepped forward carrying today’s schedule.

“Sir, the final interviews for the executive assistant position begin in fifteen minutes.” She handed me the list of candidates; I accepted it absentmindedly. The first few names meant nothing, then the fourth one stopped me cold.

Dina Grant. Everything inside me went still; my fingers tightened around the file.

No, it couldn’t be; I stared at the surname again. “Grant.” A memory I had spent years trying to bury suddenly forced its way back. Rain, sirens, shouting, and a man covered in blood struggling to stay conscious. Daniel Grant. He grabbed my arm with surprising strength.

“Promise me.” His breathing had been shallow, his voice barely audible.

“Protect my little girl.” I could still remember the fear for her in his eyes.

“I promise.” Those had been the last words I ever spoke to him.

The memory disappeared as quickly as it came. I blinked.

The elevator was silent; Claire was still speaking.

“Sir?”

I looked up; she frowned slightly.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

I closed the file. “Yes.”

My voice sounded calm; no one needed to know what had just happened, at least not yet. Ethan watched me carefully.

“You recognized someone?” he asked.

“No.”

It was a lie, but a necessary one.

After all these years, could she really be Daniel Grant’s daughter? I wondered.

The elevator doors opened onto the executive floor; I stepped out without another word. Minutes later, I stood inside the observation room overlooking the interview suite. The glass only allowed us to see inside; the candidates couldn’t see us.

One by one, they entered; one by one, they left. Then she walked in, the same young woman from the lobby; she looked nervous; she adjusted the sleeve of her blazer before taking her seat.

One of the interviewers smiled politely. “Miss Grant, tell us about yourself.” For a brief moment, she closed her eyes, almost as if gathering courage.

Then she smiled. “My name is Dina Grant, and I have spent the last few years doing everything I could to build a better life for my mother and myself.”

There wasn’t a trace of self-pity in her voice, only quiet determination. I folded my arms and continued watching from behind the observation glass. One of the interviewers slid a file across the table.

“Imagine the CEO has an important board meeting in thirty minutes. At the same time, three urgent clients arrive without appointments, and a major supplier calls to report a shipment delay. What would you do first?” Several candidates before her had given textbook answers.

Dina didn’t.

“I would first confirm whether the board meeting can still start on time,” she replied calmly. “Then I’d ask another executive assistant to welcome the clients while I informed the CEO about the supplier’s call. If the delay could affect the meeting, I’d prepare alternative solutions before bringing him the problem.”

The interviewers exchanged impressed glances; another question followed.

“What if you don’t know how to handle a task you have never done before?”

She smiled honestly. “I won’t pretend that I know everything.” she replied

The room became quiet.

“I’ll ask questions, learn quickly, and find the right answer. I would rather admit I don’t know than make a mistake because of pride.”

A faint smile almost reached my lips; Daniel used to say something similar.

“A smart person isn’t the one with all the answers; it is the one willing to learn.”

For a moment, I wasn’t looking at Dina anymore.

I was looking at him; the resemblance wasn’t physical, it was something deeper. The way she spoke, the way she stayed calm under pressure, and the quiet confidence—that was him.

One of the executives beside me broke the silence. “Her experience isn’t as strong as some of the others.”

Another nodded. “But she’s intelligent and honest; she will need training.”

I heard every word; I ignored every one of them. They were evaluating qualifications; I was seeing character. The interview continued for another fifteen minutes; not once did Dina try to impress anyone with exaggerated answers.

She simply answered truthfully. When she didn’t know something, she admitted it; when she did know, she explained it clearly. She wasn’t trying to become someone else; she was simply being herself.

For some reason, that mattered more than any perfect résumé. Finally, the panel chairman smiled.

“Thank you for your time, Miss Grant.”

She stood and bowed politely. “Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

As she turned toward the door, I noticed something. She paused only for a second, and then she quietly lowered her head before leaving the room; she thought she had failed.

Silence settled inside the observation room. “So,” one executive said, “shall we compare the final candidates?”

Another reached for the evaluation files. “I still think candidate number three has more corporate experience.”

“But Miss Grant demonstrated stronger problem-solving skills; they are both good options.”

Their discussion continued; I stopped listening. The decision had already been made, long before today’s interview, long before she walked into this building, long before she even submitted her application.

I walked toward the door; no one tried to stop me. Just before leaving, I looked at Sophia from Human Resources.

“Hire Miss Grant.”

The room fell silent; Sophia blinked. “Sir.” She hesitated. “The panel hasn’t reached a final decision yet,” she said.

“They don’t need to.” My voice carried no anger, just certainty.

She lowered her head immediately. “Yes, Mr. Jacob.”

I left without another word. Outside, I stood beside the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city.

I had kept my distance because I believed it was the safest way to protect her. Now fate had brought her back into my life, whether I was ready or not. I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out an old silver keychain.

The only thing Daniel had left with me that day. Its scratched surface caught the afternoon sunlight.

“I kept my promise,” I murmured quietly. “But I have a feeling it won't be enough.”

My gaze drifted toward the lobby far below, where Dina was walking toward the exit, unaware that her life had just changed forever.

“Keeping the secret is about to become a lot harder.”