THE HEIRESS THEY BURIED

BREAKING THE ICE

CHAPTER 6

DINA POV

The morning began the way I wanted every morning to begin, with determination. Yesterday had gone well, but one successful day meant nothing in a company like AJ Global; if I wanted to keep this job, I had to prove I deserved it every single day.

By eight o’clock, I had already sorted Mr. Jacob’s schedule, answered a dozen emails, confirmed three meetings, and redirected two urgent calls before they reached his office.

For once, everything went smoothly.

“You look less terrified today,” Sophia said.

“I still am.”

She laughed. “Good. Confidence is dangerous around here,” she remarked.

“Why?”

“Because AJ Global, enjoys humbling people,” she replied.

I shook my head. “I’d rather not be humbled.”

“Then keep doing whatever you did yesterday,” she said.

“I plan to,” I said warmly.

The morning flew by, Mr. Jacob remained as reserved as ever, giving brief instructions and moving from one meeting to another. Yet when I caught him glancing toward my desk, my heart skipped.

“Stop it, Dina, he is your boss,” I muttered.

By late afternoon, I had completed everything on my schedule, just as I was preparing tomorrow’s calendar, Mr. Jacob stepped out of his office.

Instantly, the conversations stop.

“Miss Grant,” he called, without looking up from the file in his hand

I stood immediately. “Yes, sir?”

“I’d like you to stay after work,” he said.

That was all; he continued walking and disappeared back into his office, silence spread across the floor; I slowly sat down.

“Stay after work.” My stomach tightened. Sophia leaned across her desk.

“Don’t panic,” she whispered.

But I couldn’t help wondering what I had done wrong. When everyone left, I sat alone outside his office, checking my emails and calendar repeatedly, nothing was wrong.

Finally, Mr. Jacob’s office door opened again. He looked at me.

“Come in, Miss Grant,” he said.

I swallowed hard.

“Yes, sir.”

Taking one deep breath, I stood and walked toward his office. Every step felt heavier than the last, whatever happened next would decide whether my dream job lasted two days or much longer.

I stopped in front of his desk, trying to hide how nervous I was. He looked up from the documents in front of him; for a long moment, he said nothing, then he quietly closed the file.

“Please have a seat,” he said.

I blinked; that wasn’t the beginning I had expected. Still confused, I slowly sat down, waiting for the words I had been dreading since he asked me to stay behind. Instead, he slid several thick files across the desk.

“I need your help,” he said.

I looked at him, certain I had heard wrong.

“Sir?”

“We have an international board presentation in two days.” He rested a hand on the stack of files. “These reports came from different departments; they are accurate, but they’re poorly organized,” he said calmly.

I glanced at the mountain of documents.

“It needs to be ready before tomorrow evening,” he added softly.

Then he looked at me. “Can you do it?” he asked.

Relief rushed through me so quickly I almost laughed; he wasn’t firing me, he was trusting me.

“Yes, sir,” I said firmly.

His expression remained calm. “If you have a better way to organize the material, use it,” he said.

“You don’t mind?” I asked.

“I hired you to solve problems, Miss Grant, not to follow a checklist,” he said.

The words caught me off guard.

“I understand.”

For the next few minutes, he explained the presentation while I took notes. Instead of giving endless instructions, he simply told me the objective and allowed me to work out the rest.

It was the first time someone had trusted my judgment in a long time. I started sorting the reports into separate sections.

Financial projections, International partnerships, market analysis, and legal approvals. The information became much easier to follow almost immediately.

Mr. Jacob looked over my shoulder. “You reorganized everything,” he asked.

“It was difficult to find related reports,” I replied.

“So you changed the structure,” he asked.

“I thought it would save time.”

He studied the files for a moment before giving a small nod. “It will,” he said.

I smiled without thinking. “Thank you, sir.”

The hours passed surprisingly quickly. Outside the office windows, daylight slowly disappeared, leaving the city glowing beneath thousands of lights.

The executive floor grew silent; only the sound of turning pages and quiet conversations filled the room. Occasionally, Mr. Jacob asked for my opinion.

“What do you think of this proposal?” he asked.

“I think the conclusion should come before the financial charts.”

He looked at it again. “I agree,” he said.

A few minutes later, I noticed two reports with different revenue figures.

“Sir, these numbers don’t match.”

He looked up, and he walked over beside me. For several seconds, we compared both documents. Finally, he nodded.

“Good catch,” he said.

I almost missed it.

“But you didn’t,” he encouraged

His voice carried quiet approval. That simple compliment made me happier than it probably should have. As the evening continued, the formal atmosphere slowly faded.

I no longer felt like I was sitting across from the intimidating CEO everyone feared.

Away from the crowded office, he was calm, patient, and respectful. He never interrupted me, never raised his voice; he simply listened.

At one point, I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Can I tell you something?”

He looked up from his laptop.

“You may.”

“I thought you were much scarier.”

For a second, complete silence filled the room. Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

“So I’ve been told,” he chuckled.

I laughed softly. “I was honestly terrified of you.”

“And now?” he asked.

I hesitated. “I think people misunderstand you.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Silence is often mistaken for arrogance,” he said with a smirk on his face.

His answer surprised me; maybe that was true. The man sitting in front of me wasn’t cold; he was simply reserved. Without realizing it, I found myself smiling more easily around him.

A phone rang inside his office; he glanced at the screen.

“I need to take this,” he excused.

“I will keep organizing the remaining files.”

He nodded before stepping onto the adjoining balcony to answer the call. Left alone, I continued arranging the final stack of archived company records; most contained old financial reports and personnel documents.

As I lifted another folder, one worn file slipped from the pile and landed on the desk. I reached down and picked it up; it looked much older than the others.

My eyes drifted to the label, then my breathing stopped. “Daniel Grant.” My fingers tightened around the file.

No, it couldn’t be my dad's name inside AJ Global. Questions crashed into my mind all at once.

Why was his personnel file here?

Did he work for this company?

Why had Mom never mentioned it?

My hand slowly moved toward the cover.

Just as I was about to open it, I heard footsteps behind me.

I froze.