Rule 01
699 Words
Lia woke up at five in the morning.
Not because she wanted to.
Because anxiety had apparently become her new alarm clock.
She spent twenty minutes staring at the ceiling.
Another ten questioning her life choices.
And the remaining time trying to convince herself that working for Ethan Blackwood wasn't a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, the evidence suggested otherwise.
At exactly eight o'clock, she stepped into Blackwood Tower.
A security guard immediately greeted her.
"Good morning, Miss Santos."
Lia froze.
Yesterday nobody knew who she was.
Today they knew her name.
Creepy.
Very creepy.
The elevator carried her to the top floor.
Sophia was already waiting.
"You're early."
Lia blinked.
"Ethan said eight-thirty."
Sophia's expression didn't change.
"Mr. Blackwood arrives before everyone else."
Of course he did.
He probably arrived before the building itself.
The office doors opened.
Ethan was already there.
Working.
Three monitors glowed on his desk.
Documents were stacked neatly beside him.
A cup of black coffee sat untouched.
The man looked like he'd been awake for hours.
Without looking up, he spoke.
"You're two minutes late."
Lia checked the clock.
It was 8:00 AM exactly.
She looked back at him.
"The clock literally says eight."
"You stopped walking outside my office for two minutes."
"What kind of psychopath measures that?"
Ethan finally glanced up.
"An efficient one."
Lia immediately regretted signing the contract.
Sophia placed a tablet in front of her.
"Your schedule."
Lia looked down.
Then looked again.
Then a third time.
Her jaw dropped.
"There's no way this is one day's schedule."
"It is."
Meetings.
Emails.
Calls.
Reports.
More meetings.
Somehow there were meetings about future meetings.
How was that even possible?
Ethan continued reading a document.
"You'll adjust."
"I might die."
"Try not to."
By noon, Lia was convinced billionaires weren't human.
Normal people got tired.
Normal people took breaks.
Normal people blinked.
Ethan apparently did none of those things.
The man worked like a machine.
Every task was completed quickly.
Every decision was immediate.
Every employee seemed terrified of disappointing him.
Which honestly made sense.
Lia was starting to understand why.
At one point Sophia handed Ethan a report.
His eyes scanned the page.
Then he closed the file.
"Wrong."
The manager standing nearby turned pale.
"W-What?"
"Page twelve."
The manager flipped through the report.
Seconds later, his face lost all color.
A calculation error.
One tiny number.
Ethan had spotted it instantly.
Lia stared.
That was terrifying.
Actually terrifying.
A few hours later, she was carrying documents to Ethan's office when she heard voices inside.
The door wasn't fully closed.
She paused.
Not intentionally.
Just long enough to hear—
"...the board is getting nervous."
"Good."
That was Ethan.
"They should be."
Another man sighed.
"You're making enemies."
"Successful people always do."
The conversation continued.
But something caught Lia's attention.
The tone.
Ethan sounded different.
Colder.
Sharper.
Like the version of him she saw in public wasn't the real one.
This was.
The door suddenly opened.
Lia jumped.
Ethan stood there.
Looking directly at her.
Again.
Why did he always catch her at the worst moments?
"Enjoying the conversation?"
"No."
A pause.
"You're a terrible liar."
Lia groaned internally.
Ethan held out his hand.
"The documents."
She gave them to him.
Their fingers brushed.
Only for a second.
Barely anything.
Yet for some reason, Lia felt strangely aware of it.
So did Ethan.
His eyes lingered on her for half a second longer than usual.
Then he stepped back.
The moment disappeared.
As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her.
"Miss Santos."
She looked back.
"What?"
Ethan leaned against the doorway.
Expression unreadable.
"Rule number one."
"I don't remember reading any rules."
"That's because I haven't told you them yet."
Somehow that sounded worse.
"What is rule number one?"
His gaze locked onto hers.
Steady.
Intense.
Dangerously calm.
Then he said:
"Don't listen at closed doors."
Lia's face immediately turned red.
"I wasn't listening!"
"You were."
"I wasn't!"
"You heard enough."
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Almost a smile.
Almost.
And somehow that annoyed her more than anything.
"You're impossible."
"Yet you're still here."
Lia opened her mouth.
Then closed it again.
Because unfortunately...
He had a point.
- Writer
