His Secretary (SPG)

Chapter One: The Flight from Forever Rachel stared at the boarding pass in her hand, the edges crumpled slightly from her tight grip. Her name was printed in bold letters above the destination: New York City. It didn’t feel real. Just two weeks ago, she had been in the final fitting for her wedding dress, preparing to walk down the aisle in a garden in Tagaytay, surrounded by friends, family, and the man she thought she knew. Now she was about to board a plane halfway across the world for a job interview she didn’t care about, in a city she had never set foot in. Everything had unraveled overnight. It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. But the night before the wedding, she got the call—her best friend in tears, her voice shaky with guilt and urgency. The truth came out in pieces: her fiancé, Miguel, had been cheating. Not just once but for months already. And do you know what's even funnier? He was cheating with her bestfriend with her f*****g maid of honor. Rachel didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. Not at first. She simply stood still in her apartment, her heart pounding like a warning drum in her chest. Her mother called it off the next morning while Rachel sat in a cold shower, trying to wash away the betrayal. The wedding was canceled. The flowers never left the shop. Guests were refunded. But nothing could refund her time, her hope, or her dreams. So when she saw the job posting from Kingsley Enterprises, a top-tier Manhattan conglomerate looking for an executive secretary, she applied on impulse. It was ridiculous. She had a stable job at a financial firm in Makati. She had a life here—or she used to. But at that moment, logic had no place. She needed an escape, a new script, anything to keep her from sitting in that empty apartment surrounded by what could have been. She didn’t expect to get a call back. Yet a week later, her inbox pinged with a formal invitation to interview in person. And now here she was, standing in Ninoy Aquino International Airport with two suitcases and a heart full of numb determination. The flight was long and mostly sleepless. Rachel sat by the window, her thoughts flickering between what she had lost and what might lie ahead. She barely registered the meal service, the safety instructions, or the flickering lights of Tokyo from above as they made a brief stopover. It wasn’t until the skyline of New York rose before her eyes that she felt something shift inside her. Hope? No. Not yet. But maybe the beginning of something new. The city was a rush of noise, motion, and unfamiliar smells. She checked into a modest hotel in Midtown Manhattan, too wired to sleep, too exhausted to explore. She spent the next day rehearsing her lines, reviewing her resume, trying to imagine what kind of man Nathaniel Kingsley must be. The internet offered few clues. He was famously private, known for building his empire from a small tech investment firm into a global powerhouse. No family. No scandals. Just business. The morning of the interview arrived with gray skies and cold wind. Rachel dressed carefully: a black pencil skirt, a white blouse, modest heels, and a coat that still felt foreign on her shoulders. She stepped into the lobby of Kingsley Enterprises and felt her breath catch. The building was all chrome and glass, with high ceilings and intimidating art installations. Men and women in sleek suits moved through the space with purpose. She felt out of place, but she didn’t let it show. "Rachel Montemayor, here for the 10 a.m. interview," she told the receptionist. Within minutes, she was escorted to the 42nd floor. The waiting room outside the CEO's office was silent but for the ticking of a minimalist wall clock. She sat, clutching her folder, when the door opened. "Miss Montemayor?" a woman said, peeking out. "Mr. Kingsley will see you now." Rachel stood. Smoothed her skirt. Walked in. And there he was. Nathaniel Kingsley stood behind a massive glass desk, backlit by the city. He didn’t smile. He didn’t rise to greet her. He simply studied her with cool, calculating eyes. "You flew in from the Philippines?" he asked, gesturing for her to sit. "Yes, sir." "That’s unusual for a secretary position." She met his gaze. "So was applying." She unconsciously said. A flicker of something passed through his eyes. Curiosity. Interest. He leaned back. "Tell me why you’re here?" Rachel hesitated for half a second. Then, instead of the polished, rehearsed answer she had practiced, the truth came out. "My fiancé cheated on me with my bestfriend, who is my f*****g maid of honor. I need to leave that's why I'm here to prove that I am much more of what they think of me. And to slap them the truth that they are nothing without me!" Silence stretched between them. She stated to question her self, just what the heck is she saying in a f*****g job interview?! Then Nathaniel smiled. Just a small one. But it changed his face even if it just lasted for about two seconds. "Honesty. I value that." The interview lasted an hour. He asked sharp questions. She gave sharper answers. They spared like two people unafraid to challenge and be challenged. By the end of it, she wasn’t sure what she had walked into—but she knew it wasn’t just a job interview. As she left the office, her phone buzzed. A message from Caleb. Caleb: Rachel Can we talk? Rachel stared at the screen. Then deleted the message. She had crossed an ocean. She wasn’t going back. Not with that cheater. You fooled and cheated on me once and that is enough to make myself remember that you're an asshole and you don't deserve my freaking time. Not this time.