Contracted to My Cold Billionaire Boss

CHAPTER 3 - THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR

The moment his eyes landed on mine, I forgot how to breathe properly.

Not in a romantic way.

Not in a soft way.

In a very uncomfortable, I should not be here kind of way.

Because the man standing in that office didn’t just look at me.

He assessed me.

Like I was a document he hadn’t requested.

Or a problem he hadn’t agreed to solve.

I didn’t move.

He didn’t either.

For a second, it felt like the entire floor had gone silent.

Then he turned slightly away from the window.

His voice came through the half-open door.

Calm.

Controlled.

“Are you planning to stand there all day?”

My heart jumped slightly.

So he had noticed me.

Of course he had.

I stepped back instinctively, then realized how ridiculous that looked, and forced myself forward again.

Before I could even decide what to say, I heard quick footsteps behind me.

“Naya—wait—”

Miles.

He appeared almost out of breath, like he had sprinted back.

His eyes flicked between me and the office door.

Then immediately dropped.

A mistake.

Because the next voice that came from inside was sharper.

“Miles.”

Just one word.

But it stopped everything.

Miles froze instantly.

“Yes, sir.”

Sir.

So this was him.

Andrew Black.

The billionaire CEO I had apparently been assigned to like a misplaced file.

“I told you to leave her outside,” Andrew said.

There was no anger in his voice.

That somehow made it worse.

Miles cleared his throat.

“I thought—”

“You thought incorrectly.”

Silence.

I glanced at Miles.

He looked… guilty?

Or maybe just professionally terrified.

I wasn’t sure which one was worse.

Then Andrew spoke again.

“This is the one?”

That sentence wasn’t directed at me.

But it landed on me anyway.

Miles hesitated.

“Yes.”

Another pause.

Then Andrew said, almost casually:

“Bring her in.”

My stomach tightened.

I looked at Miles immediately.

He gave me a small nod.

Not reassuring.

Not helpful.

Just… confirming I had no choice.

Great.

I stepped forward.

The office doors felt heavier the closer I got, like they were aware I didn’t belong inside them.

When I finally entered, the air changed.

Not physically.

But something about the space made my body instinctively straighten.

The office was massive.

Too clean.

Too controlled.

The kind of space that didn’t allow disorder to exist.

And in the center of it was him.

Andrew Black.

Now I could see him properly.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dark suit tailored like it had never been touched by time.

One hand still in his pocket.

The other resting lightly on a stack of documents.

His eyes didn’t leave me.

Not once.

I swallowed.

This was not going to be easy.

“Good morning, sir,” I said carefully.

He didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, he looked at Miles.

“You didn’t brief her?”

Miles straightened.

“I was in the process of—”

“You weren’t.”

Miles stopped talking.

I blinked.

Okay.

So this was the kind of environment where people got verbally erased mid-sentence.

Lovely.

Andrew finally looked back at me.

His gaze was calm.

Almost uninterested.

“You’re late,” he said.

I frowned.

“I’m not late.”

A pause.

That seemed to surprise him slightly.

Not enough to show on his face.

But enough to register.

“I was told onboarding starts at eight,” I added.

“It does.”

“Then I’m not late.”

Another pause.

This one lasted longer.

Miles shifted slightly beside the door like he was witnessing something dangerous unfold.

Andrew leaned back slightly.

“So you’re correcting me,” he said.

“I’m clarifying.”

A flicker.

That was the only way I could describe it.

Something subtle in his expression changed.

Like he hadn’t expected that answer.

“Interesting,” he said quietly.

I didn’t like that word.

It didn’t feel like praise.

It felt like evaluation.

Andrew glanced at the file in front of him, then back at me.

“You’ve been reassigned.”

“I was informed,” I said.

“I didn’t approve it.”

That stopped me.

Miles looked down immediately.

So he hadn’t approved it.

Which meant this was either chaos… or intentional.

“Then why am I here?” I asked.

Andrew tilted his head slightly.

“Because I requested it.”

That sentence should have made me feel important.

It didn’t.

It made me feel watched.

“I applied for an administrative assistant role,” I said carefully.

“You received something better.”

“I don’t think being confused on my first day counts as better.”

Silence.

Then—

A very faint exhale from him.

Almost like amusement.

Almost.

“You speak too freely for someone on their first day,” he said.

I met his eyes properly now.

“Do you prefer silence?”

That landed differently.

Even Miles looked up sharply.

Andrew studied me for a second longer than necessary.

“No,” he said finally.

Then added:

“I prefer control.”

There it was.

Honest.

Unfiltered.

And slightly unsettling.

A beat passed.

Then he reached for a document on the table and slid it toward me without breaking eye contact.

“Read it.”

I hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Your responsibilities.”

“I already have responsibilities.”

“Not anymore.”

I opened my mouth.

Closed it again.

Because arguing with him didn’t feel like a good survival strategy.

I took the file.

As I flipped through it, my expression slowly shifted.

Personal assistant duties.

Executive scheduling.

Direct access to CEO calendar.

Confidential task handling.

I looked up sharply.

“This is not an administrative role.”

“No,” he said simply.

“It isn’t.”

Miles cleared his throat quietly like he regretted existing.

I looked between both of them.

“So I was reassigned… to be your personal assistant?”

“Yes.”

“Without my consent?”

Andrew leaned back slightly.

“You can leave if you don’t like it.”

That should have been a relief.

But the way he said it made it sound like he already knew I wouldn’t.

I closed the file slowly.

“I didn’t say I don’t like it,” I said.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Oh?”

I met his gaze.

“I said it wasn’t what I applied for.”

A pause.

Then something shifted in the air again.

Subtle.

But sharper.

Like I had just moved from irrelevant… to mildly interesting.

Andrew spoke quietly.

“You’ll adapt.”

“That sounds like an assumption.”

“It’s experience.”

I held his gaze for a second longer.

Then nodded once.

“Then I guess we’ll see.”

Silence followed.

Not uncomfortable.

Not friendly.

Just heavy.

Finally, Andrew looked away first.

“Miles,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

“Give her the orientation.”

Miles nodded quickly.

“Yes, sir.”

I turned toward the door.

But before I left, I paused.

I don’t know why I did it.

Maybe frustration.

Maybe pride.

Maybe exhaustion from everything happening too fast.

I looked back at him.

He hadn’t moved.

Still the same posture.

Still unreadable.

But I said anyway:

“For the record, I still think this entire situation is very strange.”

Miles made a quiet choking sound behind me.

Andrew didn’t react immediately.

Then, without looking up from his file, he said:

“You’ll get used to strange.”

That was it.

Dismissal.

Simple.

Clean.

Final.

I walked out.

The moment the door closed behind me, I exhaled sharply.

Miles was already waiting.

“How did it go?” he asked carefully.

I stared at the closed door.

Then said:

“Your boss might actually be the most frustrating human being I’ve ever met.”

Miles paused.

Then nodded slowly.

“That’s… a common review.”

I scoffed.

“You’re not helping his case.”

“I’ve stopped trying.”

We stood there for a moment.

Then Miles glanced at the door again.

“You shouldn’t take him personally,” he said quietly.

I raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t take him personally.”

Miles looked at me.

That look said he didn’t believe me.

Andrew called Miles back into the office.

Inside, faintly, I heard a voice again.

Andrew’s.

“Did she quit?”

A pause.

Miles answered.

“No.”

Another pause.

Then Andrew said, almost to himself:

“Interesting.”

And something about the way he said it…

made my stomach tighten for reasons I didn’t fully understand yet.