Contracted to My Cold Billionaire Boss

CHAPTER TWO: FIRST DAY IN HELL

I barely slept.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw them.

Daniel.

Amanda.

The way neither of them looked guilty.

The way Amanda had sighed like I was the one causing a problem.

The way Daniel had said, "We didn't plan for you to find out like this."

Not sorry.

Not regret.

Not even shame.

Just inconvenience.

I groaned and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling.

The alarm on my phone read 5:47 a.m.

I had set it for six.

There was no point trying to sleep again.

My brain clearly wasn't interested.

For a few minutes, I just lay there, listening to the faint sounds of traffic outside my apartment window.

Today was supposed to have been different.

Yesterday was supposed to have been one of the happiest days of my life.

I got a job.

A real job.

The kind of job that would finally allow me to stop worrying about rent every month.

The kind of job that would help Daniel and me start building the future we'd spent years talking about.

A future that apparently only existed in my head.

I swallowed hard.

No.

I wasn't doing this.

Not today.

I sat up abruptly and grabbed my phone from the bedside table.

There were three unread messages.

Two from Daniel.

One from Amanda.

I stared at their names for several seconds.

Then deleted all three without opening them.

My chest tightened.

It hurt.

God, it hurt.

But if they wanted to explain themselves, they should have done it yesterday.

Not after I walked out.

Not after they realized I wasn't coming back.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Today wasn't about them.

Today was about me.

Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

---------------------------------------------------------

By the time I arrived at Blackridge Holdings, my nerves were working overtime.

The building was massive.

The kind of building people took pictures of.

The kind of building that screamed money before you even stepped inside.

I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, staring up at the glass exterior.

The morning sun reflected off the windows so brightly I had to squint.

"Okay," I muttered.

"You can do this."

A businessman brushed past me.

Then another.

And another.

Right.

People were trying to get to work.

I forced myself forward.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, I understood exactly how poor I was.

Everything looked expensive.

The floors.

The furniture.

The artwork.

Even the air somehow felt expensive.

The receptionist smiled politely.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

"I'm here for onboarding."

She typed something into her computer.

"Naya?"

"Yes."

Her smile widened.

"They're expecting you."

That felt oddly ominous.

Before I could ask what she meant, she picked up a phone.

"Mr. Carter? She's here."

A pause.

Then:

"Of course."

She hung up and looked back at me.

"Someone will be down shortly."

I nodded.

"Thank you."

Five minutes later, a man in a charcoal-gray suit stepped out of a private elevator.

Tall.

Professional.

Late twenties.

The kind of person who looked permanently organized.

His eyes landed on me immediately.

"Naya?"

"Yes."

He extended his hand.

"Miles Carter."

I shook it.

His grip was firm.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Something about his expression looked strange.

Like he was trying to decide how to tell me something.

That immediately made me suspicious.

Miles gestured toward the elevator.

"Come with me."

The elevator ride was silent for the first few floors.

Then I noticed we kept going.

And going.

And going.

My onboarding packet said administrative staff worked on the twenty-second floor.

We had already passed twenty-two.

I frowned.

"Um..."

Miles glanced at me.

"Yes?"

"I think we missed it."

"Missed what?"

"The floor."

"We didn't miss it."

I blinked.

"Administrative staff are on twenty-two."

"Correct."

"Then why are we still going up?"

Miles looked like a man who had just remembered he forgot to do something important.

"Naya."

The tone immediately put me on edge.

"What?"

He sighed.

And suddenly I knew.

Whatever was coming, I wasn't going to like it.

"Naya, there has been a slight adjustment."

I stared at him.

"A slight adjustment?"

"Yes."

"What kind of adjustment?"

The elevator dinged.

The doors slid open.

Miles stepped out first.

I didn't move.

He looked back.

"Naya."

"What kind of adjustment?"

Another sigh.

Definitely bad news.

"You won't be joining the junior administrative team."

My stomach dropped.

"What?"

"You've been reassigned."

"Reassigned where?"

He hesitated.

That was the moment my anxiety turned into irritation.

"Where?"

"The executive floor."

I stared.

For several seconds.

Then laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

Because surely I had misunderstood.

"The executive floor?"

"Yes."

"No."

Miles blinked.

"No?"

"I applied for an administrative assistant position."

"And you've received a promotion."

"A promotion?"

I could hear my own disbelief.

"I haven't even worked here for five minutes."

Miles rubbed the back of his neck.

"You'll be working directly with the CEO."

The words hit me like a brick.

I stared.

Then stared some more.

"Directly with the CEO?"

"Yes."

"As in... the CEO CEO?"

Miles looked confused.

"There is only one CEO."

I closed my eyes.

Counted to three.

Opened them again.

"No."

"Naya—"

"No."

I folded my arms.

"This doesn't make any sense."

"It does."

"It absolutely does not."

People were beginning to glance in our direction.

I didn't care.

I had spent weeks applying for jobs.

Weeks.

I had prepared for one role.

Not whatever this was.

"Why would the CEO want me?"

Miles hesitated.

That hesitation told me everything.

"You know why."

He looked away.

"You know exactly why."

Miles exhaled.

"The request came directly from Mr. Black."

The name meant nothing to me.

Not yet.

But the fact that a billionaire CEO apparently knew my name?

That definitely meant something.

And I wasn't sure I liked it.

---------------------------------------------------------

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.

I stared at Miles.

Miles stared back.

Then I laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

Because my brain had clearly stopped functioning.

"The CEO requested me."

"Yes."

"The CEO of this entire company."

"Yes."

"The billionaire."

Miles sighed.

"Yes."

I pointed at myself.

"Me."

"Still yes."

I blinked several times.

"This has to be a mistake."

"It isn't."

"Have you met me?"

Miles looked genuinely confused.

"That's a strange question."

"No, seriously. Have you met me?" I asked. "I'm not executive-floor material. I don't even know what executive-floor material looks like."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"I think you're looking at it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, you're funny."

"I've been told that occasionally."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I."

That only irritated me more.

I folded my arms across my chest.

"Can somebody explain why this happened?"

"I can't."

"You can't?"

"I wasn't given a reason."

That stopped me.

"You weren't?"

Miles shook his head.

"The instruction came directly from Mr. Black."

"And?"

"And that's it."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

I stared at him.

Surely billionaires didn't just wake up one morning and randomly rearrange employees.

There had to be a reason.

A motive.

Something.

But judging from Miles' expression, he genuinely didn't know.

Which somehow made the situation even stranger.

"Come on," he said eventually.

"We still have onboarding to finish."

I wasn't satisfied.

Not even close.

But standing in the hallway arguing wasn't going to magically produce answers.

So with considerable reluctance, I followed him.

---------------------------------------------------------

The executive floor was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

The offices were larger, quieter, and somehow more intimidating than the rest of the building.

Employees moved with purpose.

Nobody seemed to waste time.

Nobody seemed to talk unnecessarily.

It felt less like an office and more like a machine that never stopped moving.

"How long have you worked here?" I asked.

"Four years."

"And you've worked directly for Mr. Black the whole time?"

"Almost."

I studied him.

"You make it sound like surviving him deserves a medal."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth

.

"Some days it does."

That wasn't reassuring.

At all.

We turned another corner.

The atmosphere shifted almost immediately.

There were fewer people here.

Fewer offices.

Everything seemed quieter.

I looked at Miles.

"Why do I suddenly feel nervous?"

"Because we're getting close."

Close to what?

Then I saw the doors.

Large dark wooden doors stood at the end of the hallway.

Unlike the glass offices surrounding them, these were completely private.

I stopped walking.

"Miles."

"Hm?"

"Tell me that's not his office."

Miles glanced at the doors.

Then at me.

"It is."

I groaned.

"This is ridiculous."

"What is?"

"The fact that my first day somehow involves the CEO."

His expression remained annoyingly calm.

"You'll be fine."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I am convinced."

"You're lying."

That earned a laugh from him.

At least someone was enjoying this.

We finally reached the doors.

Miles checked his phone.

"Wait here for a few minutes."

"Wait here?"

"Yes."

"Outside his office?"

"Yes."

I stared at him.

"You really enjoy putting people under pressure, don't you?"

"I learned from the best."

That answer made me even less excited to meet his boss.

Before I could say anything else, Miles's phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen.

"I need to take this."

"You're leaving me?"

"For two minutes."

"That's still leaving."

"You'll survive."

He handed me a folder.

"Read through these while you wait."

I accepted it automatically.

"What's in it?"

"Your updated responsibilities."

Then he walked away.

Just like that.

Leaving me standing alone outside the office of the most powerful man in the company.

Great.

I looked down at the folder.

Then at the doors.

Then back at the folder.

For several minutes, I tried reading.

Tried being productive.

Tried convincing myself this wasn't terrifying.

None of it worked.

Eventually my attention drifted back to the office.

One of the doors wasn't fully closed.

Just slightly open.

Barely enough to see through.

I knew I shouldn't look.

Professional people probably didn't peek into their CEO's office.

Professional people also probably didn't get randomly reassigned on their first day.

So really, all rules were off.

Slowly, I stepped closer.

The office was massive.

The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked almost the entire city.

For a moment, that was all I noticed.

Then I saw him.

A man stood near the window with his back partially turned.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Dark suit.

One hand in his pocket as he spoke quietly on the phone.

Even from a distance, there was something commanding about him.

Something that made the room seem built around him.

I couldn't see his face clearly.

Only the sharp outline of his jaw.

The straight posture.

The confidence.

Then, as if sensing he was being watched, he turned.

And his eyes landed directly on me.

My heart stopped.