Married to Julian Grey

Chapter 6

I barely slept.

I spent half the night staring at the apartment ceiling, trying to convince myself there wasn't some kind of mistake.

Aurelius Group had flown me across the country in business class, given me a luxury apartment, and arranged transportation every step of the way.

None of it made sense.

By the time my alarm rang, I was already awake.

The city looked different in daylight.

Skyscrapers stretched across the horizon beyond the apartment windows, their glass surfaces catching the morning sun. From eighteen floors up, the streets below looked impossibly far away, reduced to streams of movement threading between buildings.

For a moment, I simply stood there.

Then reality returned.

My first day at Headquarters.

A nervous knot tightened in my stomach.

I got ready faster than usual.

Not out of discipline.

Stillness simply gave me too much time to think.

A car was already waiting when I stepped outside.

Of course it was.

At this point, I wasn't even surprised anymore.

The drive took less than twenty minutes.

The closer we got to the city center, the more the skyline changed. Buildings rose higher, packed closer together, their shadows stretching across entire blocks.

Then I saw it.

Aurelius Group Headquarters.

I had seen photographs online.

They hadn't done it justice.

The building dominated everything around it.

Glass and steel disappeared into the sky, reflecting the city from a thousand angles. Even surrounded by towers, it somehow made the others look smaller.

I found myself staring as the car rolled to a stop.

"Miss Vale?"

The driver's voice pulled me back.

I realized he had already opened the door.

"Sorry."

He nodded once.

I stepped out.

The lobby alone was larger than some office buildings.

Marble floors stretched beneath soaring ceilings. Conversations never seemed to rise above a murmur despite the number of people moving through the space.

Employees crossed the lobby with purpose.

No one lingered.

No one appeared lost.

Everyone looked as though they knew exactly where they were supposed to be.

Unlike me.

For a moment, I simply stood there, taking everything in.

Then I forced myself toward the reception desk.

The woman behind it looked up and smiled politely.

"May I help you?"

"I'm Elena Vale. I was transferred here yesterday."

Recognition immediately crossed her face.

"Of course, Miss Vale. Welcome to Headquarters."

My stomach tightened.

The question that had been circling in my mind since yesterday slipped out before I could stop it.

"Are you sure there hasn't been some confusion?"

The receptionist blinked.

"Confusion?"

I let out a small breath.

"I'm from the administration department. I'm not an executive."

The words sounded more uncertain spoken aloud than they had in my head.

For a brief moment, something like curiosity flickered across her face.

Then it disappeared.

"No confusion, Miss Vale."

Her answer came without hesitation.

That certainty did not reassure me.

Her fingers moved across her screen.

Then she looked up.

"Someone will be meeting you shortly."

"Meeting me?"

"Yes."

Her smile remained perfectly intact.

"He should be here any moment."

Before I could respond, a voice spoke beside me.

"Miss Elena Vale."

I turned.

The man standing there looked to be in his early thirties.

Tall.

Impeccably dressed.

The kind of person who never seemed rushed, even when everyone else was.

Dark hair.

Dark eyes.

And undeniably handsome.

The sort of man people noticed the moment he entered a room.

What caught my attention, however, was that he seemed completely unaware of it.

Or perhaps simply uninterested.

For some reason, that made me cautious.

"I'm Elena."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"I know."

Something in his tone made me pause.

Not because there was anything unusual about it.

Because it felt oddly familiar.

Like hearing a song you couldn't quite place.

He extended a hand.

"My name is Adrian."

His handshake was brief and confident.

Not overly friendly.

Not cold.

Just enough to suggest he knew exactly who he was.

"I'll be assisting you."

"Assisting me?"

"With your transition."

That answer explained almost nothing.

I had the distinct feeling it was meant to.

I gave a small nod.

"Oh."

"Please follow me."

I followed him.

The elevators opened almost immediately.

We stepped inside without another word.

The doors slid shut.

Then the elevator began to rise.

And rise.

And rise.

The floor numbers continued climbing.

Past departments.

Past executive offices.

Past anything I imagined I should have access to.

A quiet thought settled into my mind.

My department couldn't possibly be this high up.

Could it?

Eventually, the elevator slowed.

Then stopped.

The doors opened.

The atmosphere changed immediately.

The corridor beyond was quieter than the floors below.

The carpet absorbed every footstep.

The lighting felt warmer.

There were fewer offices.

More space.

The entire floor carried the feeling of a place where important decisions happened long before anyone else heard about them.

I followed Adrian down the hallway.

Employees greeted him as we passed.

Every single one.

Not casually.

Respectfully.

Some moved aside before he reached them.

Others straightened slightly when they saw him approaching.

I wasn't sure why that detail stayed with me.

But it did.

Eventually, we stopped outside a set of double doors.

I looked at the plaque beside them.

Then looked again.

My stomach dropped.

Julian Grey.

The name needed no introduction.

The billionaire CEO of Aurelius Group.

A man whose influence stretched far beyond boardrooms and balance sheets.

For several seconds, I simply stared.

My mouth went dry.

Slowly, I turned toward Adrian.

"There has to be a mistake."

His expression didn't change.

"No mistake, Miss Vale."

My pulse tightened.

"Why would I be here?"

For the first time, something unreadable crossed his face.

It vanished before I could understand it.

"As I said," he replied quietly, "I'm here to help with your transition."

That was not an answer.

Before I could press further, the doors behind him opened.

The sound echoed through the silence like the final step in a process that had begun long before I knew it existed.

For a moment, I didn't move.

Then I drew a slow breath.

And stepped forward.

Into Julian Grey's office.