MY FORBIDEN OBSESSION

Chapter 1-THEINTERVIEW

Claire Morgan had applied for the job at two in the morning.

That was probably the first mistake.

The second was believing she would actually get it.

She sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the email as if it was some interesting novel that might finish if she blinked too many times.

It hadn't.

She refreshed the page anyway.

Still there.

**STERLING ENTERPRISES — INTERVIEW INVITATION**

Claire leaned closer to the screen.

"You're kidding."

She read the email again.

And again.

Then she looked at the clock.

7:42 a.m.

She had been awake since six, but she hadn't gotten out of bed because she'd been too busy convincing herself that checking her email before coffee was a terrible idea.

Apparently, she had been wrong.

She reached for her phone and took a screenshot.

Her thumb hovered over her father's contact.

She hesitated.

It was too early.

Then again, if she waited until a reasonable hour, she would probably spend the next two hours staring at the email and convincing herself that she had misunderstood it.

She pressed call.

He answered on the fourth ring.

"Claire?"

His voice was rough with sleep.

She smiled.

"Good morning."

"Is everything okay?"

"Why does everyone assume something terrible happened when I call early?"

"Because you never call this early unless something has happened."

She couldn't argue with that.

"Well..." Claire sat up, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. "Something happened."

There was a pause.

"What?"

"I got an interview."

Her father's voice immediately changed.

"An interview for what?"

"Executive assistant."

"Where?"

Claire smiled.

She knew the moment she said the name, he was going to start asking questions.

"Sterling Enterprises."

Silence.

The smile disappeared from her face.

"Dad?"

"I'm here."

"You went quiet."

"I didn't."

"You definitely did."

He cleared his throat.

"When is the interview?"

"Monday morning. Nine o'clock."

"And where?"

"At their headquarters."

Another pause.

Claire frowned.

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm your father."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I just want to know where you're going."

She rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see her.

"Sterling Enterprises. You know, the giant building in Manhattan that you can probably see from space."

Her attempt at a joke didn't work.

"Claire."

"What?"

"Are you sure you want this job?"

She stared at the laptop.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A normal one."

"No, it isn't. You know how long I've been looking for something decent."

"I know."

"I've applied everywhere."

"I know."

"And now I finally get an interview at one of the biggest companies in the city, and you're asking me if I'm sure?"

"I'm just saying you should be careful."

Claire's expression tightened.

"Careful of what?"

"Nothing."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the answer you're getting."

She sighed.

Her father had always been like this when he didn't want to discuss something. He became quieter rather than louder, which somehow made it worse.

"Have you heard something about them?"

"No."

The answer came quickly.

Too quickly.

Claire noticed.

"Then why are you acting strange?"

"I'm not acting strange."

"Dad."

"I'm serious, Claire. I'm not."

She looked away from the screen.

"Do you know someone who works there?"

"No."

"Someone who used to work there?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

Her father exhaled.

For a few seconds, she heard nothing but the faint sound of traffic on his end.

Finally, he said, "Sterling is a powerful family. That's all."

Claire frowned.

"That's your big warning?"

"Powerful people can be complicated."

"Everyone is complicated."

"Not like them."

She waited.

He didn't explain.

Of course he didn't.

Claire rubbed her forehead.

"You know, sometimes you say things that make me more curious instead of less."

"That's not my intention."

"Then you're doing a terrible job."

He laughed softly.

It was the first time his voice had sounded normal since she'd mentioned Sterling.

"Just go to the interview."

"I was planning to."

"Listen carefully to what they tell you."

"I will."

"And don't sign anything immediately."

"Dad."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

"If you get the job, call me before you accept."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You really don't trust this company."

"I trust you."

The answer softened her irritation.

"That's different."

"I know."

There was another silence.

Then he added, "Just promise me you'll call."

"I promise."

They said goodbye.

Claire lowered the phone and stared at the wall.

Her father's reaction shouldn't have bothered her this much.

It did.

She had grown up with him being protective, but this wasn't ordinary protectiveness. There had been something in his voice when she said **Sterling Enterprises**.

Recognition.

Fear.

Maybe both.

She shook her head.

"Whatever."

She closed the laptop.

She had an interview to prepare for.

Her father's mysterious behavior could wait.

---

By ten that morning, Claire had managed to take her bath.

On top of her bed lay her top.

Beside the wardrobe was her skirts.

On top of her chair was her was her blazers.

And was still on top of her reading desk was her only pair of shoes she had in this world.

"My goodness how does someone have many clothes but still had nothing to wear", and worse still her only pair of shoe looked like a malnourished child.

"Focus Claire we can still manage the shoe I guess....', she said to herself

"The blue top?, nah a little too colorful

"Black?, nah i am not mourning anybody.

As she was still selecting a decent dress, she got a call.

"No distractions, she said to herself, ignoring the call.

A messaged suddenly popped up she picked up the phone to find millions of question from her best friend Mia

Mia: Bestie don't put me in suspense, how was it?

Claire: I got an interview,

Mia: Interview?, where

**Claire:** Interview at Sterling Enterprises.

The response came almost immediately.

**Mia:** THE Sterling Enterprises???

**Claire:** How many Sterling Enterprises do you think there are?

**Mia:** I don't know 😭 The one with the scary CEO.

Claire laughed.

**Claire:** I haven't even met him, and neither have you

**Mia:** Good. Keep it that way.

Claire frowned.

**Claire:** Why?

There was a pause.

Then:

**Mia:** Because I've heard stories.

Claire rolled her eyes.

Of course.

Stories.

Everybody had rumors about powerful people.

She tossed the phone onto the bed.

Then picked it up again.

**Claire:** U do know it might not be true right?

Mia: it's true bestie.

Claire: Anyways what stories

Three dots appeared.

Disappeared.

Appeared again.

Finally:

**Mia:** I'll tell you when I see you.

Claire stared at the message.

"Seriously, u got me curious and now you want to disappear?

She typed another response, but Mia didn't answer.

Claire threw the phone down.

This was ridiculous.

She wasn't interviewing for a position with the CEO.

She was interviewing for a job.

One interview.

One opportunity.

She wasn't going to let rumors scare her away.

Besides, she needed the money.

Her savings had been shrinking faster than she'd expected, and her rent wasn't getting any cheaper. She had already started calculating which expenses she could cut if she didn't find work soon.

The answer wasn't encouraging.

So yes.

She needed this job.

And she intended to get it.

---

That evening, Claire sat at the small kitchen table in her apartment with her laptop open in front of her.

She had researched Sterling Enterprises.

The company had been founded decades ago and had expanded into nearly every industry imaginable.

Finance.

Real estate.

Hospitality.

Technology.

Private investments.

The list seemed endless.

Claire scrolled through the company's website.

Then she saw the management section.

Her eyes stopped.

**Ethan Sterling — Executive Vice President.**

She clicked his profile.

His photograph appeared.

He looked nothing like the terrifying CEO Mia had described.

Ethan had an easy smile and the kind of polished appearance that suggested he had never once left the house with a shirt wrinkled.

Claire read his biography.

Executive Vice President.

Strategic Operations.

Member of the Sterling Enterprises executive board.

He had been with the company for several years and worked closely with senior management.

She leaned back.

"So you're the one interviewing me."

Her eyes moved to the next profile.

**Adrian Sterling — Chief Executive Officer.**

Claire hesitated.

She clicked.

His photograph filled the screen.

She stared at it for a moment.

Adrian Sterling looked younger than she'd expected.

But there was nothing youthful about his expression.

He wasn't smiling.

His dark eyes looked directly into the camera with an unsettling calmness, the kind that made Claire instinctively sit a little straighter.

She quickly closed the page.

"Nope."

She didn't need to know anything about him.

He wasn't interviewing her.

She went back to Ethan's profile.

Then she opened a blank document.

**Possible Interview Questions**

She typed the first one.

*Tell me about yourself.*

Claire stared at it.

"Easy."

She began typing.

Then deleted everything.

Started again.

Deleted that too.

She groaned and dropped her forehead onto the table.

"Why is talking about myself harder than actually being myself?"

She sat up.

For the next hour, she practiced.

She talked to herself.

She answered imaginary questions.

She even changed her voice twice when she decided she sounded too nervous.

At one point, she caught herself practicing a handshake with absolutely no one.

Claire stopped.

She stared at her empty hand.

"This is getting embarrassing."

She laughed.

But underneath the humor was a nervousness she couldn't completely hide.

Tomorrow mattered.

More than she wanted to admit.

She had worked hard to get this far.

She wasn't going to ruin it because she was nervous.

Eventually, she shut the laptop.

The apartment became quiet.

Claire walked to her bedroom and placed her clothes for the morning neatly over the chair.

White blouse.

Black trousers.

Blazer.

Simple heels.

She checked everything twice.

Then she stood in front of the mirror.

For a moment, she studied her reflection.

Twenty-six.

New York.

No job.

Not enough savings.

A father who had suddenly become strangely nervous about a company she'd never thought twice about.

And a bestie who had stories that might not be true to tell her.

"Hmm there's a lot of events surrounding this particular job she wasn't even sure she would get.

And an interview that might change everything.

Claire smiled at herself.

"Claire don't think negatively, your definitely getting this job"

She turned off the light.

What Claire didn't know was that her father had not been worried about the job.

He had been worried about the name.

**Sterling.**

And somewhere across the city, inside the same company Claire was preparing to enter, Ethan Sterling was already looking at her application.

He had seen her name.

He had seen her photograph.

And unlike Claire, Ethan knew exactly why it mattered.a

Tomorrow, he would be the one sitting across from her.

And Claire would walk into that interview believing she was meeting a stranger.

She had no idea how wrong she was.