Burned By Love, Back For Revenge

Chapter 3

The next morning, I arrived at Sterling headquarters early. I told myself it was to settle in before meeting the team, but the truth was that I wanted to prepare myself before facing Damian. To my displeasure, he walked in right after I did, calling my name aloud for everyone to hear.

“You’re early, Miss Singer,” he said, falling into step beside me.

I walked a little faster, and he matched my pace. With a sigh, I turned to face him, since avoiding him would be a waste of time. Yesterday’s encounter already taught me that.

“Hello, sir,” I said curtly.

“Damian.”

“Right. Hello, Damian.”

“My assistant was meant to show you to your office after the meeting, but since you’re here already, shall we?”

“Oh no, sir,” I started, not wanting to spend more time with him than necessary. “You don’t have to…”

“Damian.”

I swallowed a groan, then nodded stiffly. “I’m fine with your assistant showing me around. Besides, I’d rather get acquainted with the team first.”

Damian raised an eyebrow before nodding. “Alright then. We’ll head to the conference room instead. Perhaps a few people will be there.”

He walked ahead, and I followed, making sure to stay at least three steps behind him. If he noticed it, he didn’t say anything. We went up the elevator to the fourth floor, going through a glass door with metal handles into the third room on the left. Truly, there were people there, and as soon as we walked in, the chatter ceased.

“Mr. Sterling,” a man with a British accent said. “We were waiting for you.”

Damian placed his suitcase on the chair at the head of the table. “Seems like everyone decided to come in early, except…”

Just then, a brunette wearing the most revealing office dress I’d ever seen walked in. She gave a sheepish smile before taking the seat beside Damian’s, and I squinted at her. It looked like she had come in a hurry, her endowed chest heaving with each breath.

“Cecelia,” Damian said smoothly. “Glad to have you join us. Now that we’re all here, I believe introductions are in order. Isaac, please.”

The man that spoke earlier placed a hand on his chest. “I’m Isaac Thompson. I’m the head security engineer in the team.”

The woman next to him stood up excitedly. “I’m Summer, Summer Harris. I’m a full stack developer.”

“And I supervise what Summer does,” the brunette said with a small smile. “I’m Cecelia, by the way.”

Three others introduced themselves as developers and the project manager. Then it was my turn. Before I could speak, Damian beat me to it.

“This is Ms. Ava Singer. She’ll be joining our team on the Venus project. She’s a data specialist and doubles as a engineer and analyst.”

“Welcome, Ava,” Summer said warmly.

I smiled and gave a small wave before taking the seat beside her. She immediately nudged my arm and mouthed, “Nice to have you here,” before turning her attention back to Damian.

For the next two hours, we discussed the project in detail.

Sterling was developing a new security platform called Venus, designed to protect sensitive company information from cyberattacks. The system would monitor unusual activity, identify potential threats, and alert the company before a breach could spread.

The project manager explained what the company expected from us, and Damian began assigning responsibilities.

Isaac would design the security structure with another colleague, while Summer handled interface testing. I would work with the information collected by the system, testing whether it performed as designed. We were equally given assignments to complete before the next meeting. Exhausted as I was, I felt excited about working on something this huge.

Just before Damian walked out, he paused and turned toward me.

“I almost forgot. Ava is in charge of this project. You’re all to give her biweekly reports.”

All eyes fell on me as he left the room, and I was dumbfounded. Why the hell did he do that?

“Giving such a heavy task to a newbie,” Cecelia mused sarcastically as she gathered her things. “You must be really good at what you do, Ava.”

“Hold on,” another guy, Samuel, said. “Ava Singer? Why does that name ring a bell? Were you at the Delaware branch?”

I nodded.

“You’re the one who solved the issue with the Damascus prototype?”

I nodded again. Everyone looked at me, and I busied myself placing my notebook in my purse, surprised that word had gotten out about the incident at Delaware. They all had looks of admiration on their faces, even Cecilia, though hers was mixed with some anger.

“I say we’re in good hands, then,” Isaac said with a smile.

Cecelia stormed out of the room first, almost shoving me as she did, but I moved away before she could succeed. A man in his thirties stepped in right after looking around, before making eye contact with me.

“Miss Singer,” he said. “I’m here to show you to your office.”

I almost let out a sigh of relief as I walked out with him, smiling at everyone and giving my usual short wave. I met Cecelia once again as she walked back in the direction of the conference room, and she narrowed her eyes at me before walking past. I could tell she didn’t like me, but whatever her reasons were, I couldn’t care less.

My office was surprisingly spacious for a new intake, and I liked it immediately. It was on the fifth floor. After placing a picture of my grandmother on the desk, I finally felt at home.

*****

“Ava…psst.”

I looked up to see Isaac whisper-yelling and waving me over from the cafeteria. I walked toward him and Summer, taking the empty seat opposite them.

“You haven’t gotten food yet, have you?” Summer asked. “Get the rice. It’s perfect on Tuesdays.”

I smiled. “Thanks for the suggestion. Delaware didn’t have great cafeteria food.”

“The food’s decent here,” Isaac chipped in.

“Except the lasagna and creamy pasta,” Summer added in a low tone. “Never try those.”

I laughed at the way she said it. “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind. Gimme a few to get lunch and I’ll be back?”

Isaac laughed. “You’re a cutie. Of course. Besides, I’m a bit curious about Ava Singer.”

I laughed again and asked for a plate of rice, spicy chicken, and a bottle of water. As I turned, the television caught my attention. The news channel was on, showing another tech company’s stocks dropping. I watched for a moment in boredom, till Jason appeared on the screen.

He looked more muscular than I remembered, smiling at the cameras as he answered a reporter’s question. The headline beneath him read that he had returned to New Jersey and that Whitmore Technologies was revolutionizing Aegis.

Whitmore Technologies.

He had gotten rid of my name like it meant nothing.

A loud crash brought me back to reality and I looked down, realizing I had dropped my tray, water and phone. Normally, I would have been mortified, even with only a handful of people in the cafeteria. But I was too angry to care. My hands were shaking far too much, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Summer start to approach me.

Then, I noticed a pair of brown eyes staring at me. Damian looked up at the TV where Jason was flashing an irritating smile at reporters, then at my mortified expression and gave a small smirk before walking out of the cafeteria. I hadn’t even noticed he was in the room, but he had seen everything.

Dammit.