The Billionaire’s Secret Empire

The delicious smell of the pastries made her feel utterly sick. Their decadent structure, the warm scent of butter and flour, and the passion—it all blended into a heavenly delight. She hated it. None of them had the right to tempt her taste buds, not when her mother's bakery had burned to the ground in seconds, and her dreams flying through the ashes, she burst into tears and rolled away in her wedding dress. Her fiancé had run away that very morning, too. She was the happiest bride ever. Her eyes sparkled with pride and love for how far she had come, only to be greeted at the church by the pitying eyes of the small-town people. "I'm sorry, Tay," her best friend had said, "he won't be coming." At twenty-five, Taylor couldn't catch a break. Not with the bakery she hoped to finally reopen after her mother's death, and definitely not with the bastard who had left her at the altar and broken her heart into a million pieces. Now here she was, dressed in a simple black dress borrowed from a new neighbor, her hair perfectly styled, matching heels, and a handbag that screamed business. Today she was starting her new job at GIANNICORP. Moving to a new city was difficult, but she couldn't stay in the small town any longer, not when a simple trip to the supermarket earned her more stares than she deserved. People were kind and offered to clean up the mess and help track down the man who had abandoned her, but she couldn't take it anymore. So she did what any self-respecting, heartbroken woman would do. She packed her things and left without looking back. Four months of despair later, in the big city, she found herself with a new job at a multi-million dollar company. This was her new beginning. This was her story rewritten. She was going to make this work and shame her awful past. ********* "Name?" "Taylor Hempstead." "Age?" "Twenty-five." "Do you wear strong perfume?" Taylor's eyebrow arched in question: "Pardon??" The receptionist snorted: "Didn't you read the company profile pack?" Taylor blinked in confusion, "Profile pack." The receptionist snorted loudly: "You're the boss's new secretary and it didn't occur to you to find out what he likes and dislikes? Mr. Gianni hates the smell of strong perfume." Theo Gianni was her new boss. The oligarch and CEO of GIANNICORP who had zero to no media presence. She had done everything she could to read about him, but all the websites were devoid of the photos she really wanted to see. It was as if her new boss didn't exist. Taylor quickly sniffed herself and breathed a sigh of relief when the only scent on her was from the shower gel: "I don't smell like anything." The receptionist nodded, "Here," handing her an access card, "You'll need this to get to the top floor where his office is located. This card shouldn't fall into the wrong hands, as Mr. Gianni values his privacy above all else." "Thank you—" "Oh," the receptionist interrupted as she turned to leave, "Good luck." A clear warning: "You're clearly going to need it." A wave of bile rose in Taylor's throat, which she quickly swallowed as she nodded and walked nervously toward the elevator with the other employees. Her eyes darted directly to the company ID hanging around her neck, and the word "Secretary" somehow triggered a wave of panic in her eyes. She could hear their whispers; "Is she going to buy a new one?" "I give her a few weeks." "He clearly hates black. Look at how she's dressed." As the numbers on the corner of the elevator climbed, Taylor could feel her heart rate reaching new levels of nervousness. The pitying glances, the uncomfortable stares, the nervous coughs, and the laughter behind her swirled her emotions into a jumble. But she could do this, she told herself. She had persevered through a brutal wedding and watched her dream crumble. A terrible boss was a piece of cake around here. It didn't matter if working with Theo Gianni was a nightmare, she thought as she was finally the last one standing in the elevator with the doors finally opening to the upper floor. It definitely wasn't a problem if Theo Gianni was a ruthless maniac who made his employees cry. She calmed herself and put on a smile as she swiped her access card through the glass doors and directly into the room where her station was located. It didn't matter if Theo Gianni used his power against her, she told herself one last time as she knocked on the frosted glass door of her boss's office and took a deep breath the moment she heard a baritone voice say, "Come in." She was Taylor Hempstead, and she was determined to start over, without her mother's bakery and definitely without the man who left her penniless... "Xavi?!"