After My Death, I Became His Queen.

Chapter-6

The morning after the party, I woke up with a strange sense of relief.

I had expected to spend the night replaying every conversation in my head, but surprisingly, I slept better than I had in weeks. Maybe it was because I finally stopped trying to behave like the Hannah everyone expected me to be.

I reached for my phone when it started ringing. The number wasn't saved.

"Hello?"

"May I speak with Miss Hannah?"

"This is Hannah."

"Good morning, Miss Hannah. I'm calling from the recruitment department of Blackstone Enterprises regarding your interview."

I sat up immediately. For a second, I wondered if I heard her correctly.

"We've completed the final review of your application, and we'd like to offer you the position you interviewed for."

I stared at the wall with disbelief.

"Are you still there, Miss Hannah?"

"Yes. Sorry. I'm here."

The woman continued. "Congratulations. We'd like you to report to the company tomorrow morning. Your appointment letter and joining details have already been sent to your email."

"Thank you. I'll be there."

After the call ended, I opened the email and read through everything carefully. The position was better than I had expected. The salary was enough for me to start saving immediately, and the company offered opportunities I had never even considered in my previous life.

I looked at the appointment letter for a long moment. In my first life, I had received another kind of letter around this time. My engagement announcement. Everyone had been so excited about me becoming Adrian Vale's fiancee that nobody cared what I wanted anymore. Including me. I had convinced myself that becoming his wife was the only goal of my life. I knew better now.

I got out of bed and walked toward the mirror.

"Let's see what happens this time."

By morning, I was standing in front of Blackstone Enterprises.

The building was impossible to miss. It rose above the surrounding offices, all glass and steel, with the Blackstone name displayed across the front entrance.

I adjusted the strap of my handbag and walked inside.The receptionist checked my name before handing me a visitor pass.

"Human Resources is expecting you. Someone will take you upstairs."

"Thank you."

I had barely taken two steps when I heard someone whisper behind me.

"Isn't that Adrian vale's girlfriend?"

I didn't turn around.

Another voice answered, "Adrian Vale's?"

I kept walking.

Apparently, even here, Adrian had arrived before me. I wasn't surprised. His family had always been good at making sure their name entered a room before they did.

A young woman from Human Resources met me near the elevators and introduced herself as Mia.

She showed me around the building, explained where my department was and gave me a brief overview of my responsibilities.

"You'll be working with the strategy team," she said as we walked down the corridor. "They're usually busy, so don't take it personally if everyone looks like they're about to murder someone."

I laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

Mia smiled. "You don't seem nervous."

"I am."

"Really?"

"Just hiding it."

She laughed again.

By the time we reached my department, I was beginning to relax. My supervisor introduced me to the team before handing me a file.

"This is one of the proposals we're reviewing this week. Go through it and prepare a summary. Don't rush it. I'd rather have accurate work than fast work."

"Understood." I took the file to my desk.

For the next couple of hours, I buried myself in numbers. It was actually nice. I turned another page and stopped. One of the company names caught my attention. I stared at it for several seconds. I knew that name. I had seen it before.

Maybe in my previous life.

It had appeared in a collection of documents connected to Hawthorne Holdings shortly before everything went wrong.

I couldn't remember exactly why Adrian had been interested in the company, but I remembered the name because I had once asked him about it. He told me it was business and I wouldn't understand. I believed him. Now I wasn't so sure.

I read through the information again. Something about the figures didn't look right. I checked the calculations. Then I checked them again. There was a mistake in the projected return. It wasn't a huge error on paper, but if the investment went through using those numbers, the company could lose a considerable amount of money.

I marked the page and continued reading. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was simply an old calculation that hadn't been updated. But I wasn't going to ignore it.

I took my notes into the meeting. I wasn't expecting anyone to pay much attention to the newest employee in the room. For the first fifteen minutes, everything went normally. Then the presentation reached the financial projections.

I looked at my supervisor. "Can I say something?"

He nodded. I turned the document around. "I think this figure needs to be checked."

One of the senior analysts looked at me. "Which one?"

"The projected return."

He glanced at the page. "It's correct."

"I'm not sure it is."

The room went quiet. He looked at me again, this time with a little more interest. "Why?"

I pointed toward the valuation used in the calculation. "That's the previous valuation. If the current figure is used, the return changes."

He took the document from me. Nobody spoke while he checked it. Then he reached for his calculator. A few seconds later, he looked up. "She's right."

My supervisor leaned forward. "How much does it change?"

"Enough to affect the recommendation."

The atmosphere in the room shifted. The senior analyst looked at me. "Good catch."

"Thank you." That was all I said. I wasn't going to celebrate over one mistake. I had a lot more to prove.

When the meeting ended, I returned to my desk and found an email waiting for me.

Executive Office: Miss Vale, please report to the chairman's office immediately.

I closed my laptop and headed upstairs. The private elevator opened directly onto the executive floor. The assistant outside the chairman's office looked up when I approached.

"He's waiting for you."

I knocked.

"Come in."

I opened the door.

He was standing beside the windows, looking over the city. I had met him once before, but seeing him again somehow felt different. Perhaps because this time, I was working for him.

He turned when he heard the door close. "Sit."

I took the chair opposite his desk.

He picked up the report from the meeting. "You noticed the error."

"Yes Sir."

"How?"

"I read the proposal."

His eyes lifted from the paper. "I gathered that."

I almost smiled.

He placed the report on the desk. "Three people reviewed this before you."

"Then maybe they were too familiar with it."

There was a brief silence. His expression remained unreadable. "You don't seem intimidated."

"I am."

"You're doing a poor job of showing it."

That made me smile. "I'm trying to improve."

For the first time, I noticed the faintest change in his expression. Not quite a smile. Something close. He opened another folder. "Why did you apply to Blackstone?"

The question surprised me. "I wanted a job."

"Most people who want a job don't apply here."

"Then I suppose I wanted a difficult job."

He studied me. "And why?"

I looked down at my hands before answering.

"Because I don't want my future to depend on someone else's name."

His gaze stayed on me. He closed the folder.

"Good." He pushed another folder toward me. "I want you to review this."

I opened it.

"This is confidential."

I looked through the first few pages. "This is a lot."

"It is."

"How much time do I have?"

"Three days."

I looked up. "Three days?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No."

His eyebrow lifted slightly.

"I'll have it ready."

"Don't give me an answer because you think it's what I want to hear."

"I'm not."

He leaned back in his chair. "Then we'll see."

I closed the folder and left his office with the folder in my hands.

The elevator doors closed, and I looked down at the project I had just been given. I had come to Blackstone for a salary. But perhaps I had found something far more valuable. A place where I could build something with my own name.

When I reached my desk, I opened the folder again. The first page contained a list of companies involved in the project. My eyes stopped on one particular name.

The same company I had remembered from my previous life. I slowly lowered myself into my chair. Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe it wasn't. I didn't have enough information yet to know. So I did what I should have done years ago.

I kept the information to myself. No accusations. No questions. No panic. Just facts.

I wrote the company name in the back of my notebook and closed it.

Across the room, my phone buzzed.

A message from Adrian.

Are you free tonight? I want to see you.

I stared at it for a moment then I typed a reply.

I'm working. Maybe another day.

I put my phone face down and opened the Blackstone file. For once, I had something more important to do than wait for Adrian Vale.