Valerie raised an eyebrow. “Don’t sweat it if you can’t pay me back. I’ll just shoot the breeze with Mr. Hart.”

Isabel panicked. Dylan had looked like he wanted to chew her out earlier; it was the first time she’d seen him blow up at her, and she was clueless about what Valerie had pulled! "You just wait!" Isabel stormed out, slamming the door.

Katherine burst into laughter. “Valerie, did you see her? She was so pissed, her nostrils flared! But seriously, I always thought you were a gentle pushover. I had no clue you could be such a badass. Spill it—how did you manage to get Mr. Hart and Isabel to back off? Did you actually hit up Mr. Moreno?”

Valerie shook her head. “Like I said, hitting up Mr. Moreno was a dead end.” Arcton Cars had been swallowed up by Noria Group, and its general manager was a figurehead, practically retired, just sitting around sipping tea from a thermos. So, she bypassed him, found the personal email of Noria Group’s CEO on the intranet, and fired off a complaint. Since Dylan was their guy, it was their mess to clean up.

“I’ve never met Mr. Grant of Noria Group, but I’ve seen his interviews in the financial papers. The dude once worked entry-level to get the real scoop on his employees’ lives, so I thought I’d give it a shot and drop him a line.”

Katherine was amazed. “Wow, so that legendary Grant sounds like one of the good ones, huh? All clear-cut and principled.”

Valerie smirked slightly. “Not really. Mr. Hart mingles work with personal crap, but all Mr. Grant did was make him return the project to me; no other slap on the wrist. Seems like Mr. Grant doesn’t see it as a big deal. You know what they say, ‘A fish rots from the head down.’ Mr. Grant might not be as stellar as he appears.”

And today, while it seemed like Valerie won, she had totally alienated Dylan. He seemed to cave, but who knew what kind of sneaky things he could pull behind the scenes? Valerie was here to make bank, not to play office politics. Plus, with her baby on the way, she wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer.

“Looks like it’s time to think about a way out. Damn, this job sucks!” Valerie thought despairingly.

A few days earlier, Matthew, the new CEO of Grant Group, had wrapped up several days of factory inspections and orchestrated a shareholder meeting to chart out this quarter’s business strategy. Dead tired, he got hit with a bizarre complaint letter.

“Valerie Warren…” Matthew glanced at the signature, the name ringing a faint bell. He remembered Dylan, a subordinate under his uncle.

In his office, the HR manager, visibly shaking and dry-mouthed, ventured, “Mr. Grant, how do you intend to handle this Dylan Hart situation?”

As soon as he spoke, the room’s atmosphere plummeted. The manager mentally kicked himself for his lack of tact.

“Don’t worry. I’ll chew out Mr. Hart right now and make sure he reverses the performance metrics,” the manager said, bolting as if demons were on his heels.

Matthew frowned, musing. Dylan was already demoted for screwing up, and still, he hadn’t straightened out. Just a scolding was letting him off easy. But he was his uncle’s guy; he might as well wait until the old man retired to handle it.

But then again, is my face really that scary? Matthew wondered, recalling the HR manager’s terror-stricken face.

Just then, his assistant, Charles Hudson, walked in and glanced at him, asking, “Mr. Grant, who pissed you off?”

Matthew shot him a glare.

Caught off guard, Charles stammered an apology. “No offense, Mr. Grant, but you gotta admit, your face doesn’t exactly scream ‘warm and fuzzy.’”

“Get to the point or get the hell out,” Matthew snapped coldly.

Charles quipped, “Mr. Grant, if I take off, you’ll have a hell of a time finding another assistant who’s as kick-ass.”

Everyone at Noria Group knew Matthew for his no-nonsense demeanor and natural aura of authority that could make anyone cower with just a look. Yet, against all odds, he was surprisingly easy to get along with. If not for his approachability, Charles’s curt retort earlier would have had anyone packing their bags for good.

Matthew rubbed his temples, resigned to the fact that his intimidating presence often scared others. “Then again, there was recently someone who wasn’t the least bit scared of me. She even dared to…”

A sudden realization struck him. He remembered that a woman had called him to register for marriage a few days ago.

“No wonder her name sounded familiar. It’s the same—Valerie Warren. What are the odds…could it be?” he pondered, frowning as he pulled up the employee records and saw Valerie’s smiling face in her work photo.

The world really is a small place. But still, it’s been three days. Why hasn’t she reached out at all? he wondered.

He had assumed that after their marriage, Valerie would not be able to resist contacting him and revealing her true colors. Yet, her silence over the past three days was unexpected and oddly impressive.

Deciding it was time to reach out to his nominal wife, Matthew pulled out his phone. His private number was a secret, shared only with family and close friends, so it was easy for him to find Valerie in his contacts.

Three days in, she should have played her hand by now. Knowing she’s an Arcton Cars employee, it’s no surprise she’s aware that he’s the president of Noria Group. No wonder she went through so much trouble to marry me! Now, by deliberately avoiding contact, she seems to be angling for me to make the first move. Fine, she’ll get her wish, he mused, and sent her a message: "[Let's meet.]"

He could almost picture how a gold-digger like her would secretly delight at his message. But the next second, the message he sent showed only a single check mark. Clearly, he’d been blocked.

Matthew gripped his phone tightly, his eyes turning stormy. Inside, he seethed. Damn it! She actually blocked me!