Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 38

KISAREL.

I checked the time for the two hundred and sixth time in one hour.

I dragged the back of my hand across my temple and forehead, wiping off the sweat that kept returning no matter how many times I cleared it, and pushed my bangs out of my face in frustration, but they fell right back. They always did. Right now, I wanted to cut them off with the letter opener sitting on the edge of my desk:

It was already eight minutes past nine, and thankfully, Mr. Stark hadn’t arrived yet. He would have added to my anxiety if he were here.

My desk looked like a small explosion had happened on top of it.

My hands were shaking as I ticked the last item on the rough list I made of Mr. Stark’s schedule for the next two weeks – appointments, meetings, etc.

I updated it on my system and forwarded it to Zen’s email for printing.

I moved on to the next item on the list. I could multitask.

I totally could.

I picked up the office phone and began dialing the numbers he asked me to call one by one,

and somewhere around the third call, I found myself genuinely questioning logic of it.

His driver. A best–wishes call to a client whose birthday was today. His personal grocery enough to

justify a phone call at nine in the morning on a Monday, let alone to be sandwiched into a deadline that was already suffocating me.

shopper. The messages he wanted delivered to these people were niched in

So I made a decision.

I skipped the ones that could wait. At least, the ones that had nothing to do with the meeting, or nothing that would blow up in my face before noon I left them. I would make them

anything.

after the meeting prep. I was only prioritising, not necessarily abandoning

I pushed through the important ones, ticked them off, and by the time I had forwarded the memo to all the meeting attendees and confirmed it had gone through, it was fifteen minutes to ten, and my gown was already damp at the back, my heart beating too fast for a professional setting like this.

Such a heart rate should belong in a war zone.

His personal setup in the meeting room. That was the next on my list.

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There were people assigned the job of setting up the meeting hall whenever there was a meeting. But today, somehow, Mr. Stark made sure I set up his own table in a very specific

way.

I grabbed the files he had specified, neatly arranged in the exact order he had asked me to.

I pushed back from my desk and stood up to hurry out of my office when the door pushed open with a slight force.

Mr. Stark.

I didn’t need to look to know it was him. His presence was more than enough

announcement.

26

I watched my heart jump out of my chest and hopped right out the door when I felt him walk closer, his deep, commanding voice dishing out instructions as he walked.

I stilled.

He wasn’t alone.

Mr. Harold, Mr. Kevin, and two other senior staff followed behind him as they walked in without breaking stride.

“Tell your team to close the deal before the end of the week. It shouldn’t still be sitting on the table at this point-” Mr. Stark was talking as I stood up immediately.

“Good morning, Mr. St-” The words died in my mouth as he walked past me without even taking a brief glance at me.

He didn’t even break his sentence by so much as a syllable. He just continued and marched into his office like I didn’t even exist.

The senior staff filed in after him. Mr. Hanold was the last to go in. But before he pulled the office door close behind him, he turned and looked at me.

I couldn’t read it. I tried, but I couldn’t. And it somehow unsettled me.

Well, birds of the same feathers, I guess. But that was the least of my problems.

I stood there for a moment longer than I should have.

And through the glass wall that separated my office from his, I could see Mr. Stark clearly. He was still talking and moving between his desk and the window, gesturing at something in a file Mr. Kevin was holding, his expression doing that focused, precise thing it did when he was working through something that required his full attention.

He never looked up for once. Not even in the direction of the glass.

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Chapter 38 yea

I sucked in a deep breath and cautioned myself about not adding to his anger by standing here and watching him when I was supposed to be setting his table for his meeting, which was in less than twelve minutes now.

I turned around and left.

***

86

After I was done setting up his table, I went over it twice because I could not afford to get this wrong.

I gathered the things I had brought in with me and hurried out of the hall immediately.

Finally, I could heave a breath of fresh air after two intense hours of tension. I thought to myself as I reached for the door of our office to push it open, but it opened directly into me before I could realize it.

I stumbled back a step when I almost bumped into Mr. Stark.

He also stopped walking.

For one second, we were close enough that I could see the exact quality of the look he me… It was flat and cold. Not a single warmth or familiarity in his eyes.

I was almost lost in the intensity of the moment when his voice pulled me out of it.

gave

“The meeting is about to start.” His tone was even and totally professional. “You have thirty seconds to get whatever you need. If I walk into that room and you’re not behind me, don’t bother coming in at all.”

He held my gaze for exactly as long as it took to make sure I had heard him.

Then he walked past me, and his staff followed behind.

I stood there for a millisecond with my heart somewhere in my stomach.

I was meant to be in the meeting?

Sweet Lord.

Panic mode activated again.

It was useless trying to process what I was meant to be doing in the meeting that had nothing to do with people in my position.

I pushed the door open and barged into my office.

I stopped in the middle of it and looked around, the blank panic that took over making it

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difficult for me to locate my brain.

What did a PA bring to a board meeting?

What did I need? A notepad? Files? Which files? His files were already in the meeting room.

My files were I didn’t even know what files were relevant. I hadn’t been briefed. I hadn’t

–

been told I was attending. I hadn’t-

My laptop.

Everything was on my laptop. Whatever I might need would certainly be on there somewhere. It had to be.

I grabbed it off the desk, tucked it under my arm, and ran.

But something deep down in my stomach kept telling me my bad day had only just begun.

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