Unloved Unwanted Unstoppable (Seraphina and Dominic) novel Chapter 23

The conference room fell silent for a moment.

The woman in glasses closed her folder, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

"Seraphina, you passed."

"Someone from HR will take you to complete your onboarding shortly."

Seraphina's heart gave a fierce thump, though her face remained composed.

"Thank you."

She stood up, offered a polite bow, and walked out of the room.

The moment the door clicked shut, she clenched her fists and whispered a triumphant 'yes.'

Inside the conference room.

The woman in glasses gathered the items on the table and slipped them all into a file folder.

An assistant from the CEO's office came over, asking if the documents the boss requested were ready.

The woman nodded, pulled a smaller file from her folder, and said, "Please take this to him."

The assistant took the file.

Inside the top-floor office of the Cole building.

Gideon Cole sat behind his desk.

On his screen was a quarterly financial report.

His personal assistant, Christopher Carter, knocked and entered, carrying several documents.

"Boss, these are the projects that require your personal review today."

Gideon didn't look up. "Leave them."

Christopher placed the files on the desk and opened them one by one.

That was when he noticed a new employee assessment sheet.

He frowned. "What in the world."

Muttering to himself, he pulled it out, glanced at it, and prepared to slide it into his own separate folder.

Gideon looked up, his peripheral vision catching the photo on the assessment sheet, and his fingers stilled.

On the large sheet of paper was a sketch of a necklace.

The lines were sharp, the composition bold, and the details exuded a restrained elegance.

He held out his hand, and Christopher immediately understood, passing the assessment sheet over.

Gideon flipped the page back and forth, examining the photo of the finished product.

The combination of sapphires and moonstones wasn't entirely novel, but the curvature and proportions of the necklace were handled masterfully.

The trail had gone cold.

Gideon leaned back in his chair, his hand resting on the assessment sheet.

"Prima."

He murmured the name softly, an unreadable gleam flashing in his eyes.

That very day, Seraphina completed her onboarding process.

HR took her on a tour of the twenty-third floor, giving her a brief rundown of the departments and workspaces.

Her desk was by the window, offering a sweeping view of the Northport skyline.

A brand-new computer sat on the desk, next to a potted pothos plant.

Seraphina sat down, booted up the computer, logged into the internal system, and familiarized herself with the layout.

Since she was a new hire, she hadn't been assigned to a specific project yet.

All around her, her coworkers were busy.

Deciding not to waste time, she plugged in her flash drive, pulled up her old competition piece, and began studying it anew.

She felt there was still something lacking in the lines; it wasn't quite perfect yet.

Staring at the screen, Seraphina rested her hand on the mouse and started making edits.