Chapter 92: Chapter 91: Hell
The next ninety minutes were hell.
Aria sat at her desk, frantically navigating the shared drive system, pulling up files she barely understood. Financial reports. Market data. Competitor analysis. Hundreds of pages of dense, technical information she’d never seen before.
She wasn’t a business analyst. She was a doctor. She knew anatomy and pharmacology and diagnostic protocols. Not quarterly earnings and market positioning.
But she didn’t have a choice.
She read as fast as she could, her medical school training kicking in.....triage the information, prioritize what matters, skim for key points, look for patterns.
Q3 revenue: up 15%. Market share: increased in three sectors, declined slightly in one. Competitor analysis: Blackwood Enterprises outperforming two major rivals, neck-and-neck with a third.
She started typing, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Created a summary document. Bullet points. Clear, concise, actionable.
Around her, the office hummed with activity. Other employees shot her curious glances. Some sympathetic. Some amused. All of them wondering how long she’d last.
"First day?" A woman at the neighboring desk....mid-thirties, kind face....leaned over. "I’m Emma. Marketing."
"Aria. I’m...."
"Mr. Blackwood’s new assistant. Yeah, we heard." Emma’s smile was genuine but worried. "Good luck. You’re going to need it."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Because he’s brilliant but impossible. Demanding doesn’t even begin to cover it. And his assistants....." She stopped. "Let’s just say the turnover rate is high."
"How high?"
"Last one lasted four months. The one before that, three. The one before that quit after six weeks." Emma lowered her voice. "He’s not mean, exactly. He’s just....exacting. Expects perfection. And when he doesn’t get it...."
"What?"
"You’ll find out."
Emma returned to her work, leaving Aria with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
She checked the time. 9:15. Forty-five minutes left.
She wasn’t even half done.
Panic set in. She couldn’t fail. Not on day one. Not when he’d given her this chance.
She typed faster. Cut unnecessary details. Focused on the essentials. Made the formatting clean and professional.
9:45. Fifteen minutes.
She was on the competitor analysis section. Three major rivals. Need their current market positions, recent moves, threats and opportunities.
Her eyes blurred as she skimmed through report after report. Found the key data. Summarized it.
9:55. Five minutes.
She printed the document. Fifteen pages. Comprehensive. Professional.
And then she saw it.
Typo on page two. "Market" spelled "Marekt."
Shit.
She reprinted page two, rushed to the printer, swapped out the bad page, stapled everything together.
9:58.
She grabbed the briefing and hurried to Damien’s office, her heart pounding.
He was on the phone when she knocked. He gestured for her to enter without looking up.
"....I don’t care what the timeline is. If they can’t deliver by Q1, find different suppliers... Yes, I’m aware of the cost implications. Do it anyway... Good. Send me the updated proposal by end of day."
He hung up and held out his hand. "Briefing."
She handed it over, trying to control her breathing.
He read in silence. The only sound was the soft rustle of pages turning. Aria stood there, every second feeling like an eternity, watching his face for any reaction.
Nothing. His expression was completely neutral.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably three minutes, he looked up.
"Acceptable. For a first attempt."
Relief flooded through her. Not praise. But not criticism either.
"However..." His eyes went back to the document. "You missed the European market analysis. There’s nothing here about our EU competitors or the regulatory changes affecting that sector."
Her heart sank. "I’m sorry, I...."
"I don’t want apologies. I want complete work." He set the briefing down. "You have until the meeting starts to add the European section. That’s two minutes."
"Two minutes? But I can’t possibly...."
"Are you questioning me?"
The cold edge in his voice stopped her. "No, sir."
"Then fix it. Now."
She ran back to her desk, pulled up the European market data, scribbled notes as fast as she could. Revenue trends. Regulatory impacts. Key competitors.
Her handwriting was barely legible but it would have to do.
10:00 AM exactly.
She printed the additional page, rushed back to his office....
Empty.
He was already in the conference room.
Shit.
She grabbed the paper and hurried down the hall, her heels clicking frantically, other employees watching her sprint past.
The conference room doors were glass. She could see inside. Fifteen people seated around a massive table. All of them in expensive suits. All of them powerful, intimidating.
And Damien at the head, looking like he owned the world.
She knocked softly. All eyes turned to her.
Damien’s expression didn’t change. "Come in."
She opened the door and stepped inside, feeling every gaze on her. Assessing. Judging. Finding her lacking.
"I’m sorry for the interruption," she said, her voice admirably steady. "I have the European market analysis you requested, sir."
She handed him the single page. His eyes scanned it briefly before he set it aside.
"Thank you. Take a seat."
There was one empty chair. Beside him. At the head of the table.
She sat, opened her laptop to take notes, and tried to make herself invisible.
"This is Aria Chen," Damien said to the room. "My new personal assistant. She’ll be attending all board meetings going forward."
Murmurs of acknowledgment. Polite nods. And beneath it all, curiosity.
A woman across the table....fifties, sharp features, expensive jewelry....smiled. "Welcome, Ms. Chen. I hope you’re ready for the pace we keep here."
"I am. Thank you."
"Let’s begin," Damien said, pulling up a presentation on the large screen. "Q3 performance review."
For the next hour, Aria took notes furiously while Damien presented with the kind of commanding brilliance that made it clear why he was at the top. Every number memorized. Every trend analyzed. Every question answered with precision.
He used her briefing extensively....and it was solid. Comprehensive. Professional.
Until they got to the European section.
"The EU market shows concerning regulatory trends," Damien said. "New environmental compliance requirements could impact our manufacturing costs by...."
"Excuse me, Damien," one of the board members interrupted. An older man, silver hair, expensive watch. "The European data in the briefing seems incomplete. There’s no breakdown by country, no analysis of the Brexit impacts, no mention of the German market specifically."
All eyes turned to the screen. To the briefing Aria had prepared. To the glaring gaps in the European analysis.
"You’re correct," Damien said smoothly. "My assistant is still getting up to speed on our international operations. We’ll have comprehensive European analysis by end of day."
"Perhaps you need a more experienced assistant," the silver-haired man said with a slight smirk. "Someone familiar with global markets."
The implication was clear: Aria wasn’t qualified. She was inadequate. She didn’t belong here.
Heat flooded her face. Humiliation burned in her chest.
But Damien’s expression didn’t change. "Ms. Chen is more than capable. She simply needs time to familiarize herself with our operations. Which she will have."
The statement was final. The board member nodded and the meeting continued.
But the damage was done.
Aria could feel the eyes on her. The judgment. The whispered assessment: She won’t last.
When the meeting finally ended an hour later, Aria gathered her things with shaking hands while board members filed out. Some gave her sympathetic glances. Most ignored her entirely.
The silver-haired man paused by Damien. "Interesting choice for an assistant. She’s certainly... different from your usual type."
"She’s exactly what I need," Damien said, his voice cold.
After everyone left, Aria remained seated, dreading what came next.
Damien closed his laptop and looked at her. "My office. Now."
She followed him down the hall, every step heavy with dread.
Inside his office, he closed the door but didn’t lock it this time. Just turned to face her, his expression unreadable.
"That was unacceptable."
"I know. I’m sorry. I tried to....."
"I don’t want excuses. I want results." His voice was cold, clinical. Each word precisely delivered. "You embarrassed me in front of the board."
The accusation hit like a slap. "I’m sorry...."
"Stop apologizing." He moved behind his desk, putting physical distance between them. Business. Professional. Cold. "That was a professional failure. Which means there are professional consequences."
Her stomach dropped. "What kind of consequences?"
"You’ll stay late tonight. Redo the entire briefing with comprehensive European analysis. Country-by-country breakdown. Brexit impacts. Regulatory environment. Competitive landscape. Everything that should have been there in the first place." His eyes met hers. "On my desk by 8 PM."
"Tonight? But I....I have plans. I was supposed to have dinner with my mother...."
"Cancel them." His voice was flat, unyielding. "Your mother is recovered, Aria. Healthy and thriving thanks to the treatment I provided. Your priority is here now. With me. Proving you’re capable of doing the job you agreed to do."
The cruelty of it stung. Using her mother....the person he’d saved....as justification for punishment.
But she couldn’t argue. He was right. She’d failed. And there were consequences.
"Yes, sir."
"And Aria?" He looked up from his computer, his eyes dark and cold. "Don’t disappoint me again. I gave you this chance. Don’t make me regret it."
The words landed like stones in her chest.
"I won’t. I promise."
"Good. Close the door on your way out."
Dismissed.
Aria left his office, her legs shaking, and returned to her desk.
Around her, the office hummed with activity. Normal people doing normal work. None of them had just been humiliated in a board meeting. None of them had been assigned an impossible deadline as punishment.
None of them had agreed to submit completely to a man who owned them professionally and personally.
Sarah from marketing caught her eye and mouthed, "You okay?"
Aria nodded, even though it was a lie.
She wasn’t okay. She’d failed on her first day. Embarrassed him. Proven she wasn’t qualified for this job.
But she had nine hours to fix it.
Nine hours to prove she could handle whatever he threw at her.
Nine hours to show him she was worth the risk.
She pulled up the European market files and started reading.
Day one was far from over.
