Chapter 3
The next morning, after breakfast, Aaron made o move to get up. Eleanor casually asked him what was wrong, and he pulled her into his arms nuzzling against the curve of her neck.
“Nora, I don’t want to go to work. I just want to cling to you all day. Since you’re off this week, come with me to the office, will you? That way, an see you whenever I want–and maybe I’ll actually get some work done.”
Off to the side, the housekeeper quickly covered her face with both hands, clearly flustered by the over–the–top affection. In her head, she muttered that Aaron was absolutely hopeless–a total lovesick fool.
However, Eleanor’s expression didn’t change. She simply nodded and replied, “Sure.”
After all, she had been meaning to meet Alina in person.
When they arrived at the office, Aaron didn’t take the executive elevator to his office. Instead, he swiped his employee badge and hit the button for the 17th floor.
“There’s a project pitch this morning with the marketing team. Gotta check in on that first,‘ he said casually.
Eleanor stayed quiet. She didn’t work in corporate, but even she knew that any major collaboration would be handled in the executive boardroom upstairs, not on a lower floor.
Then, she remembered a selfie she had seen last night on Alina’s social media, in which she wore a marketing team badge around her neck. Suddenly, everything clicked–this detour had nothing to do with business.
The moment they stepped off the elevator, loud, sharp yelling echoed from one of the rooms. “I asked for an iced Americano! What is wrong with you? You can’t even get a coffee order right! You look like a country bumpkin from some dusty town, and apparently, your brain stayed there too! How does a company like this even hire people like you? Couldn’t they send someone better–looking and smarter to deal with clients?”
Hearing the client’s outburst, Aaron instinctively frowned. When they walked through the door and saw Alina standing there, head bowed, silently taking the abuse, something cold flickered in his eyes. He let go of Eleanor’s hand and quickly stepped forward.
“Mr. Powell, I assume you’re here to discuss a deal–not to humiliate one of my employees. If this is how you conduct yourself, then maybe there’s no future between the Fords and the Powells after all.”
His words, sharp and ice–cold, hit Kenny Powell Like a slap to the face.
Chapte
Kenny’s face flushed with embarrassment, unab to belleve Aaron would risk a partnership to defend what he assumed was just a regular employee. Caught off guard and with nowhere to turn, he looked like he wanted to disappear.
The office buzzed with whispers as people turned to each other in surprise. Meanwhile, Eleanor remained by the door, her gaze fixed on Aaron while chatter filled the air around her.
He acted as though none of it existed. He simply walked Alina back to her desk, his face still tight with irritation. Then, he glanced down and saw the sticky notes scattered across her workspace. His expression darkened further.
“Meeting prep at 10:00 am, copies at 2:00 pm? Does the marketing team not have an assistant? You all dumped these tasks on Alina? Find out who wrote these notes. Anyone not doing their job–fire them.”
His words hit hard, and a wave of panic swept through the room as half the employees turned pale. On the other hand, Alina looked up at him with grateful eyes, overflowing with affection.
However, the second she turned and saw Eleanor still standing at the doorway, she froze. The tenderness vanished in an instant, like smoke in the wind.
Eleanor watched the shift in Alina’s expression. Then, she calmly turned away and walked out of the room.
It took Aaron nearly an hour to track her down, and he finally found her on the rooftop of the building. Seeing her distant expression, he guessed she might have misunderstood the scene
earlier with Alina..
Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and tried to explain. “Nora, don’t take it the wrong way. I just can’t stand watching employees get bullied…”
Eleanor gave him a faint, bitter smile. For a split second, she felt the overwhelming urge to tear off the mask he wore and expose everything But in the end, she swallowed it down.
Her voice came out soft and even as she replied, “I didn’t misunderstand. I just wanted to get some fresh air. You stood up for someone at work–that’s the right thing to do.”
Only then did Aaron finally breathe a little easier and bring her downstairs with him.
During lunch, he carefully picked out the bones from her fish while listening to his assistant, Matthew Woods, report on the schedule.
Matthew asked, “Mr. Ford, will you be attending the charity auction tonight?”
“Yes. Have them send over three invitations.”
“Three?”
Matthew glanced toward Eleanor, unsure if he heard that right. Aaron followed his gaze and caught the calm look in her eyes. Then, he quickly offered an explanation.
“Alina got called a country bumpkin this morning. She looked like she was about to cry. It’s just a dinner event, so I figured I’d bring her along to lift her spirits and let her see something
new.”
He added, “Nora, I’ve got meetings all afternoon. If you’re free, would you mind taking her out shopping? Help her find a dress or something it’ll kill some time.”
Unprompted kindness, a shaky excuse, and eyes that couldn’t meet hers–everything about Aaron’s behavior screamed dishonesty.
Eleanor said nothing. She simply looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Sure.”
So, for the entire afternoon, Alina followed behind her. They picked out a few gowns, browsed for jewelry, and ended up at a salon where Alina got a fresh haircut. They barely exchanged a single word the entire time.
Alina was like a doll–quiet, obedient, and unopinionated. She let Eleanor style her however she liked without saying a thing. By the time Aaron showed up after his meeting, Alina had just finished her makeup and was getting to her feet.
There was a flicker of admiration in his eyes when he saw her, but he didn’t stop. Instead, he walked right over to Eleanor and took her hand.
He said, “The dress you picked is stunning, and the jewelry goes perfectly with your skin tone. Nora, you look so beautiful tonight… I almost don’t want to take you out. What if someone else tries to steal you from me?”
Eleanor stayed silent and didn’t respond. She turned slightly, catching the way Alina’s face fell as she lowered her head, gripping the edge of her gown tightly.
A moment later, Aaron’s voice lowered as he turned toward her. “Alina, you look… good too.”
Joy lit up her face like someone had flipped a switch. “R–Really? Thank you, Mr. Ford.”
She clearly liked Aaron a lot. After all, from just that one sentence, she spent the entire night glowing like someone had handed her the stars.
That was,
was, until the auction began.
To prepare for the evening, Eleanor personally donated three pairs of rare pearl earrings. They were valued at three million dollars, but Aaron bought all three pairs back himself for ten
million.
The room filled with gasps and excited murmurs as the bidding went wild.
Alina, growing increasingly nervous, tugged at Eleanor’s sleeve. Her voice was soft and unsure as she asked, “Ms. Sutton, are all the items at charity auctions this expensive? I… I didn’t know.
Eleanor was just about to explain when the auctioneer raised the next item and spoke into the mic. “Item 32–donated by Ms. Alina Spencer. Handcrafted wishing stars. Starting bid: one dollar. And before we begin bidding, may we ask Ms. Spencer to stand and take a bow?”
