Chapter 411

[ 1,039 words ]

Delia’s POV

I drove back to the Vesper building with both rejected folders on the passenger seat. The one Julian had pushed toward me without opening. The one Katia had dropped back onto her desk like trash. My hands stayed tight on the wheel the entire way. I kept replaying Katia’s voice in my head even though I tried not to.

You let this company turn you into their lapdog and their laughing stock.

They saw the desperation.

The only person in this room who traded her body and her dignity for a last name is you.

I parked in the underground garage and sat there for a full minute before I forced myself out of the car. The elevator ride to the top floor felt longer than usual. Every floor that passed made the knot in my stomach pull tighter. I had failed twice in one day. First Julian. Then Katia. There was no version of this conversation with Noah that ended well.

His assistant waved me through without a word. I knocked once and entered.

Noah stood at the window with his back to me. He did not turn around when the door clicked shut.

“Report,” he said.

I set both folders on his desk.

“Julian Windsor declined. He said WEG does not take outside capital and that the offer showed we do not understand how his company works. Katia Windsor also declined. She asked detailed questions about IT technologies that I could not answer. She refused to sign anything p>

Noah turned slowly. His face gave nothing away, but his eyes were cold in a way that made my spine stiffen.

“You went to both of them,” he said, “and you returned with nothing p>

“Yes p>

“You represented this company twice. Both times you looked unprepared. Both times you handed the Windsors a reason to laugh at us before we even launch p>

I kept my voice level. “The proposals were given to me as they were. I delivered them exactly as instructed p>

Noah walked toward the desk and stopped on the opposite side. He looked at the folders the way someone looks at evidence of a mistake they already expected.

“I did not hire you to be a courier,” he said. “I hired you because you claimed to know these people. You claimed you could walk into their offices and leave with results. Instead you walked in and confirmed every doubt they already had about this company. And about you p>

Heat crawled up my neck. I forced myself not to look away.

“I can still fix the seating and the run of the gala,” I said. “The event itself is on track p>

Noah’s mouth curved into something that was not a smile.

“The event is the only reason you still have a desk in this building. Do not confuse that with value p>

He picked up Katia’s folder, opened it, and scanned the first page. Then he dropped it again.

“She called you a lapdog,” he said. It was not a question.

My stomach dropped. “How do you know that p>

“I know everything that happens in rooms that matter to this company. She told you that Vesper is using your desperation. That we send you to run errands because you need to stay relevant. Was she wrong p>

I said nothing.

Noah stepped closer until the desk was the only thing between us.

“Answer me p>

“She was trying to get under my skin p>

“That is not what I asked. Was she wrong p>

The words stuck in my throat. I could still hear Katia’s voice, calm and cutting, listing every failure like she was reading from a file.

You still don’t know what you are without a borrowed last name.

That’s the part that is eating you alive.

“No,” I said finally. “She was not wrong about the desperation p>

Noah nodded once, as if I had confirmed something he already knew.

“Good. At least you are not completely delusional.” He walked around the desk and stopped beside my chair. I had to tip my head back to keep looking at him. “Listen carefully, because I will only say this once. You are useful to me for one reason only. You still know the names and the faces and the petty hierarchies of this city’s elite. That knowledge has a short shelf life once people decide you are finished. Right now you are already halfway there. The headlines. The failed marriage that was never real. The public scenes. Every time you walk into a room, people remember the woman who got slapped by Julian Windsor and then cried for the cameras. That is your brand now p>

Each word landed like a small, precise cut.

“I am giving you one final task,” Noah continued. “The gala will be perfect. Every name on that list will attend. Every detail will be clean. And when the Windsors arrive, you will be at the entrance. You will smile. You will greet them by name. You will show every camera and every guest that you can stand in the same room as them without breaking. If you cannot do that, if you flinch or make a scene or give the press even one more photograph of you looking damaged, this contract ends that night. And I will make sure the only work you find afterward is answering phones in an office no one important has ever heard of p>

My hands had curled into fists in my lap. I forced them open.

“I understand p>

“Say it clearly p>

“I will make the gala perfect. I will greet the Windsors at the door. I will not make a scene p>

Noah studied me for a long moment. Then he stepped back.

“Get out of my office. Fix whatever still needs fixing. And Delia p>

I paused at the door.

“The next time you walk into a room representing this company, know the material well enough that no one can make you look like an amateur in under five minutes. That performance will not happen again p>

I left without answering.

The elevator doors closed, and the moment I was alone, the full weight of the last hour settled on me. Katia’s voice mixed with Noah’s until I could no longer separate them.

Lapdog.

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