The man's nose was tall, a pair of deep-set obsidian eyes stared down at her with a scowl. His lips were a thin line in anger.
"I'm... I'm so sorry..." Before Anne could fully voice her apology—
"Get out!" A voice as smooth as a cello, yet ruthless, holding no mercy, rang out.
For a moment, Anne froze, her heart hammering in her ears.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm here for a job interview and I desperately need this..."
The people in the elevator sucked in an incredulous breath.
Most people wouldn't dare try to talk in front of Director Sterling, but this woman was actually asking for mercy?
"You're here for an interview?" he suddenly asked.
Anne seemed to see a ray of hope and quickly nodded, but a derisive smirk curled on the man's handsome lips.
"Do you know the kind of people we hire here at Sterling Enterprises?"
Anne was quick to answer, "Skilled people with enough qualifications for—"
"Wrong! We hire competent, organized human beings, not a terribly dressed walking disaster." His voice fell with the ding of the elevator, every word sharply stern like a monarch chastising his subjects.
Anne's mouth was slack open that she couldn't think of what to say. The man strode out of the elevator confidently.
"Security!" he called to the guards standing at the tenth floor.
"Get that woman out of here. Why waste time interviewing someone who certainly won't get the job?"
Anne heard the people in the elevator giggling as they all exited.
"As expected of Director Sterling, he knows how to burn with his words."
Everyone gave her a weird look as the security guards came towards her.
"This way please, you heard the order our boss just gave. Don't force us to throw you out, I wouldn't want to humiliate a beautiful young woman."
Anne felt her shoulders sag in defeat. Her fingers clenched around the strap of her bag, holding onto the last shred of her pride. She had hoped to get this job first, just in case that surrogacy thing didn't work out. Turns out, just like every other avenue she'd tried, this would be a fail as well.
Andrew Sterling reached the conference room and proceeded with his meetings. He remembered the face of the woman he'd just seen a while ago; honestly, he was surprised to see this woman here, a familiar face he had seen just last night. She was his third candidate to carry out the assignment, and he hoped as hell that he wouldn't have to find another woman after her if she failed.
The first had been unable to get pregnant, the second had fallen in love with him in a matter of days, and the third, he hadn't even touched yet.
He couldn't afford to show his contracted women his face, hence he'd always worn a mask. No matter what happened, they shouldn't come to know his identity. That was the main reason he had her thrown out of his company just now.
However, he had no idea that his stepbrother had witnessed the situation that had happened earlier, and in a bid to get under his skin, he went ahead to hire the very woman Andrew had instructed they throw out of the company.
It felt like a dream for Anne. Gabriel Sterling, the man she'd always looked up to, had seen her when the guards were about to throw her out.
"Sir, Director Sterling ordered us to..." The guard was about to explain the situation to Gabriel but he cut him off.
"And I'm ordering you to leave her to me."
The guards had no choice but to walk away.
Gabriel turned to face Anne, and she felt a blush rise up her cheeks. He was every bit her dream man, but Anne had never expected she would someday get to meet him face to face after seeing him online and on magazine covers countless times.
"What's your name?" Gabriel Sterling asked, giving her a once-over.
"Anne... my name is Anne Thompson."
"Anne, you're hired."
"Wh-what? But I haven't even had the interview yet."
"No need for that, you'll be my personal assistant from now on."
Anne blinked, sure she must have misheard. "Really?!"
When Anne got home that day, she was over the moon with excitement.
Personal assistant to the General Manager of Sterling Enterprises, how cool! She had been asked to start work the next day.
The next morning, Anne rushed to the company, making sure to arrive very early. She didn't expect to walk into a tense brothers' rivalry.
"What is this woman doing here?" Andrew Sterling was sitting on a sofa within Gabriel's office with an ice-cold look on his face. Without knowing why, the man scared Anne; there seemed to always be an intimidating air around him.
"This is Anne Thompson, my personal assistant. What do you think of her, dear brother?" Gabriel deliberately asked this question, hoping to get his brother riled up.
He would do anything as long as it would upset Andrew.
Anne felt the urge to hide into the walls if they would open up for her due to how Andrew glared at her. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
"I suppose she's the right fit for you, after all, you have the tendency to pick up unworthy garbage." Andrew's voice was a light and refreshing yet manly tone, but his words were always as sharp as a knife, cutting the other person instantly. Gabriel's face turned dark as he watched his brother walk out of his office after leaving the instruction, "Make sure you submit that file to the chairman's office."
Anne thought the man sent her a furtive glance before he exited the office. She went forward to her boss's table.
"Good morning, Mr. Sterling."
"Morning, Anne. Have your seat and I'll explain your duties."
For the next hour, she familiarized herself with the company and her job.
After the lunch break, Gabriel sent her to deliver some files to the chairman's office. However, she didn't expect to suddenly see Andrew Sterling walking out of the chairman's office.
He had a face a woman would die for, and a voice that could make one melt, but he was stern in a way that could make one timid. Anne contemplated turning around and running in the other direction to hide somewhere so he wouldn't see her, but it was too late. The minute his eyes fell on her, he scowled.
She lowered her head and decided to go do her job, but the minute she walked past him, he suddenly spoke, making her stop in her tracks.
"Why did you come into this company?"
Before she could figure out how to reply to that weird question, he spoke again.
"I believe I'm very familiar with women like you. Women who can do absolutely anything for money. You came here to interview for a position as the great Andrew Sterling's assistant but obviously you weren't qualified enough for it, hence you grasped onto plan B." He turned on his heels, a sarcastic smirk on his face.
She had signed the surrogacy contract with him just for money. He knew because every other woman he'd hired for the task were greedy, gold-digging women after wealth. Perhaps she wanted something else to fall back on if the surrogacy didn't work out, so she came into the renowned company to try to entice the Sterling sons with her innocent beauty. Andrew was certain these were her intentions, as many women before her had tried these tactics and failed.
Girls like her? Anne wondered.
What was he talking about? It was evident he disliked her. Was it just because she'd accidentally spilled coffee on him or was there something else?
"And of course, since your goal has been to nab one of the Sterling brothers, you chose Gabriel instead when you realized I wasn't an easy prey to conquer." He began to stride towards her with an intimidating slowness to his steps.
"Girls like you can do anything for money. Disgusting!" His black eyes were filled with a deep revulsion.
Under his gaze, she couldn't help but feel like the dirtiest female in existence. Her face burned, and she swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat.
What was with this arrogant man and why did he dislike her this much?