—Present Day—

San Francisco, California


..

Angela met me at the elevator early one morning and grabbed my hand, pulling me into an empty hallway.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You missed the stockholder's meeting yesterday." She shook her head. "That's the most important meeting we have every quarter, and your absence was noticeable."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I guess I must have lost track of my time this weekend."

Images of Lisa bending me over my office couch and making me beg her for more suddenly crossed my mind.

Do you want me to fuck you harder? Say it...

"This weekend?" She looked at me in utter disbelief. "Jennie, today is Thursday. Yesterday was Wednesday."

"And the day before that was Tuesday." I smiled. "At least I showed up for my presentation this morning, right? Everyone clapped."

"Everyone always claps." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, your 'losing track of time' for the weekend excuse won't work, and Mr. Kim is very angry with you. So, I'm just being a good coworker and letting you know that he's been seething all week."

"On a scale of one to ten, what is he right now?"

"About a fifty."

Fifty? I swallowed. My brother's wrath was like no other, and I couldn't believe that I'd been so caught up in Lisa that I'd lost track of that many days.

"He didn't seem that upset during my presentation this morning." I paused, looking back on the way he'd eyed me the entire time. "Oh, no. Wait, the person he was glaring at the whole time was me. Wasn't it?"

She nodded and handed me a cup of coffee. "He told me to send you straight to his office when you arrived. Good luck."

I sighed and made my way to his office, knocking on his door. "Mr. Kim?"

"Come in, Jennie," he said, his voice tight.

I took a deep breath before stepping into his office. I smiled at him once his eyes met mine, but he didn't smile back.

"Have a seat."

"I think I'd be better off standing."

"Sit. Down. Jennie."

I immediately plopped down in the chair in front of his desk.

He tapped his fingers against the wood and glared at me, slowly shaking his head. Then he let out a breath. "First, let me say, that I never thought you would be this bad at your job."

"You think I'm bad?"

"You're fucking terrible." He held up his hand, making it clear I wasn't supposed to interrupt him right now. "You barely show up to work, you're late for meetings, your work is subpar, and Angela has covered for you almost every day."

"Now, let's be one hundred percent honest with each other." He put his hand down and leaned back in his chair. His expression softened, and I could tell he was torn between being angry as hell and laughing about my bad work ethic. "Do you think I won't fire you because you're my family?"

"I think you won't fire me because your fiancée won't let you."

"What makes you think Rosé has any control over what I do with my company?"

"Because she does," I said, wanting to believe it was true for my case. "I'm not being lazy, Mr. Kim. I promise. I'm still adjusting to this city and working here. And to be fair, I redid all those reports hours after you marked them up. You're just being extra hard on me because I'm your sister and you know it."

"Okay." He shut his folder. "Who's the goddamn guy?"

"What guy?"

"The guy that turns you into a blubbering idiot at every board meeting. The guy who fed you that bullshit line about me being extra hard on you. I put an eighty-thousand-dollar bonus clause in your contract just for showing up to work every day. I'm pretty sure that means I'm being the most lenient with you."

"Did you just call me a blubbering idiot?"

"You have forty-eight hours to re-do that mess of a presentation you gave this morning. And since you don't want to tell me who this man is, I'm going to find out and then I'm going to—"

"Have a few words with him, i.e., ruin his life," I said, sighing. "You really have to wonder why I never tell you who I'm dating anymore?"

"So, you are officially dating someone."

I stood up. "Is there anything else you need from me today? I have a thirty-page presentation to redo per the CEO's ridiculous request. Word around the office is that he's an ass."

"He's also brilliant and extremely sexy."

I rolled my eyes and walked out of his office.

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