"Miss Parker, you're hired."
Ashley blinked.
"For further instructions, you're required to follow us to meet our head, for whom you'd be working directly," said Steve, the one responsible for conducting the interviews.
Strangely enough, he was the same man who hadn't even opened her résumé.
It hadn't even been two minutes since Ashley had entered the room. And all this man had done was eye her from top to bottom and bottom to top before throwing those words at her.
Was that all? Were interviews really this easy to pass these days?
"I mean—can you repeat that? Are you sure I'm hired?" Ashley couldn't help but point a doubtful finger at herself. Could they have mistaken her for another Ashley?
"I'm a hundred percent sure, Miss Parker. Now, kindly follow me to meet our boss. He has been waiting," Steve replied, his tone robotic.
Standing up from his seat, Steve walked to the door. Just as he was about to turn the knob, he stopped.
He looked back to find Ashley still seated, dazed. She didn't look like she was planning to move an inch.
"Miss Parker, you've got the job. I won't gain anything by listening to the instructions alone."
"Oh—yeah, sure! I'm sorry. It's just... a little strange." Ashley let out an awkward laugh and quietly followed him out.
When she heard "boss," Ashley had low-key expected to meet the head chef or someone similar.
But what she could never have imagined, not even in a hundred years, was walking through a lavish corridor, entering a private elevator, and stepping into the top-most floor of the building.
Though she knew little about the corporate world, she did know that only the extremely high-ranking executives had offices on the top floor.
She had applied to be a chef at a seven-star hotel under Clarks. Why would that require her presence here?
Soon, they reached a secluded corner and stopped in front of a wooden door. Steve knocked once and stepped back. "Go in. Sir is waiting."
Ashley had half a mind to turn and run. Something about this felt strange. Her intuition screamed at her, but she couldn't tell whether it was a warning or a sign.
Maybe she was just imagining things. Good things never happened this easily for her, and now that they were, maybe it made sense she was feeling paranoid.
Still haunted by the dreadful situation she'd recently been in, Ashley pushed the door slightly open. She would just see where it led her.
Warm air greeted her as she stepped inside. It was winter, and though the building's temperature was better than outside, the cabin felt distinctly cozier—comforting, even.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and there, standing with his back to her, was a man.
Ashley could tell he was at least 6'2" and clearly someone who worked out regularly. His broad shoulders and muscular frame supported that theory.
"You're here."
The husky, deep voice pulled her from her thoughts. Unconsciously, a chill ran down her spine. Ashley focused on his face as he turned toward her.
She knew him.
Heck, not just her—probably every citizen in the country knew him! If not him, anyone would know at least the name of the family backing him.
Michael Clark. The eldest of Germey Clark's grandchildren.
He was the one running Clark Industries under his grandfather's guidance—the next CEO in line.
But how the heck had she ended up in a meeting with him!?
"Have a seat." Still in a daze, Ashley followed the instruction.
She couldn't believe it. She had heard rumors about the new CEO, how he had ambitious plans and was shaking up management.
Could personally interviewing candidates be one of his new initiatives?
Possibly.
Ashley had applied for the position of Sous Chef.
Maybe he wanted to taste her cooking.
Or perhaps she was being hired to cook for VIP clients, and he needed to give her instructions.
Or maybe—just maybe—he had tasted her cooking before and wanted her to head the chain with her own recipes.
Any of those could be the reason.
"Miss Parker, you can come out of that chain of thoughts."
His voice snapped her back to the present. He now sat on the front couch, legs crossed, eyes locked on her.
It felt like he was analyzing her, trying to figure her out.
That look alone made Ashley shift slightly in her seat, unconsciously.
"You're hired."
He repeated the same line Steve had, but something about the way he said it stirred something in her.
Ashley was now fully aware of her surroundings—and the strange situation she found herself in.
From the depth of his eyes, she could sense this wasn't what it seemed. Perhaps it was intuition—or just confusion—but she found herself asking, "Hired as?"
For some reason, in that moment, she felt it was absolutely necessary to clarify what exactly she was being hired for.
It didn't seem like it was for any of the reasons she had imagined.
For the first time since she'd stepped into the room, Michael's expression shifted. A cold, impressive smile formed on his lips.
Michael tilted his head slightly, recalling what he'd been told two nights ago: "She's smart. Not like the typical girls you surround yourself with."
"You're hired as my wife."