Chapter 4 Bella's POV
Bella’s POV
“Will you be a good boy for Mommy until I’m back?”
I am squatting in front of Noah, while dropping him off with Daniel’s nurse friend. It is the first time we will be apart for more than a couple of minutes, and my hands are shaking as I hand him over.
“Don’t worry, Mommy,” he chirps, beaming at me. “I am always a good boy. And good luck on your interview.” He slaps a ridiculous red T-Rex sticker on my wrist and walks into my arms.
I hold Noah close to my heart, taking in his scent. My whole world revolves around him. Every single decision I have made for the last four years is because of him.
When he runs into her house, I take a deep breath and walk down the subway, trying to ignore how fast my pulse is racing.
“This will be a walk in the park,” I whisper to myself repeatedly, until it becomes a mantra. “I am going to smash the interview, get the job, and earn enough money to take care of Noah. And most importantly, Xander isn’t even going to notice I’m there.”
The golden letters of the Knight Enterprises come into my vision, and I stare up at the building longer than necessary before striding in. Swallowing the burn in my throat and the urge to throw up all the breakfast I had with my son, I push past the revolving doors into the lobby.
“HR?” I tell the receptionist, approaching her with a bright but formal smile.
“Seventeenth floor,” she murmurs, giving me a cursory glance. She does a double-take in a quick second, a question lingering in her gaze. But she stops herself before it spills out of her lips.
And I am too nervous to be concerned about that.
“Name?”
“Bella Reyes.”
She nods and waves me away. Inside the elevator, I go over a few more details I learned about the company during the night. I knew a lot because I was married to Xander Knight, but a lot has changed over the years.
I read that he has become even more successful, having groundbreaking discoveries and partnerships that are being worked hard for all over the world. One thing I always liked about Xander was the fact that he was much more than his parents’ money.
Than the Knight name.
He still is.
But it wasn’t enough to save me from everything they stand for.
When the elevator dings open, I am coughed out into a hallway with a few people in it. They are impeccably dressed in dark suits, and there I am, in my most formal white dress, looking so out of place.
As always.
Elena was right.
I shouldn’t even bother with these things.
“Ms. Reyes?”
Everything in me stops when I take in the person standing in front of me, a cruel smile on her face. She takes me in like a smudge on the wall. “How … unexpected. I have to admit, I was so surprised when I saw your name on the list of applicants.”
Great. Just great. I might as well just throw away any thought of my getting this job. It was never for me.
“Hello, Anna.” I push back the bile taste on my tongue. “It has…been a while.”
“Apparently, not long enough.” She turns around, her heels clacking on the marble ground. “This way.”
I follow her into an office made of glass. Every single surface is made to reflect something else. In here, I cannot hide. And she knows that. She saunters towards a chair and takes a seat, crossing one leg over the other.
Anna doesn’t offer me one, but I take it anyway, positioning myself opposite her vision. The faster we get done with this, the better it will be for me.
“Resume,” she murmurs, holding out her hand.
I slide it over to her, and her lips already form an amused smile before she even flicks it open. “Four-year gap,” she drawls, shaking her head slowly. “You vanished the same month the divorce hit the gossip columns. What were you doing for that long?”
She cannot know about Noah, or the fact that he was in and out of the hospital since he was born, and I spent all my waking moments caring for him.
“Working,” I reply. “As an artist.”
She arches her brow. “Or you were trying to claw your way into Daniel’s life.”
My eyes jerk up.
“I heard,” she shrugs lazily, giving my resume another look. “Anyway, we prefer candidates with…what’s the word? Substance. And we don’t want the drama associated with your life.”
“I really need this job,” I gasp, scooting to the edge of my seat. I already accepted that there was no way on earth I was going to get it with Anna sitting at this table, but I need to try. Daniel already did his part by getting me this interview. “Anna…”
“It is Miss Blake in here,” she cuts in menacingly. “And poor Bella, you still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“You are still so naïve that it almost breaks my heart. It’s just like how Xander always paraded me in front of you, but you never learned to read the room. It is the reason you were never good enough for Xander. He likes precision. A woman who understands and speaks power. Remember those dinners? When he’d bring me, and you’d sit there, pretending not to care? It was so pathetic watching you.”
“He was changing,” I whisper, shaking my head. “He told me he loved me.”
She scoffs. “He was just messing with you, Bella. If he loved you, why did he spend all those nights in my arms, sleeping like a child? I guess you never gave him peace. I was grateful when you handed him those divorce papers and saved him from the misery associated with you.”
Anna is Xander’s childhood friend. The woman I was constantly trying to meet up with in my own marriage. The woman who mattered more to Xander than I did.
“An…Ms. Blake, that is my private life,” I saw weakly. “It has nothing to do with the interview.”
“Right,” she says, leaning into the seat. “Thank you for your time, Ms Reyes. We will be in touch.”
Another word for “over my dead body.”
Getting on my feet, I find my way out of the room and into the elevator. My phone buzzes before the doors open again, and I fish for it in my purse.
Subject: Offer for the role of the Executive Assistant to Mr. Xander Knight, the CEO of the Knight Enterprise.
My eyes pop open. I read the first line three times.
“We are pleased to offer you the position of Executive Assistant to Mr. Xander Knight…”
No. No. No.
My phone dings again. “9:00 am tomorrow. My office. Do not be late.”