Desires Die Hard

That was the reason why JK Couture had moved into Welton Group Tower.

The company’s former boss had bailed. Its new managing director seemed like a decent person. He was a young man. seemed no older than Anya was.

Anya suddenly felt less anxious. She had been worried about having to deal with old men at her first job. The sort who would yell at you for every small mistake you made.

She clutched her bag carefully and kept a polite smile on her face. After taking a seat in the managing director’s office, she spoke first and greeted her new boss. “Hi, Mr. Hanson. I’m Anya MacMillan. This is my first day at work.” Anya’s voice was gentle and soothing like honeyed wine.

Jake Hanson had his head buried in drafts. Anya’s soft voice caught his attention and made him snap up immediately. He was momentarily startled by the sight of Anya’s exceedingly beautiful features. His new hire seemed too pretty to be real. Jake rarely felt drawn by beautiful women but Anya’s beauty was simply out of this world. For a moment, he found himself spellbound, struggling to shift his eyes away from her.

Jake’s silent stare made Anya feel uneasy. She wondered if she had said something wrong. She blurted out immediately, stammering as she repeated her introduction. “Hi…I’m the new hire. Anya MacMillan.” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

The young managing director finally broke out of his stupor. He smiled warmly at Anya before grabbing her CV and glancing at it. “Hi, welcome to JK Couture. You’re part of the family now.”

Honestly, what Jake really wanted to ask Anya was if she had a boyfriend. Since this was her first day at work, that wouldn’t exactly be appropriate.

Anya had no clue that her new boss had just fallen in love with her. She merely nodded profusely at his words. Her managing director seemed like a really friendly guy. She should be able to get along fine with him. She was going to work hard at her job and do her best to earn a living. She would make something out of herself. When that day came, she would demand that the MacMillans give her what they owed her mother.

Meanwhile, on the thirtieth floor of the same building.

Evan’s personal a**istant entered his office moments after Evan had walked into the room. Hayden Lang had a cup of freshly brewed coffee in his hands. He placed it on his boss‘ desk like a dutiful servant..

“Mr. Welton, your black coffee.” Having placed the coffee on the desk, Hayden shifted to one side of the desk and began going through Evan’s schedule with him.

Evan brought the cup of freshly brewed coffee to his lips, sipping elegantly while listening to his personal a**istant go through the laundry–list of tasks he had for the day.

“Mr. Welton, you have a meeting at ten later. After the meeting, will be lunch with Mr. Williams of the Gloria Group at half past eleven. Mr. Brown has invited you for tea at half past one this afternoon,” Hayden said as he read the details of Evan’s schedule to the latter.

Evan paused momentarily at the mention of a ‘Mr. Brown‘. The tone of his voice was as cold as winter. “Mr. Brown? Are you talking about Shane Brown?”

“That’s right, Mr. Welton. Mr. Brown has invited you for tea.”

Evan sneered. A streak of hostility flashed across his eyes. “Sounds like he’s trying to steal my property.”

Tea? That was simply an excuse.

The Browns is one of the four families in the Nordenic Quartet. Alongside the Weltons, the Carters and the Bakers, they had under their management and control the most powerful companies and businesses in Nordeny and across the whole country. Their vast networks of businesses often resulted in tensions and conflicts.

While the Weltons and the Bakers were longtime partners and family friends, the Carters and the Browns had been their rivals all these years, fighting them both openly and privately. The Carters and the Browns would not hesitate to topple the other two families from their pedestals just so that they could expand their own empires.

Among the four families, the Welton family was the most powerful of them all. For years, they have sat on their throne above the other three families.

The nouveau–riche Browns, who had gained their newfound wealth recently, never forgot that. In fact, they never stopped trying to

drag the Weltons off their throne.

Evan had known of their ambitions for some time.

Since the Browns were allied with the Carters, Evan knew he couldn’t underestimate the strength of that alliance. Therefore, he did not dare to antagonize them openly and instead, had been resorting to a more nuanced, tactical approach.