I couldn't sleep well last night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Daniel's message in my eyes.
I have my sources.
What kind of sources was he talking about? How long has he been watching me?
By morning, I had convinced myself I was overreacting. Rich people had their own connections.
Maybe my mom had given him my details. Maybe I was being paranoid.
But paranoia had kept me alive through a terrible marriage and divorce. I wasn't about to ignore my instinct now.
At my desk by 8.30 AM, I pulled up my browser.
Daniel Tan CEO.
The search result loaded, and my jaw dropped looking at it.
His face was all over all famous business sites at the first search page, staring at me from a dozen articles.
"Daniel Tan Takes Tan Industries to New Heights"
"The Billionaire Who Prefers Silence: Inside Daniel Tan's Empire"
"Tech, Real Estate, Hospitality: How Tan Industries Dominates Multiple Sectors"
Not just some wealthy or successful man.
Billionaire.
I clicked on the first article with a pounding heart.
The photo showed him at some gala, wearing a tuxedo that probably cost more than my car. He had sharp features and dark eyes.
He definitely looked… untouchable. Like he existed in a different atmosphere than normal people.
"Morning, Lulu!"
I nearly jumped off my chair.
Jenny appeared over the cubicle wall with a coffee cup in her hand, grinning like she had won the lottery.
"Gosh, Jenny. You scared me."
"Sorryyyy! You look like you've seen a ghost."
She leaned closer, narrowing her eyes at my PC screen. "What are you looking at?"
I minimized the browser too slow, she already saw it.
"Is that Daniel Tan?" Jenny's eyes went wide. "Oh my god. Did your mom actually set you up with him?"
"Shhhh. Keep your voice down," I hissed, glancing around. Other co-workers were starting to trickle in.
Jenny slid into the empty chair beside my desk, practically vibrating with excitement.
"Lulu. Do you understand who this man is? Tan Industries Group owns half the commercial real estate downtown. They just acquired that new tech startup everyone's been talking about. He's on F***** billionaire list."
"I'm seeing that," I muttered, maximizing the browser back.
"And he wants to meet you?" Jenny grabbed my arm, her expression was like she was going to meet a K-pop idol.
"Girl, if you don't jump on this man, I will personally drag you to that meeting."
I ignored her, scrolling through the article, scanning for any personal information about him. But there was almost nothing.
No mention of relationships, no scandals. Just business achievements and charitable donations.
Donated $5 million to children's hospitals.
Established scholarship fund for underprivileged students.
Known for fair treatment of employees and ethical business practices.
He sounded too good to be true, which meant he probably was.
"Why would someone like him be interested in me?" I said quietly. "I'm nobody. Just an accountant struggling hard to not lose her mind."
Jenny gave me a look.
"Have you seen yourself? You're gorgeous. Smart. Successful. Why wouldn't he be interested?"
"Because billionaires don't personally message random women with job offers." I clicked on another article. "And they definitely don't know their exact salary without asking."
"... Wait, what?"
I filled her in on the messages. The maid job, the apology, the job offer.
The fact that he somehow knew everything about my employment history.
Jenny's expression shifted from excited to concerned.
"That's… actually kind of creepy."
"Right?"
"But also…" She bit her lip. "Maybe he's just thorough? Rich people do background checks on everyone, you know."
"Without asking permission?"
"Okay. Yeah… that's weird." Jenny drummed her fingers on my desk. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." I closed the browser and stared at my spreadsheets. "Probably ignore him and hope he goes away."
"Lulu—"
"Jenny, I can't. I just got out of a nightmarish marriage. The last thing I need is some mysterious billionaire who thinks he can buy access to my life."
Even as I said it, the doubt kept gnawing at me.
Because the truth was, a small part of me was curious.
What if this was legitimate? What if he really could offer me better work, better income?
Jenny opened her mouth to respond, but a movement caught my eye.
Marcus was walking toward my cubicle with a grim expression.
I felt my blood turn cold.
"Lulu. My office, now."
Jenny shot me a worried look as I stood.
This couldn't be good.
*******
Marcus's office was small and cluttered with binders and motivational posters that had lost their motivations years ago.
He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
I sat, folding my hands on my lap to hide my uneasiness.
"I've been reviewing last quarter's reconciliations," Marcus said without preamble. "There's an issue with the Henderson account."
My mind went blank at his words.
"The Henderson account? I completed that three weeks ago. It balanced perfectly."
"Are you sure about that?"
He turned his monitor toward me.
My reconciliation sheet filled the screen, with my notes, and my signature.
But the numbers…
My breath caught.
"That's not right " I leaned forward pointing at the screen.
"Those figures… I didn't enter those. The account code is wrong as well. This formula is broken… I would never—"
"Your name is on the report."
"Because it's my report, but someone clearly changed it!"
My voice was rising. Seeing his expressionless face looking at me, I forced myself to take a breath.
"Marcus, I'm telling you, this isn't what I submitted. Can't we check the revision history?"
"I already did." His expression didn't change, cold. "The last person to modify this file was you. Yesterday at 6.47 PM."
"That's impossible. I left at 6.30."
"Your computer login says otherwise."
I felt the room tilted in my vision.
Someone had used my computer after I left. Someone had logged in as me and sabotaged my work.
But who? And why?
"Marcus, I swear—"
"I don't want excuses." He closed the file with a decisive click on the mouse.
"This discrepancy cost us credibility with a major client. I'm putting you on probation effective immediately. One more mistake, and we'll be discussing termination."
The word hit me hard.
Termination.
"You can go."
I stood on numb legs and walked out.
The hallway felt too bright and too loud this time. I could feel eyes on me, the other accountants pretending to work while watching my humiliation.
Back at my cubicle, I collapse into my chair.
My hands were shaking, my chest was tight.