Sophia's POV
"Sophia."
I looked up from my laptop, bracing myself. My shoulders tensed. My fingers felt cold, though the office was warm.
"Yes, ma'am?" I said, forcing my voice steady.
Mrs. Halvorsen stood over me in her cream-and-gold outfit. Her heels looked sharp, almost like weapons. She always spoke loudly.
"You were late again."
I swallowed. I'd arrived at 8:45, though my shift started at nine.
She looked at me and smiled that chilly little smile of hers. "We expect people to show up. You should know that already."
That morning, I was at the hospital. My dad was having trouble breathing. I tried to hide my fear. Then the bus broke down three stops from work, so I walked the rest of the way. My feet ached in shoes I couldn't afford to replace.
But I didn't say any of that. I just nodded and muttered, "It won't happen again."
I could feel them watching me from behind her.
Victoria Tori leaned on her desk, tapping her perfect nails. Samantha Lee pretended to work but was really watching. They always did.
Mrs. Halvorsen turned away without another word, already done with me.
As soon as she was gone, Victoria chuckled. "Well, you know, no one is forcing you to stay if you can't handle being here."
I kept my eyes on the screen. "I do my job well."
"Barely," Samantha added, smiling sweetly. "Some of us actually fit the brand."
The brand. That word was everywhere. It meant polished hair, expensive clothes, and perfect makeup. It meant taking Ubers instead of buses and having manicured nails instead of chipped ones. Every month, the company took money from my paycheck for 'appearance adjustments,' like salon visits I did not want and clothes I would not buy.It was a trap: they made us look successful but paid just enough to keep us dependent on them.
I stayed quiet. Silence was the only shield I had. It wasn't much, but it was something.
By lunchtime, my phone buzzed in my pocket for the third time. Dad's picture popped up on the screen, and that old knot formed in my stomach. He never called me at work unless something was seriously wrong.
I slipped out of the room, walked to the stairs, and held the phone to my ear.
"Sophia," he said. His voice sounded strained, like he was holding something back. "The doctor came by again."
My stomach dropped. "What did he say?"
He didn't answer right away. I could only hear the hiss of oxygen in the background.
"They want to start the new treatment this week."
"That's very encouraging," I quickly replied before my chest tightened. "That's very encouraging."
"It's expensive," he said softly. "I told them we need more time."
I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the cold concrete wall.
"Don't worry, Dad, I'll take care of it."
A long silence followed. My dad always seemed to know when I was lying.
"Sophia," he spoke softly, "I am not asking you to sacrifice your life for my sake."
I let out a small, nervous laugh. After the call ended, I stayed there for a while, waiting until I could move again.
Back at my desk, I found a letter with a label that read:
FINAL NOTICE.
My hands shook as I read the words: "In fourteen days, you will be evicted." The page said there would be NO extensions permitted.
I reread the page until the letters blurred. My salary barely covered rent.After medical expenses, loans, and deductions, I had nothing left, not for food, not for rent.
During my lunch break, I went to the small park behind the building and called the last person I could still count on.
Kate answered on the second ring. "Hey, are you ok?"
"No," I said, and despite all efforts to sound calm, my voice still cracked. "I really, really am not."
I told her everything: the bills, the eviction notice, Dad's treatment, and the loan request I made to HR. They looked at me like I was wrong for asking.
"They said I lacked refinement," I whispered. "As if being poor was a character flaw or a sin."
Kate was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Soph, my brother mentioned something last week."
I looked up, feeling both hope and fear. "What kind of something?"
"There's an opening at his company, you know… Grey Enterprises."I froze. Everyone knew that name.
Alexander Grey. The billionaire who built an empire before thirty. Cold. Untouchable. Even the rumors about him seemed expensive.
"I can't compete with people who apply there," I said right away. "That's a whole different world."
"Maybe," Kate said. "But you won't know unless you try. The pay is… life-changing."
Life-changing.
Her words kept bouncing around in my head, even after I hung up.
That night, I sat on my bed, laptop glowing, and scrolled through the Grey Enterprises website, glass towers and flawless smiles in every photo. The address below was their main headquarters.
On the morning of the assessment, I stood outside that building, craning my neck to take it all in. Glass and steel rose straight up into the sky, catching the sunlight and making it look even more intimidating.
Inside, the lobby was cold and spotless. It was silent. I followed the signs to the testing floor and stopped at the waiting area. My heart missed a beat.
Every applicant was a woman, all about the same age. They looked calm, beautiful, and polished.
I started to feel uneasy as a staff member led us to separate rooms for the computer-based assessment tests.
Then the questions began to change.
Family medical history.
Childhood trauma.
Emotional resilience.
Sexual history.
I sat there, staring at the screen. My skin tingled. My hands hovered above the keys while my heart pounded in my chest. Seriously, what kind of job asks this stuff?
I just stared at it. Read it again and again.
Finally, I told the truth. Typed it out and hit send.
When I finished, I felt empty, like I'd given up something I couldn't get back. Three days later, they called me.
Not for the job, but for a meeting.
I sat across from a man who barely blinked. He introduced himself, cool as ice, his eyes giving nothing away. Dread worked its way up my spine, cold and slow. He set his hands on the table and said, "This role isn't a job, at least not in the usual sense."
My heart skipped a beat, so loud I wondered if he could hear it too.He looked me dead in the eye and dropped the words that split my world in two.
"You've been chosen to carry Alexander Grey's child."
The whole room spun.
Right then, I knew there was no going back. My life had just changed forever.