The Tyrant's Wife

She took in a deep breath, reminded herself that she was going to ace it, and then softly knocked. In the instant that she did, a thought crossed her mind. What if the unreasonable man decided to use this chance to humiliate her?

'Then I will dish out the same favor and humiliate him, his family, and his ancestors'. She threatened in her mind, just as a deep male voice said to go in. She pushed the door open and, contrary to the panel of poker-faced interviewers like she had expected, the only people present were Liam and the serious-faced Desmond.

Her gaze lingered on him for a second longer than it needed to. He was wearing a slim-fit black suit with a silver tie and reclined in his backrest. Even though she knew that he was probably not paying any special attention to her, she felt nervous when he raised his head and looked at her. His gaze was intrusive, making her want to grab a mirror and check if she looked presentable.

Liam jabbed him as though reminding him of something. The latter nodded, and Zaria was sure that she didn't want to understand their strange language.

"Have a seat. Let's begin." Said Liam. Before she really had her seat, he fired off the first question. "Miss Williams, where did you work previously, and what was your occupation?"

"I was the Executive Assistant of F&P Media's CEO." She repeated what they already knew.

"And then what happened?" Liam curiously asked yet another question whose answer he already knew.

Still, she played along and answered, "The company went bankrupt."

Liam looked through a file for a while then when he looked at her again, he stated, "You are hired. You can report to work as soon as possible."

Zaria was speechless. What? Even if it was just a formality, wasn't that a little too…

When Desmond saw how puzzled she looked, he spoke up for the first time since she entered the room. "Like I said before, I already concluded that you qualified for this job and so did Liam. The interview was just to fulfill the company's employment procedure."

Hearing this, she nodded her head.

Liam then passed over the employment contract for her to sign. Knowing what a cunning and vengeful man Desmond was, she read every clause carefully as the amused duo remained silent and waited for her to finish it. Surprisingly, there were no hidden clauses, no loopholes, and nothing she was unsatisfied with… except the period stated on the contract.

"Ten years?! But, when F&P Media is back on track, my dad will need me back in the company. Wouldn't it be a little too difficult to be the executive assistant of two CEOs at the same time?"

Desmond's lips twitched at the corners as his eyebrows creased. "You really think you can still save a fallen company? I say you…"

Liam interrupted his friend by jabbing him and then he glared at him furiously. When he successfully shut the other up, he smiled towards Zaria. "What this unreliable CEO is trying to say is that it will be a pity to lose an outstanding employee like you, so we would love to keep you for as long as possible."

Desmond glared at Liam. The latter ignored him to add, "However, the last thing we want is to make you uncomfortable. So, if you find this part too troublesome, we can change it."

Zaria let out a sigh of relief. At least there was a reasonable person in Preston and Fort Group. "Great. Can we change it to one year?"

She believed that working for a multibillion conglomerate as an executive employee with her annual salary would be enough to revive F&P Media (Soon after Desmond revoked his lawsuit, of course).

"Uh… that…" Liam scratched his spiky hair. Was it possible to get Desmond another assistant he would be satisfied with within a year?

He was wondering what to say when Desmond pulled over his notebook and stylus and wrote a digit. He then slid it over to Zaria. "This is your current basic salary as stated in the contract. If you sign up for the stated period, it will be doubled and so will every bonus you get."