Before You Became My Alpha

Mia Nguyen had never believed that a few minutes could be enough for someone to remember you.

People met thousands of strangers throughout their lives. A classmate whose name they forgot after graduation, a cashier they would never see again, someone who held the elevator door open on a bad morning. Most encounters disappeared almost as soon as they happened, leaving behind nothing more than a vague impression.

So when Mia met Celeste Lam at a university career event, she had no reason to think the moment would matter.

At the time, Mia was eighteen and still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. The university had organized the career event for students interested in business and corporate management, and Mia had only gone because one of her professors insisted that attending would be useful. She wasn’t particularly interested in networking, and she certainly wasn’t expecting to remember anyone she met there.

Celeste was twenty-four, already working for a company that had sent her as one of its representatives. Even then, she carried herself with a confidence Mia associated with people who seemed to know exactly where they were going. She was composed without appearing distant, dressed simply but impeccably, and answered questions with the kind of clarity that made even complicated subjects sound straightforward.

Mia noticed her because almost everyone did.

She didn’t expect Celeste to notice her back.

The problem started halfway through Celeste’s presentation.

The screen behind her suddenly went black.

For a few seconds, nobody moved. The presentation had been running perfectly until that moment, and the staff member responsible for the equipment was nowhere nearby. Someone tried reconnecting the cable. Nothing happened. Another person checked the projector. Still nothing.

The room gradually filled with the uncomfortable murmur that always appeared when technology decided to stop cooperating in public.

Celeste remained beside the podium, waiting patiently while the organizers tried to solve the problem.

Mia was sitting near the back.

She wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the event’s equipment, but she could see what had happened. The laptop was connected to the projector, but the screen wasn’t receiving the correct input. More importantly, the laptop’s HDMI port wasn’t compatible with the cable the staff member had brought over.

She hesitated for only a moment before standing.

There was an adapter in her bag.

Mia had bought it earlier that semester because one of her classrooms had an outdated projector system. She walked toward the front and approached the staff member who was still trying to make the connection work.

“I think you need an HDMI converter.”

The staff member looked at her, slightly surprised. “You have one?”

“I do.”

She pulled it from her bag and handed it over. Once everything was connected, Mia leaned toward the laptop and checked the display settings.

“The input is still wrong,” she said. “Try HDMI 2.”

The staff member switched it.

The presentation returned.

A small wave of relief moved through the room, followed by scattered laughter and applause. Mia stepped away before anyone could thank her properly, already wishing she had stayed in her seat.

“Wait.”

She stopped.

Celeste was looking at her.

Up close, Mia realized that the woman was even more intimidating than she had seemed from the audience, although there was something unexpectedly warm in her expression.

“What’s your name?”

“Mia. Mia Nguyen.”

Celeste repeated it quietly, as though making sure she had heard correctly.

“Mia Nguyen.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“It was just a converter.”

“I know.” Celeste smiled. “But you still helped.”

Mia didn’t know what to say to that, so she gave a small nod.

Celeste’s gaze lingered for another second before she turned back toward the audience.

“I’ll remember you.”

The words caught Mia completely off guard.

She smiled awkwardly. “I’m sure you’ll forget.”

Celeste’s expression suggested that she disagreed.

“I don’t think I will.”

Mia returned to her seat shortly afterward and tried to pay attention to the rest of the presentation.

By the time the event ended, she had almost convinced herself that the conversation hadn’t meant anything.

It was only a few minutes.

They were strangers.

They would probably never meet again.

She was right about two of those things.

Four years later, Mia was standing in the lobby of Lam Group with an employee badge hanging from her neck and a folder pressed against her chest, wondering why she had suddenly become nervous.

The building was considerably larger than she had expected. Glass walls, polished floors, carefully arranged furniture, and employees who moved through the lobby with the efficiency of people who had somewhere important to be all contributed to the impression that she had entered a world much bigger than the university environment she was used to.

Her internship had seemed straightforward when she accepted it.

Now that she was actually there, it felt different.

“Mia?”

She turned.

Daniel, the senior project manager assigned to supervise the interns on her team, approached with a tablet in one hand.

“You’re Nguyen, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I was worried I’d have to spend the morning looking through every new employee’s badge.”

Mia smiled. “That sounds like a terrible way to start Monday.”

“It is. Come on.”

Daniel gave her a quick tour of the department, introduced her to several colleagues, and explained the projects she would be assisting with. The amount of information was slightly overwhelming, but Mia took notes quickly and asked questions whenever something wasn’t clear.

By lunchtime, she had already realized two things.

First, corporate work was much faster than university assignments.

Second, Daniel talked almost as much as he worked.

“You’ll get used to the pace,” he told her while they stood near the pantry. “The first week is always strange.”

“I noticed.”

“Don’t worry. By week three you’ll be wondering why you ever thought this place was intimidating.”

Mia glanced toward the glass offices lining the other side of the floor.

“I’m not sure about that.”

Daniel followed her gaze and laughed.

“Ah. You mean the CEO.”

Mia looked back at him. “She’s here?”

“She comes in almost every day.”

Mia shrugged. “I haven’t met her.”

“You might.”

He said it casually, but Mia didn’t think much of it.

Until that afternoon.

She was reviewing a financial report at her desk when the atmosphere around the department changed almost imperceptibly. Conversations quieted. Several employees straightened in their seats. Someone near reception greeted a visitor.

Mia looked up.

Celeste Lam walked into the office.

For a moment, Mia didn’t recognize her.

Not because Celeste had changed dramatically, but because Mia’s memory had preserved her in a different setting: standing beside a university podium, smiling after a presentation had gone wrong, looking like someone who had already figured out the future.

The woman walking through the office now was the CEO of Lam Group.

She wore a dark blazer over a simple blouse, her hair neatly pulled back, her expression calm and focused as she spoke briefly with an executive beside her.

Mia stared.

Then Celeste looked up.

Their eyes met.

Celeste stopped.

Mia’s heart gave an unexpected jolt.

Recognition appeared in Celeste’s expression almost immediately.

“Mia?”

She said it quietly, but Mia heard her.

Mia stood before she could think better of it.

“Celeste?”

The executive beside her looked between them.

Celeste’s expression softened with unmistakable surprise.

“I knew it.”

Mia couldn’t help laughing. “You actually remember me.”

“I told you I would.”

Four years disappeared in the space of a sentence.

Mia suddenly remembered the adapter, the broken presentation, the ridiculous confidence with which she had told Celeste that she would forget her.

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” Mia admitted.

“Neither did I.”

Daniel appeared a few steps away, looking increasingly confused.

“You two know each other?”

“Barely,” Mia said.

Celeste smiled. “We met at a university event.”

Daniel looked impressed. “That’s a better story than how I met her.”

Celeste gave him a look.

He immediately raised both hands. “I’ll stop.”

Mia laughed, and Celeste’s gaze rested on her for another brief moment before she returned her attention to the documents in her hand.

“Welcome to Lam Group, Mia.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope the internship goes well.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I know.”

Celeste walked away with the executive beside her, leaving Mia standing beside her desk with the strange feeling that the office had become slightly less unfamiliar.

Daniel waited until Celeste was out of earshot.

“So.”

Mia looked at him.

“You knew the CEO before working here?”

“Apparently.”

“And you didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”

“I didn’t know.”

Daniel stared at her for a second, then shook his head.

“First week, and you’ve already got a history with the CEO. Impressive.”

“There is no history.”

“That’s what people with history always say.”

Mia rolled her eyes and returned to her report.

She told herself the encounter was nothing more than an amusing coincidence. Celeste was her CEO now, and she was an intern. Whatever had happened four years ago belonged to another stage of their lives.

The next few days seemed to prove her right.

Celeste remained busy with meetings and executive work, while Mia settled into her responsibilities under Daniel. She spent most of her time organizing reports, checking data, and learning how the company’s different departments communicated with one another. The work was demanding but interesting, and Mia quickly discovered that she preferred being given a difficult problem to solve rather than an easy task to complete.

By Thursday afternoon, Daniel handed her a regional sales report that needed to be checked before the following morning.

“Don’t rush it,” he said. “I’d rather have the correct numbers tomorrow than the wrong ones tonight.”

Mia nodded and opened the file.

She stayed later than she had planned.

When she finally finished, most of the department had already emptied. She gathered her things and headed toward the elevator, only to find Celeste standing there alone.

For a second, neither of them spoke.

Then Celeste glanced at the folder in Mia’s hand.

“Still working?”

“Unfortunately.”

Celeste smiled. “How’s the internship?”

“Busy.”

“That’s usually a good sign.”

“I think so.”

The elevator arrived. They stepped inside together.

Mia suddenly became aware of how strange the situation was. Four years ago, Celeste had been a senior student she met for a few minutes. Now she was standing beside her in an elevator as the CEO of the company where Mia was trying to prove herself.

“You really remembered my name,” Mia said before she could stop herself.

Celeste looked at her.

“I remember people who solve problems instead of panicking.”

Mia laughed softly. “I was definitely panicking.”

“You didn’t look like it.”

“That’s because I was trying not to.”

The elevator reached the lobby.

They stepped outside together, and Mia noticed a black car waiting near the entrance.

She looked at Celeste, then at the car.

“You have a driver?”

Celeste glanced at her. “Sometimes.”

“So you weren’t actually taking the subway after the event?”

A surprised laugh escaped Celeste.

“No.”

Mia smiled. “I knew it.”

They stood outside the building for another moment before going their separate ways.

It wasn’t important.

At least, that’s what Mia told herself while walking toward the train station.

She had met Celeste once before.

Now they had met again.

That was all.

There was no reason to think the coincidence meant anything.

Mia didn’t know that she was wrong.

She didn’t know that the woman she had expected never to see again would gradually become one of the most important people in her life.

At that point, all she knew was that Celeste Lam remembered her.

And somehow, that felt like the beginning of something she hadn’t yet learned how to name