The Devil’s Office
The Devil’s Office
Rain hammered the pavement. It wasn’t just weather. It felt like a warning.
Eva Chen stood on the sidewalk, letting the downpour soak through her cheap trench coat, and tilted her head back to stare up at the skyscraper. Blackwood Enterprises. The glass tower sliced into the storm clouds like a blade. Terrifying yet exactly where she needed to be.
She hugged a thin folder to her chest like a shield. Inside was a résumé built on half-truths and desperation. The final eviction notice had arrived yesterday. Her mother’s care facility had stopped making empty threats; the medical debt was suffocating them. Pay, or leave.
She stood there long enough that a woman passing under an umbrella gave her a strange look. Eva almost turned around. Almost walked back to the subway, back to the apartment with the eviction notice taped to the door, back to a version of her life where she didn’t have to become someone else to survive it. Her hand actually found the visitor badge she’d printed at the library—she could tear it in half right now, disappear back into the rain, and nobody at Blackwood Enterprises would ever know Eva Chen had almost walked through their doors.
She didn’t tear it. She stepped through the revolving doors instead.
The lobby was designed to intimidate. Black marble stretched in every direction, and the cold air hit her rain-soaked clothes hard enough to make her shiver. She approached the reception desk. The receptionist didn’t bother looking up at first, and when she finally did, her gaze swept over Eva’s scuffed shoes and damp coat before returning to the monitor.
“Eva Chen,” Eva said evenly. “Nine o’clock interview. Executive secretary.”
Click, click, click the woman’s acrylic nails danced across the keyboard. “Twelfth floor. Human Resources. Silver elevators.”
Eva thanked her and walked away. Conversations drifted through the enormous lobby “...three secretaries in two months,” “...cried in the elevator before she even made it down.” Eva’s stomach tightened.
Then she saw it. A giant digital display flashed across the wall: Ethan Blackwood, at a charity gala. Even frozen in a photograph, he commanded attention. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes. She looked away before she realized she’d been staring, and the brass elevator doors reflected her anxious expression back at her.
Floor Twelve.
The Human Resources office looked just as cold as the lobby. Ms. Park, the HR Director, never smiled. The interview skipped every predictable question—no strengths, no weaknesses, only typing speed, working under impossible deadlines, handling pressure.
“Mr. Blackwood is... different,” Ms. Park said. “Ninety-hour weeks. He doesn’t repeat himself. Ever.”
“Understood.”
Ms. Park slid a thick packet across the desk. “NDA. Company policies. Behavioral code.” A pause. “Mr. Blackwood has no patience for mistakes.” Another pause. “And he values loyalty above everything else. Is that clear?”
Eva didn’t read a single page. She signed with the practiced fake signature she’d memorized weeks ago. “Clear.”
A phone buzzed. Ms. Park glanced at the screen, and for the first time, her expression shifted only for a second. Then she stood.
“Change of plans.” Her voice had tightened. “Mr. Blackwood will conduct the final interview himself.”
Every trace of warmth left Eva’s body. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Follow me.”
Minutes later, Eva stood alone inside the executive elevator, watching the numbers climb. 35... 36... 37... The mirrored walls reflected someone she barely recognized black-dyed hair, a painfully tight bun, large glasses. She’d buried every trace of the woman she used to be, and for one unguarded second, she wondered if she’d buried her on purpose or if some part of her had simply wanted to disappear completely, long before Marcus ever gave her a reason to.
The elevator chimed. Floor Forty.
The top floor was silent. Heavy oak doors stood at the end of the hallway, and Eva pushed them open, feeling as though she were walking to the gallows.
The office was enormous, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rain-soaked city. Ethan Blackwood didn’t look up when she entered. He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, the storm casting harsh shadows across the sharp lines of his jaw. When he finally turned, the air in the room seemed to thin. He didn't look at her résumé. His eyes a pale, flat gray locked onto hers, stripping away the oversized glasses and the cheap trench coat in a single, suffocating glance.
“Three secretaries quit in the last eight weeks.” His voice rolled through the room, low and controlled. “One accused me of being abusive because I expect competence.” A brief pause. “Why will you last?”
“I don’t cry over formatting errors.”
A sharp exhale broke his stoic facade—the closest thing to a laugh she suspected he was capable of. "Confidence is easy when you have nothing to lose, Ms. Chen. But my schedule will break you. I need someone who anticipates problems before they exist. What makes you think you can keep up?"
"Because I've read the Blackwood quarterly reports from the last three years," Eva fired back, her voice steady despite the hammer of her pulse. "You restructured the logistics division in March and lost your primary supplier. You don't need a secretary; you need a strategist who can type. I can do both."
He stepped around the desk, unhurried, every step narrowing the distance between them. “And what are you running from, Ms. Chen?”
The name hit her like a physical blow. Her lungs seized. She dug her fingernails into her palms so hard the skin broke, forcing her face to remain a blank, unreadable mask. Does he know?
“I’m running toward paying off my student loans.” The lie came effortlessly.
He stopped close enough that she could feel his presence. Without asking, he reached for the résumé still tucked against her chest, his fingers brushing hers. The contact lasted less than a second—then the scent reached her.
Bergamot. Cedar. The same cologne.
Her breath caught. Her expression didn’t change.
For the first time, Ethan hesitated. His gaze lingered on her face.
“You seem familiar.” His voice was quieter now.
“I have one of those faces.”
Not a flicker. She met his eyes without blinking. Silence settled between them. He searched her face a moment longer, then stepped away, returned to his desk, opened his laptop, and spoke without looking up.
“You start Monday.” Another beat. “Don’t be late.”
Eva walked out without looking back. The heavy doors clicked shut behind her. Only then did she let herself breathe. She leaned against the hallway wall, ten seconds to panic, then straightened, adjusted her glasses, smoothed her skirt. Be invisible. Nothing more.
Inside the office, Ethan hadn’t moved. His eyes remained fixed on the closed doors. She was gone, yet the scent of vanilla and rain still lingered. His jaw tightened.
He ended the call. Slowly, he placed her pristine, fake résumé on the desk. Next to it, he laid his phone. The screen glowed with a grainy security still from six months ago: A woman walking barefoot down a hotel hallway, auburn hair spilling down her back. Eva Chen was a liar. And he was going to tear her carefully constructed life apart to find out why.
