Chapter 82
He was alive. My stomach dropped. It was only then that I realized that all this time, I’d been hoping for the opposite news. I feel the same way, Lucky said. He has hurt us far too much.
“He’s not doing great. It’s the oddest thing. He had a panic attack this morning. I was the only one in the room at first, but then Amelia burst in and started accusing me of triggering it. Can you imagine, I could‘ ve…”
“Get to the point, Mia. I know you have something to say.”
“Well…” I could almost see her rolling her eyes as she spoke. “The doctors ran a bunch of scans because he was still in pain afterward. That’s when they found a lump in his chest.”
That pulled me up short. My eyes left the road for a brief second. “What kind of lump?” I asked, heart jumping in excitement. Was this it for him?
“They don’t know yet. They’re running tests. It could be benign, or it could be cancer. All they know is they have to get it out.”
The excitement vanished instantly. That night at the hospital wasn’t the first time I’d wished death on Xander. I’ve pictured him several times laying on the floor, eyes hollow and lifeless. I wasn’t proud of it, but he pushed me to harbor such thoughts.
But even as despicable as Xander was, he didn’t deserve cancer.
I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to dwell on thoughts about my ex-
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husband. “Send me the rest of the evidence. If it’s good enough, I’ll consider going easy on you… and your boyfriend.” And then I hung up.
By the time I pulled up to Ominent’s headquarters, I’d schooled my features into a professional smile. I barely noticed the receptionist as he directed me toward the elevator. The ride was short. Next thing I knew, we were at the top floor, and he opened a set of glass double doors to reveal a long conference room.
Seven people dressed in identical black suits sat in a semicircle. They looked up in unison.
I recognized Jocelyn Romero and Kyle Night from the first round of interviews. They all watched me with intense gazes… I knew they were using their wolves to assess me.
Remember to be confident, Lucky said. You’re more than qualified for this. I took a deep breath, surrounding myself with her energy once more and stepped in, allowing the doors to close behind the receptionist.
“Miss Ashford,” Jocelyn said smoothly, gesturing to the single chair at the end of the table. “Welcome back.”
I took my seat without breaking eye contact, maintaining my megawatt professional smile. “Thank you for having me.”
The man at the far right, tall, bald, sharp–nosed adjusted his glasses before speaking. “Miss Ashford, tell me, what’s your take on our company’s brand identity?”
“I took my time to study your website and social media. It appears to be very customer–centric, and your progress indicates that this approach is working. If I were to improve it, I’d find a balance between prioritizing
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consumers and highlighting the quality of the products.”
He scribbled something on a notepad. “Have you ever managed a budget over $50 million?”
“Yes. And I got ROI that exceeded board expectations in three out of four quarters.”
“What’s your approach to team failure?”
Easy. “Transparency, accountability and refocus. You have to point it out. The only failure that kills a brand is the one you pretend didn’t happen.”
“Well, funny you should say that, because I have one concern.” Jocelyn flipped her tablet to glance at something as she spoke. “There’s been media coverage recently, regarding your relationship with your estranged husband. Would that situation in any way compromise your ability to fulfil your role here?”
I looked directly at her and didn’t hesitate. “My personal life is just that… personal. It doesn’t impact my work, and it never has. I’ve managed multi–million dollar campaigns under far more pressure than a few speculative headlines. Rest assured, if hired, my focus will be entirely on Omninent’s success.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” She exchanged a glance with the other stakeholder who all nodded in agreement. “Because Ominent has just finalized a strategic partnership with the Blackwood Group.“,
No. My heart stopped, then restarted itself.
“If you’re offered this role, you’d be working closely with the executive team over there. Including Mr. Xander Blackwood.”
Chapter 82
*Jane*
It rarely happened, but I was well and truly speechless.
