Page 6 of My Ruthless Neighbor

Shrugging off the remnants of the effect she had on me, I clear my throat.

“Let’s go,” I mutter to Julietta before leading the way to the exit. Technically, my assistant usually comes with me to the meetings but as I don’t have one at the moment, I am taking Julietta with me. She is from the admin department and has been working here for almost four years now.

She falls into step beside me. “Are you okay—” I glance at her.

“O-kay! You don’t have to answer that.” She forces a smile, then stares ahead, wringing her fingers.

I sigh. I don’t like when I intimidate anyone. Least of all my employees. I halt. “I am fine. Just a bit irritated.”

Julietta pauses too. “Right. Because of that girl.”

Just when I am about to forbid Julietta from mentioningher, Janet’s hard voice falls on my ears.

Dressed in a beige pantsuit, Janet strides toward us. She is forty years old and is one of the oldest employees of this agency. Her mocha color skin peppers with perspiration as she reaches us. “Oh, thank god I found you.”

“Is this urgent? We were heading out for a meeting.”

“Please cancel it.”

My brows knit together. “What?”

“Cancel it. Or better yet, let RJ or Hannah go because youhaveto come with me.”

Hannah Cooper and Raleigh Jackson aka RJ are the two creative directors and the most valuable assets of KIM Advertising. They also belong to the small circle of my most trusted people.

Julietta jumps in, all wide-eyed and grinning. “Oh, RJ and Hannah are unavailable and have informed everyone they are not to be disturbed. You know they are working on the Maui resort project!”

Whenever I hear about the Maui project, my temples begin to throb.

Few days ago, Hannah and Raleigh gave me the good news. They were getting married. I should have been happy for them like any other friend would. Only, I wasn’t. How would I?

Their engagement news shook me. Some might think, why would it affect me when my two friends are getting married? Well, here’s the twist. The two said friends are each other’s sworn enemies.

Their rivalry is not bounded by the agency’s walls, no. It is well-known in the advertising industry. So obviously I was taken aback by their engagement.

And suspiciously enough, they came up with this news just when I announced the merge of the two creative departments they are leading now. Only one of them could snag the promotion to the main creative director. And to get the promotion, they’ll have to bring in a new client in a limited time.

Things escalated when they gave me the second good news. They had magically landed a new client and were going to work on the deal together. Yeah, it was hard to digest that the two ruthless opponents of KIM Advertising were not only engaged but were ready to work together. Not just work, no.

You see, the client they landed happens to be a billionaire who was looking for the best advertising agency to promote his Maui resort.

And these two—Hannah and Raleigh—decided to getmarriedat the resort. This way, they can have a destination wedding and they could carry out a successful marketing campaign.

For the first time in my life, I was doubting my star employees. I was hesitant to trust my friends. The logical part of me says the whole marrying-at-the-resort thing is utter bullshit. But the illogical part, my heart says that they would never deceive me like this.

Everyone knows I hate lies and I hate liars. I cannot stand dishonest people. I have fired many just because they lied to me. In fact, my latest assistant was fired for lying about her tardiness. I can forgive you for backbiting. I can turn a blind eye if you’re late for work because, hey, we are all humans. I can even let it slide if you leave me and my agency to join my competitors.

What I can and will not forgive is being lied to.

Whenever someone lies to me, my skin begins to crawl and my throat closes up. I have no place for liars in my agency or my life. I might be the coolest boss, but I can turn into pure evil if I sniff your lies.

To think that Hannah and Raleigh might be lying to me knowing my aversion to lies gives me a headache from hell.

Janet shakes her head. “Then find someone else. Anyone, because I need Archer here today.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Care to tell me why I am needed here?”

“Remember how you fired your last three assistants in a matter of weeks?”

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