Page 9 of Next Door Billionaire's Surprise Baby

What a two-fold embarrassment. First, anyone with common sense can tell I had a hard time sleeping last night. Second, I've been in the office for nearly an hour without noticing the bottles of medication and water on my desk.

"Thanks, Mike," I croak as I reach out to grab the bottles from him. After swallowing the pills and chugging down more than half of the water, I relax back into my seat and wait for the meds to kick in.

I feel Mike's gaze on me seconds before he huffs, "The documents, Kane. I need them signed before I can take them to HR."

"Screw the documents," I repeat, waving dismissively in his direction, "Or better still, you can sign them in my place."

"Kane..."

I have more important things to worry about. "Where's Chloe?"

"Chloe?" Mike sounds confused for a second before he remembers, "Oh yes... Chloe Smith. She should be at her workstation. Why?"

'She's the reason behind the lack of sleep.' I almost tell him, but instead, I order, "Have her things moved to the office next to yours before lunch.

I hear his intake of breath and wait expectantly for the protests to come. Surprisingly, he doesn't push back and affirm instead.

"All right. Now, are you sure I can go ahead and sign the documents in your place?"

His incessant questioning is pushing the limit of my tolerance.

"Yes, I'm sure, Mike!" I snap, forcing my sensitive eyes open, and glare at him, "Stop acting like you haven't done this before. And hurry, I need Chloe Smith on this floor by noon."

"What do you mean she refused?"

I regard Mike with a frown at the news he just delivered. Chloe refused to follow my request to move to the top floor.

Mike looks stressed, "Exactly that. She just said no and returned back to work like nothing happened."

Is that so?

Without wasting another second, I rise to my feet and make for the door. Mike calls out after me, but I ignore him as I focus on making my way out of the office and into the elevator.

I get to the lower floor in no time and enter the software engineering department. It’s been a while since the last time I came here, and I'm a little taken aback by how chaotic this floor is with all the developers.

Maneuvering my way around the developers’ workstations until I come to Chloe's. True to Mike's word, she's sitting on her chair and staring at the huge computer screen in front of her.

Before I interrupt, I take a moment to admire how adorable she looks right now. With her long hair pulled up behind her head and her face practically glued to the monitor, she looks every bit like a determined software developer.

"I told Mike to get your things earlier," my voice is at its lowest without falling into a whisper, and it somehow still manages to echo all around, " But he told me you refused."

Her shoulders go stiff for a second before relaxing. She doesn't budge, nor does she take her eyes away from the monitors as she sighs, "I did. And that's because the whole arrangement makes no sense to me."

Oh?

I cross my arms over my chest as a silent urge for her to go on with her logic.

"I don't see any reason why I should be removed from the office with the best-performing computer in the entire building," she explains, finally taking her focus away from the screen to me.

Her reasoning is so astute that I find myself momentarily pausing to think of what to say to trump that. She's right, but I'm still her boss. Whatever I say goes.

"I'm not completely removing you from this department," I begin, "You can come down here whenever you like to get some work done. But in my experience, people thrive better under my guidance, so I need you at a reasonably closer distance."

"That sounds like a 'you' problem."

My eyes narrow into slits at her sharp words.

Has she always been this way?

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