Chapter 6
As soon as I stepped out of the meeting, my phone started buzzing like crazy.
I frowned.
I didn't need to look, because it was my father blowing up my phone again.
He was probably on about the Sheffield family again.
He'd been at it every day for a week.
I pulled out my phone, and sure enough, there it was.
Dad: [Natalie, the partnership with the Sheffield family is the single most important thing for Morgan Group. Andrew Sheffield is in Ostville now, so pay attention. Young people should spend time together. I've already booked the restaurant, so take him to dinner.]
Sheffield Corporation was the most powerful family in Harborview, and its reach ran throughout the city.
Lately, they'd been looking to move into the market here.
I rubbed my temples and put my phone away.
Just as I stepped out of the elevator, a curious female voice called out.
"Natalie Morgan, what are you doing here?"
I turned my head to look.
Emily was holding onto Ryan's arm as they stepped out of the elevator next to mine.
I glanced at her arm still linked with his.
"Is there something you need?" I asked.
Ryan looked a bit awkward under my gaze.
He gently pulled his arm away from Emily.
Emily pouted in annoyance, but didn't say a word.
She quickly put on a smile for me.
"Don't tell me you're here for the SouthTech intern interview too, Ms. Morgan?" Emily teased.
When I didn't say anything, she looked convinced she'd nailed it.
She covered her mouth, pretending to be shocked.
"No way!" she exclaimed.
"This is SouthTech, the hottest name in tech right now. Everybody knows they don't look at your degree or your family, and they hire on ability alone.
"Their process is the fairest in the business, and even if your father is the richest man in this city, nobody is opening a back door for you!"
I stared at her without a word, and it made her uncomfortable enough that she got annoyed.
"What, did I say something wrong? Or are you seriously telling me you passed the interview?" she shot back.
Ryan, who'd been silent this whole time, suddenly frowned and fixed his gaze on me, as if he was trying to figure something out.
"And if I did?" I tossed back.
I said it without much interest and turned to leave.
But Emily wouldn't let it go. She cried out, her voice full of disbelief.
"That's impossible! Ryan is brilliant and even he didn't get in. How could a useless heiress who does nothing but party make the cut?"
Ryan gave me a cold, piercing look.
Ryan looked genuinely confused, as if he couldn't work out why he'd failed this time when he'd performed the same way.
And yet I had.
He'd always thought he was remarkable, and in his eyes I was a spoiled heiress with nothing behind the face.
I let out a cold laugh.
"What's it to you?" I shot back.
"You!" Emily snapped, her cheeks blazing with anger.
She was so furious her face was practically glowing red.
Ryan finally couldn't take it anymore. He spoke up, his voice steady and cool.
"Natalie, you don't have what it takes. There's no point in lying to look tough."
He was dead serious.
I let out a cold laugh.
I sidestepped them, not wasting another breath.
But Ryan frowned, reaching out to grab my arm.
"Natalie..." he started.
But before he could finish, the elevator doors slid open.
My secretary hurried over to me from the elevator, arms loaded with paperwork.
"Ms. Morgan, you left your contract behind!" she called out.
"Ms. Morgan?" Ryan repeated it under his breath.
He froze for a moment, completely caught off guard.
Then, as if he'd touched something burning hot, his hand jerked back.
He looked visibly rattled.
He couldn't get his head around it.
SouthTech was where he first made a name for himself in the business world back in his last life.
He had never once realized it. SouthTech and the Morgans were the same house.
After all, Morgan Group dealt in medical equipment, and SouthTech was in a completely different field, so on paper, the two had nothing to do with each other.
SouthTech Inc. was the tech company my mother founded on her own, and she named it after the South in my name.
Except for a handful of insiders, almost no one in the industry knew about the connection between Morgan Group and SouthTech.
Back then, I never brought SouthTech up around Ryan, because I didn't want him reading anything into it.
He never knew a thing about it.
Seizing the moment, I snatched the documents from my secretary and made a beeline for the exit.
Ryan came out of his shock and chased after me, and the composure he always wore was gone.
"So SouthTech it's yours?" he started.
But before he could finish, a black business van suddenly cut him off, blocking his path.
The van screeched to a halt, stopping him mid-sentence.