Chapter 8 Warning, Work Hard

As fate would have it, Sharon's boss, the ever elusive and inconspicuous leader of the Ye Group, turned out to be none other than Bryan.

The realization struck her like a punch to the gut as her mind desperately scrambled to process her thoughts.

Squinting his cold eyes with a confused expression on his face, Bryan looked at the stunned Sharon and said, "You look surprised?"

While his sonorous voice was a little daunting, it was counteracted by his articulate nature and respectful manner.

Sharon pulled herself out of her thoughts and the moment their eyes met, she lowered her face to prevent Bryan from reading her emotions, which leaked out of her nervous eyes. "No."

Although she had said so, a flush feeling came over her face as though she had suddenly broken out into a cold sweat.

Bryan cocked his ears and tilted his head to study her with cold eyes. "I hope you know that you will be expected to work hard, now that you're on the top floor. I hope you don't forget who you are and you don't get any ridiculous ideas, do you understand?"

Sharon responded with an incredulous look. What ridiculous ideas? Was he telling her not to think of anything outside of work?

Clearly, he must have underestimated her!

Suddenly, Sharon raised her head and looked straight into his cold eyes without any signs of fear. However, she spoke very calmly, "Boss, please rest assured. I will get familiar with the work as soon as possible and I will not let my weaknesses affect the operation. Moreover, I will keep to myself and I will never do anything that jeopardizes the well-fare of the company."

Surprised to see that Sharon had completely transformed into another person, Bryan responded with an indifferent nod of the head.

He pressed the intercom and said, "Miss Antsey, come in."

"Yes, sir." A sweet voice came through the phone while Sharon lowered her eyes and waited quietly.

Soon after, the door of the office was pushed open from the outside, revealing a beautiful tall-framed and slender-bodied woman.

"Miss Antsey, this is the new assistant. She will be assisting you with your work from now on. Please show her around and get her acquainted to this place."

"Yes, sir," Antsey replied and then turned around to Sharon. "Follow me, please."

Sharon nodded as she followed Antsey out, but just then she heard Bryan's phone ringing in the office again. Before she could close the door, she quickly caught a smile at the corner of his mouth.

However, almost as soon as they walked out of the room, the smile on Antsey's face had disappeared.

Glancing at Sharon with arrogance and hostility, she pointed at an empty desk and said, "This is going to be your desk from now on."

Sharon decided to let her rude behavior slide this time because she was not looking for an argument on her first day at work. Instead, she politely introduced herself, "Hello! My name is Sharon Fang. It's nice to meet you."

Antsey shook her hand reluctantly, giving Sharon a smug look and then released her hand immediately. "I'm Antsey An. I would prefer it if you called me Miss Antsey."

Drawing her hand back, Sharon maintained a smile and said, "Okay, Miss Antsey."

Since it was clear to Sharon that Antsey wasn't interested in making friends with her, all she could do was stay out of her way.

Sitting in front of her desk, Sharon smiled gently and thought, 'Well done, girl! Now let's show the world what you're made of!' Fortunately, Sharon was able to start her day with a positive outlook.

"These are all the materials you'll need to read up on from the last three years about the company. I want you to go through all of them. Let me know if you've got any questions."

Antsey walked over to her desk and dropped a thick pile of documents before her.

Grabbing the first file on the top, Sharon flipped through the pages and said, "Thank you. I will get to it right now."

Perhaps it was Sharon's calm demeanor or simply the fact that Antsey didn't have the heart to embarrass someone with a smile like that, but instead of passing a snide remark, Antsey cast her a glance and then went straight back to her desk.

Their desks were only a few steps apart and every time Sharon tried to look up, she could see Antsey, who even from her desk somehow exuded the air of imperious authority.

Sharon drew her head back into her shoulders like a turtle hiding in its shell. She hid herself behind the pile of papers in front of her before carefully going through them.

The entire top floor was in dead silence, so much so that one could hear a pin drop. For a while, all that broke the silence was the occasional sound of paper flipping.

Sharon couldn't tell how time had passed, but she had already gone through half of the documents without even knowing it.

Suddenly, the door to the boss' office opened and Antsey immediately stood up from her chair with a loud bang. Sharon looked up, wondering what had happened, and saw Antsey greet Bryan with a smile, "Hello, boss!"

Sharon followed suit and got up on her feet rather calmly, glancing sideways with a bit of awkwardness to catch Bryan in an expensive hand-tailored suit. "Hello, boss."

After casting momentarily glances at each of them, Bryan paused in front of Sharon with a straight face and said, "It's lunch time. I'm sure you can make your own arrangement. I have something important to deal with and won't come back this afternoon."

As soon as he said that, Bryan proceeded to walk away nonchalantly with his back facing both women.

Looking at her watch, Sharon wondered what to do for lunch.

Before long, the idea of having lunch with Ellen popped up into her mind as she grabbed her bag to leave.

When she looked up, she noticed Antsey staring at the man's receding back.

Raising an eyebrow and curling her lip up contemptuously, Antsey said, "Don't say that I didn't warn you. Don't try to get too close to our boss, unless you want to end up being humiliated."

The disdain in the way she spat the words was loud and clear. She was intending to be hurtful.

Sharon's face darkened and she frowned. It seemed as though her boss had another secret admirer who fancied an office romance.

But did she have to hurt her colleague's feelings just because she had feelings for him? A woman who was only beautiful on the outside was of no value to anyone.

"I'm here for work. I'm not here for anything else," Sharon explained calmly.

She casually slung the bag over her shoulder as if nothing had happened.

Coincidentally, Ellen called Sharon's phone just then saying that she wanted to have lunch together.

After hanging up the phone and put it back inside her bag, Sharon couldn't stop smiling. At least, she had made one friend today.

The Ye Group had a special cafeteria for the employees. The food at the cafeteria was actually quite good compared to most restaurants outside.

With a tray in their hands, the two ladies found the nearest empty seats and sat across each other at the table.

As a lively and active girl, Ellen could hardly stop talking. As soon as she sat down, she asked, "Sharon, how do you feel on your first day at work?"

"Not bad. How about you?" Sharon smiled.

"I've been reading the Arabia numbers all morning and my eyes are starting to hurt."

After taking a bite of the food, she continued, "I really regret taking it in the first place. I must have hit my head before I decided to major in it. Why else would I choose such a bad major?"

For added dramatic effect, Ellen rolled her eyes and shook her head at herself.

Sharon burst into laughter, "You must be joking! A major in accounting is very good, especially for girls. There's always a stable job for accountants. Besides, I think sitting in the office is better than running around like salesmen, right?"

Ellen smiled happily. In truth, she was just complaining, and she wasn't being serious at all. Then she winked at Sharon and said, "Since you are the special assistant of the boss, you must have seen him in person? What does he look like? Is he a handsome man?"

Sharon couldn't help giggling at Ellen's earnest eyes as they waited for an answer. It seemed as though women were born for gossips.