16 Chapter 16

He had been in his office for the past hour, but he barely made a dent in his task. He still had tons of shit to finish and little time to do it. He wished he had more competent workers who could do the job he demanded.

However, he still needed to hire several people who were qualified for the job, that included his new assistant. In the meantime, he needed people to work harder as he continued to speak on the phone.

Liam could not help but shout at the man on the other line, frustrated that his day had started bad and was now turning for the worse. It was far from midday yet. "Fucking idiots!" He mumbled after ending the call.

He stood up from his chair and pulled out his tie, feeling suffocated by the stiffness in his neck and back muscles. His palm and fingers spontaneously massaged his nape, hoping to relieve the tension on his nerves.

"Jennifer!" Pressing the intercom, connecting his office with his secretary. "Where is my Personal Assistant? Can you follow it up with the HR Department? Did I not tell you to have her report to me this morning?" He impatiently asked.

"Aaahhh!" Jennifer hesitantly answered as if she was thinking of what to say. "Sir, I am sorry. I forgot to send the applicants folder to HR yesterday. But I am doing it now."

He could hear the shuffling of papers on the line, thinking the worse was yet to come. He wanted to shout at Jennifer, but it would be no use. She already sounded rattled.

But who could blame her when she had also worked hard yesterday until the wee hours of the night? He had forgotten to inform her that she could leave when the rest of the employees had left. She did not have to wait for him.

"Fine. Do it now." Liam calmly instructed. "Have my new assistant report to me immediately. Make it after lunch." Remembering that he still had a lunch meeting.

However, he had wished to meet with his new assistant so she could take some of the minor loads of dealing with mundane things out of his hands.

He guessed a few more hours would not matter. Besides, he had no other choice but wait. Nevertheless, he was looking forward to his new assistant since a friend highly recommended her to him.

"Right away, Sir." He heard his secretary reply with a shaky breath before ending the conversation.

He could only shake his head to clear his mind. So far, his secretary had done well with her work, but she was probably not used to his speed.

Therefore, he would give her a few weeks to adjust to her new working condition. If she still failed to keep up with him, he would have no choice but to let go of her.

He only had a few months to set up this new business venture before leaving it to another capable hand. He could not stay in one business alone since he had a large empire to deal with, not just this.

"Knock, knock!" Eli walked straight into his room and sat on the chair opposite his desk. She looked lovely as always but deadly in her suit.

She might be stunning as if she just came out of a celebrity magazine, but her brain could outmatch many of her colleagues in a courtroom. He believed his private lawyer and head of his legal team was one of the best in the business.

Besides that, she had helped him on many occasions as his friend.

"You are early." He glanced at his watch and checked the time. "I still have thirty-two minutes before lunch, to be exact." He told her as he returned to his seat to work on his remaining paper works.

As soon as he sat down, he again felt the stiffness in his neck. He started wiggling his head from side to side to relieve the pain. But it seemed that Eli also noticed this.

She immediately stood from her chair and walked toward him. She stood behind his chair and started massaging his shoulder and neck. "I thought you would be relieved from your stress by now, but you look like you needed more."

Eli had been his friend since childhood. She was not from a royal family, but her family was one of the wealthiest in their land. However, tragedy struck her family. His father spent all their money on a gambling problem. Then, his father and mother had a car accident. Speculations circulated that his father intentionally killed themselves. Luckily, Eli was not in the car at that time.

"Eli, not here." He quickly pulled her hands off his shoulders.

Besides being childhood friends, he and Eli had this personal arrangement. Friends with benefits were the usual term. Both of them had never liked commitment. At the same time, they never believed in love.

He quickly straightened in his seat and looked at her, still wondering why she was early. Unless a problem occurred, she would not show up in his office until their appointed time. She was also busy with her job.

"Ok. Just trying to help." She casually responded, returning to her seat as if his rejection did not affect her. "Anyway, I can see your eyes twirling around. I am not here because of our lunch date."

It was not a lunch date between the two of them, correcting that in his mind, but a meeting with some clients. But he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to continue.

She grabbed the phone she had left in her things and stood up again, striding back to him. This time, he knew she was all about business and nothing hanky-panky.

"Then, why are you early?" Liam finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He hoped it would be good news this time.

But when she showed him what was on her hand and played the video on the internet. It was worse than he had imagined his day would be.

He had never been captured in a compromising position before. He had been discreet about his affair. Being in the Royal family, a scandal was the last thing he needed.

"Well, you become an overnight sensation." Suddenly, he remembered the way the employees were whispering that morning. Some of them might have seen it already.

Or perhaps all.

"Well, what are you doing here? Take it down. Do some damage control." He firmly commanded without shouting. "I need that taken down and cleaned from all the sites."

He ran his fingers through his hair, realizing that his hair had grown beyond his desired length. He did notice it in the video as he leaned down on the girl to cover her lips.

But whoever edited that video did a good job making it appear like he was kissing her instead of just saving her life. But it was an incident he did not want circulating on the net, especially not in the media. His grandfather should never find her.

"As you wish, Your Highness." Eli bowed to him, teasing him before exiting the door.

He quickly grabbed his phone to check on the same video, wanting to determine one thing. His eyes scanned the site until he was sure he had seen everything.

Luckily, they failed to mention her name. But his eyes halted for a few seconds, staring at her face, before finally reading the caption, referring to that girl as Sleeping Beauty.

She was indeed beautiful, but she was no princess.