Chapter 5 - The First Day
Three weeks later, the transition still felt like a waking dream.
Olivia stood on the thirty-second floor of Park Global Logistics, smoothing down the front of her new navy blue blazer. The oversized waitress uniform was gone, replaced by tailored professional wear that actually fit her curves and made her feel like the educated, capable woman she had trained to be.
Through the glass wall of the private nursery down the hall, she could see Noah sitting in a bright, colorful playpen, laughing hysterically as a professional nanny rattled a squeaky toy duck in front of him.
He was safe. He was fed. He was thriving.
And she was no longer hiding behind tablecloths.
Her new office was spacious, filled with natural light, dual-monitor workstations, and a stack of financial ledgers that needed her forensic eye. She had already spent the morning uncovering a three-thousand-dollar discrepancy in a regional shipping contract—a discovery that had earned her a brief, approving nod from Jae when she dropped the report on his desk.
The heavy oak door to her office clicked open.
Jae Min Park walked in, holding two cups of coffee from the artisan bakery downstairs. He handed one to her without a word, the familiar scent of espresso and cedar filling the air around him.
“How are the logistics numbers looking?” Jae asked, leaning casually against the edge of her mahogany desk, sipping his coffee.
“Cleaned up,” Olivia said, taking a sip of her latte and offering him a genuine, unforced smile. “The transport routes out of Milwaukee were over-reporting fuel costs by about four percent. I flagged the vendor for review.”
Jae nodded slowly, a faint trace of approval softening his sharp features. “Good. Make sure our legal team serves them notice by tomorrow morning.”
“Will do, Mr. Park.”
Jae paused, setting his coffee cup down on the desk. He looked at her with those dark, piercing eyes that used to terrify her, but now only felt steady.
“You’ve been here three weeks, Olivia,” he said, using her first name with a natural ease that still gave her a pleasant jolt. “Have you thought about what I mentioned regarding the weekend gala?”
Olivia’s smile faltered slightly. “The charity auction for the children’s hospital? As your plus-one?”
“As my corporate representative,” Jae corrected smoothly. “Though I suspect the society columnists will have a field day trying to figure out who the brilliant accountant on my arm is.”
Olivia laughed, a rich, confident sound that would have been unimaginable a month ago when she was scrubbing tables at The Pearl Room.
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“They can write whatever they want,” she said, adjusting her glasses and turning back to her dual monitors. “As long as the spreadsheet balances.”
Jae watched her for a long moment, a slow, genuine smile touching his lips—a smile reserved only for the woman who had dared to crash his office, and the baby who had stolen his heart before he even knew what hit him.
