At noon, Claire texted Noreen saying she had a crucial business meeting that evening and wouldn't be home to cook, telling Noreen to sort out her own dinner.

Noreen texted back, "Why are you suddenly so swamped with work?"

Claire replied with a smug emoji. "It means I'm about to be famous!"

Noreen deadpanned, "Do you know the three great illusions of life?"

"What are they?"

"The stock market is going to crash, the economy is going to boom, and 'I'm about to be famous'."

Claire sent back a vigorously head-shaking meme. "It should be the four great illusions."

"The stock market is going to crash, the economy is going to boom, he still loves you, and 'this time it will be different"."

Noreen stared at her phone.

Conversation terminated.

Claire, the ultimate conversation killer, didn't forget to add one last reminder: "Don't forget about your assistant!"

Noreen replied, "Already on it. Sophia is probably handling the interviews right now." Claire sent an 'OK' sign, officially ending their chat.

Just as she put her phone down, Sophia knocked and entered the office, a highly conflicted expression on her face.

Noreen frowned slightly. "Shouldn't you be doing interviews right now?"

Sophia scratched her head. "I am, but I'm having a really hard time making a final call. Ms. Gilmore, could you maybe come take a look yourself?"

Sophia had been with Noreen for five years. Her competence was undeniable.

For her to be this conflicted, something incredibly unusual must have happened. "Bring me their resumes."

Sophia was prepared. She instantly handed over the finalized stack. "There are five candidates who made it to the final round. Four women, one man."

Noreen looked confused. "Didn't I specifically say I only wanted female candidates? Why is there a man?"

Sophia hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "This last candidate... his resume is just too extraordinary..."

Seeing Noreen's piercing gaze, Sophia decided to just rip the bandage off. "Honestly, you should just look at his resume before you decide."

When Noreen got to the third resume in the stack, she instantly understood why Sophia was acting so weird.

She stared at the name printed at the top of the page, her expression twisting into something utterly complicated.

She sat in silence for five full minutes before finally giving her order.

"Pass on him."

"Understood," Sophia said smoothly.

But before Sophia even reached the door, Noreen called out to her again. "Never mind. I'll conduct the interviews personally."

Sophia wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Outside the conference room, the five candidates had naturally separated into two distinct camps.

The four women were chatting in one group, while Seth sat entirely alone in his own.

Likely because his appearance was far too striking to ignore, one of the more outgoing female candidates approached him. "Are you here for the assistant position to

"Yes."

"But your age doesn't seem to fit the profile," she noted, looking slightly skeptical.

While the role of executive assistant to the CEO of Winrich was highly coveted, it was still fundamentally an assistant position.

Typically, it was a job for younger candidates with less experience looking to build their careers.

The man sitting in front of her was flawlessly handsome.

But wasn't he... a little too old for this?

"Doesn't the job listing specify

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twenty to thirty-five?" He casually tilted his resume for her to see "I'm thirty-four. I'm well within the requirements content

The woman glanced at the paper. He really was.

He had scraped in right under the wire.

But her eyes were immediately drawn to the education section.

He had graduated from Hartfield Business School at the age of eighteen. That was

one of the absolute top-tier business schools in the world.

It was on the exact same prestigious level as the WT Business School that Winrich's CEO had attended.

The woman was quick-witted. Her eyes lit up as she immediately pulled out her phone giving him a radiant smile Fate brought us together today. Let's exchange WhatsApp numbers."

Noreen walked up just in time to hear the girl shoot her shot.