Anya couldn't shake the feeling of being invisible. Lex Volkov had looked right through her, a powerful man who saw nothing but an intern. It was a cold, hard truth, but it also fueled her. He hadn't seen her before, and he didn't see her now. She was a ghost in his company, and that was a powerful thing to be. She could watch, she could listen, and she could learn without him ever knowing she was there.
She returned to her desk, the encounter a hot fire in her stomach. She started working even harder, her fingers flying across the keyboard. She wanted to prove to herself, if not to him, that she was more than just a girl from a bad family, more than a victim. She was smart, she was strong, and she was here for a reason.
Over the next few weeks, Anya fell into a routine. She was a quiet, hardworking presence in the office. She made friends with her computer and the endless spreadsheets. She spent her lunch breaks researching Lex Volkov, digging into the past of the Volkov Group. She learned about his family—his father, a cruel and powerful man who had built the company, and his mother, a beautiful socialite who had died young. She learned about the dark rumors that followed the family, whispers of mafia ties and dangerous deals. The more she learned, the more she felt she was getting closer to the truth, to the man behind the cold mask.
One afternoon, a senior manager, Mr. Davies, called her into his office. He was the kind old man from her university class, the one she hadn't wanted to disappoint. He had seen her name on the intern list and had put in a good word for her.
"Anya, I've been watching your work," he said, a kind smile on his face. "You're a fast learner, and you have a very good head for numbers. I've been given a special project, and I need a reliable assistant. Would you be interested?"
Anya's heart leaped. A special project? This was a chance to do more than just data entry. "Yes, Mr. Davies, of course."
He smiled, pushing a stack of papers toward her. "Good. The Volkov Group is looking into a new merger. A rival company, Kravtsov Holdings. We need to look at their books, find their weak spots. It's a high-stakes deal, so everything has to be perfect. The boss is very interested in this."
Anya's hands trembled as she took the papers. A new merger, a rival company. And the boss was interested. This was her chance. She could get closer to his world, to the secrets he kept.
She spent the next few days buried in the Kravtsov Holdings files. The company seemed solid, but the more she looked, the more she found small things that didn't add up. There were strange payments, large sums of money going to shell companies. These were the kind of things a normal person might miss, but Anya had a good eye for detail. Her university studies had made her a master of finding the small things that were out of place.
One evening, working late, she found something big. A series of payments, all made to a company in a country known for money laundering. The payments were all for the same amount, and they were all made on the same date every year. It was a pattern, a hidden deal. The kind of thing that could ruin a company. And a face, a powerful figure named Oleg Kravtsov, was linked to all of it.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, a strange excitement building in her. This was bigger than she had thought. This was a secret that could destroy Kravtsov Holdings. This was a secret that Lex Volkov needed to know.
She decided to make a separate report. She didn't put it in the official company file. She wrote it all down, the numbers, the dates, the connections, on a clean, simple sheet of paper. She didn't sign her name. She just left the facts, a clear and undeniable truth. She wanted him to see it, to read it, and to know that an intern, a girl he had forgotten, was the one who had found it.
The next day, she found out where Mr. Davies was going to have a meeting with Lex Volkov. It was a high-level meeting, and the only way to get the report to him was to put it on Mr. Davies' desk, hoping he would see it and give it to the boss.
She waited until Mr. Davies left for lunch, and with a pounding heart, she walked into his office. She put the report on his desk, right on top of his official Kravtsov Holdings file. It was a risk, a big one. But she had to take it. She had to make him see.
That afternoon, a wave of excitement and fear washed over the office. Lex Volkov was coming down. He was going to meet with Mr. Davies on the thirtieth floor. The rumor spread like wildfire. Everyone was buzzing, tidying their desks, trying to look busy and important.
Anya's heart was a drum. He was coming here, to her floor, to her world. She felt a mix of terror and a strange, hot anticipation. She had to stay calm. She had to act normal.
She watched as he stepped off the elevator, a silent, powerful figure, surrounded by his usual two bodyguards. He was a force of nature, and everyone in the office seemed to shrink a little in his presence. He walked right to Mr. Davies' office, his face a mask of cold concentration.
Anya watched through the glass walls of the office. Mr. Davies was showing him the reports, and then, he picked up her report. Her unsigned, unofficial report. Lex took it from him, his eyes scanning the page.
For a moment, he paused. Just a small, almost unseen pause. His eyes flickered up, looking out the glass walls, a quick, sweeping gaze across the office. His eyes met hers for just a second. This time, there was no flicker of recognition. There was only a cold, sharp assessment, a boss looking at an employee. And then he looked back at the report, his face a mask of thought.
Anya's breath caught in her throat. He was reading it. Her words, her findings, were in his hands.
She went back to her desk, her hands shaking. She waited. She worked, but her mind was a million miles away, focused on that office, on that man.
A few hours later, Mr. Davies came out of his office, a strange look on his face. He walked right up to Anya's desk.
"Anya, can you come with me?" he said, his voice a quiet whisper. "Mr. Volkov wants to speak with you. He found something in the report. He wants to know who wrote it."
Anya's world stopped. The fear returned, a cold, hard block in her stomach. He knew. He had seen the report, and he knew it was hers. Her plan had worked. But now, she had to face him. She had to walk back into the lion's den, and this time, the lion was looking right at her.