He Lent His Laptop to a Girl for an Interview — Unaware She Was the Disguised CEO!
Chapter 2
Olivia stepped into the interview room five minutes later.
The panel barely looked up.
One executive checked his phone.
Another reviewed her résumé.
A third looked bored.
The head of HR smiled politely.
“Ms. Parker?”
Olivia nodded.
“Yes.”
“Please have a seat.”
She did.
Her false identity was convincing.
Olivia Bennett had spent the previous two weeks using the name Olivia Parker.
Only three people knew who she really was.
Her attorney.
Her chief of security.
And the chairman of the board.
Her father had built Bennett Group into a billion-dollar company.
After his sudden retirement, Olivia inherited control.
But she’d inherited something else.
A mess.
Anonymous complaints.
Financial irregularities.
High employee turnover.
And a suspicious number of executives receiving bonuses while departments were losing money.
So she had chosen not to walk into the company as CEO.
She wanted to see it first.
Quietly.
Honestly.
The interview began.
“Tell us why you want this position.”
Olivia answered honestly.
“I want to understand how this company actually operates.”
The HR director smiled.
“We value teamwork.”
Olivia nodded.
“What happens when a team is protecting a bad decision?”
The room went silent.
The CFO shifted in his chair.
The HR director smiled tightly.
“We encourage employees to follow the proper channels.”
Olivia continued.
“And if those channels are the problem?”
The CFO interrupted.
“That’s enough.”
Olivia looked at him.
“I’m sorry?”
“You’re applying for an administrative position, not an executive role.”
She smiled.
“I understand.”
The interview continued.
At the end, they dismissed her.
She walked out quietly.
A few minutes later, she met her security chief in a parked car.
“Well?”
Olivia leaned back.
“They’re worse than I thought.”
“What did you see?”
“Someone is manipulating procurement.”
“Evidence?”
“Not yet.”
She looked at her phone.
“I need access to internal financial systems.”
“You’ll get it.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“I’ll earn it.”
Her security chief frowned.
“Olivia…”
She smiled.
“You know me.”
“Yes.”
“You know I won’t trust a report until I see the people behind it.”
She glanced toward the hotel lobby.
“And I just met someone interesting.”
“Who?”
She smiled.
“A man who lent his laptop to a stranger without asking for anything.”
“What’s his name?”
“Ethan Cole.”
Her security chief’s expression changed.
“Cole?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Olivia frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Ethan Cole is the company’s senior operations consultant.”
Olivia stared.
“The same man?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Interesting.”
For the first time that morning, she felt hopeful.
Maybe not everything inside the company was broken.
Maybe there was at least one person she could trust.
What she didn’t know was that Ethan had his own reasons for staying close to Bennett Group.
He had been investigating the company for years.
And he had evidence that could destroy it.
