?Chapter 1702:


    Hurst’s brow furrowed at her panicked response. “Who said anything about firing you? Juste inside. We need to talk privately.” With employees within earshot outside, this wasn’t a conversation for the open floor.


    Alisha’s mind raced with worst-case scenarios as she followed him in. Once the door closed behind them, Hurst gestured for her to sit and personally poured her a cup of tea. Not only did he fail to reprimand her for her tardiness — his entire demeanor was unexpectedly gentle. The kindness only amplified her anxiety.


    “Mr. Dixon, please just tell me what’s going on. You’re making me really nervous!” She blurted it out while dropping her gaze to herp, unable to meet his eyes.


    Before she had started this job, her roommate had warned her about unspoken workce dynamics and men who abused their power. At the time, she had dismissed the warnings as paranoia. That kind of thing would never happen to her. But now, studying Hurst’s expression, something about the way he looked at her felt wrong.


    Hurst let out a low chuckle and leaned back in his chair. “Alisha, what exactly is your rtionship with Mr. Briggs?”


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    Alisha’s head snapped up, surprise written all over her face. That was thest question she had expected.


    Now that they had privacy, Hurst dispensed with pretense. “During your interview, Mr. Briggs specifically took an interest in you. That’s the only reason I hired you. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?” Alisha wasn’t stupid. She grasped his meaning immediately.


    “You’re aware that Dixon Group has been strugglingtely. If you have any sort of rtionship with Mr. Briggs, perhaps you could ask him to throw a few small projects our way. Just one or two would make a significant difference.”


    Hurst had hired Alisha specifically to serve as a connection to William. But she had been on the payroll for weeks now without delivering any return on his investment. Subtle hints had gotten him nowhere, so direct confrontation it was.


    Alisha’s teeth caught her lower lip as she struggled for a response. She had known from day one that William’s apparent interest had secured her the position, but she had never imagined Hurst had been nning to exploit that connection. If William had still been using her to make Ste jealous, maybe she could have leveraged that for this favor. But he had made it brutally clear that morning that he never wanted to see her again.


    Steeling herself, Alisha forced the words out. “Mr. Dixon, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. There’s nothing between Mr. Briggs and me. The feelings are entirely one-sided — he doesn’t reciprocate.”


    Hurst recoiled slightly, clearly caught off guard. When he registered that Alisha was telling the truth, the anticipation in his expression curdled into irritation. “If you have no connection to Mr. Briggs, you should have been upfront about it from the beginning. You’ve wasted my time and resources. Don’t bothering in tomorrow.”


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