Chapter 53
Barbara nodded, looking pleased with Anastasia’s answers. She threw out a few more technical questions, and Anastasia handled each one smoothly, coming across as both confident and sharp. When the interview ended, Anastasia walked out of the Rhodes Corp tower and exhaled deeply. Now it was just a waiting game.
Since she had time to kill, Anastasia grabbed some fresh fruit and headed over to see her grandmother. Lately, Grandma Elisabeth had been hanging out with her neighbor, Mrs. Chen, and they’d been taking daily walks through Central Park together. She seemed genuinely content, which made Anastasia feel so much better about everything.
A few days later, Rhodes Corp called with the good news: she’d aced the interview and scored the designer position. When Cassian got home that night, Anastasia was bursting to tell him. Cassian didn’t look shocked at all—just smiled with obvious pride. “I knew you’d nail it.” Anastasia beamed, feeling pumped about making her mark in this new role.
The next morning, Anastasia got ready. She went with a fresh, natural makeup look after breakfast, tailored black pants, and a crisp white button-down—the whole look screamed polished professional. When Cassian saw her, his gaze lingered appreciatively. They headed out together, but Anastasia had him drop her off a block from the office. Cassian chuckled and shook his head, knowing she was determined to keep work and personal life completely separate. Anastasia walked the final stretch to the building; she was among the first to arrive. When Susan at the front desk saw her, she practically did a spit take.
Holy shit, this girl actually landed the job. Everyone knew getting hired at Rhodes Corp was brutal—you needed serious talent. Even the receptionist position required three rounds of interviews, let alone something as specialized as design. Rhodes Corp’s design department was basically the Harvard of the industry—people would sell their souls for a spot there. So this time, Susan looked at Anastasia with genuine respect. Anastasia took the elevator straight to the design floor. Barbara gave her the tour and showed her to her new desk.
When Narissa strutted into the office and spotted Anastasia, her face soured immediately. “This chick actually got the job? What was her story? And now they were fucking coworkers?”
A few minutes later, Barbara called everyone over. “Alright team, I want you to meet our newest designer, Anastasia. Hope you’ll all play nice and learn from each other.” Anastasia smiled warmly, “Really excited to be working with such a talented group.” Everyone applauded and welcomed her—except Marissa.
Marissa was the senior designer who’d won a bunch of industry awards, so she usually acted like she was hot shit. Barbara typically put up with her attitude as long as she didn’t go completely overboard. But seeing how stunning Anastasia was immediately set Narissa off. She’d been the office knockout for years. Now Anastasia made her look like a fucking troll. Hell no. She definitely wasn’t going to make life easy for this woman.
Narissa couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Since when do we hire people from community colleges as designers here?”