Chapter 4

No. I didn't want to say another word to her.

I took out my phone, opened the company intranet, and pulled up a file that had been gathering dust for two full years.

Overseas Assignment Application: Sahel Territory Expansion Branch.

Without a moment's hesitation, I hit download, then went to a nearby 24-hour print shop.

Nine o'clock the next morning.

I showed up at the office right on time.

I didn't report to the back-office department. I went straight to the CEO's office and pushed the door open.

Ivy was sitting in her wide executive chair, drinking coffee. When she saw me come in, her eyes darted away a little awkwardly, but they quickly went cold again.

"What are you doing here? I told you to go cool off in the back office for a while. Don't come in here and throw a tantrum at me."

She set down her coffee cup, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"I'm not throwing a tantrum."

I walked up to her desk and slapped the printed document down in front of her.

"I'm here to get your signature."

Ivy frowned and looked down at the document.

When she saw the words "Sahel Territory Overseas Assignment Application" in large print at the top, she visibly froze.

"You want to go to the Sahel Territory?" Her voice shot up, her eyes full of disbelief.

The Sahel Territory branch was a run-down office building attached to an abandoned mining site. The company had bought it on a whim two years ago.

The original plan had been to turn it into a transit hub for cross-border e-commerce, but it turned out the local infrastructure was so poor that business there was impossible.

For the past two years, the place had been a wasteland the company had completely forgotten.

On paper it was a branch office. In reality, there wasn't even a janitor. All that was left was a broken-down building.

Not even the lowest-ranking intern at the company was willing to be sent to that godforsaken place.

"That's right. I'm applying for an overseas assignment, for a term of three years." I looked her straight in the eye, my voice completely even.

Ivy stared hard at me, her chest heaving once.

"Cole, are you trying to threaten me like this?"

She let out a cold laugh, and her gaze turned sharp.

"You think if you apply to go to the Sahel Territory, my conscience will kick in and I'll give you back the COO position? Don't be so naive! Let me tell you something: this company keeps running no matter who leaves!"

As I listened to her, I realized that even the last bit of pain inside me was gone.

It all just seemed ridiculous.

"You're overthinking this, Ms. Sutton." I pointed at the signature line on the document. "I just figured that since the company doesn't need me anymore, keeping me in the back office would be a waste of resources. Going to the Sahel Territory to break new ground for the company fits right in with your strategic plans, doesn't it?"

"You!"

My refusal to budge infuriated her.

She snatched up the Montblanc pen on her desk, her wrist trembling slightly from how hard she was gripping it.

"Fine! Cole, you chose this yourself! Don't you dare regret it!"

With two quick strokes, she signed her name on the document, then hurled it back at me.

"Get out, now! You want it, you've got it!"

"Thank you, Ms. Sutton."

I picked up the document, turned, and walked out without the slightest reluctance.

Back at my desk, a single cardboard box was all it took to pack up every personal belonging I'd collected in seven years.

On my way downstairs, I ran into Logan, who had his arm around a female secretary, the two of them laughing.

When he saw me carrying the box, he let out an exaggerated whistle.

"Well, well, Cole. Off to start your new job in the back office already? Want me to send a couple of security guards to help you carry your stuff?"

I stopped and looked at his smug, self-important face, then gave him a faint smile.

"No need, Mr. Lancaster. I hope you hold on to that COO seat."

With that, I strode out the front doors of the company.

The sunlight was glaring that day.

I stood by the side of the road, took out my phone, deleted Ivy from my contacts, and blocked her number.

Then I bought a plane ticket to the Sahel Territory for that same night.

Seven years of dreaming. It was time to wake up.

More than thirty hours of flying, plus layovers, left me completely exhausted.

By the time I finally reached the so-called "Sahel Territory branch," after four hours bouncing along in a drafty, beat-up local jeep, it was already evening local time.

The scene in front of me was even bleaker than I'd imagined.

Yellow sand filled the sky. A few dead baobab trees stood nearby.

A shabby two-story concrete building stood alone in the wilderness. Even the iron gate to the yard was covered in a thick layer of red rust, half of it collapsed on the ground.

So this was the "branch office" Ivy had talked about.

This was where I'd be spending the next three years.

Dragging my suitcase, I stepped over the dead branches and leaves littering the ground and walked up to the dust-covered glass front door.

It wasn't locked.

I reached out and shoved hard. The broken door let out a shrill creak as it swung open.

The room was dim, and the air was thick with the smell of mildew.

But once my eyes adjusted to the light and I made out the person sitting in the worn-out executive chair in the middle of the ground-floor lobby, I froze. "You... What are you doing here?"