After Xavier’s death, Millie had accepted the position as Oliver Kane’s assistant, and at first, she was disheartened by the lack of challenge and common courtesy, but after the loss of Trevor, she no longer cared. She went to work as she always did, punctual and professional, but the next few years drifted by as if she was in a trance. If Xavier had still been occupying the president’s office, he would have noticed her sadness, but Oliver did not. When he died unexpectedly of a heart attack, Millie didn’t even sniffle.

Having worked for Oliver for nearly nine years, Millie had become numb to boorish and standoffish superiors. So, when she was offered the position of personal assistant to the newest president of Kane Holdings, she accepted the job without blinking an eye. Addison was known throughout the company to be a brooding woman who rarely smiled, and having met her on numerous occasions when she worked alongside Xavier, Millie was well aware just how cold and curt she could be, but it didn’t matter. She assumed there’d be no surprises working for Addison. It would be the same drudgery Millie had become accustomed to, and it would allow her to continue to mourn the loss of a son long since gone...or so she thought.

Addison was a driven woman, focused on only one thing…success. Unlike her father, she was diligent to the point of obsession, typically arriving at work in the early hours of the morning, and leaving long after the last employee exited the building. Her sedulousness surpassed even Xavier’s, and Kane Holdings began to grow like it had never grown before. Although Addison Kane’s ability to be cordial left a lot to be desired, when it came to the business of making money, she was downright brilliant.

In awe of the woman’s intelligence, Millie began looking forward to going to work again. Since the death of Xavier and Trevor, work had become just that, but with Addison in charge, each day brought new projects and challenges. While Addison never asked Millie to work longer hours, she began showing up just after Addison arrived, and more than once, when the president of Kane Holdings left late in the night, it was Millie turning off the lights. On occasion, Addison would seem to lose her antisocial demeanor toward Millie, but it took nearly twelve months before the tide finally turned, and when it did...it turned for good.

One morning, walking into the office carrying two cups of coffee, the cardboard holder slipped from Millie’s hand and fell to the floor. Dressed in her usual professional business suit, low-heeled shoes, and looking as prim and proper as any sixty-year-old woman could, without thinking twice, Millie muttered, “Shit!”