Katherine stared at him, trying to figure out the excuse he would come up with. She never thought hiring him would be this entertaining. She was excited at the thought of having him at her disposal every day because the first day with him had already managed to amuse her. His ears turned red as he came up with an answer.

"I'm sorry, ma’am," he muttered, embarrassed. "I couldn’t understand what they were talking about, and I zoned out."

Katherine couldn’t hold in a chuckle, and Lionel perked up at the sound.

"I can understand that you’re not tech-savvy, but still, you’re supposed to know what’s happening so you can remind me if I forget any crucial details. Do you understand?" She surprised herself at how calmly she was handling him. If it had been any of her previous assistants, they would have already gotten an earful from her.

Lionel quickly nodded, relieved he hadn’t been scolded. Maybe she was being considerate since it was his first day, because the Katherine he had heard of did not tolerate mistakes.

"You’re dismissed for the day, Mr. Lawson. Be at my apartment tomorrow morning at five with my coffee. And you can ask Carter how I take my coffee. Don’t ever get me that garbage again," she said.

He nodded and rushed out of her office.

He scolded himself mentally for messing up her coffee but soon reminded himself it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t like she had told him. Lionel turned around when he heard Anthony calling his name.

"Mr. Lawson, wait." The redhead rushed toward him, a woman behind him in tow.

"You haven’t completed your induction process yet. This is Holly from Human Resources. She’ll help you get acquainted," Anthony introduced them.

Holly was a chirpy woman who could make anybody feel at ease, and Lionel quickly relaxed. He had felt drained from all the tension with Katherine. Lionel chuckled as Holly kept talking his ear off while taking him around the office, introducing everyone.

Meanwhile, as soon as Lionel left the office, Katherine dialed the number of her private investigator. She wanted to know everything about Lionel. She knew it wasn’t moral or legal, but curiosity got the better of her. She was neither moral nor always legal.

"Hello, ma’am. What can I do for you?" Jarvis answered on the third ring. His voice was quite irritated, and she understood he wasn’t in the mood to chit-chat. So she got right to the point.

"Check your mail. I want every single detail about him. Even the very personal ones," she said.Jarvis was a man who got the job done effortlessly. Digging dirt about anything and anyone was a piece of cake for him. The best part—nobody knew his real identity. It was like he didn’t even exist.

"Gimme an hour," he said and disconnected the call.

Katherine left for her penthouse since she wasn’t in the mood to work anymore.

She quickly changed into her pajamas and sipped on red wine. She waited for his call, and soon enough, she was brought back to reality when her phone started buzzing. Jarvis had collected the information within 48 minutes. She was impressed with his skills yet again.

"Yes?" she answered, urging him to get to the point.

"Ma’am, I’ve got all the information about the person," he said.

"Go on," she told him curiously.

"His full name is Lionel James Lawson. Son of Harry Lewis, who’s currently in jail for abusing his wife and kids. His mother is Georgette Lawson, and he has a younger sister, Lana Lawson—she’s still sixteen. He was born in California and moved to New York two years ago. He owns an apartment in New York, just a fifteen minute drive from your office. His mother and sister are still in California. He’s been sending them money every two weeks for the past two years. His mother works in a law firm as a receptionist, and his sister is in high school. He’s been running a case against his father for the past ten years and has a hearing next month. This time, he’s likely to lose the case since there’s insufficient evidence, though his father is the culprit. He has a best friend named Drake, but I don’t have much information about him yet. There are no past relationships and no criminal cases against him. His records are clean. These are the details I have for now. I’ll let you know if there’s anything else."

"Thanks, Jarvis," she replied.

He mumbled something under his breath and disconnected the call. Interesting, she mused as she finished her wine.