It was still dark as night in Sara William Ashton's room. There was a knock and two maids and the steward entered.

　　"Madam", the steward addressed her.

　　"Hmm." Sara hummed.

　　"Mr. Walt Paton passed away from a heart attack early this morning."

　　Damn! It was the first Sunday off in a long time and she had to wake up to such an ominous news?!

　　Sara jumped up and sat on the bed with dishevelled hair.

　　"What?! What happened?"

　　"Nothing suspicious, madam. He's 72. He was too old to be working, but he was doing it out of loyalty. He has got no wife or kids, so his nephew has came down from the A City capital to do the funeral rites."

　　"Ah. I suppose I need to be there, then. Prepare some decent funeral clothes for me. Nothing fancy. Make it simple, but classy. Bring the tea. I'll not have breakfast today."

　　The steward left with a maid to arrange the clothes. The other maid served tea and took her leave.

　　At the funeral, everybody were waiting for the heir of the A&A Corps, Miss Sara Ashton. Her father and uncle had already reached and were waiting for the current CEO to arrive. The old men had retired from active business, but they were still directors of the company. In fact, they were the other major shareholders other than Sara and her brother Campbell, who was at present on a break as he had decided to complete his PhD in economics from his Ivy league alma mater before joining the company full-time.

　　The funeral ceremony commenced as soon as Sara arrived. She stood solemnly next to her father William L. Ashton and uncle Clint Maynard Ashton. Uncle's daughter Cecilia had also come with her girlfriend Sandria. Their queer status had kept them out from the business because of the old fashioned board members and investors, but within the family, they enjoyed freedom. In fact, the family promoted them and queer rights strongly, outside of business. Within, they had to play safe. Sara hated the hypocrisy but she was too ambitious to let anything harm her or the company's reputation.

　　The nephew entered, wearing a black suit, with a black shirt and a black tie. If it were anybody else, Sara would have scowled the god out of them for being such a fashion faux-pas , but this man had a charm. He held a certain charisma which made him different from his uncle, who always seemed like a kind and submissive man.

　　"He's one of the prime candidates for the secretarial position. See to it that you meet him afterwards. Hold a quick interview, if need be." Father whispered into Sara's ears. Things get sorted out so quickly in her company. She was proud of the efficiency. Of course, her dad's a constant support and he still has an eye over every twist and turn in the business. Sara nodded in acquiescence.

　　Sara walked towards the nephew, who was attending to the town's mayor and wife.

　　"Ahem.." she cleared her throat to let him know that she's waiting for her turn to speak to him.

　　"Oh. Good morniny, Miss Sara." He bowed.

　　Miss Sara? Shouldn't he be calling her Miss Ashton instead? This was just like Mr. Paton. He had this weird habit of calling her Miss Sara when they were by themselves. But he was an older man and knew her since birth. This man was a stranger. But Sara let it go.

　　"Good morning... Mister..?"

　　She fished for the name. She had forgotten to ask that to her father.