Chapter 49: Life Is Good

ASTRID’S POV

The first day at work was already shaping up to be a banger ... and I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet.

I could feel it in the air. I hadn’t slept a wink. The joy and ecstasy of the car Ethan had given me kept my mind spinning all night long, too giddy and too grateful to close my eyes.

Maybe everything really did happen for a reason. For the first time in a long time, I found myself appreciating every single thing that had led me to this exact point in my life. Every painful moment. Every humiliation. Every wrong turn. It had all been working toward something.

I gave thanks to the goddess. Who was I without her? I thought I had found love, then I thought I had lost it. But who needed love when there was money and sports cars? That was more than enough to satisfy any urge. I was so grateful it almost moved me to tears.

I arrived at the office at 7:25 a.m. ... five full minutes before resumption, exactly as planned.

There was a small crowd waiting at the entrance. Not bodyguards ... journalists. Interviewers. I had five minutes before I was due inside, so I figured I could entertain two or three questions.

"How do you feel, Ms. Astrid, about receiving your new car?" one of them asked.

"All thanks goes to the person who made it possible. It wouldn’t have happened without him ... Mr. Allen," I said.

"So what does this mean for your relationship? Are the two of you officially together now that he’s divorced?"

On any other day that question would have rubbed me the wrong way. But I had a new car, so I was taking everything in stride.

"A relationship involves two people, so you’d need to hear from his side as well, not just mine. Thank you," I said with a smile that left no room for a follow-up.

They still had questions, but resumption was close and I was not about to be late on my first day.

That said, nothing was going to stop me from showing off what I had.

I walked through those doors like I was on a runway ... slow, deliberate cat steps, my keys looped around my index finger, twirling with just enough drama to pull every eye in the room toward me. I wanted the attention and I claimed every last drop of it.

I kept my gaze straight ahead, eyes fixed on where I was going. But greetings came flying at me from every direction and I had to answer them all.

"Good morning, good morning" rang in my ears like an alarm that wouldn’t quit.

That was what happened when you entered a room with presence. People noticed.

I reached the Minister’s door and knocked. "Good morning, Mr. Liam."

"Ms. Astrid ... right on time," he said, glancing at his watch. It was exactly 7:30.

He handed me my employment letter along with a booklet outlining my roles and how I was expected to carry them out.

A female wolf knocked and stepped into the office.

"She’ll take you to your workspace," Mr. Liam said. "You report to me at 5:30 daily, and whenever I need you, you respond immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

He spoke well ... every word clear, every sentence deliberate. I respected that.

The female wolf led me through the corridors. Everyone around me was dressed sharp ... polished corporate attire from head to toe. I was matching the energy, but I had to admit, the corporate life wasn’t exactly my natural habitat. A huge portion of my life up to this point had been parties and flexing. Nobody wore suits to those kinds of events.

"Good morning, Ms. Astrid. Welcome to the parliament," she said as we walked.

We arrived at my office and I stepped inside. It was spacious, well-furnished, and exactly the kind of space I intended to own. I loved it immediately.

"This is your place," she said, setting my documents on the desk.

She placed a slip of paper beside them.

"That’s my number, ma’am. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call."

I looked at the paper. Her name was Calla.

"Thank you very much, Calla," I said.

She left, and the moment that door closed I dropped into my chair and spun myself around in it several times.

It was a spin of pure victory.

I wasn’t sitting there with an I’ve arrived mentality. Not at all. I was sitting there thinking about how to take over ... how to climb every rung available to me until I reached the very top of what I had just walked into. I hadn’t gotten here by accident. And even though the road had been messy and unconventional, I had gone through enough to earn my right to be in that seat. I wasn’t about to take a single opportunity lightly.

I started working through the forms and documents I had been given.

As I sat there, Draven crossed my mind. I found myself hoping he was somewhere decent, at least. I knew he couldn’t be dead ... I would have felt it. But after everything he’d been through, partly because of me, I genuinely hoped life was giving him something back. He deserved that much.

I took a photo of my new car and sent it to my parents. They weren’t online yet so there was no response, but I kept my phone close, waiting.

Ethan and I didn’t cross paths much during the workday. He was in the Ministry of Information ... a different block entirely, somewhere on the other side of the building.

His ex-wife, on the other hand, had not gone quietly. Since the divorce she had been relentless. Interview after interview, dragging his name through the mud and making sure to drag mine right along with it ... calling me his "bitch whore" for anyone who would listen.

But I wasn’t bothered. Not even a little.

You lost, I thought. And I’m sitting in a government office. So fuck you.

The rest of the first day moved exactly the way Mr. Liam said it would. Smooth, structured, no surprises. I handled his correspondence, responded to his requests online whenever documents needed to be sent, and Calla managed every physical paper that needed signing or reviewing. Everything flowed.

At the end of the day I went to report to Mr. Liam.

"Not bad for your first day," he said, leaning back slightly. "You didn’t stress me. Have you worked in environments like this before?"

"No, sir," I said honestly.

"You did well. Good job. We have a brief meeting now."

The appraisal hit differently. I was no stranger to compliments by then, but somehow I still got a little flutter every time one landed. It never got old.

The board meeting had everyone present ... all staff, and Ethan among them. Their leader laid out the upcoming adjustments, ideas were exchanged, and everything discussed was expected to take effect immediately. It was efficient and clean.

We closed for the day and it had been genuinely good. The work wasn’t stressful. I loved it more than I expected to.

Ethan and I walked out of the building at the same time.

"Ethan, I would love to race you right now," I said, dangling my keys, "but this car is my newborn baby and I refuse to put a scratch on it."

He laughed. "You couldn’t beat me in a race even on my worst days."

What. The audacity. He was underestimating me, and I was going to let him ... at least until I finished learning how to properly drive.

"Ethan," I said, pointing two fingers at my eyes and then at his, "my attack will be swift and unexpected. Watch your back."

We both laughed, got into our respective cars, and drove off.

My phone buzzed before I even hit the main road.

"Oh my gosh, you have to take me for a spin in that beauty, Astrid!" ... my parents had finally seen the photo and replied, and reading their message lifted something in my chest that I hadn’t realized was heavy.

Life was falling into place. Genuinely, finally, falling into place.

I wasn’t going to forget where I came from or leave the people I loved behind ... not now that things were moving. I rolled the window down, connected my favourite playlist to the Bluetooth speaker, turned it up, and pulled out of the lot.

Ethan had already disappeared ahead of me, but I wasn’t rushing. Slow and steady. I’d get there.

Life is good, I thought, and for once I meant every word of it.