MY BILLIONAIRE HUSBAND ERASED MY MEMORIES

Lorelei.

The glass doors of Axel Enterprises were so polished I could see my own reflection.

I stepped inside the lobby. Executives in sharp suits moved with urgent speed. Nobody smiled, nobody made eye contact.

I smoothed down the skirt of my suit and took a deep breath.

"Lorelei Miguel?" a receptionist called out. She didn't even bother to look up from her monitors.

"Yes, that's me." I replied.

"Top floor. Office 800. Mr. Axel is waiting."

My stomach did an uncomfortable flip at the mention of his name.

Zachary Axel. The owner of Axel Enterprises, notorious for being a cold, calculating businessman who crushed his competitors without flinching.

I rode the elevator up to the top floor in total silence.

I checked my reflection in the elevator mirror one last time. My wild hair was pinned back neatly, and my suit was clean. But I wasn't just here for a paycheck. I needed access to his private office.

Axel Enterprises was a cover for illegal operations, and I believed Zachary was connected to the car crash that killed my parents when I was sixteen. I had carefully erased my investigative journalism background, created a fake administrative profile, and prayed my paper trail held up. I couldn't afford to fail.

When the elevator doors opened, I stepped into a massive office, and sitting behind an expensive looking desk was Zachary Axel.

He was studying something on his tablet but I could still see his eyes. They looked so cold and void of any emotion.

He didn't look up when I walked in, he let the silence stretch for ten uncomfortable seconds, a classic power move to make people sweat. But I was used to his kind.

I stood straight patiently, waiting for him.

Finally, he set the tablet down and scanned me from head to toe in a single, dismissive sweep.

"Lorelei Miguel," he called out in a really really deep voice. "Your resume is average. Good grades, three years of administrative experience at a mid-sized firm. Nothing on this paper explains why I should hire you over fifty other applicants."

Hmm, very blunt.

"Resumes only show past achievements, Mr. Axel," I replied, keeping my tone steady. "They don't show adaptability or how someone can perform under pressure."

He raised an eyebrow. "Talk is cheap, Miss Miguel. Let's test that."

He tapped a button on his console, and another sleek tablet pushed out from his desk. He gestured for me to take it. I stepped forward and looked at the financial document on the screen.

"That is an outline for our upcoming acquisition of a medical research firm," Zachary said. "Here is your scenario: an internal audit shows that if we release a false rumor about supply issues tomorrow, the target company's stock will drop by fifteen percent. We can buy their shares at a discount and save forty million dollars. The news will recover in a week, and we get the profit."

He watched my face carefully. "As my executive assistant, do you bury the report until after we buy the stock, or do you file it immediately and watch the company lose forty million dollars?"

I stared at the tablet, my chest tightening. This was a direct test of my willingness to commit corporate fraud for him.

I looked up and met his icy eyes. "You're asking if I would help you manipulate the market to cheat a smaller company out of forty million dollars?"

"I am asking you to make a business decision," he corrected calmly. "In business, ethics are subjective. What is your answer?"

Anger flared in my chest. I stepped closer to his desk, setting the tablet down.

"My answer is no," I said clearly. "And frankly, Mr. Axel, that isn't a smart business move. It's just a cold and lazy one."

Zachary’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Careful, Miss Miguel. Id like you to remember you're here for a job interview."

"You think cutting corners for forty million dollars is practical, but your calculation is short-sighted," I fired back, refusing to back down. "Manipulating stock creates immediate risk. If business officials investigate, they could fish out your scope in no time. They will charge you for it and your legal fines may exceed forty million dollars. Secondly, the efficient team that kept the company standing for all these years may leave out of frustration. You'll be buying a company with no talent left. Hire new workers, they still may not be able to save it."

I took a breath, holding his gaze. "So no, I wouldn't hide the report. I would file it immediately and protect the long-term integrity of the acquisition."

The office went completely silent.

I stood there, my heart hammering against my ribs.

I had just called one of the most ruthless billionaires in the country lazy and short-sighted to his face. I braced myself for him to call security.

Zachary didn't move for ten long seconds. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched into a faint smirk.

"Your interview was scheduled for thirty minutes," he said smoothly. "You used seven."

I blinked. "What?"

"The test wasn't about whether you knew how to break the law," Zachary said, his voice dropping its harsh edge. "Every spineless coward I’ve interviewed today agreed to commit a crime just to please me. They were useless. I need an assistant who isn't afraid to use her brain, even against me."

He slid a folder across the desk toward me. "Your starting salary is twenty percent above standard rate. You start on Monday at six in the morning."

I stood there, stunned. "I got the job?"

"Unless you're going to give me another speech," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you taking it or not, Lorelei?"

Hearing my first name come out of his mouth sent a chill down my spine. He was arrogant and dangerous, but this was my way inside his empire.

I picked up the file, holding it against my chest. "I'll see you Monday at six, Mr. Axel."

"Good," he said, turning back to his tablet.

I turned on my heel to walk toward the exit, relief washing over me. But right as my hand reached the door handle, his voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

"One more thing, Miss Miguel," Zachary said smoothly.

I paused and looked back. He was opening a dark folder at the corner of his desk, carefully studying a document inside.

He raised his head, his cold eyes locking onto mine with terrifying intensity.

"Your previous employer," his cold voice dropped even lower. "Why did you leave your last job as an investigative journalist six months ago?"

An icy shock ran straight through my blood, freezing the air in my lungs. My heart stopped beating.

I had erased my journalism background completely and built a clean, fake administrative profile. There was no possible way he should have known that.

I stood pinned under his gaze, unable to say a single word.

Lorelei.

My blood ran cold. The air in my lungs felt like ice. For two terrifying seconds, my heart stopped completely.

He knows.

If I panicked right now, it was over. Everything I had worked for over the last six months, the fake references, the erased digital history, the endless nights building a bulletproof administrative cover would shatter.

Showing fear now meant game over. I remembered the golden rule of surviving an interrogation: never admit to a lie until they have absolute proof.

I forced my hands to stay still at my sides and slowly turned around, keeping my expression completely blank, and walked back toward his desk.

Zachary leaned back in his chair, watching every tiny movement I made. His icy blue eyes tracked my face like a predator waiting for a prey to stumble.

"You seem surprised, Miss Miguel." He tapped the file with a long, manicured finger. "My security team runs a deep check on every applicant who