Lia could not believe that it was the same man with whom she collided at the door of the building, the same day of the interview and did not hide for a second the great displeasure caused by his presence because that day she felt belittled by his attitude towards her.

At the same time, he was thinking, how could such a clumsy woman have been selected after that meticulous selection process? Well, he had appointed the best professionals in the different fields, to perform the evaluations, who not only had a wide range of skills, but also shared a loyalty to Estebans Véliz, mainly to him.

"I'm sorry! Although I have no idea what this job is about, just knowing that this man... ", she pointed her finger at him in a derogatory attitude "And I will be working in the same space, I don't want to know about it" she spoke boldly, at the same time she got up from her seat, however, she had not yet walked two steps away, when the voice of one of the lawyers stopped her.

"Miss Ontiveros, are you sure you want to leave without listening to us? Do you really want to leave here without knowing what you committed to when you signed this contract? " Asked the man, taking the folder, which she hastily signed in a fit of impulsivity.

Turning around, she identified him as the lawyer, named Liam, who watched her with a stiff expression on his face.

For a moment, she hesitated because she disliked that they wanted to impose things on her, so her first reaction was to run out of there, not before sending them to hell or ignoring them completely, but when she saw the expression of the man who entered last and with whom she collided days before and who seemed to be responsible for everything, a little scare came over her.

"Let her go, Liam! Maybe she doesn't care that for breach of contract the Estebans companies can act against her and strip her before her time, of the only asset she has, necessary to pay the debts of her recently deceased parents, or failing that, listen to us and decide based on our conversation "added Paul with a smile, although it lacked sincerity and kindness, it was just a simple gesture of mockery.

"How do you know that? How did you get access to that personal information?" she asked distressed, also feeling a little scared to hear, from his lips, everything related to her family and economic situation.

"Definitely, you are very ignorant, and you are underestimating us" spoke the man looking at her again with that arrogant attitude, "Do you think you are getting involved with anyone? Let me make it clear once again, you are dealing with the Estebans conglomerate of companies, and not just any employee, I am the CEO, the top executive, as well as the main shareholder, Marco Estebans Véliz Zuloaga" he said haughtily.

For a moment, Lía felt shocked, even intimidated for a couple of seconds, to have one of the most powerful men in the country in front of her, however, when she reacted, she shook her head strongly to simulate her surprise and not to show any sign of weakness, on the contrary, she appeared indifferent, showing him how little importance this had for her.

"And what of that? Am I to be flattered to be in your presence? To bow down to you and worship you as if you were a god? I don't think you're worthy of that because I don't see anything special about you, or different from any man."

She lied because she truly thought the man was too attractive and if it weren't for the lout, he would win her admiration, though she wasn't planning to give in any way, not even for the most beautiful man in the world.

It was inevitable to see the surprised expression of the lawyers, since no one treated the CEO in that way, everyone respected him and went out of their way to please him, besides, the clenched jaw of Estebans Véliz, grinding his teeth, who upon hearing her words and seeing himself for the first time belittled by another person, clenched his fists and came dangerously close to Lía threateningly.

"Do you want to go on living!"he asked indignantly, the young woman shrugged her shoulders indifferently and that increased his anger "Apologize to me and retract your words, so I will have compassion on you, if you don't, you will have to abide by the consequences because I don't answer for my actions."

"I will not retract my thoughts! You may have a lot of money, fame, power, riches, but keep in mind, with all that, you do not reach my dignity because it is unbreakable, no one can trample it even if you are very high" he spoke fiercely, while he turned around again.

"Take one more damn step and I swear you will know who Marco Estebans Véliz Zuloaga is" he spat furiously.

However, Lia's anger was not less, she didn't lower her head before anything, she was daring, and she loved challenges.

"Is it that you don't know how, but to threaten? Well, there is a very accurate saying that says, "a barking dog does not bite" and you are clearly one of those, I am not afraid of you, and I will not be intimidated by you, if you like, dare to stop me, who inspires respect does not need to threaten" she said with a smile of apparent contempt and began to walk towards the door, without even bothering to close it because she intended to get the powerful CEO out of his mind.

When she thought she had gotten rid of the man, just as she reached the elevator she felt herself being pulled backwards, at the same time a hand covered her mouth, to stifle her screams, in the meantime, she tried her best to free herself from the strong grip.

 

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you didn't even know. These are what make the mechanism flexible, what make you go beyond the norm." Cicely Tyson.