Chapter 8

[Maria]

Damian wasn’t here when I woke up this morning. The curtains in my room were still closed even though it was already 10 a.m. There were no sounds of a vacuum cleaner or footsteps in the hallway. The maid probably hadn’t come up to the second floor yet.

I splashed water on my face at the sink while trying to remember what had happened.

My head was a complete mess last night. It’s terrifying how the human body can react like that to trauma. I thought months of being away from them would make me forget and be fine. But just seeing the name and hearing her voice felt unbearable.

I went downstairs and sat at the dining table where breakfast had already been prepared. Ines, a maid who was more like my attendant, hurried over to me.

“Mr. Lee has already left, Ma’am.”

“I know. It’s already this late.”

“I’m terribly sorry, Ma’am. Mr. Lee said you didn’t need to be woken up.”

“It’s okay.”

I didn’t blame her. I was just not used to waking up this late. As I rubbed my temples, I tried to figure out what I needed to do.

First, for my father’s birthday, I didn’t have time to buy a new outfit since the event was the day after tomorrow. But I needed to get him a gift. Maybe some wine from Bellmoire— I remembered he liked that.

Then, I also needed to prepare something that would supposedly be a gift from Damian for him.

Ah, I also needed to sort out my business with Damian’s new secretary. I need to get the contract prepared by the lawyer right away. I glanced at the wall clock; if I handle it today, maybe I can pick up the draft by tomorrow morning. I have to make sure it’s finalized and that she signs the contract with me first before she signs the contract with HR.

“Ines, I’ll be going out on my own today. Tell my chauffeur he can take two days off.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

***

One day passed without any significant setbacks.

So far, my plan is still going smoothly. Yesterday, I met a small independent private lawyer to draft Hannah Barker’s contract.

Today, I was going to have her sign my contract.

I deliberately asked Hannah Barker to meet me at Bellmoire so I could buy some wine for my father at the same time.

This morning, I just picked up the contract draft. I admit their work was good and fast. I liked how they structured the things I requested into favorable clauses for me.

Once in the car, I removed my sunglasses and hat. Just to be safe, I didn’t want anyone seeing me leaving the lawyer’s office.

I put the contract into an envelope I bought myself. I also placed a sum of money I withdrew from the ATM into the same envelope. I didn’t have my chauffeur take me here or to my next meeting with Hannah Barker.

I had to get used to doing everything on my own for my plan, because no one could know.

Upon arriving at Bellmoire, I checked my phone and found out that Hannah Barker had sent me a message a few minutes earlier. I didn’t reply and quickly went inside the café.

Bellmoire wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to me, since my father had brought me here several times. Just the two of us, of course. I told the waiter I already had an appointment so there was no need to find me an empty table. It wasn’t hard to spot the brunette girl from the entrance. I walked over to her.

“Hannah Barker?” I smiled. “Can I sit down?”

“Oh, sure… please.”

I sat right across from her.

She must be hungry from waiting for me for who knows how long. I called the waiter to order food for her.

“For the food, what’s today’s recommendation? I’ll just have that. For the drink, a signature latte for me.” I remembered ordering that here before. It was pretty good. I turned to Hannah Barker. “What would you like to order?”

“Sparkling mineral water.”

“Is that all?”

Hannah nodded firmly.

Oh, maybe she was on a diet.

“We’ve met before during the interview, haven’t we?”

Hannah nodded. “That’s right.”

“Maybe I should reintroduce myself.” I extended my hand. “I’m Maria, Damian Lee’s wife.”

She looked surprised but still took my hand.

“I’m Hannah Barker.”

I chuckled. She was so amusing. “I know.”

“You’ve already taken care of resigning from your current job, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Don’t call me that when we’re alone. Just call me Maria. When it’s just the two of us, I don’t want you to see me as your boss’s wife.” I made imaginary quotation marks with my fingers. I took her hand. “Think of me as your client.”

From her expression, she still didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about. Maybe she was confused from the start. So I let her process it while explaining the details.

“Outside your official job, I want you to do what I tell you without Damian or anyone else finding out. You’ll report directly to me.”

“Like a spy? A double agent?”

“Mm, yeah, something like that.”

Our orders arrived. It looked good.

“Thank you,” I said to the waiter. I would tip him later.

“So you trust me? I mean, you believe I won’t flirt with your husband instead?”

I laughed again. In fact, she was supposed to flirt with my husband.

“You will do as I say. That’s what I believe.”

I took out two envelopes I had prepared and pushed them toward her one by one.

“This is a contract with an NDA clause for you to sign. And this one is your signing bonus.”

Hannah seemed more interested in the money than the contract itself. Which didn’t matter to me. From the beginning, she said she could do any kind of job, right? Whatever it was shouldn’t be a problem for her. I just needed to convince her with money.

“Do you want to count it first?”

“Is this real?”

Did she think I pranked her or something?

“Yeah. And we don’t have much time. Aren’t you supposed to go to RQL after this to sign your contract? You don’t want to be late, do you?”

I sipped my latte. It was delicious. Maybe it tasted good because my plan went smoothly, as Hannah Barker finally signed the documents.

“Besides your salary from the office, you’ll also receive money from me. So you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll compensate you.”

“Is this job dangerous? I mean, what happens if Mr. Damian Lee finds out?”

“I. Will. Compensate. You,” I said firmly.

What would happen to her anyway? Nothing. At worst, she would only lose her job. The dangerous position was mine. That was why I carefully arranged the contract so Hannah Barker wouldn’t leak anything to anyone.

Hannah Barker didn’t touch the food I ordered for her at all and left carrying only her bottle of mineral water. Oh, she almost tried to return a bill from the envelope I gave her, saying it was to pay for her meal.

Pfft. How funny.

***

This evening, Damian came home a bit late.

At least that was the message I received; he said he would be late. I expected Damian Lee to come home late at night, but no, he was only thirty minutes later than usual.

Which, this time, I didn’t mind. I told him earlier in the afternoon that I wanted to talk about something tonight. Something quite important to me. So the earlier he came home, the better.

When he came home from work, Damian brought a bouquet of lilies and a box with a ribbon.

Other wives might blush and feel touched when their husbands come home with flowers. But not me. Because I knew it wasn’t for me.

“What is that?”

“We have to attend your father’s birthday party tomorrow, don’t we?” He lifted a small box in his hand. “A watch for your father.”

Ah, I nodded in understanding. My father must have invited him directly. Good, I didn’t need to persuade Damian to come.

“You don’t need to bring flowers for his wife, I mean, mother.” I said bitterly while taking the flowers from his hand. “Besides, she hates lilies.”

She even hates hearing that name.

I called out to a maid and gestured for her to take the flowers away.

“But thanks for buying this.” My hand reached for the box in his hand. “Actually, I already bought your father’s favorite wine as a gift.” I added, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“How could I not come to my father-in-law’s birthday party?”

Of course. They had a relationship to maintain. It wouldn’t look good to people if the son-in-law didn’t attend an important family event. Not only as his son-in-law, Damian would also be associated with his family name and his company.

I just hope that if they don’t respect me as my father’s daughter tomorrow, at least they’ll respect me as Damian Lee’s wife, the heir to the RQL Group.