CHAPTER 001

An average person hates Monday mornings, but I have hated my life for the past seven years. 

Sitting in the back of the car, I clasped my palms together, rubbing them absently in a vain attempt to warm the cold dread crawling up my spine. But no amount of heat could ever thaw the ice that had settled in my heart over the past seven years.

It's funny how time doesn't wait for you to heal and how it didn't wait for me to outgrow the scars that came from harmless wishful thinking. I shrugged and looked outside the window at the skyline of the bustling city and the most magnificent building in the whole country where I worked. 

But I am far from excited. I will soon be standing before “...the very face that ruined my life without even realising it, by never looking at me the way I wished.

“Which spot in the VIP parking lot, is yours, Ma'am, the middle one”

“No,” I screamed in response to my new driver, my eyes widening in shock. “Turn in the other direction,” I raised my hand and pointed. “Drop me at the regular parking lot.”

“But aren't you Mr Harrington's secretary?” 

That question punched my heart and twisted it into a knot, making my throat close up in a choking cough. That was what the whole world saw and believed, but I was his fated mate, chosen by the moon goddess. 

He would never sense what I had sensed; he would never feel it, that compelling mate's bond which made me choose to remain by his side, tethering me to a love he can never return. 

I loved to see his face, even though it was hurtful. I craved the sound of his voice, even though it tore at my heart every time I heard it. 

I chose to live as his mistress, his clandestine lover, even though we should have been married, bound together as fated mates. I live in the shadows of his life, his secret, a lover in the dark while the world sees me as nothing. I stayed because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him. The bond pulled me to him, even though I knew it would never pull him to me.

“Good morning, ma'am. Welcome to work.”

“Oh,” I murmured, the sudden voice pulling me from my thoughts. I turned in the direction of the speaker, offering a small smile. “It’s good to see you this morning.”

“Thank you, James,” I replied. “I hope you have a pleasant day at work.”

“And you too... Wait.” He called after me just as I made my way toward the elevator. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

I paused, turning back to him. “Oh? What is it?”

“The boss has asked you to review the new design we just made for the products.”

“But Draven usually handles that himself. Why is he suddenly assigning the task to me?”

James cringed at the mention of the boss’s real name, and I rolled my eyes at his reaction. I had known that name long before anyone else around here did.

“He’s... occupied this morning,” James said carefully. “He has a visitor.”

“A visitor?” I frowned, glancing at my wristwatch. “Who could be visiting the boss this early?”

James shrugged, avoiding my gaze as he took my handbag and led me toward the department. But I felt like something wasn't right. A chill ran down my spine, and without knowing why, I felt a sudden wave of unease washing over me.

The department was a wide room on the fourth and seventh floors of the skyscraper. It had a view of the ocean and the other buildings in the city. The office was made up of 7 rows of seats, each seat facing a computer. I paused and took a long glance at the bowed heads working tirelessly. 

“Where are the new designs located?" I questioned. 

“This way ma'am," he answered, gesturing to the seat at the end of the room. I hadn't gotten close to the computer when I saw the reason I was having a bad feeling. Her face broke into a sinister smile as we locked eyes. 

“What are you doing here Sophia?" I asked as authoritatively and boldly as the fear in my stomach would allow. I didn't wake up with the inkling that I would be having a bad day, but turns out I would. The devilish face before me had already resurrected the ugly memories in my mind. As if the torment I had had to endure all these years wasn't enough. 

“I am talking to you, Sophia. What are you doing here, what business do you have in this office.”

"Oh, slow down bitch.” she answered, scanning me from head to toe, as though I were a cockroach she would soon stomp to death. My brother's company is not the same as his bed,know where to draw the line.”

Those words stung, like the pain of a thousand slaps to the middle of my face. Sophia didn't hesitate to cause a scene, as everyone in the office turned in our direction now. 

"I can't believe you have refused to leave my brother alone.” she continued, raising her voice so that the crowd could hear us. “I mean, where is your self, Aveline? Is it not enough that you sedated my brother and slept with him because you wanted a share of his billion-dollar wealth? What are you still doing in his life? I understand that you are a poor orphan looking like a leech, but still." 

She placed her hands on her hips and moved towards me, her eyes burning with so much hatred and distaste that I felt it burning through me. 

I had only read about one-way mates in books. I had no idea that the moon goddess would put me in such a bond. I felt a connection to Draven Harrington as soon as I started working here. I worked hard until he promoted me from the status of secretary to that of PA. 

Three years after my stay in this company, Draven got in a car accident and sustained some injuries. To keep the news out of the public eye, he settled for home treatments. I worked as a part-time nurse while I oversaw the affairs of the company. 

During this time, the mate's bond between us became intense, but I didn't know that I was heading into his trap. It then happened that we got intimate one night; I was happy to finally feel the touch of my mate, which I had been longing for. 

We shared a kiss during the act, but Draven did not seem to feel anything ignored this thought it was the effect of the many medicines they had been taking, but I saw the truth in the morning. 

Draven practically accused me of sexual abuse, he asked me to leave, blaming me for making him commit an unprofessional action. I asked him if he had felt the mate bond, but he didn't. 

I did research of my own and discovered that this was a rare case of one-way mating. 

The two of us decided to put the past together, and I continued working for him. But a part of Draven desired me lustfully, and I had given in to him thinking it was better than not having a piece of him at all. Until now, when another life has begun to grow within me. I had been happy about this development, thinking it would finally change Draven 's disposition towards me. 

"Did you hear what I said, Aveline? I said Emily is back.”

I remember now, that Jacob said Draven had received a visitor early this morning. Without further contemplation, I spun on my heel and went directly into Draven 's office, not bothering to knock on the door. 

And there it was, the scene that would traumatise me for life. I froze, watching as they spoke, their bodies angled toward each other in a way that made my heart ache. He looked at Emily with a familiarity and warmth I had never seen on his face.

Emily turned to me, that flawless smile never wavering as she spoke. “I know you’re his secretary, but you must understand something…” She stepped closer, eyes gleaming with superiority. “I’m his true mate. I always have been.”