ANMELDEN"....Did something happen?"Alura whispered to herself.The first thing she noticed immediately she entered the lobby was the whispers. It was not the usual gossiping whispers or work discussion, it was something else. The ground floor was buzzing with tension, Junior secretaries huddled in small clusters. Head of departments stood in the hallways, their heads joined together as they stared wide eyed at their glowing phone screens.She shrugged it off as she walked past them, heading for the fortieth floor. Alura set her purse down on her desk, She opened the desktop to check her morning emails, but there were no urgent work emails. So she pulled out her phone to check for personal messages, but a notification from the local Cedarville news app popped up on the screen.Sitting at the very top of the most popular gossip forum was a post that had already gone viral. The bold, red text practically screamed off the screen.*$100 MILLION REWARD for verified information about CEO Lucius Hu
After the awkward situation at the break room, everything seemed to change.Alura hadn't been disturbed by Ethan throughout the next day, whatever Lucuis had told him completely put him back in his place.And she was really grateful to Lucuis, her admiration for him increased, he always seemed to save her from difficult situations. He was her hero.She finally felt relieved, and had happily done her last work for the week. The next day at her apartment, it was quiet except for the furious scratching of a pen against paper.Alura lay flat on her stomach in her bedroom. She was biting her bottom lip so hard it was turning red. A thick, leather bound diary rested on her pillow. Her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of pink as her hand flew across the pages, writing down her deepest, most embarrassing thoughts.She was writing about Lucuis. About his terrifying aura yet very attractive hot looks.Even though Alura wasn't sexually experienced, she had a thing for writing hot and detailed
Over the rest of the week, the executive floor became a living nightmare for Alura.Ethan made it his personal mission to interact with her as much as possible. His harassment was deliberate and perfectly masked behind a fake, smile. He found a dozen different excuses to come up to the fortieth floor. He dropped off basic printed files that could easily have been sent via a simple email. He hovered near the copy machine whenever she walked down the hall. He would always rush into the elevator when ever she was already in, trapping both if them in, and those few minutes she had to share the same space with him and breath the same air with him were the most annoying and uncomfortable moments of her life.The worst part was the way he spoke to her."Good morning, Alura dear," Ethan would say, leaning against the edge of her desk with a familiarity that made her skin literally crawl.He always said it just loud enough for the other junior secretaries to hear. He wanted everyone to thin
CEDARVILLE."Thank goodness he didn't reject it." Alura said as she sat her reception desk. She had successfully delivered Lucius's morning coffee exactly as he liked it.But he had not said a single word to her.She opened her computer, clicking on the company's newsletter that dropped into everyone's inbox that morning.Her eyes scanned the bold text. *Hunt Group Welcomes New Planning Consultant.*Alura went ahead to read the small paragraph below the headline. But she froze instantly.*We are pleased to announce that Ethan Hale will be joining the Planning Consultant team for a six month contract to assist with market expansion.*"No," Alura whispered to herself, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. "No, no, no. This is a joke. This has to be a joke."But it wasn't a joke. A small photograph of a smiling man with dark hair slicked to the back and a dark suit was attached to the email.It was Ethan Hale. Her ex-boyfriend from college.A wave of nausea washed over her. She hadn
ASHFORD BAY.The hormone treatments were taking a huge toll on Abigail’s body.By her fourth morning of receiving the daily injection, she felt miserable. A dull ache settled deep in her lower abdomen. Her head throbbed with persistent migraine, the nausea made the thought of food unbearable. And even though the weather was really warm she wore a thick wool cardigan over her shivering shoulders.She walked slowly into the dining area of the Grey's penthouse.He was already sitting at the long glass table, dressed casually in a dark blue turtleneck and trousers, and drinking a cup of black coffee while scrolling through his tablet.Abigail paused by the doorway, looking confused. She checked the clock on the wall. It was 9:50 AM. Grey was a man who practically worshipped his schedule. He never left for the office a single minute past seven o'clock."You are still here?," Abigail murmured softly, pulling out a chair and sitting down.Grey didn't look up from his screen. "I cleared my mo
"Uhm, Sir, his name is... his name is... Ethan Hale," she managed to say.The moment the words left her lips, Alura wanted to bite her own tongue off. She just mentioned the worst male name currently buried in her past trauma, apart from Percy.Behind the desk, Lucius arched a brow."Ethan Hale," Lucius repeated slowly. The name tasted like poison in his mouth. He looked back up at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Why do you sound so hesitant to tell me his name, and why don't you answer his surname Miss Wayne?"Alura’s heart hammered violently against her ribs. She swallowed hard, searching for any excuse to explain her stuttering."I am....I'm just a bit shy, Sir," she lied, forcing her voice to sound honest. "I don't usually talk about my personal life at work. And I try hard to avoid it that's why I allow people to use my own surname. Last Friday was just out of my control."Lucius stared at her. He looked completely unconvinced. But he did not pry further. Pushing her right no







