Chapter 14

I took a thoughtful sip from my cup of coffee.

It was still warm and still better than whatever headache Alexander caused me. I was still lost in thought for a while, not until my phone buzzed in my handbag.

Taking out my phone, the contact read Mia.

Mia: Sooo…how’s life after four hours at BluTech, bae?

I rolled my eyes at her text. Because what better way to pass the time than getting teased again for suddenly getting married to the brother of your best friend?

Me: I think I’ll need therapy soon.

Mia: Dr. Aria is available every Wednesdays and Fridays.

Me: Nice one, very funny Mia.

Mia: She does couples counselling too.

I didn’t waste my time to read the rest, as I locked my phone without replying. I was already planning how to end her when I get back home.

However, I couldn’t help but glance toward the corridor where the two men had disappeared into. I still thought about what they said, guessing what they were referring to with sounding too paranoid.

“Mrs. Thorne?”

I turned to the voice, and there stood Emma. She was standing just a few feet away, looking relieved she’d found me.

“There you are. Mr. Thorne has been looking for you.”

“Get him a fluffy pillow and he’ll stop.”

She froze, dumbfounded for a second, then shook her head holding back a laugh.

“Please come back with me to his office. We don’t want to keep him wating.” She said, giving a sympathetic smile.

I sighed out, almost groaning from frustration. Emma was forced to let out a soft chuckle at least, before leading me back toward the executive elevators.

As the doors closed, I caught my own reflection in the polished steel. “You’re working for a menace, Chloe. And you’re nuts yourself.” I muttered to myself.

We got to the executive floor and for some reason the atmosphere felt noticeably tense. With people walking much faster, phones ringing much constantly, and stacks of files being carried from one office to another.

And it dawned on me, that what happened at the conference room was becoming a bigger reveal than anticipated.

Emma knocked lightly before entering his office. Alexander didn’t even lift his head to acknowledge us entering.

“Sir, I found Mrs. Thorne.”

“Thank you, Emma.” He said and Emma excused herself, making room for me to go in and close the door behind me.

“You know,” I started, folding my arms, “normal employers wouldn’t send out a search party after their employees who disappeared for no less than twenty minutes.”

“They do,” he answered in a matter-of-fact tone, still having his focus glued to the paperwork in front of him. “When those employees wander off during an internal investigation.”

“I wasn’t wandering.”

“No?”

“I was…conducting crucial morale research.”

His brow raised, and he finally glanced my way.

“…At the café?”

“It has excellent coffee. Five stars on the cappuccino.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“You found something.”

I paused as a frown formed on my face. Because that didn’t sound like a question.

“How did you know?”

“You were able to observe and highlight a delicate problem no one else noticed.” He got up from his chair and walked around it, resting against his desk facing me. “It’s obvious you’re a very sensitive analyst.”

“Wow, and here I thought I’d end up a trophy wife. A decoration.”

“You talk too much to be considered decorative.”

“I’m adding that to the list of reasons I want to punch you.”

“The list must be quite long.”

“It comes in volumes actually.”

“Hm.” The corner of his mouth twitched. It was a slight reaction, but it was noticeable. That is if you squint your eyes.

“So, tell me. What was it you found out?”

I hesitated for a moment. “It might as well just be nothing.”

“I’ll decide whether it’s nothing.”

I sighed, setting my coffee on the desk. “Well…I overheard two employees near the café. And they seemed to have been talking about the expansion that got cancelled this morning.”

His gaze stayed fixed on me in a way that urged me to continue.

“Although, I’m not so sure, because I have zero evidence. But they did mention Daniel’s name specifically and I just assumed…”

Silence lingered for a brief second, before I continued. I repeated everything I heard as accurately as possible word-for-word, leaving nothing out.

And when I finished…the office became deathly silent.

Alexander didn’t speak, nor did he move. He simply stared out the floor-to-ceiling window by his side. And after what seemed like an eternity…

“…Interesting.”

That single word seemed to make a cold chill run down my spine.

-----

I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved…or terrified.

Alexander had given only one instruction after listening to all what I said that day.

“Leave it to me.”

And with that, the following weeks went by in a blur. BluTech had become a part of my routine as did Alexander. The mornings started with hurried breakfasts, because Alexander was somehow always ready before dawn. And then when in the car on our way to work, he’d bury himself in reports on his tablet, or occasionally decide to torment me with questions and his close proximity.

Then there was the investigation that were going on, which continued rather quietly. Alexander never spoke about it, as he kept me out of it, though not entirely. It actually got me pissed, but I learnt to live with his mysterious nature of doing things. Every report crossing his desk was now being verified twice, sometimes he’d call me into his office and other times he’d drop a file on my desk and simply say-

“Your opinion.” Without further explanation or information.

At first, I thought he was just testing me, but then, I understood that he was just turning me into his personal verifier. Like a firewall the documents had to pass through to ensure they were valid, accurate, and untainted.

However, I noticed that whenever I pointed out something odd, he would merely nod, before getting up and vanishing into the next meeting.

And by the end of the month, several managers had quietly resigned. No reason was stated, and no one asked why out loud. But the rumours spread.

----

Despite all that was going on at the office, things were relatively calm at home. I mostly spent time being teased or questioned by Mia, but moments with Alexander were endurable enough, and a bit flustering.

Like how he’d steal my coffee whenever he claimed his tasted “inferior”, whatever that means. And he still found entirely unnecessary reasons to tease me whenever I became too confident around him. And on particularly exhausting days, I’d occasionally find him sleeping on the sofa in his office lounge with paperwork scattered across the table.

The first time I saw it, I quietly threw a blanket over him. He never mentioned it nor sought to know the next day, but since then, there was always a blanket folded neatly on the sofa almost every night. As though he expected me to do it again. But I rarely did so ever again, because that just seemed creepy to me.

The Thorne family had also accepted me much more than when we had met. With how Chairman Thorne insisted on Sunday dinners, and Madam Diane continued pretending she wasn’t subtly interrogating me every week.

Despite all that had been going on, I felt it had been too peaceful. Not that I minded it though. And before I could realise it, two months had passed by.

----

Then on one quiet Saturday afternoon, I was lounging on the sofa with my laptop, examining the market trend reports that Alexander had casually dumped on me the previous evening.

His exact words had been, “Read it when you’re bored.” Which could only mean he wanted me to take my time finding the errors and whatever anyone missed.

And I was doing just that, with nice warm mug of coffee, when my phone vibrated.

Then again, and again.

I frowned at the fourth vibration, as I had now submitted to the distraction, and picked up my phone.

Twenty-three unread messages.

Mostly from Mia, one from an unknown number, and several from journalists.

…

Journalists?

An unpleasant feeling began to settle in my stomach.

I opened Mia’s messages first.

Mia: Bea.

Mia: Don’t go online yet.

Mia: Wait…

Mia: Nevermind, you can go online.

Mia: But promise me you won’t freak out.

Yeah, no shit, too late for that. I was bones deep into freaking out already.

And without another moment of hesitation, my fingers tapped on a trending news. And the headlines that was written in bold, gave me a shock.

CEO’s WIFE EXPOSED?

OLD SCANDAL BURIED - MRS THORNE HIDING HER PAST?