Chapter 1 A Perfect Mask, A Dangerous Fixation

My name was Heather Rhodes, and I was a full-blown possessive psychopath.

The most irrational, lust-driven thing I had ever done in my life was falling in love with Cassian Knox at first sight. Well, that and immediately turning down two high-paying job offers just to work as his secretary.

In other people's eyes, I was the model corporate grinder with a permanently welded poker face. I was efficient and a consummate professional. I was utterly unflappable even in the face of crisis.

Everyone naturally assumed that I was just uninterested in most worldly affairs aside from my career.

Only I knew the truth, and that was the fact that I was practically starving for my boss, Cassian.

I had carefully kept every scrap of paper he had written on. I would hug the clothes he sent me to the dry cleaners and inhale them deeply.

Hell, I was so desperate that my room might as well be a shrine dedicated to him, with pictures of his face on various covers of financial magazines plastered all over my room.

Once, he caught me printing one of those pictures.

Cassian quirked a brow slightly at that, silently asking me for an explanation.

I looked at his striking features, my heart caught between guilt and excitement.

Yet, my expression remained perfectly composed as I replied evenly, "You have achieved remarkable success in the industry, Mr. Knox. I see you as my role model, so I wanted to print out your magazine covers and keep them in sight as motivation."

It sounded sincere, almost too sincere.

Cassian actually coughed lightly, likely feeling a little awkward. "That's… thoughtful of you, Ms. Rhodes."

After saying that, he went off to a meeting. Somehow, his gait felt a little lighter than usual. Regardless, that didn't really matter. What mattered was that at least now everything was somewhat out in the open.

Hence, I began displaying his photos on my desk without the slightest restraint.

A newly arrived male intern, unaware of the situation, spotted them and grinned as he teased, "What's this, Ms. Rhodes? Do you like the CEO?"

He leaned in to examine the photos, casually draping an arm over my shoulder.

I subtly shifted away from him to create some distance between us. I was just about to respond when Andrew from the next desk spoke up for me. "You'd have better odds betting the Jets win the Super Bowl than seeing Ms. Rhodes fall for someone."

I gave a tight, insincere smile and nodded curtly. Then, I rose to my feet to usher the intern out of the office. "If you don't have anything urgent, please return to your desk. I need to remind Mr. Knox of his next meeting."