All Chapters of My Secretary Is The Mistress: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Helen's heels slowed slightly against the polished floor the moment she stepped fully into the executive department.Everything looked painfully normal. Phones ringing. Assistants speaking quietly across desks. The printer near accounting hummed through what sounded like an unreasonable amount of paper for eight in the morning. Someone was laughing briefly. All of it exactly as it always was.Which felt almost offensive.She adjusted the strap of her bag and kept her expression neutral and walked the way she always walked—purposeful, composed, like a woman who had slept properly and hadn't spent the cab ride home pressing her fingers to her mouth.Linda sat at her desk.Technically working. Fingers on her keyboard. Eyes on her screen.Except Helen knew Linda's actually-working posture and this wasn't it. This was Linda's performing-working-while-monitoring-the-situation posture, which was an entirely different thing and which Helen had been on the receiving end of enough times to re

DINNERHelen should have said no.The thought followed her immediately after the question left his mouth.Not because she wanted to refuse.Because she didn’t trust how badly she wanted to say yes.The executive floor felt quieter now, almost suspended in the soft glow of evening lights. Most employees had gone home. The city outside the glass windows shimmered gold and silver against the darkening Manhattan sky.And Cole was still looking at her like the answer mattered more than it should.Helen set the last folder down slowly.“It’s late,” she said carefully.“It’s dinner,” he replied.“That’s not the same thing.”A little smile touched his mouth. “You overthink when you’re nervous.”“And you notice too much.”“Yes.”The calm confidence in that answer made her heartbeat increase. Cole stepped closer, loosening his tie completely now, the sharpness of CEO composure softening around the edges after a long day.“Have dinner with me, Helen.”She exhaled softly. “One dinner.”Somethi

LONG DAYS AND QUITE QUESTIONThe next morning started before sunrise for Cole.By seven-thirty, he was already inside the conference room with investors from Chicago projected across the screen while legal teams argued over numbers nobody seemed satisfied with.Helen only saw him briefly when he walked out between meetings with coffee in one hand and his phone in the other.“Morning,” he said quickly, slowing near her desk.“Morning.”For one second, it felt like he might stop longer.Like maybe he wanted to.But another manager approached him immediately with a folder, and the moment disappeared before either of them could touch it.“Boardroom in five minutes, sir.”Cole nodded once before looking back at Helen.“You ate breakfast today?”The question caught her off guard.A small smile pulled at her mouth. “Yes.”“Good.”Then he was gone again.And somehow that one word stayed with her for hours.The entire building felt restless that day.Phones rang endlessly.Departments kept sen

SEEN WITHOUT SEEING“My mother is here.”Helen blinked at him slowly, still trying to steady her breathing from everything that had almost happened between them.The words barely registered at first.A minute ago she'd been sitting across his lap on the balcony outside his office, both of his hands wrapped around her waist while the New York skyline glowed beneath them. His forehead had almost touched hers again. His mouth had been inches away.Then his phone interrupted.Once.Twice.Three times.And now apparently the caller had arrived in person.“At your office?” she whispered.Cole looked genuinely annoyed for the first time all night.“Yes.”“At this hour?”“She doesn’t care what time it is if she wants something.”Helen stared at him. “That sounds terrifying.”“It is.”Despite the tension pressing between them, she nearly smiled.But the smile faded quickly when she noticed neither of them had moved apart yet.His hands were still resting against her waist.Firm.Warm.Possessi

THE ONE WHO ARRIVED Her mother looked equally confused. The knocking came again. This time louder. More certain. Not rushed, not hesitant—just persistent enough to make it clear the person outside was not leaving. Helen felt it before she understood it. A shift in her chest, subtle but immediate. Something is tightening without permission. Her mother finally reached for the lock. The sound clicked through the apartment like something final being decided. Helen didn’t realize she had stepped closer until she was already behind her mother, watching over her shoulder. The door opened slowly. Cold air slipped inside first. Then the hallway light. For a moment, there was nothing