Chapter 1: A Secret

• Chapter-1: A Secret
• Aria Anastasia
• My black heels were clicking loudly as I took large steps while making my way to the cabin on the twenty-eighth floor. The entire floor had a waiting lounge, a reception where an assistant was present, and a familiar cabin of my boss, as in Zaiden Storm.
• I knocked on the polished door, asking, "May I come in?"
• "Come in," came a deep curt reply.
• I stepped inside after opening the door, only to find Zaiden leaning against his black leather chair, his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop.
• "Why are you so rude?" I kept the blue file on the desk, looking at the annoying man, Mr. Zaiden Storm, who also happened to be the CEO of this company.
• Well, I wasn't Mr. Zaiden Storm's secretary. I was the MD of the Storm Fashion Industry, and Zaiden was just my boss with whom I have been working for the past two years, ever since he has become the CEO.
• Zaiden raised his brows, smirking in my direction after looking away from the laptop. "Does it look like I have to answer you, Miss?"
• I could feel steam coming out of my ears as I curved my fists into a ball. With a fake smile on my lips which I managed to put, I asked, "Boss, why did you tell my secretary to stay within her limits when she just gave you the blue file which contains information for the Arizon Fashion?"
• Zaiden crossed his arms against his chest and said, "How can you send your assistant to give me the file you were supposed to give? Aria, you know I hate it when someone doesn't keep their word."
• I glanced at Zaiden's green eyes, wondering whether he was serious or not. Then again, he never joked about anything as far as I knew. So I spoke up with a sigh, "Zaiden, I promised to give you this file and my assistant handed it to you. Why did you yell at her? And you didn't even take the file."
• "Well, you brought the file now, and I will give your assistant a bonus as an apology I don't mean at all." Zaiden looked back at the screen of his laptop and asked, "Any more problems?"
• I shook my head in disappointment at his behavior. This guy would never change. He was so annoying and rude. How was I surviving by working with him? Only God knew.
• I breathed out, "You are impossible, Zaiden." With that, I marched out of his cabin, pushing a few strands of my ginger hair behind my ear.
• My messy bun was really messy today because I woke up late in the morning. If I hadn't come here on time, Zaiden would get the chance to make me work overtime and I hated midnight work.
• As I was near my cabin on the floor below Zaiden's, I saw my assistant, Yana Aled, who was a still crying mess. She was sitting in front of my door with a chair—she would do that every time she was having a bad day. Her desk was near my cabin, so she would just pull the chair and sit in front of the door until I asked her what had happened.
• Well, even I shiver when Zaiden yells, so it must be hard on Yana.
• "Yana," I called out to her, and she looked at me with her teary brown eyes. "Zaiden feels bad for yelling at you and wants to compensate by giving you a bonus next month."
• "Really?" Even at the mention of money, Yana's tears vanished instantly. "Is the boss really feeling guilty?"
• I cleared my throat and nodded my head. I knew I was lying, but as long as Zaiden didn't find out, it wouldn't be a problem for me.
• Yana got up from her chair and asked me further, "What else did the boss exactly say? Please, tell me, Ma'am. I really want to know." Her brown eyes grew bigger, as I pictured her ears growing wider to hear some more praises and apologies from Zaiden.
• God, forgive me for the big lie I will say now.
• "Zaiden said that he feels extremely guilty and sad for hurting such a wonderful woman who does her work very efficiently. He was afraid that you would quit the job. He didn't want to lose a huge gem of the company, which is you, Yana," I started exaggerating further, "These are the exact words of him by the way."
• "What else?" she asked again with excitement.
• How many apologies and praises does one need to hear? Didn't I say enough?
• "He doesn't seem so soft, I know. But in his heart, he is really soft-hearted. As soon as I entered his cabin, his first words were, Please, apologize to Ms. Aled on my behalf."
• "Really?"
• "Ye—" I stopped midway when I realized that the person who said 'really' wasn't Yana. My heart started leaping out in fear. I wanted to cry, but I managed my posture and turned around to face my boss, who heard every damn word I said.
• "Zaiden," I breathed out, my hand was now on Yana's desk, to prevent myself from stumbling backward due to Zaiden's intimidating aura.
• I was afraid my white shirt would turn red because I would be bleeding to death now. The glare Zaiden gave me, he was already stabbing me in his mind. His hands were in the pocket of his dark green suit.
• "Aria, I shall drop you home after you work overtime tonight," he said, pure calmness lingering in his tone as if he just offered me chocolates on Halloween.
• Fear engulfed me at the thought that he would expose my lies to Yana, and she would quit working under me. The thought of looking for a new secretary really sucked.
• However, Zaiden didn't actually utter any more words further. Rather he just said, "Get back to work, the two of you."
• Sparing one last glare in my direction, he went to check the other floors. He would always check whether his employees were working properly or not. I really admired his dedication to work, but not his rude nature though. He never appreciated anyone for anything. Once I told Zaiden to appreciate his assistant for taking care of him, but his words were, 'I pay him for this. I see no point in praising him.'
• "Thank you so much, Ma'am," Yana said with a wide smile, snapping me out of my thoughts. She moved back to her desk after pulling the chair from the front of the door.
• "You are welcome," I uttered and got into my cabin, sulking for a while because of the overtime work I had to do tonight. This was the second time I was working overtime. The first time I worked overtime was when I attended a meeting late.
• According to my skills, I was the managing director of the company—I applied for the post as soon as the company started hiring every employee from the start. Turns out, my portfolio was impressive.
• I decided to check on the new deal we signed recently until my phone clicked.
• Kael: Is my son giving you a hard time again? I saw the routine and Zaiden added overtime work for you.
• I chuckled seeing the text.
• Mr. Kael Storm was Zaiden's father, but he was a great man. He has set up the business and expanded it worldwide. He was my idol in business. After I got into the company, he interviewed me along with Zaiden, and since then; he has adored me a lot. In fact, he would check up on me all the time to see whether I was doing okay or Zaiden was giving me a hard time. He was like a father-figure and I felt proud that in his busy schedule, he would still have time to ask me about my welfare.
• I decided to reply to him.
• Aria: He yelled at my assistant and I lied to my assistant saying he was sorry. He heard me, and this is how I got the precious gift of working overtime.
• Kael: Ooops. You should be careful, my daughter. Zaiden has eyes and ears everywhere.
• I agreed with him. Zaiden was probably the scariest among his brothers. He had seven brothers, including him. I haven't met any of them though, I just saw their pictures. Apart from Zaiden, I only knew his father, Kael.
• After working for a few hours, it was half-past eight. I couldn't leave the office since I had to work till midnight. The entire office was silent and I could feel it. I got a headache by looking at the screen of the laptop for a long time. So I decided to make myself a cup of espresso.
• I got up from my chair and made my way to the coffee machine in my room. My cabin was very spacious, and I had almost every facility here.
• I pressed the button on the machine after keeping a mug beneath it.
• All of a sudden, I was feeling my headache getting worse, so I tried to massage my head. That was when I noticed the coffee machine wasn't working at all. I tried for some more time, but it wasn't working.
• "Fuck my luck," I grumbled and got out of my office room. The cafeteria was closed by now, so the only person who had a coffee machine in his cabin was Zaiden. He told me he would drop me home, which meant he was in the office. "I should go to his cabin."
• I walked to the private elevator and made my way to Zaiden's cabin one more time. I wanted to knock, but the door was slightly open. Hesitantly, I pushed the door a little more, and the next thing I saw made me gasp as my hands immediately covered my mouth. My eyes grew wide in horror as three pairs of eyes, including the familiar green eyes, looked at me.
• Zaiden had a gun in his hand, while the other two people were dragging a dead body that was lying on the floor. A dead body.
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