Chapter 29
I stepped into the office and blinked.
My desk was… clear. Completely clear.
No mountain of papers. No passive–aggressive sticky notes. No dumped
dumped assignments. Just a laptop, a single folder, and a neat pen holder.
I stood still for a second, trying to process it. Karl had actually listened to me? That tantrum I threw earlier–I thought it’d get me fired, not… this.
Ldropped into my chair and looked around.
Okay. Maybe he wasn’t a complete ice block. Maybe there was a flicker of humanity under all that jawline and pressed suits. I reached for the mouse, opened the email tab, and stared at it…and stared.
Three hours later, I wanted to cry.
It was so quiet. So painfully dull I had read the same welcome document four times. Tried to Google how to organize a legal file. Even reorganized my sticky notes by color at one point
Every now and then, Karl’s voice would float through the wall, deep and muffled. He was actually working. Like really working. Like signing–stuff- and–solving–real–problems working.
Meanwhile, I was fighting the urge to put my head down on the keyboard and nap.
At some point, the office buzzed with movement as staff started leaving. It was barely four.
Lucky bastards.
But not me. I was Karl Lever’s secretary. Which meant I was apparently chiained to this desk until he decided he was done breathing for the day. By six o’clock, I was nearly vibrating from restlessness.
I grabbed my bag and stood so fast I almost knocked over the pen
holder.
Finally. Freedom.
But before I could even take a step…
“Ellen, Karl’s vorce cut acr
cut across the office. He was standing near my desk, hands in his pockets like he owned the air around him.
1 cured slowly. “Yeah?”
He glanced down at my bag. “Put that away. You’ll need to get ready.
My eyes narrowed. “Ready for what?”
“There’s a celebration dunner tonight!
I stared. “A what now?”
It’s my first official week as CEO here,” he said, already turning toward his office again. “Of course I want to meet with the full executive team.”
My lips parted. “Wall we’re not going homer
He paused, looked back.
“You’ll need to change. Something formal”
“Could this day get any w
worse.” I mattered under my breath as I dropped my bag back on the desk.
He didn’t respond. Juu walked back into his office like he hadn’t just ruined what little energy I had left in me.
I slumped–back into the chair, stared at the motor for a beat, and sighed
Great, just great
I didn’t even know where to begin
Was I supposed to just magically have a formal dress lying around! I opened the closet in the office’s private room and froze.
1/3
Chapter 29
There it was.
A sleek black dress hanging on a hook, tags still on. Next to it, a pair of heels in my exact size, and a small black clutch resting underneath. There was a card tucked into the hanger.
Wear this.
No name. No signature. Just that. His handwriting.
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide the smile tugging at my lips.
The dress fit perfectly, of course. It hugged my waist, dipped at the back just enough to be elegant, not too much. The hem stopped mid–thigh with a slight flare, and the fabric was cool and expensive against my skin.
1 fixed my hair in the mirror, letting a few curls fall loose around my face. Slid into the heels, dabbed on some gloss, and stared at my reflection.
I looked good. Really good.
Hot enough to walk into
any room and not feel like an afterthought.
By the time I stepped into the car beside Karl, I could feel his gaze slide over to me just once, quiet and unreadable. He didn’t say anything, just reached out and opened the door like it was routine,
The venue was a rooftop bar. Glass walls, string lights and a soft breeze.
It was packed with staff.
Men in suits. Women in heels. Laughter, drinks, soft jazz playing over the speakers. Everyone was already mingling.
Karl stepped into the room like he owned it The shift in energy was instant
People straightened their postures. Smiles widened. Conversations paused
He moved through the crowd effortlessly, shaking hands, greeting board members, locking eyes with department heads and nodding like they were all equals.
I stood a few steps behind, watching-
Bored out of my mind, sure, but also… impressed.
He was different here, not cold kr sharp.
I held a glass of something sparkling, pretending to sip a while my eyes kept drifting to him. He didn’t look back once,
Of course he didn’t, he was busy charming the entire floor
And I was just… here, trying not to look like the lonely plus–one of a man who technically was my husband, but barely even remembered I was in
I leaned against the Lar, one lacel slapping out of place as I shifted my weight. My hand curled around the stem of the glass before me. Some waiter
I didn’t even look at had just poured me something clear and cold. I took a sip. Then another
Then I stopped sipping. I knocked the whole thing back.
The second it hit, my chest warmed. I exhaled hard and poured another.
How did I even get here!
Not just here. But here
Married to a man who couldn’t stand me. Dressed like this. In a place like this Smiling through my teeth like I wasn’t one breakdown away from. ripping off thas damn dreis and walling out barefoot.
I reached for the bottle, refilled my glass again
The drink slid smooth down my throat, sharp at the end. I bit my bottom lip, eyes scanning the crowd in front of me, letting everything blur a
The laughter sounded louder now,
sure if it was then or just me
3:04 PM
Chapter 29
Another glass.
I was keeping beat with a song only I could
1 giggled at something that hadn’t even been said. My fingers clinked the rim of my drink, tapping it like I was keeping hear, my vision was blurring and 1 could barely balance myself upright at this point.
Then I saw him.
Across the room, surrounded by suits and fake grins, the weight of the evening draped around his shoulders like a tailored coat.
Karl
He wasn’t talking, he was watching and his gaze locked on me like I was the only thing in that crowded, overpriced rooftop that he could actually
My lips curled slowly into a smirk, i tilted my head and then I lifted my glass high and clinked it hard against the nearest tray.
The sharp sound cut through the room.
“Attention, everyone I called, voice louder than I thought it would be.
A few heads turned, then a few more.
My chest rose and fell as I stood taller, my free hand on my hip.
“There is something you need to know about my husband!”
