Chapter 95

95 You of All People

He’s so close, if I just reach my hand out, I could touch him. However, not a single cell in my body wanted to do that at all. Since we broke up, he never got in touch with me and although I haven’t been actively avoiding him, it was probably best for us not to come into contact again.

Is this just some unlucky coincidence...or...?

I used to love it when he said my name like that but now it just made my skin crawl in such an unpleasant way that I found myself flinching before I took a step back from him to put some distance between us. Funny enough, we weren’t dating anymore so we didn’t need to keep any of our interactions in public a secret from anyone.

“Is there something that I can help you with?” I replied politely.

“I don’t want to say it here. Come over here with me for a second,” Kyle replied before turning and walking away from me.

I stared at his back as I questioned why I should follow after him just because he told me to do so. One glance at the time and I found that I only had less than 10 minutes before I needed to head back.

What does he want from me now of all times?

It was curiosity and nothing else that made me follow him. Kyle stood to the side where there were fewer people walking around as he waited for me to catch up to him.

“What is it?” I asked immediately when I arrived at his side.

.....

“Why are you involved with the CEO of all people?” he demanded to know.

For some reason, I hated how he said the words ‘of all people’.

Oh, the audacity of what he just said. Of all the people in this company, I didn’t want to ever hear this from him.

“I’m his personal secretary. Of course, I’m involved with him,” I replied without a care in the world.

“Does the secretary have to sleep with her boss? Is that how you operate now?” Kyle asked with a look of disgust on his face.

“At least, I’m not cheating on him with someone else while I’m doing it. Are we done here?” I snapped back.

“You better watch yourself around him,” Kyle warned sternly.

As if I needed any advice from him...

“Thank you for your concern. Congratulations on your wedding. I hope your wife is well,” I replied with a polite smile.

“Rina...” Kyle murmured my name.

“My name is Karina. Have a nice day. Please don’t ever approach me again...” I said to him in fake politeness before looking behind him exaggeratingly as if to check that no one saw us together.

Before he could say anything, I turned around to walk away from him. Instead of getting away, I walked right into someone. Shocked, I started apologizing immediately.

“I’m so sorry...” I apologized even before looking at who I had ran into.

“Did you need something from my personal secretary?”

I froze at the sound of that voice and the fact that he wasn’t addressing me. My body froze and my heart started to race. Slowly, I looked up to confirm my suspicion. Although I knew that Ace was the one, I had just run into, I was still shocked to see his face when I looked up.

How did he get here?

His eyes were not focused on me, but a sense of dread welled up deep inside of my stomach. I closed my eyes as I cursed silently in my mind. I felt a pressure around my waist when Ace wrapped his arm around my body possessively. This is going to be a mini disaster at best. Why did he have to catch me talking to Kyle of all people?

“It’s nothing. We’re done talking now. I’m sorry for taking up her time. Have a nice day, Karina,” Kyle replied smoothly.

I turned to see Kyle smiling a little my way before he turned on his heels and left. Ace didn’t say anything more but the way his arm tightened around my waist told me everything that I needed to know about what he was feeling.

“Ace...” I called his name softly while my mind raced to find a plausible explanation for the situation that he had just witnessed.

It wasn’t like I could tell him outright that Kyle called me here to give me a lecture about our illicit relationship. Just thinking about what Kyle said made my blood boil over in extreme anger. I might have been happy to listen to someone else warn me about Ace but not him. He, of all people, had no right to badmouth Ace or whatever relationship that I may have with him. It also didn’t bother me that he thought that we were sleeping together. It’s none of his business who I happen to be sleeping with.

Ace stared down at me with cold eyes before his hand grabbed my wrist tightly and pulled me after him. I looked down at where his hand was gripping me as I struggled to keep up with his long strides. People in the office lobby stared at us and I tried my best to keep my eyes casted down to avoid their judgmental gazes.

“Ace...” I called his name softly.

If Ace was aware of the gazes of the other people on us, he didn’t act like he cared at all. He never looked back and he never said a word to me until we were together in his private elevator. The silence in the elevator was killing me inside and I knew that I had to say something to explain to him what had just happened. In fact, the truth was, nothing really happened.

“Nothing happened. Kyle just...wanted to talk a little...” I mumbled softly.

I hated how weak my voice sounded and how vague my words were. Ace didn’t even look my way. I closed my eyes before letting out a sigh, this is going to be much harder than I thought. He’s so mad...

The elevator door opened when we finally arrived at his floor. Ace stepped out before me without looking back. Before I could stop myself, I reached out a hand towards him to stop him but before my hand reached his back, I pulled back. What am I going to say to him when he turns around?

–To be continued...