Chapter 137

137 End of Secrets

It’s going to be extremely difficult to explain our way out of those photos. Although we didn’t kiss while we dance, the truth probably doesn’t matter. We looked too close and familiar with each other and that wasn’t going to support our case. I should have kept my distance from him. After all, I’m nothing more than his secretary.

“Spend the night at my place, Rina,” Ace said casually.

“What?” I said in disbelief.

With everything that was going on, he still wanted to bring me to his place?

“No, I can’t do that. Everything is already such a big mess the way that it is,” I declined immediately.

“You can’t go back to your place tonight. Those reporters are going to be swarming around your place for a few days if not for weeks,” Ace pointed out.

'

He’s right. However...

“That doesn’t mean that I have to spend the night at your place. Just drop me off somewhere and I’ll find a hotel,” I muttered before sighing.

“I can’t let you do that. I’m partially responsible for this so you’re coming home with me,” Ace said decisively.

.....

His tone told me that I shouldn’t argue with him; however, I didn’t feel like I had much to lose in that situation. I’ve just survived losing my job over the information leak scandal and now I was under threat of losing my job again for being romantically involved with my boss.

Oh, my dear life...

“How do you know that the reporters are not at your place?” I asked curiously.

“Because I have a few hideouts and they can’t exactly predict where I’ll spend the night,” Ace replied before he turned to grin at me.

“You sound like a thief on the run...” I mumbled.

When Ace started laughing at my comment, I realized that I had spoken my thought out loud. This situation didn’t seem to bother Ace at all and that was probably because he was used to something like this. He must be given all the times that his affairs were captured and displayed for the public to see in gossip news and tabloids.

“This is crazy. I’m going to end up losing my job for real this time...” I muttered, this time intentionally voicing my thoughts.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. The board will probably demand for some explanations but it’s not like we were caught having sex...” Ace replied without much care.

How can he say something like that so casually?!

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore. This is just insane. Pull over please,” I said.

My voice sounded dead tired and that was precisely how I felt.

“I already told you that we’re going to my place,” Ace responded without stopping the car.

I felt like I was on the verge of a huge emotional breakdown. This was just all too much. One mess after another. The results of all my mistakes were just catching up to me one after another. It felt endless.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. I usually felt overjoyed when my mother gave me a call; however, a tight knot formed in the pit of my belly when I saw her name on my phone screen. A sick feeling in my gut told me that she wasn’t calling about anything good.

“Mum?” I said when the line connected.

“Where are you right now? Have you seen the news? That’s not really you, is it?” my mother asked with clear panic in her voice.

What on earth is she talking about?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What news?” I asked in confusion.

A split second later, my entire body felt numb, and my face and hands felt cold. Please, don’t tell me that those photos were already on the news along with misleading information.

“Please tell me that this isn’t what I think it is. Photos and videos of you are all over the news. They’re saying that you’re having an affair with your CEO which is against the company’s policy and all that...” my mother replied as her voice shook.

“I’ll call you back,” I said before immediately hanging up.

“It’s all over the news already? That’s fast. They’re getting much better at this...” Ace said before he chuckled.

“There is nothing funny about this! It may be funny for you, but my life is on the verge of ruin here!” I yelled at him.

“Calm down, Rina...” Ace said calmly.

“How am I supposed to be calm? You know, my mother just called to ask if I’m having an affair with my boss!” I ended up yelling again.

Hell, this is such a mess.

I covered my face with my hands as I prayed for all of this to be just a nightmare. My phone started ringing again and I knew that it must be my mother calling. A sense of shame washed over me when I thought of how I was being such a burden to her by making her worry. Of all the things that she had to find out, she had to learn about my affair with my boss.

If I was destined to lose my job anyways, then I would have preferred to lose it from allowing Kyle to steal my storyboard. That would have been much easier to explain compared to my affair with Ace. The phone just wouldn’t stop ringing as I tried to figure out how to handle my own mother.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Ace asked without looking my way.

“Mum...” I said when I answered the call.

“Karina! Don’t just hang up on me like that. Where are you right now? I am so worried about you!” my mother shouted quite loudly in her panic.

The apparent fear and concern in her voice only made me more guilty about everything. I should have put a stop to the relationship between Ace and me. I knew that it was just all wrong. Why didn’t I do it?!

“Mum, I’ll explain about it later...ok?” I said in a small voice.

“So, it’s true? It’s really you in these photos?” my mother asked although I guessed that she probably already knew the answer.

–To be continued...