Chapter 151

151 Denying Rumors

The time for the press conference finally arrived and I found myself dressed politely in a black dress with matching suit blazer in the same conference room as Ace and countless other reporters. I could feel their eyes on me as I stood to the side along with the other staffs that helped organized the event.

I hated every single second that I stood there. The reporters recognized me immediately and snapped many photos of me. I didn’t want to be there, but I had to be. After failing to argue with Ace on this, I didn’t have a choice but to turn up to the conference.

“I don’t think I should be there. If we’re seen together, it might cause more trouble and more rumors,” I voiced my concern openly.

“On the contrary, I think it’s better for us to be seen together. You should be there at the press conference to show that you’re my secretary and that you are committed to your work. You’ll go wherever you need to with me, and people will have to get used to that. There’s nothing for us to hide,” Ace said with confidence before he flashed me a smile.

I didn’t share even a fraction of his confidence. Without a doubt, the reporters will write whatever they wanted to write. Ace may be used to this sort of situation but something like this had never happened to me before.

“Maybe we shouldn’t see each other for a while...” I mumbled my suggestion.

Ace’s eyes widened and then narrowed at me. I could feel his anger without him having to voice it and it made an uncomfortable lump form in my throat.

“Never happening...” Ace said resolutely.

His arms wrapped around my body before he pulled me hard against him. He hugged me tight for a moment before letting me go enough to stare deeply into my eyes. I could sense the desperate need in his eyes before his hand cupped the side of my face and then his lips crushed against mine. His lips captured mine in a smoldering hot kiss. Ace’s wet tongue thrusted boldly into my mouth before he began grinding his tongue against mine while his other hand pressed my body tightly against his.

.....

I moaned before I wrapped my arms around his neck and began kissing him back with wild abandon. His hips grinded against mine and I could feel his hardness against my belly. His cock was already so hard. His arousal fueled the flames of my desire, and I knew that it was very dangerous for us to continue this way.

“Never suggest anything like that ever again. I don’t want to hear it,” Ace said with unmasked anger.

“I’m sorry, Ace...” I apologized softly.

“Just stay by my side. Do you understand?” Ace asked as his eyes stared deeply into mine.

“Yes,” I replied with a nod.

I could still see that scene vividly in my mind. We had that conversation just hours before the start of the conference and because I didn’t have a comeback for his words, here I was at his side as he hand wanted. All the members of the press had taken their seat and the atmosphere was tense as everyone waited eagerly for Ace to start speaking at the podium.

“Good afternoon to everyone. Thank you for your time. I’m Ace Hills, the CEO of Jessen’s and Hill’s. I’m here today to address the recent rumors surrounding a couple of misleading photographs that were taken of my secretary and myself,” Ace said before he smiled politely as his hand gestured in my direction.

All eyes were on me, and my body froze. Why did he have to bring their attention to me like that?

I smiled professionally as I nodded my head solemnly.

The audience’s attention returned to Ace who was ready to continue. The tension in the air seemed to have increased again.

“The truth is that rumors are just rumors. My secretary and I are not engaged in any inappropriate relationship. We are not romantically involved in any shape or form. However, it was true that we danced together as captured in the photos that has been extensively shared on many public domains. That day we were attending a client’s party together as part of our usual work. The theme of the party involved ballroom dancing and that was what we ended up doing as part of our jobs. It is absolutely expected and normal for my secretary to accompany me on various business occasions,” Ace explained smoothly before he paused for effect.

The audience still had their eyes on him and when he was sure that he still had their attention, he smiled professionally before continuing on.

“The angles in the photographs that were selected, I am sure from many countless others that were taken, have misled everyone that we were kissing. This is indeed false because we never engaged in such an act. The recent release of those misleading photos has brought about much damage to Jessen’s and Hill’s and have led some of our clients to question our professionalism in handling our work. As a result of that, our legal team will come to a decision soon whether they would like to take any legal action,” Ace said before smiling charmingly.

After that he concluded what he wanted to say by mentioning that the company’s management, including himself, and all employees of the company are serious in strictly abiding by the no-dating rule between employees working for the company. The press did have some questions at the end, but Ace answered them all smoothly.

'

The press conference ended without any surprising event to my utter relief. I prayed that Ace would be right once again and that everything about this issue would die down eventually. Just like a storm that had suddenly hit us, I prayed that the storm would pass just as suddenly.

...

**Around a week later**

The most devastating part of the storm passed. Things have died down somewhat but not completely. The best part was that we could return to work without incident. That didn’t mean that we spent the previous week hiding away somewhere. After Ace’s announcement at the press conference, we returned to work immediately.

–To be continued...