Chapter 1 He Was Probably Tired Of Having Sex With Her

Valerie Reese awoke with a frown. Groaning in discomfort, she rolled over, and her hand landed on something warm. Only then did she realize that a man was sleeping next to her.

With clenched teeth, she sat up and flipped on the nightstand light. Beside her, the man sighed deeply out of frustration.

The dim light from the lamp illuminated his bare back as well as the side of his face.

Valerie crept to the closet, changed, and returned to the bed's edge, where she reached out to gently touch the man's back.

"Mr. Layfield, it's already six in the morning. You have a meeting at seven-thirty."

The man swatted her hand away and growled hoarsely, "Go away!"

Valerie, who had long since gotten used to his temper, got to her feet with an air of nonchalance.

Quietly, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. Without waking the man, she finished her food and left the house. She then took a cab to the company.

During the day, she worked as the chief secretary of Edwin Layfield, the CEO of the Layfield Group. At night, she was his bed partner.

Valerie arrived at the company and soon got everything ready. Her gaze remained icy as she waited for Edwin outside the conference room. Everyone who walked by her spoke to her in a respectful and fawning tone.

Two minutes before the start of the meeting, the CEO's exclusive elevator chimed.

Valerie breathed a sigh of relief but remained rooted in her spot.

Edwin's towering stature of about 6.5 feet contributed to his authoritative demeanor and he always had a stone-cold facade that made him appear untouchable.

When compared to him, Valerie's height of 5.5 feet suddenly seemed somewhat diminutive.

Edwin ignored her completely, as though the man who had sex with her the night before was someone else entirely.

The meeting lasted for quite some time. Valerie had to leave in the middle of it to go to the secretary's office and order breakfast for Edwin.

She was scanning the menu when her fellow secretary, Marisa Kendall, walked up to her and asked, "Valerie, have you checked Mr. Layfield's afternoon schedule?"

Valerie looked at her with furrowed brows. "Is there something wrong?"

Marisa made a clicking noise with her tongue and murmured softly, "Later, Mr. Layfield is scheduled to have dinner with Brent, the president of SHINE Corporation."

It took a while for Valerie to remember who Brent was.

Brent Clark was well known for his tendency to sexually harass female employees. There was even one time when he drugged another company's secretary and forced her to sleep with him. Rumor had it that he also tried to harass Edwin's aunt, Ivanna Layfield, before.

Edwin always took one of his secretaries with him to business dinners. Because the others were reluctant to go with him, Marisa approached Valerie to ask her about it.

"Don't worry. I don't think Mr. Layfield will take any of us with him," Valerie said nonchalantly.

As soon as she was done speaking, someone opened the door to the secretary's office. A colleague stuck her head in and looked around until her eyes landed on Valerie.

"Valerie, Mr. Layfield wants to see you."

Valerie promptly completed her order and left the secretary's office without changing her countenance.

She had been Edwin's secretary for five years. Not long after she joined the company, they had sex in the lounge, marking the beginning of their odd arrangement. She had dealt with several difficult clients over the past few years, but he had never asked her to engage in shady activity.

When Valerie entered his office, Edwin did not even look at her. He continued signing documents as he instructed, "Get ready. You're joining me for dinner tonight."

Valerie froze.

When she still did not respond, Edwin finally raised his head and looked at her with a frown. "Valerie?"

Valerie snapped out of her reverie and finally replied, "Yes, sir."

The man threw a folder at her and demanded, "How long have you been working for me?"

She did not know why he was asking that, but she nonetheless answered, "Five years."

"You've been working for me for a long time, so you should know your place by now. Do your job properly, will you?"

"Of course, sir."

Valerie left the office with a straight face. Her hands were cold and trembling.

It seemed that Edwin had gotten tired of her and was looking for an excuse to give her to another man.

She went back to the secretary's office, where she snacked on grapes all afternoon. Before the office hours ended, she stuffed a dagger in her bag.

If Brent drugged her, she would stab herself to wake up.