Chapter 1
Chapter 1
In the afternoon, within a lounge located inside the secretary’s office, Wayne Silverman passionately embraces her from behind, showering fiery kisses upon her neck.
On this particular occasion, Wayne embarked on a two–week business trip, which was quite unusual as he didn’t bring along his personal secretary, Rosalynn Tesdal. In light of this, Rosalynn couldn’t help but wonder if President Silverman had grown weary of her presence.
She had to admit, she was quite happy about it
Five years ago, when the debt collectors came knocking at her door and her grandma was seriously ill, she was in desperate need of a large sum of money.
By a stroke of luck, she coincidentally bumped into Wayne, who seemingly noticed a striking resemblance between her and his lifelong crush, Olivia Whaley.
However, Olivia had married someone from the renowned aristocracy of R Country after Wayne had an accident and ended up as a vegetable.
Wayne probably loved his crush so much that even after being abandoned, he couldn’t let her go.
After meeting Rosalynn, Wayne helped her solve her family’s debts and arranged the best hospital for her grandma.
And Rosalynn became Wayne’s secretary by day and his substitute lover by night.
For five years, she hid her true nature, imitated all of Olivia’s mannerisms, acted as perfectly submissive and devoted as she can to please Wayne, and had grown sick of it.
She was just hoping Wayne would move on to the next one soon.
To her surprise, Wayne returned from his business trip and seemed impatient to see her. He couldn’t even wait for her to finish work and instead hurried straight to the company.
“President Silverman, the shareholders are waiting for your meeting,” Rosalynn gently
reminded him.
Wayne coldly responded and let go of her, heading straight to the bathroom.
Rosalynn sighed with relief. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.
Despite her discomfort, she considerately grabbed a spare suit from the lounge for Wayne.
After he finished showering and changed, Rosalynn gently helped him tie his tie.
His beautiful eyes were filled with indifference as he lowered his gaze, looking at Rosalynn.
The woman was as gentle and graceful as she had always been, and he was very satisfied.
“There’s a check on the table, twenty million,” Wayne said unhurriedly. “Also, the villa at Moonlit Lake will be transferred to your name,
Rosalynn was stunned, looking at Wayne in confusion.
Was this so–called break–up fee?
“President Silverman, how come suddenly…”
Wayne glanced at Rosalynn, who appeared flattered yet confused. With a contemptuous look in his eyes, he raised his hand and firmly gripped her chin. “Consider this a reward,” he sneered.
A reward?
What had she done to deserve such a grand prize?
Twenty million dollars was already a substantial amount, and the villa in Moonlit Lake was so expensive.
Although Wayne had always been generous with her, he never gave her so much all at once.
Wayne’s thumb rubbed Rosalynn’s slightly swollen lips gently, and he spoke in a cold.tone with a hint of seduction, “As long as you keep being good and obedient like this, I’ll give you even more in the future.”
Rosalynn stared at Wayne, puzzled.
What did he mean by “the future“? Wasn’t he planning on cutting things off with her?
Rosalynn averted her gaze, still pretending to be a delicate and charming woman, and gently nodded, “I understand, Mr. Silverman.”
Rosalynn wasn’t sure if it was her imagination.
But after she responded, the irritability emanating from Wayne seemed to instantly disappear.
“Alright,” Wayne coldly replied. “You don’t have much to do this afternoon, go home and rest.”
“Okay,” Rosalynn nodded obediently.
Upon leaving, Wayne slammed the door.
After he left, Rosalynn picked up the check, frowned tightly.
For the past six months, Wayne had been visibly fed up with her. Not long ago, she even accidentally saw a girl who looked even more like Olivia by Wayne’s side.
“This shouldn’t be…” Rosalynn muttered.
At that moment, a sudden vibration from the phone on the bedside table caught her attention.
Rosalynn picked it up and was greeted by a financial news push notification.
“Breaking News! The president of Bane Corporation is getting engaged to the princess of the century– old Rosso family, forming a powerful alliance between two wealthy families. This significant event may alter the world’s capital structure.”
Her eyes seemed to be momentarily stabbed with pain.
The president of Bane Corporation is none other than Wayne himself.
The room remained in disarray, with her skirt and Wayne’s custom–tailored suit scattered haphazardly on the ground. Rosalynn touched her temple, a mixture of emotions welling up inside her, and she let out a helpless laugh.
So that was the reason behind Wayne’s sudden generosity, offering her money and a house. Twenty million dollars and a villa, all as a means to keep her in the role of his compliant lover and the perpetual outsider in his marriage.
Rosalynn’s stomach churned. She rushed to the bathroom and retched,
Then, Rosalynn looked up, and saw her reflection in the mirror. She looked pale and disheveled.
She had had enough of Wayne’s playboy games. He was about to get married and still. couldn’t let go of his crush, refusing to give up her substitute.
Let someone else take over the role.
Rosalynn tidied herself up, and, estimating when Wayne’s meeting would end, prepared her resignation letter and headed to the president’s office.
Upon arriving at the door, Rosalynn was about to knock and enter when she heard. Wayne’s friend and wealthy young man, Jacob Strand, teasingly ask, “Wayne, you’re getting married. What are you going to do with Secretary Tesdal?”
There was a brief silence in the room before Wayne’s cold voice replied, “Just as usual.”
“Is she willing to be your mistress?” Jacob asked.
“As long as there’s enough money, she’ll be willing to do anything.” Wayne’s tone was full of mockery and contempt.
Rosalynn stiffened, her heart aching sharply.
From the start, she sold herself to Wayne. In the end, all she was to him was a commodity that could keep on amusing him as long as the price was right.
She stood there, frozen.
“Really?” Jacob’s voice suddenly became high and excited. “So tell me, if I offer you a higher price, would you sell her to me?”
Just as he finished speaking, they heard Wayne’s assistant, Dylon Elms, calling from outside the door.
“Secretary Tesdal?”
Rosalynn snapped back to reality, nodded at Dylon, then knocked on the office door and walked in.
Jacob, who had just been talking nonsense, was speechless.
He felt awkward for a moment, then squinted his charming eyes and greeted her with a warm smile, acting as if nothing had happened, “Hey there, Ms. Tesdal~”
Rosalynn’s recollection of Jacob’s words stirred a surge of nausea within her. Disregarding him, she proceeded directly towards Wayne, who bore a frigid expression on his countenance.
“Didn’t I tell you to go home and rest?” Wayne asked in a deep voice, clearly unhappy.
“President Silverman,” Rosalynn said without her usual gentle and obedient demeanor. She handed him her resignation letter with dignity. “This is my resignation.”
A sudden chill came over Wayne’s face as he responded sharply, “What are you talking about?” Rosalynn placed a letter down and continued, “When I first started working for you, we made an agreement that I wouldn’t be the other woman. If you were to get married, I would leave.”
She took a deep breath before adding, “I’ll wrap up my work and unfinished projects as quickly as possible. You and President Strand can carry on without me. I won’t be a bother anymore.”
With those words, Rosalynn turned away and started walking. Just as she passed Jacob, who looked utterly shocked, she paused.
She couldn’t stand pretending to be well–behaved any longer.She looked at Jacob, her eyes as cold as if she was staring at a piece of trash.She answered Jacob’s previous question.
“I’m not selling myself.”