Bound By Secrets

Lena Hayes clutched her torn knit cardigan, slipping stealthily away from the suite.

As she closed the door, she saw the man lying still in bed, his eyes tightly shut. She sighed with relief.

She pondered about what had happened the night before.

When she had taken advantage of his drunken stupor to shamelessly seduce him to bed, she felt immense regret!

Touching his taut abdominal muscles in wild abandon had been euphoric...

However, she then remembered that he was her boss. He was the stern, serious man she was terrified of, and she shivered at that thought.

Indeed, chasing temporary pleasure led to disastrous consequences.

Lena's legs trembled, and she fled from the "crime" scene.

Upon reaching the dormitory, she steadied her breath before opening the door, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Her roommate, Aria Smith, was applying makeup, meticulously dabbing adhesive on her false eyelashes.

She wanted to slip into the room unnoticed but was caught off guard when Aria asked, "Why didn't you come back last night? You didn't answer the phone when I tried calling you."

Aria's question was nothing but casual.

Despite that, Lena felt a lurch in her heart.

Stumbling over her words, she lied, "I did return, but I didn't know you called. I only realized it when I was tidying and saw it on my phone. You were asleep, so I didn't wake you up..."

"Really?"

After putting on her false eyelashes, Aria turned and looked at Lena, noticing how she was holding onto her jacket. "Don't you always wear a jacket with a tank top?"

It was another normal question, and yet, it made Lena's heart race. "It's... It's hot. I had to run to Mr. Walker's place for some work."

She was Ethan Walker's dedicated assistant. Her duty was to be at his beck and call, so this explanation made sense.

Yet, her wavering gaze made Aria feel that something was off, and she scrutinized her from head to toe.

Narrowing her eyes, she queried, "Why is your left ear so red?"

"What?" Lena was startled.

"Perhaps... I was bitten by a bug last night," she replied, brushing down the hair from her left side to deliberately cover it up.

"Something is off with you."

Aria set down her eyelash curler, ready to interrogate Lena thoroughly.

However, at that moment, Lena's phone began to vibrate.

The word "Mr. Walker" that flashed across the screen made Lena shudder.

"Come to the break room!"

It was just a simple sentence, but she could almost feel his anger through the screen.

"I... I'll be right there."

Lena ended the call, disregarding Aria's puzzled gaze. She instantly dashed into the room to change into a black suit and then raced into the bathroom to freshen up. Then, she bolted out the door like lightning.

Seeing that it seemed like an urgent command from her boss, Aria did not bother to question her further.

On her way to the resting room, Lena felt as if she was being led to the execution grounds, with various conjectures blowing up in her brain.Being summoned by Mr. Walker... Could it be because of what she did the night before?

However, he was fairly drunk, he should... not have been able to remember, right?

Lena, filled with uncertainty and experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions, found Ethan in the resting area.

His features were stern, his eyes hiding an unusually intimidating darkness.

His aura was so intense that it made Lena involuntarily tremble!

Lena clenched her fists, wore a courteous smile, and approached him with the utmost respect. "Mr. Walker, were you looking for me?"

With a clatter, a solid object was thrown onto the cold coffee table, its glimmer catching the light.

Lena's blood ran cold as she identified the object-her black swan pendant!

She had actually left such an important item in the room!

She cautiously scrutinized Ethan's expression. She noticed his pursed lips and penetrating gaze that felt like a sharp blade pressing against her neck. Just when she was pondering if admitting to her mistake right then would lessen her punishment...

Ethan gestured towards the pendant and in a voice laden with cold severity, he asked, "Do you recognize this object?"Lena swallowed, trying to remain calm as she looked at Ethan. "Mr. Walker... What do you mean by this?"

Her face had already turned incredibly pale.

Ethan ordered coldly, "You have one day to find the owner of this item!"

What?

Find the owner?

The stress she felt grew like wildfire within a short time.

Lena's mind buzzed, and it took a few seconds for her to regain her composure. She looked at Ethan perplexedly.

"You want me to... look for someone?"

Did that mean that he did not know that she was the owner of that black swan pendant?

Lena let out a sigh of relief subconsciously, but immediately after, her breathing became more rapid.

How could she find the owner of the pendant for him when she was its true owner?

Seeing her hesitation, Ethan's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is it difficult?"

His familiar intimidating aura quickly brought Lena back to reality. She stepped forward and snatched the pendant away.

"Not at all, not at all. Rest assured, Mr. Walker. I'll immediately begin the search!" After saying that, she turned and hurried away.

After taking two steps, Lena thought of something and turned back nervously. "Mr. Walker, what should I do when I've found the owner?"

Ethan's gaze turned frosty.

"Hand them over to Marcus ."

Handing herself over to Marcus Hale.. The consequence of that would definitely be getting booted out of Lenora City and never being able to work in the industry again...

Lena's legs trembled as she made her way to the conference where Aria was working.

Upon seeing her, Aria frowned and asked, "Why do you look so pale? Were you scolded by Mr. Walker? Did Mr. Walker look for you-"

Before she could finish, Lena hugged her, whimpering, "I don't want to... leave Lenora City..."

"What happened?" Aria asked urgently.

Several colleagues at that moment turned to look their way.

Lena felt a tight knot in her heart, recalling the last time a female colleague was crying at work in the office and how it had resulted in her entire department being fired, instantly silencing her.

She took Aria to a secluded spot and told her about what happened the night before.

"I... D*mn! You actually forced-"

Aria stared at Lena in disbelief, taking three steps back.

She thought she was hallucinating. How could Lena, a timid woman, have forced herself onto Ethan?

Most importantly, if Lena was telling the truth, once...

Lena found out, she would be in terrible danger! Among all the women who vainly hoped to get into Ethan's bed, none of them had a good ending... Lena was introduced to the company by her. Not only would Lena be finished, but Aria and even the whole Smith family would be implicated!

"You've utterly messed up!" Aria quickly moved far away from Lena, afraid of getting tangled up in the mess. Seeing Aria reacting like that, Lena's eyes became redder. Feeling a bit aggrieved, she explained,

"I drank on his behalf several times last night, and then... things got a little out of control..."Aria fell silent.

Ethan Walker was a man admired by the women in the entire company and Lenora City.

However, he was someone who could only be admired from afar and not be trifled with!

Lena actually dared to harbor such thoughts and even made moves on him!

"You've been by his side for three years. Don't you know that he's untouchable?

"Even if you have feelings for him, couldn't you at least consider my family's wellbeing above your own?"Angrily chastising Lena, Aria just watched as Lena hung her head in guilt. She eventually lowered her voice,

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"... I don't know..." Lena sniffed. "He... He gave me one day to locate the owner of the pendant."

"Locate the owner? What do you mean? Doesn't he know you were the one who slept with him?" Aria's simmering eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"He doesn't."The tension in the air instantly eased up a great deal.

Aria heaved a breath of relief, bent down, and whispered something to Lena. With that, they headed for the surveillance room.

After coming out of the surveillance room, Lena plucked up her courage to look for Ethan.

"Mr. Walker, I've found them!"

Ethan, who was sitting on the sofa, cast her a cold glance.

"You've found them?"

Lena, who had been standing straight the whole time, shuddered unexpectedly. Cold sweat broke out on her back, and yet, she strived to appear as calm as usual.

"We checked the surveillance recordings. No one went into your hotel room after I escorted you back. It appears that the item was left by the previous guest."

The atmosphere instantly became eerily silent.

Suddenly, Ethan got up and approached Lena, his voice intense as he sneered, "Are you saying that the hotel's housekeeping staff failed to do their job properly?""I can assure you that... no one entered the room!" Lena declared with feigned calmness.

Her tone was unequivocally confident, without a trace of cowardice.

The room was so silent that one could probably hear a needle drop to the floor. Lena stood absolutely straight, but inside, she was on the verge of panic.

Every minute and second that passed by was a torment.

Despite that, she must hold on.

She did not want to ruin her future or implicate Aria. After some time, Lena's back was soaked with sweat as the two held their silence.

Finally, Ethan broke the silence.

"Okay, l understand. Pack your things and prepare to go on a business trip with me tomorrow."

Lena closed her eyes and exhaled greatly. "Sure, Mr. Walker!"The following month...

Things were relatively peaceful during the business trip.

Other than necessary work, Lena intentionally avoided Ethan, and they did not talk much. The matter concerning the black swan pendant was never brought up again.

After returning to Lenora City, as before, Lena took two days off.

"Finally, a break! I'm going to lie dead in my dormitory for two days and not come out!" Lena said leisurely.

Aria opened the chocolate that Lena had brought back and popped one into her mouth,

"What happened to that pendant?"

Hearing Aria suddenly bring up the issue about the pendant, Lena shot a panicked look towards the room next to hers.

The dormitory had four bedrooms and a living room.

Apart from the two, they had two other roommates.

As they worked in different departments, they rarely met each other, but it was inevitable that walls had ears.

Aria said, "Don't worry, they're not here!"

Lena breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"Let's just leave the matter be."

Recalling the grim expression on Ethan's face that day, Lena continued, "Maybe Mr. Walker doesn't like women staying overnight in his room."

So, after she insisted nobody had entered the room, he did not press on further.

Perhaps he was just confirming things, and in fact, did not actually care about the matter.

At that thought, Lena completely relaxed. "Alright, I should go back to my room and get rid of my jet lag."However, things began to derail for Lena after that.

She had not been sleeping for long when her phone beeped with message alerts.

She frowned and clicked it open.

It was a message from her younger brother asking for living expenses.With a long sigh, she helplessly got out of bed to wash up, changed her clothes, and prepared to go out.

"Weren't you trying to get rid of your jet lag? Why are you going out again?"

"I need to go to the bank."

Upon hearing the word "bank", Aria sensed something amiss and said with sympathy, "Your younger brother knows no better.

He's treating you, his sister whom he isn't even related to by blood, as an ATM... He's all grown up and even working as an intern but still dares to always ask for help..."

Lena had already picked up her bag and walked to the entrance.

As she changed into her shoes, she responded, "He says he can't find a suitable job for him." She did not want to constantly be the one helping him, but what could she do? She could not just ignore him and leave him to his own devices.

"Your mother didn't give a single penny for your tuition, and now, she allows your brother to rely on you for money." Aria became more furious as she continued,

"He's a grown man, who's been interning for three months, yet he still can't land a job. He's just too ambitious and idealistic!""Let's forget it. No more talking about him."

Lena did not want to delve any deeper into the topic. The more they discussed it, the more disappointed she felt in him.

She departed from her dormitory.

The city was bathed in splendid sunlight, but Lena felt not the slightest warmth. It seemed as though ever since her grandma passed away, she had never experienced happiness.

Much of life was beyond one's control, and everything was left to fate. However, her fate seemed truly unfavorable.

The fortune teller even mentioned that her good luck was yet to come.

Lena curled her lips with mockery.

Suddenly, an urgent vibration emanated from inside her bag.

Lena took out her phone for a glance. Seeing that it was a call from her brother, Derek, she rejected the call in irritation.

Yet as soon as she did so, the phone started ringing again.

Lena, at her wits' end, yelled into the phone, "What else can you do besides nagging me? You're a grown man-"

Before she could finish, a chilling voice came through from the other end of the line.

"Return to the office immediately!"

Lena stared at her phone screen that had just gone dark, a petulant pout on her face. It looked like her day off was going to be spent at work again!

She arrived at the office with haste. She took a moment to regulate her breathing before she knocked on Ethan's door.

Ethan was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, sunlight streaking across his body, adding a hint of warmth to his aloof, distinguished demeanor.

"Mr. Walker, you asked for me?"

Lena approached him respectfully from the back. Ethan turned around, his face cold. The softness she thought she had seen earlier when the sunlight landed on him seemed nothing more than an illusion cast by her own mind.

"Bring me the contract we have with Triumph Group."

Lena was confused. Wasn't Marcus Hale in charge of things like contracts? Wouldn't it have been easier to have someone from the legal department deliver it to him? Why did he call her back from her day off?

Despite feeling confused, Lena did not dare to voice any of her complaints. She obediently went to the legal department to retrieve the contract.

Ethan picked up a pen and circled a few areas on the contract before passing it to Lena. "Make some changes to these areas."

"Understood."

Lena returned to her office with the contract in hand. Just as she sat down, she received a message from Aria.

Aria asked, "Why are you taking such a long time at the bank?"

Lena replied, "I was called back to the company to modify the contract by Mr. Walker."

Aria was perplexed. "What? Okay, how long will it take for you to finish? Should we go shopping after you're done?"

Lena sent her reply, "Probably about half an hour, I suppose. I'll message you when I'm done."

Aria agreed, "Alright."

After putting her phone away, Lena began modifying the contract. What she did not know was that through the blinds, Ethan saw all her frowning and pouting while she was messaging Aria.

About half an hour later, Lena took the revised contract back to Ethan's office.

Ethan circled a few more spots on the revised contract. It went back and forth like that several times. It seemed like the problems on the contract could never be fully rectified, which made Lena feel a bit distressed, so she made herself a cup of coffee.

She was not sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed to her that Mr. Walker was intentionally making a fuss...

Half an hour passed again.

She tentatively brought Ethan a cup of coffee along with the revised contract. "Mr. Walker, this is the revised contract, and here is a cup of coffee I've made for you."

Ethan glanced up at her, accepting the contract. "Alright, let's leave it at that."

Following that, with a click, Ethan lit up his lighter. The stench of gasoline and nicotine spread through the air, instantly overwhelming the aroma of the coffee. It was an atmosphere of unprecedented oppressiveness.

All Lena wanted was to escape. "Mr. Walker, if there's nothing else, I think-"

"Was the one you wanted to yell at earlier your boyfriend?"

Ethan interrupted her.

"What?" Lena was caught off guard. Her brain spun as she remembered the phone call before returning to the company!

Caught off by surprise, she did not know how to respond. She wanted to say it was not, but she was also afraid he would misunderstand that she had purposely yelled at him.

Just as she was about to explain herself, Ethan added coldly, "It's a company rule that any employee under 25 years old who is in a relationship will be dismissed."

Was there such a rule? How did she not know about that? Could it be a measure to dissuade staff from romantic affairs that could affect work efficiency?

Thinking about the risk of dismissal, without much thinking, she immediately replied, "No, no! I just want to work diligently for the company and make money. I have no plans for romance!" As she slipped away, the oppressive feeling in the air noticeably lessened.

Ethan, feigning composure, blew out a ring of smoke. "You'd better do as you say and thoroughly memorize the rules designated for assistants."

Just as he was about to list the rules one-by-one to remind Lena, the sound of knocking came from the door. It was Marcus Hale. He was Ethan's right-hand man, the director of the Walker Group.

"I'll step out first."

Knowing that Marcus certainly had important matters to discuss with the president, Lena tactfully took her leave.

As soon as she returned to her workstation, she unexpectedly realized that she had left her phone in Ethan's office!

D*mn it!

Lena plucked up her courage to go back to Ethan's office. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she heard Ethan's cold voice.

"Has there been any news from that woman?"

Her hand that was about to knock on the door immediately froze.

"It's confirmed. The madam had ordered to drug you that night." Marcus emphasized every word. "That woman might have been hidden by the madam... This time, the madam might insist on you marrying her!"

"Hmm." Ethan's voice carried a hint of disdain and danger. "Find that woman and deal with her."

"Yes!" Marcus's response was marked with derision as well.

Lena's face turned pale as she eavesdropped outside the door. Were they still looking for the woman from that night? Deal with her... Suddenly, she was covered in goosebumps. If they found out that she was that woman in question, they would definitely show her no mercy!

Marcus opened the door and saw Lena. Upon seeing her, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Miss Hayes?"

"Hello, Mr. Hale."

Lena immediately suppressed her emotions and greeted him respectfully even though her mind was in chaos. Marcus glanced at her pale face and asked, "Miss Hayes, you look a little off. Are you feeling unwell?"

"Ah, I-I might've caught a bit of a cold," Lena answered, trying to cover her nervousness.

Ethan, who was disturbed by the commotion at the door, spoke indifferently, "Are you guys having a casual chat during work hours? Are you asking for a salary deduction?"

"Aren't we having our dedicated break time?"

Marcus objected softly as he shot a glance at Lena before hurrying away.

Swallowing nervously, Lena shuffled into Ethan's office, her legs weak. "I'm sorry, Mr. Walker. I left my phone here." Having said that, she went to get it.

Just as she did so, the screen of her phone on the coffee table lit up. Ethan took it before she could, glancing at the icy case of the phone and then at the screen. At the top was a partially hidden message... Ethan's face darkened instantly.

"Miss Hayes, what mistake have you made?"

Already pale, Lena turned even more ashen at Ethan's query. She flicked her eyes to the screen. The texts were from Aria.

Aria had said, "Aren't you done yet? Is Mr. Walker keeping you back? Just say that it's not your fault, you were just..."

Since the message was too long, the rest were not displayed. However, the words "kept back" and "fault" made Lena feel as if her mind had exploded!

Terrified, Lena reached out to snatch her phone back. Ethan lifted her phone high, his gaze stern and sharp. "Speak! What bad deeds have you done that warrant my detention of you?"

Lena's lips trembled, and she felt somewhat suffocated. "No, it's not..."

Her mind was a total mess, and she could not think of a plausible excuse.

"Then what is it?" Ethan looked at her enigmatically, clearly waiting for her explanation.

Lena closed her eyes, "Mr. Walker, I've been hiding something from you!"

"Oh? You've always been forthright in your dealings. What have you been hiding?"

Ethan was a strict, overbearing boss who rarely praised his subordinates, but such excessive praise turned out to be more like a death sentence for Lena.

Just as she was at a loss as to how to cover her lie, a new message came from Aria.

"Reply to my messages. Has Mr. Walker discovered the truth? I'm dying of anxiety! Do not ever admit it! Just say you're under a lot of work stress, and you were momentarily hot-headed..."

The messages were too much to handle. Cold sweat broke out on Lena's forehead.

Ethan stared at her in silence. Left with no choice, Lena could only take a chance along the line of "work" mentioned in Aria's message. Holding her breath, she murmured, "I kept it from the company that I took a part-time job during my vacation!"

"A part-time job?" Ethan raised his eyebrows, and an inexplicable look flashed across his eyes