Office Romance: Mischievous Secretary VS. Bossy CEO

The coded door lock unlocked with a click, and the door narrowly opened. A girl rushed in. The CEO's magnificent and spacious office was empty, but the sound of water could be heard from the adjacent bedroom.

The girl was quite agile. Despite the fact that the floor was covered with thick carpet, she tiptoed carefully. Her eyes darted in every corner of the room, cautious like a cat's.

She headed towards the door to the bedroom. Standing in the doorway, she saw clothes scattered on the bed. Smiling with satisfaction, she poked her head inside to check if everything was indeed okay.

The bathroom door was ajar. She could vaguely see a man taking a shower.

She noticed his strong arms, wheat skin, and thick shoulders.

Wow!

It was hard to imagine that the CEO, who wore a straight suit every day, had such an impressive body.

Charlotte Qin almost forgot what she had come for.

Suddenly, the man turned around to take bath gel from the shelf.

She almost got a nosebleed because of this.

She could see the eight pack abs, hazed by the mist.

Charlotte Qin swallowed hard, realizing she couldn't stand here staring anymore.

After she had confirmed that it was the CEO himself, she tiptoed out of the office, with the door left unlocked. Once outside, she exhaled a breath of relief.

She took out her phone and sent a message.

The next step was to wait for the payment.

When she got the message that she'd received the money, she smiled to herself.

Her eyes glistened with greed.

She sat in the secretary's office next to the CEO's office, pretending to be busy.

But her ears were glued to the room next door.

After a while, she heard noisy footsteps and the sound of the door opening. Soon enough, a woman screamed and the CEO roared angrily.

The security guards rushed upstairs and took the woman away.

The telephone on Charlotte's desk rang.

"Charlotte Qin! Come to my office right now!"

Charlotte Qin was prepared. She picked up a document and held it close to her chest.

She stood outside the CEO's office and lightly knocked. Two seconds later, she opened the door and stepped in.

"Mr. Su, what can I do for you?"

"Who was that woman?"

Simon Su's face was gloomy. His hair was still wet after the shower, and it looked as if he had haphazardly put his clothes on. The top button of his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his defined collarbone and distinct chest muscles.

A drop of water fell from his hair, landed on his collarbone, and trailed down his shirt.

Charlotte Qin swallowed.

She felt hot all of a sudden.

Seeing that his secretary was just standing there, Simon Su slammed his fists on the desk.

"Who was the woman that broke in while I was taking a shower?"

"What? Did someone sneak in when you were in the shower? Did she take advantage of you?"

she asked in shock, pretending not to know the truth.

"No, I closed the door in time,"

he replied without thinking twice.

"Charlotte, don't change the topic. What were you doing just now?" he asked.

"I had been dealing with the contract the whole time. You assigned the task to me this morning, remember? Please have a look!"

she said, handing him the document that she had in her hands.

Skimming through document, Simon Su noted that it was well-organized. The data was also detailed. It was not something she could have finished in a short span of time. It seemed as if Charlotte Qin had spent all day working on this.

He calmed down a little and thought maybe she wasn't involved in this matter.

Charlotte Qin chuckled. She had prepared the document beforehand so that she could use it as an alibi.

Simon Su raised his head and glanced sharply at her.

"Did you see anyone passing by just now?"

Charlotte pretended to look confused.

"No, no one passed by, but..."

She seemed to have remembered something all of a sudden.

"I did go to the restroom just now. Maybe the woman sneaked in while I was away.

Mr. Su, I'm sorry!" She covered her mouth exaggeratedly.

"I didn't guard the door. I failed to protect your privacy. I let someone sneak in on my watch!

Mr. Su, please punish me!"

Charlotte Qin hung her head in feigned shame. But her round, innocent eyes peaked at the reflection on the desk in front of her.

The desk offered the perfect vantage point to see Simon's reaction.

'Punish her?'

Simon Su coughed and took in the graceful figure of the woman standing in front of him.

'You won't be able to carry out the punishment I have in mind for you.'

He groaned inwardly.

"Forget it," he said with a shrug.

"Tomorrow, bring me the Tiramisu and a Matcha smoothie you made as a peace offering. I'll take them to my grandfather."

"Well..."

Charlotte Qin trailed off and her face darkened.

'The cheese used to make the Tiramisu and the Matcha powder used in the Matcha smoothie are quite expensive.

Forget it. I've made a lot of money today anyway. Just do as he says to comfort him, ' she thought.

Her face lit up. "Yes, Mr. Su. I'll bring them tomorrow so that you will...no...your grandfather will enjoy them!"

With that the secretary exited his office. Simon Su noticed that she closed the door to his office.

Only then did he realize that the code to his office was known only by his two secretaries and himself.

However, Dylan Meng, his other secretary, had been out all day long. He was still suspicious of Charlotte Qin.

Simon Su was about to call her back inside, but decided otherwise.

Even if he found out it was her, could he fire her?

When he was in the bathroom and heard someone barge in, he got excited thinking it was Charlotte Qin.

He hadn't expected it to be a strange woman!

How he wished that it was Charlotte Qin!

Simon Su leaned back in his chair, looking like an abandoned puppy.

Meanwhile, Charlotte's phone rang and she answered.

"Rose, I just promised to let you in, but I didn't say that the CEO would accept you,"

she said hurriedly, before the woman at the other end of the line could get a word out.

"Wasn't the CEO in the office? And he was taking a shower.

You failed to seize the opportunity. Who else can you blame?" she whispered.

"Again?" Charlotte Qin asked, baffled. "Rose, this was a rare opportunity. The CEO is bound to get suspicious if we do it again."

"Are you threatening me? What can you threaten me with? Do you have any evidence? Forget it. I got to go!"

Before the woman on the other end could say anything, Charlotte Qin hung up the phone.

'She threatened me!' Charlotte was not afraid of being threatened at all.

She had contacted the woman by using code words and had borrowed someone else's bank card. She had covered her tracks.

What evidence did Rose have? No!

Charlotte Qin went back to her office and opened the bank app. She counted the numbers and felt a wave of satisfaction wash over her.

Working for Simon Su was a sweet deal.

She made cash on the side by selling his photos, slippers, and his other belongings.

Today, she had made a lot of money by allowing an admirer of the CEO sneak into his office. Unfortunately, it was only a one-time thing. The CEO would be on high alert now that it had happened.

She clenched her fists.

One day, she would have enough money to move out of the house with her mother.

Charlotte Qin headed home happily with the ingredients she needed to make the Tiramisu and Matcha smoothie.

'How could a tall and powerful man like Simon have a sweet tooth?

To not let his cold and hard exterior crack, he has used his grandpa as an excuse. He doesn't realize that I already saw through him, ' she thought to herself.

Charlotte Qin stood outside the door of her house.

As soon as she was about to enter, she heard a voice.

"You haven't been home in a few days. A decent girl would not do something like this. Have you no shame? You are just like your mother!"

Charlotte kicked open the door and walked inside in a huff, slamming the ingredients on the table.

The person inside was startled.

"Charlotte Qin, are you crazy? You haven't been back home for days and now, you barge in here, kicking and slamming? Go wash all the clothes and clean the floor. You haven't done the housework in the past couple of days!"

Charlotte's aunt glared at her. Once a pretty young girl, her aunt had become a mean, middle-aged woman with time.

"I just got home and you want me to do the housework. Am I a servant here?"

Charlotte yelled, losing her patience. She had been putting up with this for years! Perhaps it was the newly transferred money sitting in her account that gave her the courage to speak up for herself. She was simply tired of this!

Meanwhile, another middle-aged woman rushed out of one of the rooms. Her haggard face lit up when she saw Charlotte.

"Charlotte, you're back!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? I was so worried about you!"

Charlotte's expression softened because she did not want to scare her mother.

"Mom, everyone was working overtime. We stayed at the office," she explained calmly.

"Humph, don't brag! How can the company make a good-for-nothing like you work overtime? You are not going to fool anyone around here,"

Lisa Qin, Charlotte's aunt, scoffed.

"Lisa Qin, that's enough. You can do the housework yourself. You have hands and feet too," Charlotte retorted.

"Charlotte, what's wrong with you?" asked her grandmother.

"I admit your aunt can be a little blunt, but she is right. You are a girl and you haven't been home for several days. She was worried about you too."

"Worried about me?" Charlotte spat. Her mind started going over all the things that had happened in the past few years.

"I was only 15 years old when I first came to live with you. On the very first day, you fired all the servants and made me do all the housework! I washed clothes and cooked meals. You did not let me apply to colleges elsewhere. You forced me to stay here and be your slave! Now, I am telling you!"

Charlotte pointed at Lisa Qin. "I have graduated from the university. I have a good job and now, I am moving out of here. I will no longer be enslaved by you. I am no more a part of this family!"

"What?"

Agnes Fang, Charlotte's mother, was the first to react.

"Charlotte, how can you do that? This is your home. Where else will you go? You are not going anywhere!"

She grabbed Charlotte's arm roughly, almost hurting her daughter.

Charlotte's grandmother, who was about to lose her temper, couldn't help but laugh at Agnes' reaction.

"Charlotte, if you want to leave the Qin family, you should ask your mother first."

"Mom, please don't be angry. I'll persuade Charlotte. I'll do all the housework. Don't drive Charlotte away. Both my daughter and I belong to the Qin family. We won't go anywhere!"

Agnes Fang pleaded and was about to kneel.

Charlotte dragged her mother up and pushed her on the sofa. "Mom, why do you want to stay here? Look at these people. Who treats you like a family member besides me?"

She squatted on the floor so her face was leveled with her mother's. Clutching Agnes' hands, she said, "Mom, I have graduated. I have a job that pays well. I can support you. Come with me and you won't have to live in this hell hole."

"No!"

Agnes Fang covered her face with her slender fingers and burst into tears. Her daughter had been gone for two days while she had been worried sick. She hadn't expected her daughter to spring this news on her.

"Your father is here. I won't go anywhere!" she declared.

Charlotte stood up and sighed helplessly. Her mother had always been like this. Agnes Fang would never leave her husband, she loved him too much.

But Charlotte was not like her mother.

She turned around and looked at Lisa Qin and her grandmother.

Something glistened in her eyes that made the two turn their faces away. They did not dare look into the eyes of the woman they had looked down on.

The atmosphere turned tense.

Charlotte's eyes landed on the ingredients she had bought. Relief surged through her body.

She decided she couldn't stay here anymore.

Charlotte walked into her small and messy room and started packing her clothes. She folded them neatly and put them in her backpack. Once she was done, she gave her room a quick once over and walked back into the living room. Turning to her mother, she said, "Mom, I am leaving. Maybe one day, I will come back here to pick you up and take you with me."

Without saying anything else, she started to make her way towards the door. But then she turned around and looked straight at her aunt and grandmother.

"I don't care about what happened in the past. Think of it as payment for all the time that we spent living here. However, make sure that you do not disrespect my mother.

If you do, your end will be like that of this glass."

She picked up a glass from the table and smashed it.

Pieces of glass flew all over the place. The three other women stared in shock.

And Charlotte left without looking back.

"Mom, are you really going to let her leave?"

Lisa Qin asked anxiously.

"What about Eason?"

"Agnes is here," the old woman mouthed, hinting that Lisa Qin should shut up.

"Don't worry. She can't stay away from here."

'When Eason needs her, Charlotte will have to come back, ' she thought.

"Charlotte, you finally called! Where are you? Stay there, I'll come pick you up!"

Though she had left home on impulse, Charlotte had nowhere to go. She then called the only person she could turn to, her best friend, Daisy Zhong.

Daisy Zhong told Charlotte to wait for her as soon as she received her call.

Charlotte felt helpless but relieved. She gave her best friend the address and hung up the phone to wait.

She did not have to wait long. A sports car with a beautiful tail sped towards her and stopped right in front.

A gorgeous woman in a white summer dress and light shoes stepped out of the car. She had long and black straight hair that complimented her grey eyes.

"Charlotte, what took you so long to get in touch with me? I have been searching for you for so long, but could never find you. How have you been?"

"Daisy, I am homeless now," Charlotte said awkwardly.

"What?" Daisy's eyes widened in shock.

"How can you be so stupid? You cannot be homeless as long as I'm here. My home is your home. Get in the car. We are going home!" Without another word, Daisy Zhong took Charlotte's backpack and put it on the back seat of her trendy sports car.

As she sat next to her best friend, Charlotte couldn't help crying.

Her blood relatives treated her like trash, but Daisy Zhong treated her like family. Why were they so different?

As Daisy Zhong drove home, Charlotte filled her in about her life since graduation.

Daisy Zhong was surprised at the fact that her best friend worked for the Su Group.

"Really? Charlotte, do you know the president of Su Group, Simon Su? He is the most eligible bachelor in H City. Every girl knows of him. Now that you are working for him, people will be green with envy if the news spreads," said Daisy.

"There is nothing to be jealous of. I am his secretary, but sometimes I feel like his nanny. Moreover, he can be quite difficult at times. He is a picky eater and always drives me crazy," Charlotte complained.

Daisy parked the car in the underground garage of her home.

The two of them took the elevator to the Zhong family house. Charlotte hurried to the kitchen to make desserts.

It was fully equipped with the latest gadgets, which made cooking a fun activity.

Daisy observed that Charlotte was as smooth as flowing water as she cooked. She worked like an experienced cook.

"Wow, Charlotte, you are so good at making desserts!"

"Of course I am. When I was in college, I used to have two part-time jobs, one at a cake shop and the other at a milk tea shop. I learnt a lot back then. Also, I use materials with better quality which make the desserts even better than those sold at shops."

Charlotte grinned at her friend. Next, she placed the freshly made Tiramisu in the refrigerator and gave Daisy a glass of Matcha smoothie, urging her to taste it.

Daisy was amazed.

The slightly bitter taste of the Matcha powder and the fragrance of the milk tea, together with the softness of red beans made the concoction just perfect.

"Charlotte, you are so good at cooking!"

"Really? Thank you. I just hope these are good enough to allow the CEO to cool down."

The next day, Charlotte reached the office early and placed the Tiramisu along with the Matcha smoothie on Simon's desk.

When the door opened, she breathed a sigh of relief. If she could still unlock the coded lock, it meant that the CEO hadn't been suspicious of her.

She was unaware that no matter what happened, Simon wouldn't close the door on her.

When Simon came to the company and saw the desserts on the desk, he found himself in a good mood.

He locked the door, opened the cake box and enjoyed it.

Halfway through the cake, the extension phone rang.

"Mr. Su, our cooperation with NH Group has made some progress."

Dylan was on the other end of the line. To date, he was one of the few people that Simon trusted with all his heart.

"Come in."

When Dylan walked in, his eyes landed on the cake box and smoothie on the desk. The CEO had made no attempt to hide them. Shaking his head, Dylan asked, "Did you extort desserts from Charlotte again?"

"She has reaped a lot of benefits working for me. Can't I ask for some desserts in return?"

In addition, he had been able to witness the pitiful expression on Charlotte's face because she had to buy those expensive materials. As far as he was concerned, it had been worth it.

"I'm impressed. If you like her so much, just confess your love to her. How can you just be satisfied with desserts?"

From the beginning to now, Dylan had not yet seen Simon make any progress in his relationship with Charlotte. He was worried about his boss.

"That girl is just like a cat. She is respectful on the surface, but she's tough on the inside. If I get too close, she will slip away. If I express my love to her now, she will refuse,"

Simon said, staring thoughtfully at the fork in his hand.

"Then you need to think it over. She seems to be in low spirits today, and her eyes are slightly red."

"What?"

Simon put the fork down in anger and shock. Who dared bully the woman he loved!

"It seems to have something to do with her family."

Seeing that Simon was about to roll up his sleeves and go out to beat someone, Dylan stopped him immediately, feeling a headache.

Why did his boss fall in love like a teenage boy falling for a girl for the first time?

"Calm down! How are you going to ask her?"

Simon stopped realizing that they were simply boss and secretary for now. He had no right to interfere in her personal life.

"Think about what Charlotte likes most. Think of something that will make her happy."

"Money!"

Every time Charlotte heard the words "pay raise" and "bonus," her eyes lit up. He had heard that she loved working overtime, not because she loved the company, but because she needed the overtime pay. That was why she had also set up a mobile bed in her office.

"But I can't give her money directly. She won't take it."

It was true that Charlotte loved money, but only the money she had earned it herself.

In the beginning, Simon had felt sorry for her. Therefore, he had secretly increased her overtime pay. But she had returned it to the accountant claiming that a mistake had been made.

"I know what Charlotte likes besides money!"

Simon said, his eyes lighting up.

"You were talking about NH Group just now. What happened to them?"

The topic changed so fast that Dylan was left in a daze.

"Oh, well, NH Group has initially agreed to cooperate with us. They are planning to send people to negotiate with us at their earliest."

"When will they come?"

"Around next Monday."

"Well, you should tell her..."

Simon told Dylan his plan.

Dylan could not believe his ears.

"Well, it's a strange plan. Will it even work?"

"Of course it will work. Just do it,"

Simon said confidently.

Soon, next Monday arrived.

Charlotte sat at her desk listlessly.

Last night, her mother had called to ask her to move back in with the Qin family.

Of course, she had refused. And she had even tried to convince her to move in with her.

The two of them parted in discord.

Charlotte hadn't been able to sleep until midnight. Even when she did fall asleep, she had nightmares.

Suddenly, Dylan rushed in.

"Get me the Nantes Company on the phone right away!"

Nantes Company offered translation services to Su Group. Though Su Group had their own translators, they would work with Nantes Company when short of men.

Seeing Dylan's anxiousness, she quickly dialed the number and handed the receiver over to him.

Charlotte listened in on Dylan's conversation and found out that Simon and NH Group had scheduled an important meeting for today. However, their company's translator had an accident in the morning and couldn't come. Thus, Dylan urgently needed someone from Nantes Company to act as the translator.

Unfortunately, the German translators from Nantes Company were all out today. No one was available on such short notice.

They could not even hire anyone else since the meeting between Su Group and NH Group would include discussions of sensitive business information. The candidates of other translation companies might not be reliable. If business secrets were to be leaked, the two companies would suffer huge losses.

Dylan looked around anxiously and then his eyes landed on Charlotte. "Go join the meeting!"

Charlotte was stunned. "Me?"

"Yes. Didn't you say on your resume that you studied in Germany for half a year? Your German isn't bad, right?"

"Well, it's okay, but I'm not sure if I handle something too professional." Charlotte hesitated.

"It doesn't matter. Today is the first time our CEO is meeting the German company. They won't talk too much about business. Just some daily communication."

He looked at her with a hopeful expression.

"Charlotte, you don't want our company to be embarrassed in front of NH Group now, do you? You can do it! You are in charge now!"