Love Slave to My Devil CEO Boss R18

“I see…” I murmured because I didn’t know what I should say.

“We’ll probably break up soon the way things are headed. I thought that it would be harder, but it doesn’t feel like such a big deal anymore. My work is also keeping me super busy, and I have to admit that Kyle’s been up to no good,” she said before laughing lightly to brush it off.

“I think whatever makes you happy works best…” I said what I honestly thought.

“I agree,” she replied before showing me a smile that I thought looked very sincere.

“I’ll take my leave now. Thank you…” I said as I got up from my seat.

“Good luck with Ace!” Elizabeth called out to me just as I reached for the door.

I turned and offered her a smile before I opened the door and left her office. Less than a week after that, Ace informed me that Elizabeth had decided to break things off with Kyle completely. Since they were not legally married, it didn’t seem like such a big and troublesome ordeal. I was having dinner with Ace when he broke the news to me. At first, I was quite shocked despite the fact that Elizabeth had mentioned to me before that that would be the likely outcome.

“Now her father is pestering me to introduce her to some suitable guys. I hate being a matchmaker more than anything and I doubt that there’s any man out there that her father will think is good enough for her,” Ace complained before reaching up a hand to rub the back of his neck while he looked so tired.

“Except for you…” I pointed out with a soft giggle.

“I’m already taken. Thank you,” he replied.

“I’m a little surprised that things ended so quiet and smoothly for them…” I said in wonder.

“The Chairman probably paid a hefty amount to get rid of him now that Elizabeth isn’t hanging on to him anymore. Spending some loose change to get rid of that guy is probably a no-brainer for the chairman. I don’t know if Elizabeth knew about it, but I have to say that it’s great that it’s over and with absolutely no news getting out and no chaos,” Ace said with a firm nod of his head.

“I just hope that she’s happier now,” I said softly as my thoughts went out to Elizabeth.

“She’ll be fine. She’s got a huge empire to run to keep her busy now,” Ace said with a laugh.

“I guess you’re right about that. Things are surely getting busier at the company,” I replied.

“Many more clients, I suspect, which just means a lot more work,” Ace said knowingly.

“Yes…” I said with a nod.

“Rina, I need to go a trip for a couple of days…” Ace announced suddenly.

“Oh…” I said while feeling surprised.

…

Even though I had braced myself for the worst when I returned to work and despite my brave words telling Elizabeth that I would be fine, it still felt like walking through either burning hell or a very freezing snowstorm with no clear end in sight. I was still convinced that it was the right choice to tell Elizabeth not to intervene. No matter what rules or policies she could come up with, there was no way to stop people from talking and saying what it was that they wanted to say. On top of that, I didn’t want anyone to be sent to the disciplinary committee for badmouthing my relationship with Ace.

I tried my best to ignore all the attention that was directed at me as I tried to focus on my work. Thankfully, the people in my team got over the announcement regarding my relationship with Ace pretty fast. There was no way that we could push toward our deadline had things turned out otherwise. Whenever Ace asked me how things were going at work, I would tell him that everything was fine. I wasn’t sure if he was entirely convinced of my response, but he didn’t press me any further on that point.

As time went by, things tuned down a little or I got more used to it. Walking down the office hallway, getting into a crowded elevator, attending meetings with people from other departments, walking through the lobby filled with people at the start and end of the workday started to get easier with each passing day.

“I’m very surprised at how unprofessional you are. You better watch what you say.”

I turned around at the deep sound of a familiar voice that I hadn’t heard for a while. As expected, Richard was there when I turned around and he was talking to a group of employees whom I did not recognize. Something told me that he said those words to them because of me or what they must have been saying because of me.

“Richard…” I called his name softly when I approached him.

“You’re here. Perfect. Apologize to Karina right now before I take this to the disciplinary committee,” Richard said sternly.

“There’s no need…” I began interfering before things would escalate further.

“Apologize to Karina right now,” Richard repeated.

I had always thought that Richard was a scary and intimidating person even when he was in a decently good mood. At that moment, I realized just how frightening Richard could be and I could feel that he wasn’t willing to back down until he got what he wanted.

“I’m sorry…” one of the women whispered.

“Me too. I’m sorry about that,” another person said in a mumble.

It felt like I was watching the headmaster disciplining the children at school. I wanted to be nice and tell them that it was fine, but I held my tongue because what they said about me wasn’t at all fine. Instead, I watched silently as that group of staff quickly walked away after mumbling their apologies.

“You didn’t have to do that…” I told Richard when they were gone.

Despite what I said, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling when I realized that Richard had just stood up for me and that there may be other people doing similar things without me knowing it.

--To be continued…