The Dark Secret of the CEO by Sofia de Orellana

Chapter 1

“…Isn’t it taking too long, Sir?”

“She’ll wake up. Soon. …Isn’t my daughter so pretty already?”

“Yes, yes…”

I hear someone chuckle, a deep voice. After a couple more seconds of struggle, I finally manage to open my eyes. Oh, crap, it’s bright…

“Good morning, my Sleeping Beauty.”

A silhouette appears above me, blocking the light. I blink a couple of times, trying to distinguish those facial features. A smile like a shark amongst a greyish, perfectly combed beard, and two piercing, ice-cold blue eyes. …Who’s that? I can’t help but keep blinking repeatedly, my eyes dry as hell. Where the heck am I? What’s going on? I want to move. My body’s so damn heavy… What’s that weird smell, too? I try to move my head, look around. This place is so… white. All monochrome, white and metal. Sanitized and cold like a hospital. No, wait. It looks like it must be cold, but I don’t feel cold at all. Nor hot. Just… neutral. So weird…

I do feel something hard and sturdy underneath me. I’m not on a bed. A table?

“Can you hear us?”

I turn my head, finding another man on my right, seated and staring from behind his glasses. I do hear them. I want to answer, but… my throat hurts! It hurts so much, like it’s completely dry, and raspy. I want to talk, but I don’t even know how to breathe! I can’t feel any air moving through my lungs, my throat… I try to inhale, but it feels empty, like my organs are moving for strictly nothing.

“Answer us,” the man insists. “Can you hear us?”

He’s wearing a white coat and scrubs? I just nod by reflex.

“I… I-I do.”

The air I finally feel seems so strange in my lungs, my throat. My own voice sounds different. Deeper, raspier.

“Good.”

“Give me your hand, Dear,” gently says the bearded one next to me. “Let’s have you sit up first.”

I feel his cold hand grabbing mine, and very gently, he helps me sit up. My body feels so heavy, I thought I’d get a bit dizzy or something, but there is none of that. Just some strange… nausea. I try to ignore it and sit up, to finally realize where exactly I am…

“Is this a… mortuary?” I mutter, a bit confused.

I’ve never been into one, but there’s no mistaking it. I’ve seen enough crime shows for that. Those rows of chrome cupboard doors with numbers on them, and this aseptic, cold hospital atmosphere, without any patients… I look down, and notice I’m sitting on a silver table, like one they put the bodies on. Except that I’m very much awake and alive, and not naked nor covered by just a sheet like I’d imagine a corpse to be. Instead, I’m actually wearing a long-sleeved black dress I’ve never seen before…

“What the…”

“Seems like you’re a quick one,” says the guy in the doctor outfit. “Yes, this is a morgue. Your death was pronounced at thirty-four minutes past one this morning, and it’s now… ten in the evening.”

“My… death? But I’m not…”

“Oh, no, you’re dead. According to the humans standard, you were dead the minute your heart stopped beating, although you were formally pronounced dead a few minutes later. But you did die at around one o’clock this morning.”

makes no

strange given the situation. I don’t understand anything that’s going on. Not only do I feel… extremely weird, but those two are making

feel?” Asks the creepy smiling

Scottish? His blue eyes look as if

and… I’m feeling somewhat sick. Nauseous. But… who

Richard,” says the British man. “Richard

guy behind him

I turn my eyes to Richard. I feel such a strange… sensation towards him. As if I know him, like a long-lost parent. Have I met him before? Even if my mind wasn’t so fuzzy, I don’t think I could remember. No, I wouldn’t have forgotten someone with such a strong… aura. I’m attracted to his eyes every time I try to look elsewhere. He dominates the room with that strange… heavy, dark aura around him. It’s invisible, but it’s impossible to ignore, it’s suffocating. I feel like a defenseless child. If he wasn’t gently holding my hand, I’d

his eyes still on the paper. “It’s

hurts,”

a bit sweet and salty at the same time. I frown. The smell is… a bit off. Or perhaps because it’s new. I drink, I keep drinking. No, I just can’t stop myself. I push all my thoughts aside and drink more and more, unable to stop. The

“…Good girl.”

but also… even more confused. He’s visibly the man in charge, so

I mutter. “What

“Do you remember?”

have a feeling. The pain, the loneliness. The rain against the windows, the neon lights from the billboards, and the darkness of my room… The bathtub overflowing. The lukewarm water, and that pain… The one in my chest, deeper and worse than the one dripping down my

“I… I…”

No… I fucking did. I grab my other sleeve, to find the same bandage, the same blood stains on the other side. Ice runs down my spine,

“Hera.”

into his blue eyes again.

child,” he mutters. “You will be alright. This is all over. You’re

What did

sleepy. Why am I sleepy

feel

obey. My whole self dives into sleep before I

how long I’ve slept… I’m not in a proper bed either, but leaning in a comfy leather armchair, a blanket covering me. There’s a strange, heavy buzzing in the background. I grimace. I’m still feeling crappy, but it’s a bit better… The ache in my throat is gone. I glance at the window next to me. It’s night again… But this isn’t a window. It’s a plane

“Good evening, darling.”

In the seat facing me, Richard Heartgraves, again. He’s looking at me with that smile, slowly swirling a glass of

I mutter.

glancing outside. “We will land in London in

I frown. “Why

“Is there a problem?”

in a dream, or in a weird daze. I look down, to notice I’m still wearing the same black dress as before. It looks simple, but I can tell when a piece of fabric is expensive. That kind of lace and

are you?” I finally ask.

just have so many questions, and about

you save me?”

he smiles.

saying it, but he’s obviously avoiding my real meaning… My

I drank earlier, was

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