The Dark Secret of the CEO by Sofia de Orellana

He remains quiet for a long while, simply staring at me. As always, his thoughts remain a complete mystery to me behind those icy eyes of his. I can barely keep looking him in the eye, and I’m well aware that’s only because he tolerates it. I can feel the stares of the others, Benedict and Swithin behind me, Cata and Bart on the doorstep.

“…Alright.”

Alright? That’s it? I don’t know what I expected, but certainly not for him to agree to my madness so casually. I feel like a child with her parent agreeing to her tantrum. As usual, he’s not displaying any emotion that could cue me in either. I exchange a quick glance with Bart and Cata behind him, but they seem just as confused.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“You can get your revenge,” he resumes. “I have no compassion for those who harmed my daughter. My only request is that you do not go back overseas.”

I can’t fly back to the US? How am I supposed to rip that bastard’s throat out with my bare hands then? I want to protest, but before I open my mouth, Swithin subtly clears his throat.

“If you do want to investigate this,” he says. “You will need to do it under your new identity, Hera Heartgraves. No one can know what you are, of course, nor that you once were June Starr. I’m already working on building your new identity, you will have all your papers ready within the week. The essential ones, I mean.”

“You mean official documents?”

“Of course. Passport, birth certificate and so on. It’s our usual procedure. If you’re going to live as Hera Heartgraves, especially in this day and age and if you’re planning to go after your ex, you’ll need to have a rock-solid new identity. I can provide anything else you’ll need if you let me know.”Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

Wow, they can even give me fake identity papers? Or are they real ones, somehow? I can’t imagine that vampires get arrested while traveling for possessing fake papers, so I do want to believe him on the rock-solid part…

“She still can’t just go ahead like that,” frowns Bart. “We just saw the bastard’s still in the US, and Hera can’t go. How do we get to him, then?”

A smirk appears on Swithin’s lips.

“Her non-existent will. Technically, June Starr is a British citizen, she was born on this continent. I can pull a few strings and make sure they think she had more assets here. If he’s in this for the money, it should be enough to have him come here and see what’s to win. Since she didn’t leave a will, and she was quite wealthy, her inheritance will take a little while for the lawyers and all to get it sorted anyway.”

“So we can lure him with the money, then what?” Frowns Bart. “Hera, what’s your goal?”

My goal?

I take a second to think about it. If they do manage to bring Charles here, what could I do? Of course, there’s the easy solution. Isolate him in some deserted alley, and rip him apart. For sure, that would bring me some satisfaction. Just thinking about it, my thirst for blood sparks up like a flame in the dark. However, it would be far too easy, far too lenient for that bastard. I want to make him pay for all of it. Just a second of pain before a quick death will not make up for the weeks, the months of torture he put me through. I want more.

So, what would hurt him like he hurt me? I don’t care about that chick he brought with him to my funeral. Even if he slept around with her, he probably doesn’t care anymore about her than he did about me anyway. That’s of no good to me…

“…Let’s start with his company,” I mutter.Daily Latest update www.noveljar.com

“His company?” Benedict frowns.

I nod.

“Charles’ very proud of it. He came from a humble background, and he worked hard until he became his own CEO. He never fails to mention how working hard under my father was such a huge opportunity for him, but now he’s branched out and he owns a wealthy enterprise.”

frowns, and grabs the tablet from Swithin’s hands to pull up a

he started like you said he did, he got surprisingly successful

break my contract with my former agency, and opened

like he got his management agency to represent all sorts of celebrities. Actors, Models, Athletes, Musicians and Singers, Entertainers, all sorts of them. He used your and your

helped him promote his agency when he launched

an impressive army of lawyers. With just the size of his company and your father’s name, it’s easy to get rid of pretty much any small upcoming rival… How do you want

to do it myself.

to expose him. If we just try to crush him from the outside, he’ll put on a show again and just start over. I want to dig up every single bit of dirt I can find and throw it out there.

that much though?” Sighs Bart, crossing his arms. “You seem pretty unaware of all

Hera might be holding something there. The business model just doesn’t match the numbers year after year. There are far too many benefits for someone who began with a handful of actors to represent, and none of them more successful than June was. His company grew really fast, even while receiving some

Father?”

“Who knows?”

I wouldn’t care a single bit. In fact, if there’s even the slightest chance

asks, visibly worried for me. “…What if you’re wrong about your fiancé? What if this is all a mistake, he wasn’t the one who… did this to you?”Daily Latest update

think about it, the more obvious it is to me that Charles was the one responsible for my death. I don’t know how

second, Swithin sighs, and takes out a different phone from the one

remember his

it to him. We all

answers after a few

blood immediately boils. Charles’ voice. Swithin glares at me, basically to get me to

polite voice. “May I speak

me. Who

for the impromptu call. I’m calling from the Law Firm Johnson & Browns regarding the late miss June Starr. First, on behalf of my associate and myself, we’d like to give you our deepest condolences, Sir. We were actually looking to get in touch with her next of kin regarding an asset of

“We have withheld the information from the general public, but I need to inform you that uh, June and I were actually married. That’s probably why her f- I mean, my Father-in-law’s secretary redirected you to me. I am

right now, because I swear I would smash that stupid phone to the ground right now. How dare he so confidently claim we were married to a perfect stranger! That fucker! There’s no way an associate of my Father would recommend him, he’s just too

even more sorry for your loss, Sir,” says Swithin, his voice

as if just remembering he’s supposed to act sad. “There’s uh… Quite a lot going on

it’s regarding a flat that your fian-

apartment in London? June did? …Are you

she bought this property a while ago, but since she hadn’t come to England in

back, and quickly types something to show me- When? Oh, he meant when could I have purchased an apartment here without Charles knowing?

“…In 2015, Sir.”

Charles mutters, visibly

had my first on-screen success. I had received quite a lot of money from the movie’s success, and I had just reached an age where I could have purchased an apartment

using it, but a recent audit has shown that the value of the property has risen quite significantly amongst the