Love Slave to My Devil CEO Boss R18

“I didn’t have to do that, but those people shouldn’t be talking like that,” he said as he glared after them.

“You’re right but let’s not turn this into a big fuss. I already have enough to worry about at work as it is,” I said before letting out a soft laugh.

“How are you doing?” he asked, and I knew that he wasn’t asking about my work.

“Fine. Don’t worry,” I replied before showing him a brave smile.

Richard’s reaction surprised me. I knew that out of everyone in the CEO’s office, he was the one that was strictest and worried most about the rules. That was why his reaction surprised me the most.

“Were you shocked to hear that Ace and I are dating?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Not really…” he replied emotionlessly.

“Really? You were not surprised or shock at all?” I asked in disbelief.

“Why do I need to be shocked?” he asked in return.

“Well, it’s Ace and me…you know…” I replied before shrugging my shoulders.

What more do I need to explain…?

“I had a feeling…” he said simply before walking away.

“Wait. What do you mean you had a feeling?” I asked as I tried to catch up with him.

“Exactly as it sounds. I had a hunch that you two were dating,” he replied like it was nothing.

He knew? How and since when?

“Oh…” I mumbled instead of asking the various questions on my mind.

I never thought that he would pick up on the fact that I was dating Ace. I thought that we did a decently good job at hiding it from everyone, so I was quite shocked to find out that Richard knew. On top of that, he never confronted me about it, and he didn’t tell the committee or anyone about it.

“Why do you look so shocked?” he asked before he smirked at me.

“Well, I thought no one knew…” I replied honestly.

“It’s not just me. A few other people in the CEO’s office picked up on it as well. Julianna knew too, for example,” he said before shrugging his shoulders to show that it didn’t concern him.

“I never knew that…” I murmured.

“We talked about it only once and the consensus was that we would rather see Ace dating you than some celebrity or model that would bring unnecessary attention to the company and his work,” Richard told me passively.

“I see…” I murmured as I still struggled to take in what he had just told me.

So, they knew all along?

“I guess I didn’t have to worry…” I murmured to myself.

“Julianna would shout at anyone who has something to say about you and she’d yell even louder if they dare badmouth Ace. That’s why it’s all so quiet in the marketing department,” Edward explained.

“I can actually imagine her doing that…” I replied.

It amazed me so much that I had these people supporting me. I worried endlessly about how they would react that I had unconsciously been steering clear of them ever since news broke out that Ace and I are dating. I felt tears stinging the back of my eyes and realized just how lucky and fortunate I felt as warm emotions overwhelmed me. They knew all along and they never judged me or Ace for it and that felt more than enough for me. 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Thank you…” I thanked Richard while also thinking of everyone else.

…

**A few days later**

Ace has been on the trip that he mentioned to me for a few days now. Since he didn’t offer any in depth details other than that he was going with some of his friends and that it was a random trip of sorts to catch up, I didn’t ask him much about it. Ace seemed excited for once in a very long time and I thought that going out and about might do him some good. At that point, I felt quite worried about the fact that Ace might just be sitting there and watching his life pass him by. It wasn’t like there was anything truly wrong about taking a break and relaxing without doing anything, but it just wasn’t like Ace to be in that state or such a long time.

The news of Ace going on a trip and looking excited and energetic about it brought me some relief. It felt like he might have gotten on his feet again. Ace kept in touch with me as much as he could by calling me at all reasonable intervals of the day starting from the morning, then during my lunch break, and then at the end of work and one last time before I went to bed.

We always ended up talking about how I was doing rather than how he was doing or what exactly he was doing on his trip with ‘the boys’. Whenever I probed him with questions his answers were vague and not quite informative. I decided to let it slide while reminding myself that I should trust him. Work kept me very busy and before I knew it, the day of Ace’s return had arrived. During my lunch break, Ace called me right on time like clockwork.

“I’m coming back today so I’ll pick you up from work,” Ace declared happily.

“Sounds great. I hope you had fun on your trip,” I said before smiling to myself.

“It was alright…” he replied lazily.

Knowing that Ace was going to pick me up gave me the determination to push through the day. There was no way that I wouldn’t get off work on time because I couldn’t wait to see Ace. I wondered if he would tell me more about his trip now that he was back.

“I’m off,” I announced as I quickly headed for the door.

I could feel people’s eyes on my back as I got into Ace’s car. Ace made the right decision to remain in his car without coming out. Although we tried to live our life as a normal couple as much as possible, we still kept out of unnecessary trouble.

--To be continued…