Secretly Mine
Chapter 44: Early Morning Escape

Chapter 44: Early Morning Escape

The next day, I woke up early, wanting to leave for work as early as possible.

After last night’s dinner, I realized that I was nothing more than a pawn to my family. No one took my feelings into consideration, instead throwing me to Karl, like a bone to a dog.

The less time I spent at home, the better.

After getting dressed, I stepped out of my room before the rest of my family woke up.

"Second Miss, you’re up early." One of the maids greeted me in the hallway.

"Yes, I have a lot of work to do at the company today, and I don’t want to be behind on my tasks. Please let the driver know I’m ready to leave."

I was willing to say anything if it got me out of the house earlier.

I’m sorry for waking you up early, driver. I really can’t stand being here much longer.

"Yes, of course. I’ll notify him right away," she said and scurried off.

Thankfully, the driver was punctual, and I waited less than ten minutes before he was ready to drive me.

-

The drive to the city was quieter than usual since it was a lot earlier in the morning.

I was still surprised at how many people were already up and about, setting up their stalls or grabbing a coffee before work.

All of the street lights were still on, casting their soft glow over the nearby storefronts.

We arrived faster than usual due to the low amount of traffic.

"I’ll pick you up at the usual time, Second Miss," said the driver as he opened my door for me.

I nodded, "Thank you."

As I walked over to the large double doors, I realized there may be one small issue.

I hope the office building is open this early. I would be so awkward if I had to stand out here until someone came.

A scene of Christian finding me stranded in front of his office building flashed through my mind, causing my face to heat up in embarrassment.

Please be open.

I walked over and pulled one of the door handles. Relief washed over me as the door swung open, allowing me inside.

It seemed that at least one of the receptionists was already here, though I didn’t see her at the front desk.

After peeking through the lobby like a thief, I made my way over to the elevator.

Will Christian be surprised when he sees that I’ve beaten him to work?

A small smile appeared on my lips as I pictured Christian’s surprised look, but as soon as the elevators opened, I was the one with the surprised look on my face.

"Christian? Why are you here so early?"

He looked at me with a shocked smile, "I could ask you the same thing!"

We walked over to his office as we spoke.

"Silly, I always arrive this early. What about you? You should still be sleeping. Why are you here so early?"

My face drooped at his question as a subtle sadness pooled inside of me.

"Oh, I just felt like coming early to get some work done. The deadline is approaching, and I want to make sure that everything is in order," I tried to flash my most convincing smile.

Christian paused and looked at me. Once again, his deep blue eyes pierced through me, looking into my very soul.

"Leslie, what happened? Something is bothering you."

I averted my gaze, looking at the floor. For some reason, I felt like telling Christian about my experience at dinner last night was unnecessary, and I didn’t want to seem like someone who complained.

It doesn’t affect him anyway.

After adjusting my expression, I looked at him with a smile, shaking my head. "Nothing happened, I’m doing just fine."

He continued to silently look at me, directly into my eyes. I knew he could tell that I was lying, but I didn’t want to bring up Karl or my family. Even if I were to tell him, I didn’t even know where to begin.

Christian’s touch brought me out of my thoughts. I looked down and noticed that he was holding my hands.

"If you decide that you want to talk about it, I’m always here to listen."

My chest tightened, and I could feel my eyes begin to sting.

No. No, please don’t start crying.

I averted my gaze to squeeze my eyes shut, preventing the tears from welling up. It only took me a few moments to suppress my emotions, and the next moment, I turned to Christian and smiled, nodding.

"Thank you, I will keep that in mind."

-

He walked me over to my office, his eyes never leaving me.

As soon as I sat down at my desk, he walked over and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "I need to meet with someone quickly, but I’ll be back after."

I nodded, "Of course, I’ll be here working."

As soon as Christian walked out of my office, I turned on my computer and got to work. Today’s task was choosing which jewelry designer would be the one making the designs for the season launch.

The first step was research, so I went through the most recent season launch design documents, only to find that it’s been the same designer for the past 3 years.

"This designer must be quite capable to be chosen back to back for so many years," I mumbled while scrolling to find the actual designs.

When I finally opened them all, I frowned.

While they all look nice, they’re quite simple and boring. Not very different from the everyday jewelry stores. I certainly would not have chosen him.

All of the previous pieces looked very generic: simple cuts and average styles. The only thing that stood out was the impeccable quality of the stones themselves.

I didn’t hesitate to choose a different jeweler this time around, and I quickly opened the portfolios of the hundreds of jewelers who wanted to work with the brand.

"Okay, here goes nothing," I said, hyping myself up for the long task ahead of me.

I was so absorbed in my work that I didn’t notice when Christian came back. It must have been hours later when I finally looked up from my computer screen and found him sitting on the sofa in my office, working.

Feeling my gaze, he looked over at me and smiled.

"Getting a lot done? You were so absorbed in your work that you didn’t even hear me calling your name earlier," he chuckled.

"Oh, sorry! I was looking through the list of jewelry designers and their portfolios. I guess it took a lot of concentration," I said with flushed cheeks.

Christian raised his eyebrow and smiled, "I see, good work. I left you some snacks on your desk if you get hungry."

My eyes lit up as I looked over my desk, spotting a small charcuterie board filled with fruits, crackers, cheese, meats, and jams.

As soon as I noticed it, my stomach growled so loudly that even Christian pretended to cough so that he could hide his smile.

"Sorry, I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. I’m quite hungry," I said in a low voice, picking a large red grape from the tray.

"Well, if that’s the case, let me order breakfast. I’m quite hungry myself," said Christian as he picked up his phone.

I looked up at him, secretly relieved that he was hungry too. Now that I was aware of my own hunger, I realized that I was starting to get shaky from hunger.

Christian looked over at me, then put his phone away.

"Hang tight, I’ll be right back."

I nodded, unsure where he was going, and turned my attention back to the charcuterie board.

Perhaps another meeting?

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