Chapter 2
The breaking point came when I was on my period. I was two minutes late bringing him his coffee, and he tore into me.
I finally snapped.
"You're a bastard, Alexander!" I yelled, my voice shaking. "You only hired me so you could torture me! You wanted revenge because I saw you crying at the cemetery!"
I was seething, but he smiled.
For the first time, he came out from behind his massive desk.
He leaned against it, looking down at me.
"Sophie, you mess up, so I call you out on it. But now, you feel wronged?
"Go ask anyone in the office what happened to the last intern. The only reason you're still here, making these amateur mistakes, is because it's you."
His words made my face flush with embarrassment.
I knew he was right.
After that, he yelled at me less, but he started keeping me around more.
He, who never needed an assistant to stay late, now insisted I stay with him.
He started taking me on business trips. He stopped introducing me as his secretary and started just saying my name, as if I were someone who mattered.
Then one night at dinner, he casually reached over and wiped a smudge from the corner of my mouth. I couldn't take it anymore. "Alexander," I stammered, "do you like me?"
His hand paused with the napkin.
He stood slowly, buttoning his jacket.
"Yeah," he said casually. "I like you."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
It was like a dam inside me had burst. I threw my arms around his neck and bit his lower lip hard.
"You sneaky bastard!" I said, breathless. "I knew you were flirting with me this whole time."
He didn't seem to mind being bitten. A real smile broke through his composure. "Yeah," he murmured. "I was."
And then, he kissed me.
After that, we started dating.
At work, he was still my demanding boss. But after hours, he showered me with affection.
He bought me expensive gifts, took me on lavish vacations, and introduced me to his friends and business partners.
He would stay up all night rubbing my belly when I had cramps.
He would drive across town in the middle of the night if I had a sudden craving for coffee.
The only time he ever said no was when the anniversary of my mother's death came around. I asked him to go to the cemetery with me, but he just looked up indifferently.
"I'm not going."
I stared at him, completely baffled.
Our mothers were buried next to each other, and they died on the same day. We met there. Why wouldn't he go?
But no matter how much I pressed him, he wouldn't say a word. He just retreated into his study.
He never came out that night. The next morning, I opened the door and was immediately engulfed in the smell of smoke. The problem was, he wasn't a smoker.
Later, when he decided he wanted to marry me, he took me home to meet his family.
The moment his younger brother, Eric Shaw, saw me, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and smirked.
He said with a lazy drawl, "Alex, I like your girlfriend. How about you let me marry her instead?"
And just like that, Alexander broke up with me.
That same night, he showed up at my father's house with a formal proposal and a check for an astronomical sum as a marriage settlement.
He knew my brother had been waiting five years for a kidney, so when my family refused, he made it clear that wait would be for nothing.
Every confession and every moment of vulnerability I ever shared with him became another arrow in his quiver.
He used them all as leverage to force me into dating Eric.
He even wrote out a list of over a hundred of Eric's likes and dislikes and handed it to me, expecting me to transform myself into Eric's perfect woman.
When Eric brought me to their family home, he would kiss my cheek right in front of Alexander, deliberately trying to get a reaction.
But Alexander never showed a flicker of anger.
He just calmly told the housekeeper to prepare a set of toiletries for me in Eric's room.
The next morning, he calmly handed me a box of morning-after pills.
"Eric called," he said flatly. "He's not ready for kids. Take this."
A suffocating pain seized my chest. At that exact moment, my phone rang.
It was Eric.
"Sophie Grant," he barked, "get to the hospital. My girlfriend is having an abortion. You're going to take care of her for a few days."
Listening to Eric bossing me around like I was his servant, I clenched my fists tight.
"I'm busy today, Eric."
He snorted, "Then I'll just have my brother personally escort you."
And with that, he hung up.
The dial tone buzzed in my ear as tears finally broke free, streaming down my face.
The next second, a sleek car pulled up beside me.
The tinted window slid down, revealing Alexander's stony profile.
"Eric called," he said evenly. "He wants me to take you to the hospital. He said he wants to apologize in person for running out on the wedding."
He added, "Eric's just immature. He knows he was wrong to leave you at the altar."
His attempt to play peacemaker was so pathetic. Snorting, I wiped my tears and moved to get in the car.
Chloe grabbed my arm, her eyes pleading.
I turned and pulled her into a tight hug, whispering in her ear.
"Don't worry. Wait for me at the airport.
"My brother got the kidney. The transplant was a success. Alexander has no more leverage over me.
"I'm going to the hospital to break up with Eric. And to finally end things with Alexander."
I let her go, wiped the last of my tears, and slid into the front passenger seat indifferently.
As I reached for my seatbelt, Alexander demanded coldly. "Sit back here."