21

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to clean that huge shelf?" I couldn't believe my eyes as I stared at the 15-foot-tall shelf.

"Yes, because you've already finished your work, right?" He said this while looking up in the shelf as well.

I'm about to punch him in the face because who the fuck will agree to clean this kind of book shelf?!

"I'm finished with my work, but this isn't part of my responsibilities as your secretary. You've already decided to make me your—"

When he threw the pail and rag on my front, then the broom, dustpan, and soap, he cut off my words. 

"It's better than being a sex doll like Mr. Howards' secretary," he said like it's not a sensitive topic.

I hurl the rag at his face, causing him to flinch and give me death stares. As if I'm terrified of those.

"Just keep quiet about that subject; you're being insensitive."

"What should I call you, since you're the one who took and leaked the video, if I'm being insensitive by referring to his secretary as his sex doll?" he inquired, his gaze fixed on my face.

How did he figure it out? I posted the video on an account where I'm confident they won't be able to find my personal information.

"H-How did you figure that out?" My voice is trembling with terror. Is Mr. Howards the same person who threatened my life earlier? Did Mr. Howards already know?

"Selena, I'm the CEO of a technology firm. I have the authority to order the hackers to hack an account, especially if it is for the company's benefit," While walking close to me, he explained in a solemn tone.

I continued walking back until my back was against the wall. His gaze is still fixed on mine, and it makes me feel uneasy that he is aware of what I did.

"Did you take a video of him and leak it to bring down one of Morelli's most powerful managers? Was it for the sake of the company that you did it?"

My throat has become dry, and I am at a loss for words to respond to him. Yes, I did it for the company, but I doubt he'll accept it as a valid reason.

"Reply to my fucking questions—"

"Yes, I did it for the benefit of the company. After thirty minutes, I decided to delete the video, but it quickly leaked," I replied with my eyes  closed.

When he kicked the pail hard enough to break it in half, I flinched. He's furious now, and he's pacing back and forth in front of me with his hands at his waist.

"Selena, you got a little too dirty this time. You have no idea what Mr. Howard could do to you if he found out you were the one who leaked the video "He said this in a tense tone.

I was about to say something when he walked by and said, "Clean the shelf before six o'clock."

I began to gather the items I required and began to clean this tall bookshelf.

How am I going to finish this by six  o'clock?

JAXON'S POV

"Has the video continued to circulate?" I told the guy I gave the task to keep an eye on the video's spread.

Selena can be a real pain in the neck. How does she manage to pull off such feats?

"Yes, but it slows down as time goes on," he said, pointing to the numbers on the left that show how many cellphones have the video.

"How can we delete the video without telling the people to do so?"

"I know we can, but I've forgotten how... oh wait, let me give it a shot."

I sat on his back and watched as he attempted to delete the video. I've noticed Selena has had this mysterious smirk on her face since the day the video was leaked. It's why I began to suspect her.

"And... it's all gone!" He exclaimed loudly enough for me to stand up and look at the computer.

"Excellent work. Anyway, how about the video surveillance footage from my office and conference room?" I inquired, and he moved his mouse to another window, where we could review the footage from earlier.

"It appears that the perpetrator is aware of the presence of a camera in your office and conference room, as well as the controls for it. If we look at the timeline of each footage, we can see that they have obviously deleted the footage where they can be visible."

I rest my hand on my chin as I consider the people who might be responsible for the cctv footages.

"How did you find out again that a video was deleted?"

He points out the time gaps between the first frame and the video frame where Selena is already attempting to leave the conference room.

"There is a one-hour gap between these two clips. The cctv footage is continuous, but there is a time gap in this footage, which is also the case in your office."

"What time did Ms. Selena walk into the meeting room?"

"It has a 50-minute gap from the first frame around 1:54 p.m., but it appears that they entered your office first because the lost footage was around 12:09 p.m."

Because I was in the production department at the time they broke into my office, it's possible they used a device to call Ms. Selena and tell her to leave and go in the conference room. 

Who could it possibly be, though?

When my phone abruptly rang, I was in the middle of collecting my thoughts. To answer the phone, I exit the access team room.

"Why?"

[Did you figure out who locked Selena in the meeting room already?] Haru asked on the other line.

"Currently, no. I'm still considering the suspects in this case "I responded while keeping an eye on the employees as they made their way down the hall.

Haru was the one who noticed Selena, who was locked up in the conference room, and he was about to approach her when Kassandra appeared out of nowhere. He dialed my number and informed me of the situation.

The door to the conference room was locked inside due to a chair leaning on the doorknob. I took it off and entered the conference room, where there was a box on the table and Selena was crying and staring at me.

I gently yanked the snake away from her and placed it back in the box because it was not poisonous. Selena slapped me hard and cursed me, and my eyes widened.

[How is Selena doing now? I saw her earlier, almost passing out while carrying a stack of papers; she also informed me that her life was in danger.]

"Did someone make a death threat to her?" I inquired, surprised. Mr. Howards could have sent her a death threat.

[Yes, she did appear to be terrified earlier.]

I immediately hung up the phone and looked if Selena was still alive at my office.

SELENA'S POV

"How come it's so difficult to get rid of?"

Because of the dirt that is difficult to remove, my arms and hands are now in excruciating pain. So that I don't fall in the ladder that I'm using, I slowly reach the dirt at the top.

"I... can... reach... y— aaahhh!"

My feet slipped in the step of the ladder, causing it to sway and throw me off balance. I was about to break my back when I was caught in someone's arms.

When I slowly opened my eyes to see what had happened to me, Mr. Jaxon's eyes met mine. Everything around us vanished, leaving only the two of us in this place.

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you

I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

I've been sleepin' so long in a twenty-year dark night

And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

He fixed his gaze on my eyes, nose, and lips. I moved my head closer to him, but he abruptly dropped me to the ground, and my back was literally broken.

"What were you thinking when you dropped me?" While suffering from back pain, I inquired.

"You're so heavy. Anyway, have you read the Thursday script yet?"

"How will I be able to read the script while cleaning the entire bookshelf?" I questioned him while holding my back and trying to stood up.

"All right, you have to hurry up, it's almost six o'clock."

He abandoned me once more without apologizing. I throw the rag and the shelf, as well as my body, at the sofa, which hurts a lot.

I finished cleaning the shelf and prepared to return home by cleaning myself. I'm now walking around the parking lot, texting Britanny to go out and get me a backpain patch.

I was on my phone when I noticed a bright car light coming from behind me, and my feet became stuck when the car in front of me suddenly accelerates and tries to hit me.

My head banged at a car's wheel when someone grabbed me from my position and saved my life.

"Are you all right?" Wade asked and assisted me in standing up; he noticed that my hands were trembling and looked at them.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I said, my hands still trembling as I searched for my keys.

He grabbed my wrist and said, "I'll drive you home, let's go," but I quickly released my hands.

"No, I can drive," I said, fudge, as I tried to insert my key to unlock my car but my hands were shaking so badly.

Wade grabbed my wrist once more and dragged me to his car. He started the car while I sat in the front seat.

We're all silent as we drive because no one wants to be the one to speak up first. I leaned against the window, watching the cars zoom past us.

"Aahh!" When a gunshot rang out near us, I screamed and covered my ears. Wade immediately shifted his car to the side, and peered out the window, but due to the dust, I couldn't see anything  clearly.

"Stay here, okay?" he said as he got out of the car to investigate. My curiosity drove me to move out as well.

People standing near the upside-down car peered inside to see who was driving, and Wade walked close by.

He said, "Hey, I told you to stay in your car," but I ignored him. When I tried to peer into the driver's seat, I saw Mr. Howard and my eyes widened.

"Mr. Howard is there, he's already dead," I said as I dashed to Wade, pointing to the driver's seat.

When the medics and police arrived on the scene, we moved to the side. They take Mr. Howard out of the room and place him on a stretcher, covering his entire body in a white blanket to indicate that he is already dead.

Wade instructed me to get in the car and drive to our home. Since Mr. Howard is no longer alive, my mind is filled with questions and concerns.

Is the video that I leaked now no longer a problem for me? Is he dead as a result of it? Or did he owe someone so much that they had no choice but to kill him?

Argh, this is so aggravating.

Someone had sent me an e-mail, as my phone beeped.

'Did you see Mr. Howard? How's it going with my first surprise for you?' 

When I realized that Mr. Howard and them were not the same person, my brow furrowed. I'm not safe anymore.

'Can you tell me why you killed him? What exactly do you expect from me?' I responded.

'However, he was planning to kill you because he already knew you were the one who leaked his video of him having a hot date with his secretary.'

My heart began to race, and I began to break out in cold sweat on my hands and forehead.

'I don't want him to murder you, I want you to die at my hands. Selena, I'll be seeing you soon!