Chapter 2

Emily is just a simple girl–to be exact, she's rather plain. 

Plain annoying, plain energetic, plain confident, plain pretty, and plain kind. The truth? She's a person walking on eggshells every single day. If you see her personally, you'll definitely fall for her beauty, but once you get to know her, you might want to head-butt her. 

She has a hefty sum of money she needs to pay and a brother she needs to support.

It's true that she's very diligent in her work, but her last job fired her because of her principles in life. 

That was her main source of income, but she rejected her boss after he told her to do something illicit for the company. Well-knowing their status in life, she wouldn't say no to that, but knowing there are people who'll suffer because of what they asked her to do, she'd rather not eat for a day or two than do something inhumane. 

So she resigned.

After a day or two of not eating properly and seeing her brother hungry, she regretted her decision – just a little. 

That's when she started beating herself up and tried to find a dignified job. She came across the Cooper Corp. building by chance and saw a man sobbing his way out of the building. The man was wearing a suit and looked decent. Being a curious and chatty person, she approached him and asked him what happened.

The guy kept sobbing, and when he faced her, it was clear that he was stunned for a moment before he got over it and told her what happened. 

"I never thought I'd meet a devil in person. How much more working for him?" He said that in between his sobs as he glared at the highest floor of the building. "I don't have a job now," his shoulders hung low.

In order to comfort the man, she patted him. "Don't worry, you'll find another one," she said, sounding reassuring, even though she herself didn't have a job at that moment. 

"By the way, what happened? Who's that devil you're talking about?" 

"It was the CEO of that company – Richard Cooper. I was so tired doing everything he asked me to do," he mumbled. "That I made some mistakes – just small mistakes. I fell asleep because I didn't get any at home trying to finish my reports."

She felt sympathy for him; 'how dare he?', she didn't even know Richard personally, but she was already pissed by what she heard. Being a woman full of compassion and kindness, she couldn't stand anyone being treated unfairly. 

"I only applied and stayed by his side, enduring everything for a year because of the salary," all her thoughts went down the drain, hearing the word 'salary.' 

As if it's a key word, she asked the man how much he was earning.

"To be honest, I get enough to rent a penthouse"

She gulped. 

She never thought of that. Oh well, it's a CEO they're talking about. And just by looking at the gigantic facade in front of her, she's sure that building has more than twenty floors. Being a secretary of the CEO himself is a luxury indeed. She was nodding profusely at the back of her head.

She talked to the guy some more before bidding him goodbye. 

And now, here she is, she's hired! 

Screw her principles, she'll feed her brother unlimited food after this – of course, that was a joke. 

She'll never forget what she heard, and she actually entered the company with a determination to know what kind of personality the CEO had to have treated his employees like that.

What she didn't expect was to see a gorgeous, well-built, and eloquent-looking man busy doing his stuff and intently staring at a certain document. 

She went home happy that day, and she also went back to work excited. 

But all her excitement came to an end when he found Richard scolding an employee that morning. It was quite a scene to behold, and it's obvious Richard was in a sour mood.

"Do I have to repeat myself again? These reports were trash. How dare you submit to me rundown papers?!" He was fuming with anger, and his eyes were bloodshot. 

"I-I'm really sorry, sir. My child didn't mean to do that, sir. She's just five." Her voice was quivering, and her head was hanging low.

"Well, if you placed the document somewhere out of her reach, do you think that would happen?" He snapped at her. 

The staff in front of him was biting her lips, obviously trying her best to hold her tears. "Get out," he commanded her. "Get out and never show your face in front of me," he even whispered 'another mongrel,' and that didn't escape Emily's ears.

She just couldn't handle it. She knew her position and where to stand, never having been a biased person. 

"Stop"

Richard and the staff turned to her because she suddenly interrupted. She faced the employee. "You made a mistake. Now, do the report again, and do it right and neat this time," she said, not giving in to Richard's glares. "Say hi to your daughter for me," she smiled at her. "I'm sure she's as pretty as you are." 

The staff couldn't stop her tears anymore, until she sobbed. "Go now, do your job right, do what you're best at." The staff slowly turned her back, still sobbing but grateful to the woman who stopped the commotion. She felt like a helping hand from heaven made its way to Earth because of Emily.

After Emily sent the staff off, she faced Richard. She wasn't paying attention to his glares earlier, so she was already expecting him to burst in anger and lash out at her. She was ready to accept harsh words, even shouting, and she inwardly prepared herself to resign if she was asked to. 

'Too much for a first day at work,' she thought. 

She was about to apologize and explain, but she saw him looking at her with his lips parted. He rather looked like he was in awe – if she was being honest. 

"You..." 

Richard pointed at her, "you have the guts, don't you?" He smirked, and that stunned Emily. The Richard in front of her right now didn't look like he would explode in anger. He looked like he had calmed down already.

Richard stared at her like he was thinking of something, and that really confused Emily. But she regained her composure and still smiled at him. 

"Come on," Richard finally turned his back on her and asked her to follow him inside the office. She thought he would fire her right there, but she sighed in relief when she heard the next thing he said. "You have to do a lot of things today." He informed her. "Do your best." 

She quickly smiled, almost laughing lightly, and she excitedly complied. She was still beaming, but when he handed her a big pile of documents, all her excitement died down. He handed her a pile, and another pile, and another again. 

She did her best to stop herself from frowning. She maintained her happy face, but she was inwardly crying for help. 

'This is really too much for the first day!' 

She wanted to scream, and she held it all too well that Richard, who was silently observing and waiting for her reaction after handing her all those paper works was stunned. He thought she would go berserk or cry on the floor after receiving mountains of work, but no – Emily maintained her composure.

He chuckled, "You have your own office next to mine. Just call me through that telephone if you need anything." He pointed to the telephone beside the table. "All offices here have that; the list of numbers is already registered, and you just have to tap it in. My number is at the very bottom." 

She was just listening as he instructed her, and she couldn't help but notice again how gorgeous he was. Even though she saw his 'devil' side earlier, she couldn't deny the fact that she still found him attractive. 

"I got it, thank you," she said, still sounding merry.

She went to her office next to Richard's. She thought it would be as tidy and organized as the CEO's office, but oh, how wrong she was. 

Papers were scattered everywhere. It looked like a thief had broken into the office because of the extreme mess and disarray. She bit her lips.

'Seems like I won't be just a secretary today, but also a janitress.' She sighed and decided to clean first before starting all the chores. Richard didn't give her a deadline, but she was adamant about doing her job diligently. 

In her mind, she was already promising herself not to fall asleep while at work, so she wouldn't end up like the last secretary she met. 

'Really too much! Too much for the first day, Emily!'