Chapter One

Without knocking on the door, Ellie James helped herself into her best friend's office. Like always, her bestie was seated on the chair behind the huge mahogany desk. Her attention was on the work she was doing on her iMac and beside the desktop was a file that contained some important papers.

"You need to get a life, babe," Ellie said as she walked further into the luxurious office.

"I will, as from tomorrow," Arianna replied, not taking her eyes away from the computer. There was only one person who was welcomed to Ari's office at any time and that was Ellie. So the moment Ari heard someone walk in without knocking, She knew it was Ellie James, her confidant, her best friend, and the general manager of her company(Ari Mills).

"Don't tell me you are still going on with that plan. I thought we agreed you were going to let it go?" Ellie said, taking a seat on the chair opposite Arianna.

Ari paused the work she was doing and turned her attention to her best friend. "I can't. He has to pay for all the pains, tears, and humiliations he cost me and my family."

Ellie sighed. "Is there anything that I can say or do to make you change your mind?"

Ari shook her head.

"I'm not comfortable with your decision, Arianna. I'm scared for you. I'm afraid everything will backfire on you. I know that asshole ruined you and your family in the past but getting revenge against him is like inviting him to do more harm. You're in a good position now. You have a good life; you run a successful company so let bygones be bygones. You don't have to plot any revenge because he who has done evil will surely reap the fruits of his labor." Ellie said.

"I appreciate your concern, babe. But you should know by now that no one can convince me when I've made my decision about something." 

"Then I think I will involve Mom," Ellie voiced out.

"Even Mom wouldn't be able to stop me. But I don't want her to know because she will get all stressed up. Please, she must not know about it. The last thing she wants is for any of her loved ones to associate themselves with that demon and his family."Ari explained.

"You know that getting revenge against Alexander Clay will be very hard. That dude and his family are always guided. How do you plan on going through this? I don't want you to end up in jail, Ari"

"I won't end up in jail. I have a well thought out plan." She answered.

"Which is?" Ellie asked.

"To seduce him," Ari answered

"And how will you get to seduce him? By stalking him?"

"I have no problem with stalking him but I won't achieve my goal with that. I need to plant myself in his life. He has to see me and deal with me every day for me to be able to get my revenge. My plan will go well if I can be his secretary."

"Arianna?!!!" Ellie groaned as she ran a hand over her long, dark, and curly hair.

"I know I'm sounding like I'm crazy but I promise you that I'm far from being crazy. Seeing Alexander go down for his torture towards me and my family means so much to me and I'm ready to do all it takes to achieve it."

"What will happen to this company if you run off to be his secretary? Your company is already getting all the accolades it deserves, Ari mills is getting popular and more successful day by day, we are getting more clients and partnership deals. This company is one of the most sought Textile companies in the country. Can't you just focus on it rather than channeling your energy to that Clay asshole?" Ellie asked.

"I know you're looking out for me but please be calm and listen to all that I have to say. I'm no fool to leave my company when it's at the peak of its success and run off to work for Alex who does the same business as me. I'm only going to be his secretary to ruin him, not to work my ass off for him and his company."

"I've been working really hard for weeks now so I can leave everything in place for you to take over in my absence. I'll still be available to do my duties as the owner of this company. All I ask is for you to cover up for me during the day when I'll be with Alex. I know I can pull this through, Ellie. All I need is your blessing." Ari said, looking into Ellie's eyes.

Ellie sighed. "I forgot how stubborn you can be. How will you get the secretary position because I'm sure he has one already or is there a vacancy at CLAY International?" She asked. She wouldn't be surprised if her best friend was stalking Alex's company for this information.

Arianna shook her head. "There's no Vacancy." She took out a brown envelope from her drawer and placed it on the desk before Ellie. "We will make a deal with his present secretary to quit her job."

"Do you think he or she would accept?" Ellie asked, reaching for the envelope to take a look at the content. 

"I'm sure she would. I was able to lay my hands on her employment contract and I found a loophole she could use to her defense. I don't even think Alexander will care that much if she tells him she's resigning. His focus will be on her finding someone to take over the secretary duties. According to what the investigator told me, Alex is known for changing secretaries. Due to his temper, he doesn't think twice before he fires them. I was told he had threatened to fire Emma, his present secretary, many times so I'm sure he won't have any problem with her leaving."

Ellie went through the papers in the envelope. It contained Emma's employment contract with the loopholes in it marked out, Emma's contact details, and a cheque with a huge sum.

"I should be surprised that you're giving out this amount but I'm not because this revenge seems precious to you. Now that you've handed me the envelope, I guess I'm the one that has to call Emma, meet her and make the deal with her."

Ari nodded. "I would have done so myself but it's safer that someone does it on my behalf."

"How sure are you that Emma is going to accept?" Ellie asked.

"As far as I know, she's really in need of money to sort out some financial issues. She's still working for that asshole because she always pleads for him not to fire her. All you need to do is convince her with the figures on the cheque. She has to accept the offer for me to carry out my plan."

"What happens after you get the secretary position?" Ellie asked.

"My seduction continues." She answered.

"I know you will seduce him but what if he wants more of you?"

"Then I'll give him all of me!"

Ellie scoffed "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I wasn't joking when I said I was willing to do anything to make my plan a success. It is second to none how much of a womanizer Alexander Clay is. And with my very sexy body, I'm sure it won't be long to have him wrapped around my fingers, receiving orders from me." She explained.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Ari? You're indirectly subscribing to be Alex's mistress."

Arianna Greece shrugged. "He has had so many mistresses and I'm sure I won't be the last of them all."

Ellie sighed. "This dude doesn't deserve your energy, babe. He doesn't even deserve to see you naked. The thought of you guys being involved is making me sick. "

"I'm not going to be stuck with him forever and even if I have to do more than seduction, I'm not going to surrender myself to him more than twice. Being his secretary is not just enough, but being his mistress will make him trust me. And once I've gained his trust, it will be easy to get hold of his trade secrets to not only overthrow his company but to also bring his company down."

Ellie slowly massaged her temple. "The media, his wife, his family, how will you deal with them? Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to talk you out of this crazy idea?"

"It's true that the media is always updated about Alex's extramarital affairs but I plan to keep my seduction with him low key. I have no problem with Alex's wife and family. They aren't my target but dealing with them if they come to know about my intention with Alexander isn't a problem. I'll cross the bridge when I get there."

"You don't have to talk me out of anything, Ellie. I'm not the bad guy here. I just want that bastard to have a taste of his medicine. The law wouldn't even be of help to get the justice I want so I have to do it myself. You know everything my family and I went through because of him, you know how much we suffered and how much tears we shed. I can't even seem to move on with my life, knowing he's doing things scot-free after all the lives he has ruined."

"Being his secretary doesn't mean I'm going to neglect my company. I'm going there as a lazy secretary. I'll try to catch up on my company's work at night."

"Don't you think he's going to recognize you?" Ellie asked Arianna.

"I'm very sure he wouldn't. But I'm not going to dwell on that. I'll be having a makeover." She responded.

"How long have you been planning all of these? You only told me about it last week. I honestly thought you were joking but now that you've gone into details, you seem to have put a lot of effort into everything." Ellie said.

Arianna rested her back against her comfy chair. "I've always wanted to get back at him so the thought of what to do never left my mind. Also, I've been waiting for what seemed to be the right time because I've been busy with the company."

Ellie nodded in understanding. "I'll contact Emma before lunch and schedule an appointment with her today. I'll do my best to convince her to accept the offer."

"Thank you. I'm hoping everything will go well so I'll resume at CLAY Internationals on Monday. In other words, we have two days and the weekend to finalize everything"

"Whatever! Just be careful. I want that beast to go down for hurting us all but I don't like the fact that you have to give too much to achieve that." Ellie whined, which earned a small smile from Ari.

"I will be fine. I promise you things will even go better than expected." She said.