Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 42

Leh was right. I had no choice. Because right now, I was at Valex, in an elevator headed to the highest floor… The same floor where Kade’s office was.

I tried my best not to come here, but there wasn’t much I could do. She was still my boss and the chief editor. There was no way my word would win over hers. So here I was, carrying a stack of files I knew nothing about and going to speak to the same man I had a heated conversation with just yesterday.

It was one of the few times he directly acknowledged the fact that we’d slept together, and even though he said it to spite me I was still shocked. I was so stunned that I got into the car and let him drive me home. But we didn’t speak after that.

The elevator dinged, snapping me out of my trance. I strolled out and headed to the secretary’s desk.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the pretty brunette behind the desk asked, a professional smile on her face.

I smiled back. “Hi, I work at CIOS. We merged with the Valerio company recently, and I’m here with some updates on an ongoing project.”

She nodded. “Okay. But is there anyone in particular you’re here to see? The thing is, Valex isn’t part of the merger,” she said.

“Oh… I’m actually here to see Mr. Valerio,” I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering as I said his name.

The brunette’s brows rose. “Do you have an appointment?” Her tone was now clipped, the smile on her face gone.

“No… I don’t think I have one. I’m not sure,” I said. “I was sent here by my boss, so I’m sure he’s aware.”

She scoffed and turned her attention back to her computer. “Come back when you have an appointment.”

My face fell, and I frowned, disappointed. “Can you please ask him first?”

She snapped her head up to look at me, a deep scowl on her face. “Aren’t you one of those girls? The ones that come here hoping to seduce him.”

I blinked, taken aback by her blunt words and the direction this conversation had suddenly headed in. I straightened up. “I’m here for work.” I raised the files in my hands. “As you can see.”

She eyed me warily before grabbing what looked like her work phone. “You better be,” she said.

I watched her, patiently waiting as she dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear. “Sorry to bother you when you have a guest, sir,” she said. “There’s a lady here. She claims to be from CIOS, Are you expecting anyone from there?”

The receptionist’s eyes stayed on me, her frown deepening as though whatever he said made her even more pissed off at me. “You’re not expecting anyone from there?”

No… No. My hands got sweaty, panic swirling within me as I realized what was going on. Leah tricked me once again. She sent me here to set me up for embarrassment. I was doomed.

The receptionist dropped the phone after some time. “You little lying bitch,” she sneered, her face scrunched up, “I knew it!”

“What do you vant?” she asked, her voice light but with an unmistakable accent. One that was even more distinct than Alvise’s own. She was Russian.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

you speak?” she asked, her grey eyes sparking with annoyance.

She was pretty, with long blonde hair and a slim figure that suited her round face. Was she… his fiancée? I wanted to believe she was, but the more I looked at her, the more I realized she wasn’t. The similarities were there, but she wasn’t the one. Though it was weird to admit it, I’d searched for his fiancée on social media and knew exactly what she looked like. Yes, that was creepy, but I couldn’t help it.

“Why are you here?” Alvise asked, prompting me to glance at him. His eyes were now on mine, and he didn’t look pleased. I was definitely interrupting something.

I swallowed, my hands shaking slightly as I held the files up. “I… Miss Leah sent me to drop these files off and… update you about the project.”

“And now she speaks,” the blonde woman said, rolling her eyes. “Get out.”

finked, staring at her in disbelief. She couldn’t be speaking to me. “Excuse me?” I said, bewildered.

She turned to Alvise, pointing innocently. “I don’t like her.”