Chapter 3
Audrey accepted the menu and casually ordered a few of her favorites.
She sipped the rich mushroom soup. Warmth slid down her throat into her stomach, and in her mind she quietly added points for his thoughtfulness.
They chatted easily.
Audrey discovered that Titus was not only good-looking, but also educated, articulate, and pleasant.
Just as the mood settled into something almost comfortable, a shadow carrying a powerful chill fell over the table.
A low male voice sounded.
“Ms. Mitchell.”
Audrey’s spoon froze in her hand. She looked up.
“Mr. Castillo.”
She shot to her feet, her heart skipping hard.
Why was he here?
Phoenix did not look at her. He slowly adjusted the cuff of his expensive suit. A sapphire cuff link gleamed there.
Five years ago, she had saved four months of salary to buy him a similar pair.
Phoenix had never worn them. He must have thought they were too cheap.
“There’s a business engagement in a moment. Come with me.” His tone left no room for refusal.
“Mr. Castillo, I’m off the clock,” Audrey reminded him.
“Section 7.2 of the Executive Secretary Handbook. The secretary gets off work when the boss gets off work.” He finally lifted his eyes, cold as glass. “Do you need me to review it with you?”
Audrey bit down hard on her lower lip until the color drained from it.
She turned toward Titus, guilt written across her face.
“Mr. Montgomery, I’m really sorry...”
Before she could finish, she let out a startled cry.
The world flipped.
Phoenix had thrown her over his shoulder.
His solid shoulder dug painfully into her stomach.
“What are you doing? Put me down, Phoenix Castillo!” Audrey’s face flamed. Her legs kicked wildly in the air.
Titus Montgomery was petrified on the spot. Only after hearing that name did his entire body jerk.
Phoenix Castillo.
The legendary financial titan from Valdoria. A man controlling assets in the hundreds of billions.
Audrey struggled all the way out, one high heel nearly flying off, until Phoenix carried her into an empty observation deck.
“Behave.” His low warning brushed her ear.
His large hand landed on her backside in a light, controlled smack before he carefully set her down.
Audrey was furious. She shoved the messy hair out of her face and shouted at him.
“Phoenix Castillo, what exactly do you want? You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Phoenix looked down at her. His sharp features held no expression.
“I was saving you. That man wasn’t suitable for you.”
“Whether he’s suitable has nothing to do with you. You’re my boss. My private life doesn’t require your concern.”
He announced, domineering to the point of absurdity, “If I don’t like looking at him, you won’t marry him.”
Phoenix could not stand it. He had acquired Zenith Group only to come back and find her glowing over a date.
Apparently divorce had been a blessing for his ex-wife.
Back then, she was the one who wanted the divorce. She was the one who said she didn’t love him anymore and threw him away without mercy.
He refused to let her have things so easily.
Audrey cursed in her heart. So you’re allowed to remarry in glory while everyone else has to stay widowed for you?
“Mr. Castillo, I’m tired. I can’t work tonight. If you’re unhappy, fire me tomorrow.”
She spat out the words, used every ounce of strength to shove him aside, and left without looking back.
The night wind tangled her long hair.
It tangled her heart, too.
She still remembered the day he left. The sky had been heavy and gray.
He left her a bank card containing $3 million and a 1,300-square-foot apartment. At the time, that was everything they owned.
When she woke, a strand of red-and-white carnelian beads had appeared on her wrist. It was something he had never taken off. Half pure white, half vivid red.
She had lain beneath the ginkgo tree and cried until she nearly split apart, fallen leaves twisting in the autumn wind as if they meant to bury her.
She had wanted to chase him.
But her body hurt so badly she could not get up.
She knew he would not come back.
Later, she went home and burned with fever for two days and a night, nearly losing half her life.
Four years of love in college. Two years of marriage. And it had ended that carelessly.
Phoenix’s mother had pressured her more than once to divorce him. If Phoenix married Brooklyn Roberts, the Roberts family could help his career soar.
Audrey refused.
Until the day her father fell critically ill, and Phoenix went missing out of town for three days and nights.
A photo arrived on her phone. He was lying unconscious on a luxurious bed. Beside the bed was a pair of white heels.
Audrey believed he had cheated.
He was no longer clean.
When he came back, he only said he had been busy with work. He offered no other explanation. So she asked for a divorce and told him she didn’t love him anymore.
Her eyes turned alarmingly red, but she clenched her teeth and refused to let a single tear fall.
It would have been better if she had never liked Phoenix Castillo.
The next day, Audrey had just arrived at the office when Phoenix called her upstairs.
She knocked and opened the door.
Behind the desk, the man’s features looked even sharper, even more defined.
His expensive suit wrapped his broad shoulders and lean waist.
He leaned back lazily in his chair, but the pressure coming off him hit like a wall.
At last, he spoke, his tone flat and temperatureless.
“Starting today, your position is being changed to my chief secretary.”
“On call twenty-four hours.”
What was this supposed to be?
A power move to put her in her place?
Audrey twitched the corner of her mouth into a smile that had no relationship with happiness.
“How generous of you, Mr. Castillo. Should I expect three salaries?”
He placed his folded hands on the desk and tapped his fingers once, carelessly.
“Not satisfied?”
“Four years apart, and your skills haven’t improved. But you have learned to negotiate with your boss.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Audrey gave him a perfect professional fake smile. “I’m only curious whether Mr. Castillo is using his position to settle personal scores, or whether life after divorcing me has deteriorated to the point where you can no longer take care of yourself.”
A faint curve touched his mouth, edged with amusement.
“You call this private revenge?”
He pushed his chair back and stood.
Then he came around the desk, step by step, toward her.
“I call this waste not, want not.”
