Chapter 9

When I showed up for work the next day, I couldn't help noticing the odd looks the other employees gave me. I finally understood why when I stopped before my office. The lock to my secretarial office had been changed. Inside the office, Lilith sat with her legs crossed as she surveyed me mockingly. I called through the door, "Ms. Storm, would you mind opening the door for me?" She snorted. "I've had your things cleared out. You can work in the corridor from now on. I don't want you dirtying my office." A long silence followed. I didn't respond, my gaze falling to the boxes on the floor filled with the documents I had been working on—three huge boxes. "Get out already," Lilith snarled. "Yes, ma'am," I said, keeping my face neutral as I moved the boxes into the corridor. From that moment, I became the company's spectacle of the day. The corridor beyond the secretarial office was littered with paperwork. I crouched on the ground, working on the documents like I was serving some punishment. "Mr. Schmitt, could you please review these documents?" A few department heads came by to hand me the documents. While they kept their tones respectful, I did not miss the contempt in their eyes. "Of course," I answered evenly. I glanced at the documents and frowned. "The Zieglers?" I immediately thought of the man Lilith had slept with at the hotel the other night. "This is going to be a problem." However, that particular department head gave me a condescending look as he pointed out, "Ms. Storm intends to go through with it, Mr. Schmitt." I scoffed inwardly at her foolishness. "In that case, I guess I'll—" I was about to sign and approve the document when a sudden thought struck me. The tip of my pen hovered inches above the paper. I could not sign off on this. It might not have been a big deal if it had just been a normal collaboration, but it was not. The Zieglers planned on setting up a fund for their logistics business. However, they had never been part of the industry before, which meant the Storms had to provide them with financing and labor. More pertinently, the Zieglers were already in a financial crisis. If I signed off on the papers and the Storms invested in the Zieglers' company, the latter would profit if the company was ever sold. They had nothing to lose. I couldn't care less about the money the Zieglers would make from a potential sale since the profit was not my concern. However, my signature would be on those papers, and I would be responsible for the Storms' losses. If that were to happen, I could very well be sued! "Give me a moment," I said grimly. I headed straight into Lilith's office with the contract in hand. "Oh, stop," Lilith crooned into the phone, smiling. But when her eyes slid to me, her expression turned frosty. A second later, a cruel smirk curved her lips as she curled her finger, beckoning me. "Come here," she ordered. I did as told, only to hear her say, "Get on your knees." Again, I obeyed and crouched in front of her. She extended her leg toward me and drawled, "My shoe's dirty. I kept my face neutral as I grabbed a paper napkin to wipe her shoe. However, she looked down her nose at me and sneered, "I didn't say you could use a paper napkin. Wipe my shoe with your white shirt." I took a deep breath and suppressed the rage boiling in me. I was silent as I did what she asked. "Your dog is certainly well-trained." Lilith had put her phone on speaker, and a voice belonging to the no-good gigolo-scion of the Ziegler family drawled from the other end of the line. "It's a pet owner's responsibility to train their dog, don't you know?" Lilith said, haughtily looking at me. "True. It's probably his honor to wipe your shoe." "Hmm, you must be truly honored then if I slept with you," Lilith teased with a small laugh. "It's an honor that I can never repay," the man said. Are you free tonight, Lilith? I've missed you!" Lilith laughed. The kind of laugh that I thought befitted a tramp like her. "You missed me, huh? I bet you missed my body more." "Am I not allowed to? Come on, what do you say we meet tonight?" the man asked. Lilith cast me a sidelong glance before she hummed in response. "Very well. I'll have my dog pick you up."