Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 223: Everybody Knows

Chapter 223: Everybody Knows

When Emily had left Derek and his uncle behind in the store. She had not realized just how terrified she had been, until she had looked down at her hands and had realized that they were shaking.

When the shaking had stopped, Emily had taken it to mean that her fear was gone. That she was no longer terrified. Come Friday, she had been too busy making sure that they had not been caught to focus on anything else. And over the weekend when it had been just her and her mother. It had been easy to believe that she was no longer scared.

But it was Monday now, and being in the presence of people who were not her mother, was showing Emily that she was not over the incident.

She was terrified. And a huge percentage of that terror did not come from an external source. Instead, it came from Emily herself. She was the one who was grabbing things that were insignificant, unimportant, and turning them into huge monstrous shadows,

that chased her through the halls of Haven Group. It felt like she was back to being a child in middle school. Like how when you knew a really big secret and you were trying your very best to keep it. It seemed as though the world was conspiring against you. With everybody already talking about it despite the fact that you had never whispered a single thing to anyone.

That was how Emily felt.

It had started in the morning when she had walked into the office.

The very first thing that her eyes had landed on had been a file, and when she had come closer. One word had popped out at her from that file. The word ’found’, and Emily’s mind had instantly run with ’found out’. You and Derek have been found out.

You have been caught, everybody knows. She’d had to blink her eyes several times to clear them. Then when she had looked at the file again, it had read, lost and found, not at all mentioning the secret that she and Derek shared. That should have been it.

She should have been able to get herself under control after that. But instead things seemed to only get worse. Walking down the hallways after attending a meeting in Derek’s stead. Emily had seen a group of PAs chatting. They had been laughing loudly,

to the point where they were even slapping each other on their backs. But the moment that Emily had passed by, they had gone quiet, eerily so. The type of silence that meant that people had been talking about you and the moment that they spotted you. They instantly tried to think of a topic other than you, to talk about.

But once they could not find anything, they just lapsed into awkward silence. It took everything in Emily to just walk by them and not turn around and whirl on them. Demanding to know exactly what it was that they were laughing at.

That bit of self-control had saved Emily because she later learned that the reason for their laughter while it was at her expense was not because the fact that she was sleeping with the CEO had been discovered. Instead, they had been laughing at Emily’s outfit for the day. She had gone for all black. Unbothered by other people’s opinions, but according to them, black was too ’gauche and last season’. Something that nobody with any bit of self-respect should have been seen wearing at Haven Group.

Never in her life had Emily been so glad to hear her fashion choices being ridiculed. So long as they stayed focusing on what she was wearing. It meant that they kept their eyes away from other parts of her life that Emily did not want people prying into.

But the first two encounters paled in comparison to what Emily had to deal with just after lunch. And that happened to be one Lucas, PA of Sebastian Haven. Lucas had managed to corner Emily just as she had been returning from her lunch.

"Emily, long time no see," He’d said, like the two of them were best friends, instead of professional enemies. Emily had merely looked at him not even bothering with a fake smile.

Lucas sighed, looking her up and down.

"You know, Emily, a smile here and there would not kill you. Maybe all the black that you are wearing might, but a smile most definitely will not. You should try it. It does wonders when it comes to opening doors for people," He told her.

And just as Emily was about to brush him off, and head to her office. He said something that had her stopping in her tracks.

"So how is it with Derek these days?" Lucas asked and Emily turned around slowly.

It what? she wondered. Was he referring to them sleeping together? Or was he referring to something to do with the business side of things? One word, and it had Emily’s heart rate skyrocketing.

Shrugging, Emily gave Lucas her most neutral answer.

"Work is work, Lucas. For me, it is neither good nor bad. They are simply tasks that have not been finished and tasks that are done. That is all," She said, feigning ignorance.

Lucas rolled his eyes at her, and then he spilled the beans, or at least what he thought was the beans.

"You know for a PA you are rather dense. You have to hear from me that your boss has a lady love," Lucas said. And Emily carefully kept any reaction out of her face.

"Lucas, unlike you, I am not the office gossip. What Derek Haven does in his spare time is not my business,"

Seeing that she really did not know anything, Lucas gave her a disappointed look, and with a shrug, he was gone. He did not turn back, and so, Emily was free to sigh and let her shoulders droop in relief.

Most likely, Lucas had been there to spy on Sebastian’s behalf. To see if Emily knew or suspected anything.

She hoped that the man bought into her act of ignorance. Thinking that she was just plain old boring Emily who did not know anything that was going on in the office. Having such a close encounter should have made things worse, but surprisingly after Lucas’s departure, Emily felt better. It felt as though she had faced down the real threat and had come out on top. It did wonders for her stress levels and as the days passed, she began to feel less fearful of getting caught.