"I'm sorry," Lenna tilted her head. She was pretty sure the rush from being carried bridal-style had messed up her ears; somehow. "Could you please repeat that?" "Marry me, miss Kuts" Mr Lenoir wore his best business face as he said it. "I'm in need of a wife, and you are the perfect candidate." Lenna felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she thought, I'm done for. Keane Lenoir can have anything or anyone he wants. And he hates that. Having had his heart and trust broken one too many times, Keane swore off love and vowed never to get into another relationship again. However, as he turned 30 his parents began pestering him into settling down and starting his own family. Put in a difficult position when his father threatens to give the Chairperson position of the family company to his sister if he doesn't marry in a year, Keane finds a perfect opportunity to please his parents and keep his treacherous ex away, in a sweet accounting assistant. Lenna Kuts is just a girl who wishes for nothing but a happy life. Despite her tragic past and difficult teenage years, she's managed to remain full of dreams. However, after a particularly traumatic event when she was younger, Lenna has been unable to say no to people - a condition that often get her exploited and put in difficult situations. Of course, no situation could come close to the one introduced by her boss.
Chapter 1 A SUPER BAD DAY
After accidentally spilling hot coffee on some important documents, Lenna was sure her day could only proceed one of two ways. Either her manager would use the opportunity to humiliate her in front of her coworkers again and let her off with a warning, or Lenna would get fired - though the latter would be highly unfair, seeing as her coworker was the one to collide with her and cause the whole spill.
Luckily for Lenna, her manager didn't seem to feel like firing her. That was good because Lenna had a little fur baby to feed. It was also bad because that meant her manager wanted to go the long, degrading speech route, and that meant Lenna was going to have to deal with the pain of her scalded hands longer than she wanted.
Lenna had just about resigned herself to her pain and fate when she started to notice everyone in the office had begun whispering to each other. Even Harper, her manager, was looking over Lenna's shoulder with widened, terrified eyes.
Huh? What's up? Lenna thought as she turned to look over her shoulder as well. She was shocked to find none other than the company's chairman himself. Mr Lenoir was walking towards her with a glare so intense, Lenna's body couldn't decide if it should melt into the ground or flee.
"Love," Keane Lenoir's voice's tone was the perfect mix of baritone and soft. And the moment he grabbed her reddened hands to examine in his Lenna's brain short-circuited as she stood there confused. "Does it hurt? Are you alright?"
In shock, Lenna initially nodded timidly and then shook her head - not even sure of the question he had just asked. She felt unable to look away from the man's impossibly blue eyes.
Mr Lenoir clucked his tongue at her response and glared at Lenna's manager, "Can you explain to me why you've chosen to verbally harass Lenna instead of ensuring she was okay?"
What is happening? Lenna's brain kept reminding her of the question as she finally started making some sense of the situation. Who- How does he even know my first name?
Lenna was still a bit out of it, and barely noticed the fact her manager was getting chewed by their boss right in front of her until she recognized the woman's voice of distress - it was a voice she only used when documents that needed to be filed hadn't been filed when the deadline was past due. In short, the woman was panicking.
"I apologize, sir" Harper's voice sounded more high-pitched than it probably should as she tried to explain her reasoning. "These are critical documents that need to be reviewed and-"
"Does the accounting floor have no available printers?" Mr Lenoir questioned, unimpressed. "If this area of the company is lacking basic work material or equipment, it is your duty as a manager to notify Operational, instead of blaming the members of your team."
Harper opened her mouth as if to argue, but the man just fixed her with another hard look before concluding, "This is not the place for me to offer you further feedback on this matter. I'll have my secretary email you regarding a follow-up, Mrs Harper. For now," Mr Lenoir turned back to Lenna - who still felt a bit dazed as her brain caught up with the fact her boss had called her 'love' in front of all her coworkers. That was going to be a nightmare later, with the rumour mill. "You really need to learn to speak up, love."
Lenna furrowed her brows a bit but nodded. He was, after all, not wrong on that.
"Your shoes are ruined. Did you burn your feet too?" Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the man's attention on her Lenna couldn't find her voice again and just shook her head. That did not stop him from stepping into her space and picking her up in his arms like some princess. Lenna could do nothing but let out the tinniest squeak as her arms automatically went to wrap around his neck and shoulder to avoid falling.
To say the trip to Mr Lenoir's office was embarrassing would be an understatement. Lenna could feel everyone's eyes burning holes through her and tried her best to hide her face on the curve of the man's neck without crossing whatever boundary was left after everything that had happened.
At some point, she could have sworn she felt him laughing quietly by the vibration of his chest, but when she peeked at his face his expression remained impassive as it was known to be.
On the trip, Lena had the time to ponder several things. The main one was how much of a bad day she was having. She had missed her bus, seen the forecast too late informing her it was going to rain by the time she had to leave, spilt hot coffee all over herself and some important documents and now was being carried in her boss's arms to his office. Where he was likely going to fire her or something. Because what else could the man be thinking?
Lenna only hoped he wasn't too harsh on her. She really enjoyed her time working as an assistant for the Lenoir Corporation, and she had done her very best.
"In case you are panicking, don't," said Mr Lenoir in that tone that drew goosebumps all over Lenna's skin. One of the receptionists on his floor assisted him, by opening the door, so the two made it into his huge office without him having to put her down. "Though I really meant it when I said you should stand for yourself in situations like that."
As Lenna was going to reply she felt him lowering her onto one of the armchairs. And before she could say anything, Mr Lenoir sat in front of her on the centre table, before he casually grabbed her legs, one at a time.
He took her shoes off in silence, inspecting her feet for something. And once he was done with that, proceeded to grab one of the shoes for another inspection.
Lenna often thought the man was somewhat odd. But Mr Lenoir was also intimidating. So as long as he remained quiet, she did not feel like making a sound either.
His cold blue eyes were a bit unnerving when he held that analytical gaze; the lines of his face seemed hard, and that made him look rather unapproachable. Keane Lenoir was a handsome man, Lenna could admit that despite not really caring for such things - she was always going to prefer feelings over faces.
"Someone will bring you a new pair of shoes in a bit," the man finally said once he seemed satisfied with his observations. Lenna had seen him typing on his phone for a brief moment after he was done with her shoes. "While you wait I have something I would like to discuss with you. Of course, I'll need you to sign something for me first."
Mr Lenoir rose to his feet and walked around his desk to search in one of his drawers. Lenna felt much more comfortable without her sticky shoes on. Curious, she decided to also get up and went closer to the man's desk.
"Am I getting fired?" Lenna spoke, for the first time since the whole coffee spill ordeal. She subconsciously reached up to her hair; nervously twirling a strand around her finger.
At her question, the man looked up with an almost amused gleam in his eyes. "Do you really believe I would carry you all the way here just to fire you?"
"I don't know," she mumbled in a small voice and looked away; feeling embarrassed under his gaze.
"Sign this first. Then we'll talk about why you're here," he stated nonchalantly. However, upon noticing her hesitance and suspecting look, he clarified. "That's an NDA. It's quite simple, but you can take your time reading it."
Lenna tilted her head at him questioningly as she slowly accepted the document. She read through it as he suggested, and it was exactly as described: a pretty straightforward NDA. Should she accept it or not, Lenna should not divulge any information regarding Mr Lenoir's proposal.
Lenna found the document clear and easy enough to agree to, so she signed it with the pen he was offering her and handed it back feeling strangely calm in the man's presence despite his reputation for being cold and decisive.
"So, you have a proposal that requires an NDA..." Lenna looked at him expectantly. But eye contact only lasted about ten seconds before she started to feel shy again and looked away.
"It's a delicate situation; a family matter so to speak," Mr Lenoir walked back around his desk to get closer to Lenna before he leaned against it. "I would like you to marry me."
Lenna found her eyes wandering back to meet with his, as her brain stopped working for the second time in a very short time span. While she tried to process what she thought she had heard, Lenna also felt a sense of dread forming a pit in her stomach.
"I'm sorry," Lenna tilted her head. She was pretty sure the rush from being carried bridal-style had messed up her ears; somehow. "Could you please repeat that?"
"Marry me, miss Kuts," Mr Lenoir wore his best business face as he said it. "I'm in need of a wife, and you are the perfect candidate."
Lenna felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she thought, I'm done for.
Chapter 1 A SUPER BAD DAY
14/11/2022
Chapter 2 A WICKED PLAN
15/11/2022
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