Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 54: Chapter 54

When Elara went back to the office, she noticed that besides Adrian and Jenna, Chris Wilson, head of the executive office, was also there. He stood by the couch, making a call.
Elara walked over and found Jenna sitting on the floor, her clothes in disarray and tears streaming down her face. A bottle of essential oil was spilled on the floor, and it was the very pink one she saw in Jenna's bag before she left.
Adrian sat on the couch, his expression so terrifying that it could make anyone's blood run cold.
"What's going on?" Elara asked Chris.
Before Chris could explain to her, however, Adrian exploded. "Nice of you to finally show up! Is this how you do your job? I told you to stay in the office."
Elara explained, "Jenna asked me to go downstairs to get her phone, but she gave me the wrong parking spot number, which had me searching for ages."
"You're not her assistant, okay? Why did you listen to her?" said Adrian.
Elara thought it made sense, but she couldn't find the right words to shoot back.
Chris turned to Elara and said, "Jenna is suspected of using sedative oil to lure Mr. Hartley into sex while recording the act in an attempt to blackmail him."
"What?" Elara was shocked. "Mr. Hartley, did you two already have sex?" She couldn't believe that all this had happened in just the past half hour.
Hearing that, Adrian's face darkened with fury, and he barely contained the urge to fire Elara right away.
Chris quickly clarified, "Of course not. Mr. Hartley stopped her immediately and called me to handle it. There's surveillance footage."
Elara took the iPad from Chris to watch the surveillance footage.
The video showed that the moment Elara left the office, Jenna got up and locked the door. She returned to the couch, rummaged through her bag for the pink bottle, and dropped a bit of essential oil onto Adrian's neck.
Then, without hesitation, she began undressing herself. When she was down to just a bra, she reached over to unbutton Adrian's shirt.
However, as soon as Jenna touched Adrian, he jolted awake. Seeing her, he immediately shoved her to the floor. He scanned the room, only to find that Elara wasn't there, so he got up, opened the door, and called Chris.
Elara finished watching the footage and was surprised. She thought, 'Adrian's self-control was insane. No wonder they say that he wouldn't fall for any kind of temptation.'
"We've already called the police. They'll be here any minute," Chris said.
Elara nodded. She glanced at Adrian sitting on the couch—still in the same outfit from earlier, not even a single button undone. Somehow, she just couldn't stop herself from thinking about what Nancy and Alex would do on their couch.
She felt a sharp pain in her heart, but soon, she calmed down and handed a bottle of water to Adrian. He downed it in one go, but he still felt uncomfortable.
The police arrived soon. After copying the surveillance footage and taking a statement from Adrian, they took Jenna away.
Twenty minutes later, only Adrian and Elara remained in the office. Realizing she had made a mistake, Elara said apologetically, "Mr. Hartley, would you like some food? You have that golf game with Mr. Russell in about an hour."
"Cancel it," Adrian ordered.
Although Elara didn't know the reason, she didn't press further. Instead, she called to reschedule the meeting for the following afternoon.
Noticing a light sheen of sweat on Adrian's forehead, Elara grabbed some tissues and settled beside him, gently dabbing at his brow.
"Are you feeling hot? Should I turn down the air conditioner a bit?" she said.
Elara's cool fingers brushed lightly across his forehead, and the chill grounded him for a fleeting second. His breath, hot and shallow, grazed the inside of her wrist.
His eyes burned with desire as he watched Elara gently dab his forehead, and he noticed that there was something wrong with her eyes.
Seeing how vulnerable she looked, he felt all his anger melt away. He looked at her swollen eyes and said, "Did you cry?"
Elara looked away and shook her head. "No. The garage was just really dusty, and I got some dust in my eye." Her eyes were still wet with tears, and her voice came out soft and small.
A surge of want kept building inside Adrian, crashing like waves against the walls of his self-control. Though he wanted to take things further, he held back, reminding himself there would be plenty of time ahead.
Adrian stepped away from her and returned to his desk, burying himself in paperwork, while Elara quietly went to make him some coffee.
Adrian liked his afternoon coffee with milk, so Elara planned to make some frothy milk and top it with a nice latte art for him.
Suppressing his desire, Adrian opened the file before him, but his eyes fell on the crumpled invitation letter Elara had left on his desk when she walked in—clearly crushed by someone's anxious grip.
He opened the letter and found that the words were blurred by tears.
[Dear Ms. Elara Langton, you are invited to attend the engagement party of Alex Keating and Nancy Hartley on September 20th.]
Adrian stared at the words, his grip on the creased paper tightening. He thought, 'Did she go to see Alex just now? No wonder she left me in the office alone with Jenna. She cried probably because her ex was getting engaged.
'Seriously? Wasn't she just flirting with me? Turns out she hasn't moved on.'
"Elara, get over here," Adrian said.
"Just a second. I'm still making coffee," said she.
Adrian's patience wore thin. He stood up, strode over, and tossed the crumpled invitation down in front of Elara. "You went downstairs to see Alex, didn't you? You actually ditched work during office hours to meet your ex, huh?"
Elara tried to explain, but Adrian cut her off. "Elara, don't forget you're not a regular employee here yet. I could fire you for leaving the office during work hours."
Hearing that, Elara hesitated for a moment and thought, 'Maybe I should just use this as an excuse to quit.'
She suddenly didn't want to help Dylan, but she thought that however reckless Alex had been, he was just trying to save his father. As a friend, he was always good to her, Julian, and Ruby.
"I just happened to run into him," Elara replied.
"Really? He was holding an invitation specifically for you, and you just 'happened' to run into him, huh?" Adrian didn't believe her.
"Yeah. He was here for his father's case," she said.
"I told you to stay in the office. Why didn't you listen? Why did you have to see him? Have you forgotten how he dumped you? Do you enjoy being hurt by him? You shouldn't have taken the invitation at all," Adrian said.
Elara set down the coffee cup, feeling there was no point in explaining further. She thought, 'Alex is going to marry the daughter of the Hartley family. He doesn't Adrian to help him with the case anymore.'
"Mr. Hartley, if you don't like me, then nothing I say will matter. Since I disappoint you so much, fine, I'll leave." Elara picked up the crumpled invitation, tossed it into the trash, and strode out to her desk.
After tidying up the scattered files on her desk, she put her only belonging, a water bottle, into her bag.
Adrian could no longer suppress the emotions and desire raging inside him. In a few quick strides, he hauled Elara into his office, locked the door behind them, and carried her straight into his private lounge.
"Adrian, what the hell are you doing?" Elara screamed. She felt a bit dizzy from being suddenly lifted.
The lounge door slammed shut as Adrian pinned her against it, and he stared at her angrily. "Do you still love Alex? I just hate it when you stop me from talking shit about him."
Elara was stunned by Adrian's words. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
He gripped the back of her neck with a warm hand, and without warning, he kissed her.
Elara flinched, surprised by how warm Adrian's body felt as if he had a fever. She pulled away from his lips and said in a trembling voice, "You're burning up. Do you have a fever?"
Adrian buried his face against her neck, letting out a ragged groan. "Elara, I want you. Now."