Vincent got so distracted by the idea that Chloe worked as his secretary because this woman's demeanor was very similar to his wife's.
They both had that sincerity and meekness that gave him a sense of control. It also gave him the sense that she could do everything to her without repercussions.
He then began to recall when Chloe asked if she could be the secretary in his office.
She wanted to help him and said she would work hard to support him as the CEO. She insisted on this for at least three years of their marriage, to which Vincent always replied with a big no.
No matter what, he would never allow Chloe to be his secretary because of two reasons.
First, he would feel that he was being watched over by her since he'd spent a lot of time fucking so many women in his office.
Second, he knew that Chloe was a slut. She was born as a lowly woman from a poor family. She was, at best, a maid if she wasn't pretty. Vincent knew that she would turn into a prostitute every time she saw another rich man, and he didn't want to cheat because a woman who cheats is disgusting.
What about him? Of course, not! He is a man! He had the right to cheat with so many women as long as he had the money!
"Mr. Gray? Sir? Are you alright?"
Vincent snapped out of his daze when Khloe called his name. He stared at the young woman and said, "You don't need to finish everything tonight, just do it tomorrow."
"Ah—uhm, o—okay, Sir," Khloe said meekly. "Then I'll prepare myself to go home."
Vincent nodded and then walked into the elevator.
He didn't know what was wrong with him. Usually, he'd take advantage of women who were so meek and naive like this.
But this woman reminded him so much of Chloe, and somehow he didn't want to hurt her.
"Maybe I've grown too soft. If only Chloe is here, I'd just beat her up so I can feel powerful again, then I don't need to worry about fucking a woman who looks and acts similar to her," Vincent reasoned.
He drove his car through the busy street of New York and reached his mansion in a gated area. The mansion's garden was still well-maintained. Everything still looked perfect from the outside.
But the inside was a mess.
Since Vincent had so many outbursts, many maids were too scared to go near him. They were afraid that they'd get beaten up by him, and there was no more Mrs. Gray, who would soak all the damage, acting like their shield whenever the maids made a mistake, and Mr. Gray would beat his wife instead.
It was truly hell when Mrs. Gray wasn't around.
'If only Mrs. Gray is still in the mansion, we don't need to face such a scary man as our Boss…' the maids grieved in unison.
Vincent ignored all the maids and went straight to the master bedroom. He had gotten lazier to do anything these days. All he wanted to do was to sleep, so he could at least forget about Chloe, even for a few hours.
Though, it didn't seem to work that well because he was still dreaming about Chloe every time he closed his eyes. This was like a mental torture that he hated so much.
Vincent entered the master bedroom. He took off his shirt and threw himself onto the bed, trying to rest after such a long, stressful day.
He wanted to sleep early because he'd have to wake up early tomorrow morning for his press conference.
He had invited many news reporters from various media to come and interview him. He has prepared for everything and already told himself that he needed to endure whatever bullshit those reporters asked as long as his reputation would be restored after the press conference.
"I have to be careful. This is a matter of life and death," Vincent murmured. "I can't allow myself to make a mistake at this point, or my company is done for."
As he was still busy with his plan for tomorrow, he noticed a suspicious box in the corner of his bedroom.
He frowned, "What's inside that box? And why is it in my bedroom?"
Thus, Vincent called the head maid and asked;
-
"There is a suspicious box inside my room, what is this and who's the one who sent this?" He asked.
"Pardon me, Master Gray. But I cannot clarify what is inside the box, because it's from Secretary Maria," the head maid replied on the phone.
"Someone delivered it to our front door, and it has the code that Secretary Maria usually uses to signify that it's a very important and discreet thing, and I'm not allowed to open it."
Vincent's eyes widened, and his face brightened the moment he heard it was from Secretary Maria.
He had been worrying about that old woman because she disappeared without any news.
Usually, she'd text Vincent or even send something to the mansion to signify that she was in hiding or she was still dealing with something since that old woman had a lot of enemies out there.
Vincent thought that maybe one of her enemies finally caught up to her and killed her in cold blood. So Vincent vowed to at least send five more bodyguards around Maria if something dangerous happened to her.
Vincent had to admit that Maria was his lifeline. She contributed a lot when working as his late father's secretary and his secretary.
She was the most competent, cold-blooded, smart, and always knew what to do in a dire situation.
In the end, she was almost like a mother to Vincent, more than his real mother, who had betrayed him.
His real mother was just a drunkard who could barely control herself. She was on so many medications due to depression, and she was even put in rehab for a few months because she was addicted to heroin back then.
She was also stupid. She still had a lot of 'heart' for the people who worked for her.
"Hah, so stupid," Vincent sneered. "What a hypocrite. She's stupid enough to listen to everything I said back then so she'd beat Vernon to death. And now she dares to betray me? I shouldn't have put her in the rehab center. She's far more useful when she's intoxicated."
Back then, Vincent could feel her mother's hatred towards the little boy. So, naturally, Vincent wanted to take advantage of it.
He realized that Dorothea always locked herself in her room whenever she was intoxicated, so Vincent began to persuade her to beat up the source of her misery.
It took him a while, but the intoxicated woman finally snapped when Little Vernon began to make trouble around the mansion, so she beat him up when he was only six years old with her whiskey bottle.
Of course, Vincent did this for a reason.
His father taught him that he needed to control his little brother. That boy was still a Gray in the end, and he would start to have big ambitions as he grew older and might actually try to challenge Vincent's position.
So Vincent had to make sure that Vernon became his obedient dog. Though in the end, he still failed because Vernon dared to turn his back on him right now.
"Everyone left me except for Maria," Vincent thought. "Honestly, she did way more than my real mother. I should give her a reward by the time of her return."
Vincent was ready to give Maria at least a share of his company to appreciate her. This was the first time he realized that he needed someone during a dire time.
So he got up and walked towards the box.
He picked it up and put it on his bed.
He frowned when he read the name on top, "Maria Orien? Isn't that her real name? Why did she write her own name like this? Wouldn't it be too suspicious?"
Vincent didn't know what Maria planned to do this time, but he knew it would always be in the best of his interest.
So he opened it without worry and saw a plastic bag with something that seemed to be a pile of sand inside.
Vincent didn't know what this was until he noticed a small note neatly folded inside the box.
So he picked it up and read it.
—
My dear ex-husband, I'm sorry I disappeared for too long. I sent this to make it up to you since you must've missed me so much.
What you see inside this box are the remains of Maria Orien, your secretary.
Yes, I killed that old bitch by strangling her when she tried to take my daughter away.
Then I told my new man to cremate her body, and once she's nothing but ashes, I dumped half of her into the toilet and flushed it since I bet she'll love swimming with all the shits in the sewer. I think it's a fair ending for her.
I hope you don't mind that I can only send half of her remains. I hope you can make good use of her ashes. Maybe you should put her ashes to replace the sugar in your breakfast, so you will always have her inside you.
Don't grief for too long, you will join her soon.
With heart full of hatred,
Chloe xxx xxxx.
PS: Sorry, I can't tell you my new surname, but you will know since I'm getting married soon.
—
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l