THE CEO’S COLD SECRETARY

CHAPTER 3 :THE INVISIBLE TRAP

This morning, the VN Company building stands like a proud steel giant in the centre of the business district. Enna Vale stepped through the glass turning doors with feeling as if she were entering a gladiatorial arena. Her simple bold black dress contrasted sharply with the marble floor, which reflected her shadow with her painful clarity.

Every steps she takes on the marble floor created a resounding plak-plak sound, breakin the silence of the grand lobby. She can feel the piercing gazes from behind the reception desk and around the corners of the office cafe. Rumors among the elite spread faster than viruses. In one night, her status has transformed from "mystery woman" to "the daring woman who embarrassed a conglomerate family and dared to againts to David Johnson."

"Look at that," whispered an administrative staff member as Enna waits for the elevator. "How brave of her to come in with her head hold high after last night's chaos."

"I heard she deliberately spilled wine on Mr. David's suit just to attract attention. Truly cunning," another replied, without hiding their sound.

Enna clasped her hands in her jacket pockets. She looks straight at the chrome layered elevator doors, seeing the reflection of his own cold eyes. she will not give them the satisfaction of seeing him falter. For her, every whisper is just a passing wind that is no more important than the hospital bill that now haunting his work duties.

After the elevator doors opens on the 50th floor, the atmosphere changes drastically. Ifin the down stairs filled with the gossip ,here the air feels empty. This is the executive floor, the area for David Johnson's absolutely power.

.

Enna knocked twice on the heavy teakwood door. "Come in," a deep baritone voice rings out from inside.

David Johnson stands with his back to the door, gazing out at the city view through the floor to ceiling glass wall. His shoulders are broad, and his posture dominated an intimidating power. The room was dominated by dark grey and steel, reflecting the owner's uncompromising personality.

"Mr. Johnson, I'm reporting for my first day's duty," Enna's voice is clear, breaking the tense silence of the room.

David slowly turned around. He doesn't speak immediately. He walks to his desk, his eyes sweeping Enna from head to toe with a condescending gaze. Then he presses a button on his expensive wooden desk. A large digital clock on the wall is on.

07:00:03.

"You're three seconds late, Miss Vale," David said. His voice is low but authoritative.

"I've been in the lobby since 6:40, sir. There's a queue for the elevator and "

"I'm not paying to hear excuses about elevators," David cut in sharply. He leanes forward, staring at Enna with a cruel glint in his eyes. "At VN Company, being one second late means missing out on a million-dollar opportunity. You're starting your first day with a failure. If you want to be a professional, learns to value the seconds of my pin clock more than your own life."

Enna swallowed hard. Her anger is boiling, but she knows this is all part of David's plan to make her explode and resign. She takes a deep breath, calming the turmoil in her chest. "I understand, sir. This won't happen again."

David gives code to a stack of folders as tall as a small mountain in the corner of the desk. "Audit reports from the last five years, expansion plans for the European market, and contract revisions for ten major vendors. Everything must be summarized into a ten-page executive report. By five p.m., the report must be on my desk without mistake a single comma."

Enna carries the stack to her desk, which is located just outside David's office. As soon as she turns on the computer, the first obstacle appeared. The screen stays black with the words flashing in red: System Error - Unauthorized Access.

She tries to contact IT via the internal phone. "Hello, this is Enna, Mr. David's new secretary. I can't access my account."

"Oh, Miss Vale? Sorry, the server is undergoing maintenance specifically for new accounts. I might be able to access it tomorrow," the voice on the other end replied in a mocking tone before hanging up.

Enna realized this isn't just a technical issue. It is a planned isolation. She tries to use the printer, but it suddenly lost connection. She searches for physical files in the filling cabinet, but the drawers are locked shut. Passing colleagues merely gave her disapproving glances, on purpose hiding the information she needed.

However, they underestimated Enna Vale. She doesn't cry in the toilet as they has expected. Enna grabs her personal laptop, connected it to her phone's hotspot, and begins to dissasemble through the stacks of physical papers one by one. She reads at an incredible speed, her brain working like a scanner, absorbing data, numbers, and graphs with amazing focus.

Just as he was lost in the string of numbers, his phone vibrated on the table. It is a number She known well: Central Hospital.

Enna hurried to the small balcony at the end of the corridor so that not hearing by the CCTV she knows David is monitoring.

"Yes, Nurse? How is my mother?" Her voice trembled violently, different when facing David.

"Miss Enna, your heart has deteriorated drastically this morning. We must perform emergency by pass surgery tonight. Otherwise, her chances are too small."

"Do it, Miss! Please do it!"

"We need a $150,000 deposit immediately, Miss. Without payment soon, management won't allow the operating room is opened."

Enna's world feels like it is collapsing. $150,000. Big number for a woman who has just lost her long-term job. She leaned against the balcony fence , staring at the streets below, which looks like ants. Her congested in her chest almost made her faint. She wants to cry, she wants to scream to God for justice, but she knows there was no time.

She wipes away her tears roughly, her cheeks turning red. She returns to her desk. Her fingers danced across the keyboard at double speed. She works in anger at her fate, at David, and at her own poverty.

By 4:30 PM, the office atmosphere has become extremely tense. Foreign investors has begun arriving in main meeting room. David Johnson enters the secretarial area and glanced at Enna, who looks a little untidy , with a few strands of her hair loose from its bun.

"Where's the presentation draft?" David demanded.

Enna hands in him a USB stick. However, just before David enters the room, Enna noticed something strange in the backup file on his screen. Someone has hacked into his system and changed the decimal points in the income statement. If David explains the incorrect numbers, investors will accuse VN Company of financial reporting fraud.

"Sir, wait! The file is corrupted!" Enna shouted, chasing David to the door of the already crowded meeting room.

"Stop making excuses, Vale! Get in and do your job or get out of here!" David growled, ignoring the situation and come in.

Enna has no choice. As the presentation begins and the fake numbers appeared on the large screen, investors begins whispering suspiciously. David looked shocked, his jaw clenched at the absurd data.

Before David can speak, Enna stepped forward and suddenly turned off the projector.

"We apologize for the technical disturbance ," Enna says in a voice so authoritative that the entire room silent. "Instead of looking at boring charts, I'm going to explain our profit projections for the next three years based on the latest audit data, which I summarized verbally this morning."

And she does . Without a single piece of paper in her hand, Enna operates company statistics, tells numbers to two decimal behind, explaining geopolitical risks, and offering sharp strategic solutions. David Johnson can only stands beside her, transfixed by how his new secretary commanded the stage.

After the successful meeting, Enna feels drained of all her energy. She goes to the pantry to get a drink of water. However, there she hears the laughter of two female staff members who has deliberately locked her file drawer.

"She had used 'another method' to get those numbers from Mr. David last night. Just look at how smart she is acting," one of them said with laughed sarcastically

"True, women like her are usually talented in bed, not at the desk."

Enna grips her crystal glass until it cracked. Just as she is about to step inside to teach them a lesson, a tall shadow crossed the doorway.

David Johnson stands there. The cold aura radiating from him made the two staff members drop their spoons. "If you're using your mouths to make down your colleagues instead of improving the company's performance," David's voice sounded like broken ice, "then this company doesn't need your mouths anymore. Michael, make sure they both get a final warning and night shift without overtime until the end of the month."

The staff members run away, their faces pale. David doesn't look at Enna. He simply says, "I'm defending my investment, not you. don't be big-headed

The night is getting late . At 10:00 PM, Enna is still at her desk, trying to finish the rest of the report. Exhaustion caused her to fall asleep on her desk, her head resting on her arm.

David, who has just finished his office business, stepped out. He intends to send Enna home with some harsh words, but stopped in his tracks. He noticed a hospital document from under Enna's sleeve.

He read it. David's usually stern expression changed slightly when he sees the bill and his mother's critical condition. A sense of respect emerged behind his frozen heart.

However, David's attention diverted by Enna's phone, which lit up beside him. A message comes from a secret number:

"If you want your mother to live... stop working for David Johnson. Or you will watch her die on the operating table tonight. The choice is yours, Enna."

David gripped the phone, his eyes gleaming filled with anger. Now he knows Enna is more than just a subordinate. She is the key to a conspiracy targeting his head.

David stared at Enna's fragile sleeping face and whispered in a possessive tone:

"Now, no one will be able to touch you, Enna. Not even death itself."