The Groveling CEO

CHAPTER THREE: His Chair, Her Rules

STELLA’S POV

I wore the black dress.

Not because I was trying to make a point.

Okay. Maybe a little because I was trying to make a point.

It was fitted, stopped just above the knee, and I’d bought it six months ago with nowhere to wear it. Turns out the somewhere was my own husband’s office.

I signed in at the front desk like a visitor. Only a handful of people in this building knew I was anything more than Carter Sterling’s personal secretary who sometimes worked remotely. Fewer still knew my last name matched his.

The receptionist smiled a little too brightly. “Good morning, Mrs— I mean, Miss Sterling.”

I smiled back. “Good morning.”

I felt the shift the moment the elevator doors opened on the executive floor. Everything was quieter up here. More expensive. People walked like they were afraid of scuffing the marble. Whispers followed me down the hall — I caught fragments: “…Secret…”, “…stock dropped…”, “…Sterling marriage…”.

The rumor mill was already turning.

James looked up from his desk outside Carter’s office. His eyes widened slightly when he saw me. Polite surprise on the surface, but something colder flickered underneath for half a second before he masked it with a smooth smile. James had known about us from the very beginning. Carter trusted him with everything.

“Mrs. Sterling,” he said quietly, standing. “He just finished a meeting. Go ahead.”

“Thank you, James.” I nodded toward the door. “Is he alone?”

“Yes. Though I’d advise caution — the mood in there is… tense this morning.”

I pushed open the door.

Carter was at his desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, reading glasses perched on his nose. The ones he refused to admit he needed. He looked up.

He saw me.

The glasses came off so fast I almost laughed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice low.

“I work here.” I closed the door behind me and looked around slowly. The floor-to-ceiling windows, the city laid out like his personal kingdom, the massive immaculate desk. Then I walked straight around to his side.

He watched me the whole time, eyes careful.

I stopped in front of his chair.

“I need the Henderson file,” I said. “James said it’s on your desktop.”

“I’m sitting in my chair, Stella.”

“I can see that.”

He didn’t move.

I raised an eyebrow.

After a long beat, something shifted in his eyes,a mix of frustration and reluctant heat. Slowly, like it cost him, he stood up.

I sat down.

The chair was still warm. It smelled like him, expensive cologne and power. I ignored both and pulled the keyboard closer.

Carter stood beside his own desk, arms crossed, watching me like he was trying to solve a puzzle he hadn’t seen coming.

“You could have done this from home,” he said.

“I know.”

“So why—”

“Carter.” I looked up at him. “Go do something. You’re hovering.”

His jaw tightened.

He moved to the window, but I could still feel his eyes on the side of my face.

I clicked through folders slowly, not really looking for anything. Just letting him stew while I sat in his chair, in his office, completely unbothered in my black dress.

Five minutes passed.

Ten.

The door opened without a knock.

A woman walked in. She was young, in a sharp blazer, long hair. She was already talking before she fully entered. “Carter, the Nakamura deal needs your signature before four or we lose the—”

She stopped.

She saw me in his chair.

“Oh.” She recovered with a professional smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were with someone.”

“She’s my—” Carter started.

“Secretary,” I said pleasantly. “Just pulling files. Don’t mind me.”

She relaxed and walked fully into the room, handing Carter the tablet. She stood closer than necessary, her hand brushing his arm once while she explained the timeline. Light and familiar, like it wasn’t the first time.

Carter wasn’t looking at her.

He was looking at me.

His eyes were steady, direct, saying something I wasn’t ready to hear across his own office.

My chest did something stupid. I ignored it.

When she finally left, the silence felt heavy.

“Her name is Diana,” Carter said quietly. “Head of acquisitions. Two years with the company.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“No. But you wanted to.”

I stood, smoothed my dress, and picked up my bag. “I found what I needed. I’ll work from the conference room.”

“Stella.”

I stopped at the door.

“She means nothing.”

I laughed softly. “They never do, Carter. That was never the problem.”

I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

Three steps later I nearly collided with someone rounding the corner fast. A hand shot out and caught my arm before I stumbled.

“Whoa — sorry about that.” The man steadied me, then let go immediately. Dark eyes, boyish smile. He looked at me like I was the most interesting thing he’d seen all day. “I’m Alex. Just transferred to the analytics team.”

I straightened up. “Stella.”

“Stella,” he repeated, testing the name with a grin. “Do you work on this floor?”

Before I could answer, the office door behind me opened.

I didn’t need to turn around. I could feel him.

“She does,” Carter’s voice came from directly behind me, low and dangerously pleasant. “She works directly under me.”

Alex looked over my shoulder at Carter. Something shifted in his expression. He straightened slightly, the easy smile tightening.

“Mr. Sterling.” He nodded respectfully. “I was just—”

“I know what you were just doing,” Carter said. The words were polite. The tone was a door slamming shut.

Alex glanced at me once more, then nodded quickly and walked away.

I turned around.

Carter stood in his doorway, jacket back on, glasses gone. He looked every inch the man who owned this building and everything in it.

“Directly under you?” I said quietly, one eyebrow raised.

His eyes didn’t leave my face. “Factually accurate.”

I stared at him.

He stared back.

The air between us crackled.

Then his phone rang sharply in his pocket. He glanced down at the screen, and for one unguarded second his expression changed something close to fear flashing across his face before it vanished.

He answered.

“She can’t know,” he said into the phone, voice low and tight. “Keep it contained.”

He turned and walked back into his office.

The door clicked shut behind him.

I stood alone in the hallway, heart beating too fast.

She can’t know.

Know what?