The Coldwell

Punished

Vane blushed upon seeing the scene before her. Her boss was standing behind a girl, the girl's blouse was down, and he had his hands on her breasts.

Dante was furious; he had called the girl because he wanted to relax. He felt pressured due to the issues with the Harrigan and Coldwell corporations.

"Get out of here immediately, and when you do, lock the door. Come back later to clean up this mess yourself."

Vane hurried to leave, but not before pressing the button to lock the door. She began fanning herself with her hands. The secretary, upon seeing her, approached her.

"Dear, what happened to you? Your face is as red as a tomato."

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing? I can tell just by looking at you."

"Okay, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone." Vane explained in detail what had happened.

"Haha, no way. Is that why you're like this? You should get used to it. It happens all the time while you work here. Our boss does it whenever he feels pressured by something; it's his way of relieving work-related tension."

"What a way to relieve tension. He ordered me to enter without knocking when I brought him coffee. I think he forgot about that."

“It could be, or maybe he wanted you to see it. Perhaps you'll be the next one to enter his bed.”

“Nooo, I noticed he was furious.”

“Haha, just kidding, you take everything too seriously. Let me tell you, that will cause your head to fill with gray hairs prematurely.”

Vane only raised an eyebrow; she didn't appreciate the joke. She had become very nervous when she found her boss in that situation, especially when she knew her mission was to make him fall in love with her, not the other way around.

Vanessa felt her face burning, but it was more than mere embarrassment. She walked to the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror, then splashed some water on her face to cool off.

“Darn it, Vanessa, you need to control yourself. If you're going to react like this every time you find him in that situation, it's better to give up and let another one of the girls do the job.”

Vane was completely inexperienced in s****l matters. Her mother, cousins, and even her grandmother had talked to her about it countless times, but it was not the same as seeing things up close. She felt a strange tingling running through her entire body.

Upon returning to her workplace, she was still nervous. She didn't know if she could face her boss without recalling what had happened. Minutes later, the girl who had been in the office came out in a hurry.

“That girl works in the company, one floor below. Did you see the satisfaction on her face, the lucky b***h? But in a good way.”

The secretary approached Vane to say it in a low voice while leaning on the desk with her arms crossed over her chest, and her gaze fixed on her boss's office door.

Shortly after, Dante's voice was heard, and the office door had been left open.

“Miss Sanders, to my office immediately.”

“Good luck, dear. May guardian angels protect you in there.”

Vane sighed deeply before walking toward the office. Her face clearly showed her discomfort.

She entered and stood in front of Dante's desk. He was sitting on the other side. She kept her head down, her gaze fixed on the floor, but she could still feel her boss's penetrating stare.

“Tell me, Mr. Damasco, what can I do for you?”

“What do I want? You dare to ask that after invading my privacy in that manner.”

“I'm sorry, sir. I only followed the order you gave me earlier. You said to enter without knocking when I brought you coffee.”

“Well, you should have done it even if I had said that. One of the things you need to do in your job is to learn to know me and anticipate what might be happening inside this office.”

“I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again.”

“I hope not. Pay more attention next time, or you'll be fired.”

Vane cursed inwardly. Who did this guy think he was? It was true that he was incredibly good-looking, but that didn't give him the right to talk to her in this way.

“Now you will be punished. I want you to clean the carpet you stained. I don't want any marks left. You will do it on your knees with just a cloth and detergent.”

A Coldwell on her knees? She hoped her grandmother or Darius wouldn't find out about this, as they might go so far as to burn down the guy's corporate office.

“Okay, sir. I'll get what I need. I'll be right back.”

Vane asked where she could find the cleaning supplies. After gathering the items, she returned to her boss's office.

He ordered her to close the door, at least preventing her humiliation from being public among her colleagues. The girl got on her knees on the carpet and immediately began scrubbing the coffee stain.

She scrubbed diligently, so focused on her task that she momentarily forgot about her boss. Dante was watching her closely, and while he found her clumsy, there was something about her that caught his attention, preventing him from firing her.

Unbeknownst to her, he took out his phone and took a picture while she was on all fours trying to remove the stubborn stain from the fine carpet.

“It's ready, sir”, - she exclaimed shortly after, wiping her sweaty forehead. He approached to inspect her work.

“Perfect. You clean the floor very well. Where did you say you worked before?”

“In the Coldwell corporate, sir. I was Mrs. Greta's assistant.”

At that moment, Vane pressed her lips together. She had forgotten the ongoing issue between the two companies. She should have made up that she worked somewhere else. Hearing her, Dante remembered that detail and smiled maliciously.

“I had forgotten, but I think she knows that now that she has signed a contract with us, she owes her complete loyalty to our company.”

“I know, sir.”

“Very well, I assume you will remember some details about that company, especially because you used to handle Greta Coldwell's agenda. Tomorrow, I want you to bring me a list of the partners of that company. I assume you'll remember some of them, especially the most important ones, so be sure to deliver them to me first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You may go now. Today, your departure time will be later. You will help Anne search for and organize the missing documents on the Harrigans.”

Vane was in a tight spot. She didn't want to ask her family for help so soon, but she would have to. She just hoped Darius wouldn't notice what was happening. He couldn't know that she had been humiliated, or that her boss was pressuring her to give him confidential information about the partners of her family's corporation.

As she left the office, Vane glanced at her watch. It had been 30 minutes past her regular quitting time. She realized that most of the employees on that floor were already gone.

“He's ordered me to help you. I'll be leaving late on my first day at work.”

“Welcome to the Damasco corporate. You'll have to get used to it.”

The girls quickly got to work. A couple of hours later, they had finished. When they were about to take the elevator, they noticed Dante getting into the executive elevator. He completely ignored them. This displeased Vane. Couldn't her boss at least show some courtesy and say a simple "goodnight"?

“Our boss is in a bad mood. He usually says goodbye politely”, - it seemed Anne had read her mind.

“He's arrogant. He thinks he owns his employees and can humiliate them freely.”

“You're right about that, but you can't deny he has the power to charm anyone with that look.”

Vane got into the elevator to pick up her car, eager to get home, have a hearty dinner, take a relaxing bath, and sleep peacefully. She was exhausted. At that moment, she remembered the list she had to give her boss.

“Damn! I'll talk to Grandma. She'll know what to do to keep this from affecting the Coldwell corporation.”

When she arrived home, the entire Coldwell clan was waiting for her impatiently.

“You've finally arrived. Why so late?”

“It's probably because my boss is an egocentric jerk who thinks his employees belong to him.”

“Oops! Someone around here had a bad day at work. Instead of being his assistant, you should have tried to conquer him at the club or the gym. It would have been easier, and you wouldn't have to put up with his bad mood at work”, - said Katrina.

“Girls, I'll tell you what happened another day. Not today, please. I'm hungry and tired.”

“Okay, we're going.” - All the girls said their goodbyes; they all lived relatively close by, just a few blocks away, but in different houses.

Vane headed to the kitchen, had a hearty dinner, and her mother and grandmother watched her with amusement. She usually ate in small quantities.

“And Darius?” - the girl asked.

“He's in his room, dear.”

“I'll go talk to him, and then I need to talk to you, Grandma. It's important.”

“Of course, my dear. I'll be waiting for you in my room, just don't take too long, this old lady gets heavy eyelids early”. - Vane laughed at her grandmother's witty response.

She went to Darius's room. As she arrived, she noticed the door was slightly ajar and decided to enter. She heard the sound of the shower and sat on the edge of the bed to wait for him.

While she sat there, she noticed some pictures peeking out from under the edge of the mattress. Why did her brother have these photos hidden? She picked them up and realized they all featured the same girl. When she looked at the girl, she immediately recognized her. What was Darius planning? And why with that girl in particular?