One Month As His Secetary

Disappointed

Chapter 1: Anna's POV

"Please," my voice shook as I pleaded with the gatekeeper, desperation thick in my words. "Can you just let me in? I'm telling you, I'm the CEO's wife-do you think I would lie about that? Can't you see? This is our daughter! My heart was racing in my chest, and the fire of frustration was burning upon my face, but I did not care.

I kept my gaze on the man before me till he would fathom the veracity of this fact.

The doorman remained unperturbed: cold in features, scornful in voice, "Everyone recognizes the CEO's wife," he reiterated, his expression dismissing my very existence from the pages of life. And I don't think you're her.

My heart sank, and a wave of humiliation washed over me. I squeezed Jennifer's hand tighter, her small fingers wrapped around mine as she looked up at me with wide, confused eyes. "Look at her," I implored, my voice breaking. "She looks just like him! How can't you see that?

Tears welled in my eyes, not just from the sting of rejection, but from the overwhelming realization of how lost everything had become. The lies. The distance. The growing uncertainty that I had been trying so hard to ignore. I was standing here, pleading, as if my marriage-our family-meant nothing anymore.

Jennifer squeezed my hand softly, knowing nothing of the tension that had mounted but somehow feeling the weight in the air. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to collect myself; opening them again, though, I just knew deep inside that things were changing in ways I couldn't ignore any more.

“I'm sorry," I whispered out, almost to myself. "I just want to see my husband. I just want things to go back to how they were."

But the gatekeeper didn't utter a word; his silence was as painful as the rejection that had occurred.

Just as I was about to say anything more, a woman approached us, her heels sharply clacking against the concrete. She was well-dressed, demanding attention; she stood beside the gatekeeper. He greeted her with a forced smile-respect of another kind in his tone.

"Mrs. Arthur, the CEO must be waiting for you. Are you not aware that today is his birthday?"

Her face lit up with a smile-a smile that made my heart hit the bottom of my chest. "Yeah," she replied nonchalantly, "he's been bothering me all day, telling me how much he missed me…

Her eyes flickered to me, cold, judging. I seemed to feel her gaze slice through me, a silent judgment. "Who's she?" she asked with a pull of her lip. "Is she begging for money? Just send her out.

The words struck me with the weight of a slapped face. I couldn't even catch my breath as, for one moment, all sound around was dim compared to the pounding of my heart.

The world just kind of stopped in a haze of hurt and unbelief, leaving me right there. This woman… so confident, so sure, yet all that she managed to invoke was this growing c***k in what I had lived to that moment, supposedly knowing-my family, my husband, everything for which I'd made sacrifice after sacrifice.

The watchman's eyes flickered to me for a second, at a loss for what to do, yet his reluctance didn't matter as the invisible walls were already closing in around me. That pain of being ignored-of being made invisible-was a little too much to bear.

I looked down at Jennifer, still clutching my hand in hers, small fingers wrapped tightly around mine, her face so innocent and oblivious to the tempest around us. She looked up at me, confusion clouding her eyes. She didn't understand. She shouldn't have to.

"I'm not begging for anything," I whispered, though my voice felt like a hollowness, a loss amidst the hurt. "I just. I just want to see my husband.

But by then she had already hunched her shoulders, passing by me with a smug grin on her face. She didn't care about me or anything that really mattered.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell her I was his wife, we were a family-a family-but what I did was stand there, frozen in the overwhelming feeling of betrayal. It gnawed painfully at my chest.

The voice of the gateman was firm and nearly with a panic in it: "See, madam, just move to the other side. You can see, she said you're begging for money, you can see how she embarrassed you. I don't want her to come out and meet you here. I don't want to be sacked.".

His words cut and stung with every syllable, each more degrading than the last. My heart hurt to understand that my being here, the desperation to see my husband, had become such a bother to every other person.

I stood there, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. Jennifer squeezed my hand tighter, knowing something was wrong, but she couldn't understand. She was just a child.

I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking as I dialed Charles's number. My chest constricted, the familiar number staring back at me, but something about the moment felt … different. Heavy.

In a few rings, his voice finally came through. "Hello?" he answered, his voice so distant, cold.

"Charles," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "I'm here, at the gate. I've been waiting to see you. What's going on?

There was a long pause on the other end, and for a moment, I thought he would explain. But when he spoke again, it wasn't what I expected.

"I'm not in the office," he said in a rush, almost too hastily, "I had to leave for a meeting. I'm not here, Anna.

I froze. His words did not add up to the reality I could feel pressed against me. I looked up at the gatekeeper, who was staring at me warily. I looked back at the building. This was illogical.

But before I could say anything else, he had hung up.

The line went dead, and I was left staring at the screen, my heart racing. He hadn't even given me the chance to explain-to ask him why, why he wasn't here, wasn't answering my questions, was lying.

It hit me all at once, the weight of it. It wasn't just the gatekeeper. It wasn't just this woman who had disrespected me. It was Charles. He was lying to me.

I felt dizzy, the reality of everything sinking in as the tears finally began.

I quickly wiped away my tears and tried to be in control. I would not leave. I had to remain here, wait for him outside, and he would explain. He had to tell me why he lied to me and why he treated me like that.

I stood there, the weight of my emotions almost unbearable. Time felt like it was going in slow motion.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then thirty.

An hour.

Each minute dragged longer, each second deeper into this feeling of being invisible to the man I once loved, who had once promised me everything.

And then, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I saw his car.

It was him; Charles.

I stood up, wiping my face one last time as my heart started racing; the hope rushed back in full force. Maybe he was finally coming to talk. Maybe he would finally tell me the truth.

But then, when he rolled his window down and our eyes locked, something inside of me just shattered. I opened my mouth, ready to shout, ready to demand answers from him.

But he didn't even flinch. He didn't stop. He didn't even look like he cared.

I shouted his name, but he just drove away-ignoring me, ignoring everything.

I stood there in a fix, while tears welled up in my eyes. I felt my chest tightening, it would crush me, and I just wanted to scream, run after him, make him look at me, make him hear me. But I couldn't. My legs felt like stone.

With Jennifer's small hand in mine, I turned around slowly, and we began to walk toward the house, not a word exchanged between us. The weight of what happened pressed down on me, swallowing me. It was the man I had trusted, whom I gave it all to; he had just walked away from me.

And I had no answers.