The Billionaire CEO’s Secret

Chapter One: The Ruthless CEO

ONE YEAR LATER....

As soon as they heard the approaching footsteps, panic rippled through the employees of Villafuerte Corp. They immediately straightened in their seats, hurriedly checking their workstations and pretending to be completely focused on their tasks.

Everyone knew exactly who those footsteps belonged to.

The ruthless CEO is coming.

The steady echo of polished shoes against the marble floor announced his arrival long before he stepped into view.

Tall and impeccably dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, he walked through the corridor with an effortless authority that made everyone instinctively move aside. His broad shoulders and sharp features gave him an intimidating presence, while his dark, unwavering eyes seemed to notice every detail around him.

His expression remained cold and unreadable—handsome, yet utterly unapproachable.

Employees lowered their gazes as he passed, conversations dying in an instant. No one dared to greet him too casually, and no one wanted to become the target of his displeasure.

He didn't need to raise his voice to command attention.

His presence alone was enough.

He is the kind of man who could silence an entire office simply by walking through its doors.

"Good morning, Boss."

A man in his mid-thirties approached Damien the moment he stepped into the premises. Dressed in a crisp suit and carrying a tablet in one hand, he kept pace with Damien without hesitation.

It was Luke, the head of the HR Department.

"Morning, Luke," Damien replied curtly, his expression remaining cold and unreadable.

The other employees greeted him as well. Some even bowed their heads respectfully as Damien walked past, careful not to meet his intimidating gaze for too long.

"Yes?"

Damien stopped just outside his office and turned toward Luke, his brows slightly furrowed. Irritation was evident in his voice as he glanced at the man who had followed him all the way to his office door.

"What is it, Luke?"

Luke hesitated for a moment, sensing the CEO's growing impatience.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Boss, but Lilly just resigned."

Damien looked straight at Luke, his expression hardening as impatience flickered in his eyes.

"And who is Lily? Why do I need to know?" he asked coldly. "I have more important things to do than care about who resigned. Don't you know that Luke?"

Luke swallowed hard, realizing that his boss's patience was wearing thin.

"Boss, Lily was your fourth secretary this month," Luke said carefully, choosing his words as though one wrong sentence might cost him his job.

Damien stared at him for a moment, his expression remaining completely unreadable.

"Fourth?" he repeated coldly.

Luke nodded. "Yes, Boss. And she resigned this morning."

"Then hire a new one. Simple as that, isn't it, Luke?"

Damien's voice remained cold and dismissive as he loosened his tie and walked toward his desk.

"I don't have time to worry about why another secretary decided to quit. Just find someone competent enough to do the job."

Luke nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Boss. I'll take care of it."

Luke immediately left Damien's office, deciding it was better to get out while he still could. He knew his boss's temper all too well, and he had no intention of becoming the next target of Damien's irritation.

Lily was already the fourth secretary to resign from Damien's office that month. It wasn't because the job itself was difficult. The workload was demanding, yes, but manageable. The real problem was the man sitting at the top.

Being Damien Villafuerte's secretary was a different kind of challenge. His impossible standards, cold demeanor, and ruthless attitude had driven one secretary after another to their breaking point.

"Hey, Luke."

Luke turned around and found Monika, the head of the Accounting Department, walking toward him.

"I heard Lily resigned," Monika said, raising an eyebrow.

Luke sighed and nodded. "Yeah. She did."

Monika shook her head in disbelief. "That makes four secretaries this month. How does Damien keep doing this?"

Luke glanced toward Damien's office before lowering his voice.

"Maybe the better question is—how long will the next one last?"

The two of them simply shook their heads, sharing a knowing look.

But before their boss could catch them standing around and gossiping, they quickly returned to their respective departments and got back to work.

Neither of them wanted to find out what Damien Villafuerte would do if he caught them wasting company time.

It had barely been an hour since Damien arrived at his office when a beautiful woman, who looked as though she had just stepped off a magazine cover, suddenly appeared.

Without hesitation, she walked straight toward Damien's office and entered without knocking.

The employees outside immediately looked up, their eyes widening in surprise.

No one dared to walk into Damien Villafuerte's office unannounced.

Yet this woman had just done exactly that.

"Who is she?" one of the employees asked in a hushed voice after the woman disappeared into Damien's office.

"Is she the boss's new woman?"

"The new one?" another employee whispered with a knowing smirk. "Please. She's been coming here for a while. She's practically a regular."

The others exchanged curious glances, careful to keep their voices low.

After all, gossiping about Damien Villafuerte within his own office was a dangerous game.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

The employees immediately froze.

"Gossiping about our boss?"

They all breathed a sigh of relief when they realized it wasn't their boss who had caught them.

For a moment, the tension in the office eased. The employees exchanged nervous glances grateful that Damien Villafuerte hadn't heard their conversation.

Because if he had, they knew they wouldn't have gotten off so easily.

It was Monika. Her voice was low, but still loud enough for everyone around her to hear.

"You all, go back to work," Monika ordered in a hushed but urgent voice. "Otherwise, we'll all be in trouble if he catches all of you."

Without wasting another second, the employees hurried back to their desks, pretending they had been working all along.

Meanwhile, inside Damien's office, the atmosphere was entirely different.

While the employees outside were busy recovering from their brief panic, Damien remained seated behind his desk, his attention fixed on the woman who had entered without knocking.

His expression was cold and unreadable.

"Now," he said, leaning back in his chair, "what do you want?"

"I came all the way from Italy for you, and this is how you're going to treat me?"

The woman crossed her arms, her expression filled with irritation as she stared at Damien.

Damien barely looked up from the documents on his desk.

"You came here on your own," he replied coldly. "Don't make it sound like I asked you to."

"Look, Damien, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Her voice softened as she stepped closer to his desk, the irritation in her expression replaced by a pleading look.

Damien finally lifted his gaze from the documents and looked directly at her.

His expression remained cold.

"You should know better than anyone that I don't forgive easily."

"And please, Claudia, we were done two years ago."

Damien's voice was cold and firm, leaving no room for argument.

Claudia stared at him, clearly hurt by his words.

"Two years, Damien," she whispered. "And you still haven't forgiven me?"

Damien leaned back in his chair, his jaw tightening.

"Forgiving you and taking you back are two completely different things."

"I don't go back to the past, Claudia. So, can you give me some time? I have a lot of work to do."

Damien's tone remained cold and firm. He gestured toward the door, making it clear that their conversation was over.

Claudia stared at him for a moment, realizing that no matter how much she pleaded, the ruthless CEO before her was no longer the man she once knew.