The CEO’s Masked Bride

Dramatic First Day

Aria's POV

As I walked out of the house, down the interlocked pathway leading to the main gate, I could hear Lily's voice scolding the twins who were jumping excitedly around, thrilled with our new space to sit their asses down. This house was twice as big as our old one, so I understood their joy and their infectious excitement.

I was headed to the mall, needing to grab a few important things from the house that we couldn't take along with us, and, of course, dinner for the kids. Everyone was busy trying to put things together so we could settle in, and because of that, cooking was out of the equation for the night.

The mall was crowded when I arrived, a typical weekend scene. I navigated through the sections in the household shop I entered, picking up essentials, and mentally ticking off items from my list. I finished in no time and left the shop for another shop where I could grab dinner.

On getting to the door of the food court, I saw a familiar face from the door. My heart skipped a beat, it was Nate. His face was still very clear in my head. He was busy with a plate of ramen and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't have recognized me except he had also stolen a look at my face while I was asleep like I did.

Panic immediately surged through me, I wasn't going to wait to see if he stole a look at my face and the drama that was likely to follow. I told on my heel and was about to flee when I bumped hard into someone that the things I was holding dropped to the floor.

“Why can't you watch where you're going? Are you blind ?” I snapped angrily at the man in front of me that I had just bumped into, my nerves getting the best part of me.

The man looked startled but managed to say, “I’m sorry young lady, I didn't see you, but you were the one that…”

“Of course, you didn't!” I exclaimed, cutting him off, “You just say out of my way,” I added with my tone still dense as I bent down to pick up my things.

He also dropped to the ground with me to help, but I pushed his hands away, “Don't touch my stuff, just leave me alone,” I blurted out, going on to murmur to myself, wondering how someone would be walking without looking at where he was headed while he just stood at looked helplessly down at me.

When I noticed that my outburst had attracted the outburst of people around us, I hurriedly gathered my things and fled the scene. I couldn't believe how I just kept on running out of luck. First, it was Nate, then this.

***

The next morning, I arrived at Nova Microfinance Bank for my first day, just as planned. I was greeted by Mrs. Thompson, a woman in her late forties, who introduced herself as the general manager.

“Welcome Aria, we are glad to have you on board,” She said, her tone formal but not unkind.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Thompson, I am also excited to be here.”

She led me to my office, which was a space in front of the CEO’s office. “As you know, you’ll be the personal assistant to the CEO, his office is right here,” she pointed to the huge coffee brown door at the end of the lounge, opposite an office desk which I presumed would be mine, “So we thought setting up your office around to his for a closer proximity wouldn't be bad, don't you think so?” Mrs. Thompson asked.

“Yeah… Yes, I think it is good,” I agreed, even though I had initially imagined having my own space.

“Just for heads-up,” Mrs. Thompson continued, “Damien Smith can be a very difficult person, Zoey must have mentioned he’s a bit of a sassy dickhead to you, right?”

Damien smith? Why does that name sound familiar?

I smiled weakly, “Yes, she did.”

“Well, she isn't wrong, but don't allow that to get to you any way. Once you get to understand him, working with him gets easier,” She said, “And there are a few things you need to know to survive this beginning stage with him,” Mrs. Thompson added, walking further into the office.

“Okay…” I said in a curious way to urge her on.

“First, you have to always have a smile on your face whenever you greet him, he likes to see people smiling even when he is giving you a tough time,” Mrs. Thompson stated, and I nodded my head, taking note of such weirdness.

“Also, you have to be at work before 9 am, as he arrives at work as he arrives at the dot, he is so peculiar about time. Speaking about that,” Mrs. Thompson glanced at her wristwatch, “It is already 9 am, he will be here in three, two, one…”

Right on cue, the door swung open widely, and six men in black suits with dark shades resting on their ears filed into the room and immediately took their position. Two stood by the main entrance, two by the CEO’s door, and the other two in the middle of the room, their facial expression a hardened one that created a tense atmosphere.

Shortly afterward, a man in a navy-blue suit walked in, followed by another man who was on the bigger side, his statue passing him for a bodyguard. The tense aura that accompanied him into the room made the silence a more deafening one. His firm, heavy footsteps as he walked further into the room were intimidating even to me and probably Mrs. Thompson.

No Aria, you can't be this nervous, you need to keep your head up high if you want to swim through the storm.

With my face falling to the ground, I closed my eyes for a moment, and I tried to summon courage from thinking about the reason I was there at first. I thought about how I needed to give my little angels the best life they deserve and also my mum. With these thoughts, my anxiety dropped to a considerable level, and I raised my head and plastered a smile on my face as Mrs. Thompson introduced me.

My smile froze and immediately vanished into thin air when I saw the man who was standing before me, the man from the mall. An explosion of panic erupted in my chest as our eyes met. My ears rang, and my brain failed to work as my attention got stuck on his cold, blue eyes.

Without taking his eyes off me, “Is this my new personal assistant you spoke about?” he asked Mrs. Thompson, his brows tightly creased together.

“Yes, Damien” Mrs. Thompson answered.

His eyes narrowed down at me, and a smirk appeared on his face, “Didn't you say she was intelligent, professional, and a good fit for the job?” he questioned further, his tone low, but soul-piercing, “Why is she just glaring at me like a moron? Has she just lost her ethics or perhaps her senses?”

I blinked rapidly. I just realized that I had left my mouth to fall slightly apart from each other, and I quickly brought it back together.

There must be some mistake here, isn't it the same man who was trying to help pick up my things that he had made me drop back in the mall? Or is there a mix-up somewhere? He sounded kind at that moment. What is with…

His arrogance and the way he had just downgraded me in front of everyone made me realize just how much of a dickhead he was, like Zoey and Mrs. Thompson had said. Zoey words about her knowing I could take the wild beast echoed in my mind, and at this point, Mrs. Thompson's advice about putting up a smile even in tough times seemed like complete bullshit.

I would do no such thing as smiling and allowing this perverted dickhead in human form to oppress me in any way.

“Damien Smith!”

I pointed my index finger to his face and everyone in the room stared with wide eyes and jaws agape. It was pretty obvious that this was the first time someone had dared to challenge Damien Smith.