Chapter 3

Chloe’s POV

Holding a folder in my arms, I knocked on the door and walked into the CEO's office.

"Mr. Sterling, the materials for tomorrow's board meeting are prepared. I've highlighted the key points in red."

I set the documents on the corner of his desk and flipped his schedule to tomorrow's page, placing it within arm's reach.

Liam didn't look up, continuing to sign the contracts in his hands.

I waited for a moment. Seeing that he had no other orders, I turned to leave.

"Stop."

Liam pulled a Black Card from his drawer and tossed it onto the desk.

"Go to the jewelry boutique and pick out a birthday gift for Daphne. Have it delivered today."

"Don't worry about the price."

Daphne Cole, the supermodel girlfriend he had recently been seen with in the news.

He wanted me to pick out a birthday gift for his girlfriend.

My heart twitched with an agonizing ache.

Over the past three years, I had handled errands like this countless times.

Ordering flowers, booking restaurants, picking out jewelry for his female companions, and even negotiating breakup compensations—I was always the one to handle it.

Countless women had passed through his life, and every single one had been handled by me.

Outsiders claimed that Mr. Sterling trusted Ms. Vance, but only I knew he did it on purpose.

He wanted me to watch with my own eyes as he lavished generosity upon other women, and he wanted me to deliver the gifts with my own hands.

Having done it so many times, I should have been used to it by now.

Yet every single time, I still had to talk myself into it before I could find my voice.

Lowering my gaze, I suppressed the dull ache in my chest and responded in a strictly professional manner.

"Understood."

I reached out for the card on the desk.

"What's the rush?"

Before my fingers could touch it, Liam suddenly grabbed my chin across the desk, forcing me to look up at him.

With his other hand, he snatched the black-rimmed glasses off the bridge of my nose.

Holding the glasses, Liam examined them briefly before tossing them carelessly onto the desk, letting out a cold laugh.

"Who would have thought that our Chief Secretary Vance, who wears such frumpy glasses by day looking like a total spinster, turns into an absolute slut in bed by night?"

The color drained from my face instantly.

That was precisely the reaction Liam wanted.

He simply couldn't stand this calm, unflappable facade of mine.

A woman who had driven her own sister away, acting all aloof and playing the obedient, gentle lamb in front of him every single day.

The better I pretended, the more he wanted to rip it to shreds with his bare hands.

Sure enough, the calm on my face cracked, every trace of color vanishing completely.

"Mr. Sterling is right."

I lowered my head, swallowing the humiliation.

"I will select a suitable gift and ensure it is delivered to Ms. Cole on time."

I reached for the card once more.

Yet the restlessness in Liam's chest didn't subside. He pressed his hand down over the card first, forcing me to meet his gaze.

"Chloe Vance, don't you feel the least bit hurt?"

"I'm celebrating another woman's birthday and sending you to pay the bill. Don't you feel anything at all?"

He stared at me, as if waiting for me to break down.

For three years, I rarely cried in front of him, and I never begged for mercy. I always maintained this submissive, docile demeanor.

He was determined to pry a crack into it.

Did it hurt?

Of course it did.

Yet my pain would only ever be a joke in his eyes.

Seeing that I still had no reaction, Liam's irritation flared even hotter. Suddenly, he scooped me up by the waist and set me onto the desk.

The freshly signed documents scattered all over the floor, but he didn't care in the slightest.

"Mr. Sterling, we're in the office!"

Panicking, I struggled desperately to get down.

Liam held me down firmly, glaring down at me from above.

"What about the office? It's not like it's your first time. Chloe, is there any need to act so innocent?"

Every word that came out of his mouth was colder and more merciless than the last.

"I know exactly what kind of woman you are!"

Those words struck my chest like a sledgehammer.

Right. In his eyes, I had always been this vile.

Everything I did was just an act, and he never believed a single word.

Without pausing, Liam skillfully ripped open my skirt suit.

Right outside the window was New York's bustling commercial district, and the office door wasn't even locked. Someone could knock and walk in at any moment.

Frantically, I grabbed his wrist.

"Liam, please don't do this... I'm begging you..."

Liam clamped a hand around my throat, choking off the rest of my words.

He glared down at me coldly.

"Shut up! Is Liam a name you're allowed to call? Who do you think you are, daring to call me by my first name like Elena does?"

I remembered the phone call from last night.

The moment I had said his name, he had hung up immediately.

I hadn't realized it then, but now I understood. It was because I had slipped up and used his name.

The privilege of addressing him directly belonged solely to Elena Vance.

Elena could call him Liam, and when she threw a playful tantrum, she could use his full name, and he would never get angry.

Whereas I was only worthy of calling him Mr. Sterling.

In that brief moment of distraction, I heard a sharp tearing sound and felt a sudden chill between my thighs.

The thin cotton fabric was tossed carelessly into the trash can.