Chapter 3: The Sin of Greed

Thea’s POV:

“Sir, let me go…” I begged, trying to get out of his arms. He loosened his grip on me and turned me to face him clearly. The first thing that I saw was his sharp gaze as if he was going to devour my soul. His lips stretched into a satisfied smile and his addictive smell wafted to me.

“Let you go?” he smirked and laughed sarcastically. He then returned to his serious look and traced his fingertips through my hair. “Do you think that I’m an idiot? Now that your scent prevails, all I have to do is to let you serve the sin of greed,” he stated.

He licked his lower lip, which made my heart go crazy. The sin of greed? What did I have to do with that? I was about to ask him when a knock interrupted us. His eyebrows slowly furrowed while his smile vanished.

“Who has the nerve to ruin this moment?!” he exclaimed. He quickly turned away, which made me feel more relieved. He sat at his table and looked at me.

I didn’t say a word and tried to avoid his gaze. Slowly and carefully, I walked towards the door but sensed that he was still staring at me. As I reached the door, I took a deep breath and smiled—a fake smile, to be specific.

“Where’s Ace, little missy?” a good-looking man asked. He had a playful smile and was obviously a happy-go-lucky person. In total, there were six handsome men waiting outside the door.

“Who’s Ace? This is the boss's office,” I answered, trying to stay calm, but I almost failed. Another handsome guy wearing a red cap stared at me straight in the eyes, and it made me feel really uncomfortable.

“That’s it! Ace is definitely the boss…” a man with a black jacket and earrings answered arrogantly. I raised one of my eyebrows and crossed my arms over my chest. These men were really gorgeous, but that didn’t mean they could be rude.

“If you want to see the boss, you need an appointment first…” I said seriously. At first, they were surprised, but then they all grinned, which scared me a little. I took a deep breath and looked at them once again.

“If you don’t have any appointments, then please leave, sir…” I said formally and then stepped back to shut the door. But a man walked towards me. He had a cold look on his face that made my heart beat rapidly as if I was in a race.

“Spade!” I was stunned when the boss shouted. “Leave her be and talk to me if you want to settle something,” he stated with pure calmness in his dim eyes. The so-called Spade smiled creepily, then looked at me again.

“Lucky for you, missy,” he mumbled and intentionally bumped my shoulder as he walked past me towards Ace. The five other people entered the office while glancing at me as if I was the most pathetic person in the world. I couldn’t do anything but look down.

I quickly walked outside without a single word. As I was about to close the door, I heard the deep and manly voice again.

“So, what’s going on in the castle?” he asked with a serious look. I did not wait for the answer and closed the door.

While I was walking to my department's floor, my brain kept running through all the strange things I’d just experienced. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

The first thing: his gestures were quite weird and touchy. How could he even lay his fingers on me? Even if he was the new boss, he still didn’t have the authority to treat me that way. Since this was the first time I’d met him, his words puzzled me. The scent, the sin of greed—what did he mean?

Second, why were his friends so damn good-looking, but so rude? Especially that man named Spade. He was the definition of the word dangerous. If Ace hadn’t said anything, what would Spade have done to me?

And last, what did he mean by the castle? Forget it! It’s not my business. I’m just an employee who needs a salary. Maybe it would be good to avoid them, for my future's sake.

I stepped in the elevator and pressed the button for my floor. Lucky for me that I wasn’t fired because of his flirtation. Through some gossip, I heard that Ace was the most influential man in today’s generation. At just twenty-two, he became a very successful man. Five years later, he came back to the Philippines and decided to take this position, but why?

I lifted my head when the elevator stopped. I was surprised when I saw the guy in the white suit from earlier. Our eyes met, then he automatically smiled at me, and I smiled back.

“May I?” he asked with a kind voice. I can tell that he’s a nice person. I nodded but didn’t dare speak. I was afraid that I might stutter and would be embarrassed in front of him.

“Thank you,” he said and joined me in the elevator. Silenced enveloped the elevator and neither of us wanted to disrupt the moment. I touched my chest as I felt that I could barely breathe.

I leaned on the wall, but my head became dizzy all of a sudden. I forced myself to stand straight but my knees were trembling. Now what? What the hell was happening to me? Before darkness consumed my consciousness, I felt the man wrap his warm body around me.