Chapter 61 Let's Pretend Nothing Happened
Elliot fell silent, stunned by his secretary's words. His hands slowly clenched. A simultaneous tightness and ache in his chest, as if being squeezed by a truth he never wanted to hear.
The man's gaze softened, trying to find something in Audrey's face, perhaps hope or a reason to convince himself that they could overcome all of it.
"You don't have to choose between me and your career," Elliot said softly. "I won't let that happen—"
"Sir, this isn't just about a choice!" Audrey quickly retorted, her voice shaking slightly. "But this is about reality. About the world you and I live in. Do you think everyone in this company will just stay quiet if they know what's going on between us?"
"I told you I don't care what they think!" Elliot cut in firmly. "I only care about you—"
"But I do care about all of it!" Audrey countered, her gaze now sharper. "Because they won't attack you. They will attack me! They'll see me as an ambitious woman taking advantage of this relationship for personal gain. They'll look down on me, Sir! Do you know how that feels?"
Elliot clenched his fists tighter, frustration surging within him again. He had never thought about it from Audrey's perspective, and now, hearing it directly from the woman, guilt began to surface.
"I won't let anyone touch you, let alone look down on you," Elliot said emphatically. "If that's what you're afraid of, I will protect you."
"No," Audrey stated firmly. More accurately, asserting it to herself. "There are many things far more important for you to protect than me, Mr. Harrington, and I am not—"
"And that's you, Audrey! You!" Elliot cut in, his voice rising because he could no longer hold back his emotions. "Damn it! Why don't you understand yet?!"
Elliot's chest seemed to rise and fall, his breaths short due to the uncontrollable anger and frustration. He closed his eyes momentarily, bowing his head to calm himself, while Audrey gathered all her strength to stand tall without wavering.
The room was filled with a suffocating silence for quite a while.
"It's better if...," Audrey finally spoke up. Her trembling voice, laden with emotion, tried to sound calm. "I think, it's best if we end this here."
"Stop it, Audrey…" Elliot sighed, his gaze now conveying pain.
"Let me continue to assist you until the end…" Audrey continued, ignoring Elliot's interruption.
"I said, stop it…" Elliot cut in again, his voice lower but echoing in the room.
"… as your secretary," Audrey finished her sentence decisively.
Elliot's expression changed. His eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, trying to understand the woman's meaning. "What do you mean?"
Audrey took a deep breath, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. The pain in her chest was tightening so much that she could no longer breathe normally.
"What happened between us, Sir... it's just a form of closeness that often happens in the workplace. The closeness between a man and a mature woman who often meet, stressed with heavy workloads, which then leads to a kind of mutual reliance or... other similar emotions."
The woman paused for a moment, before continuing steadily. "I understand if you're acting like this, and it all happened not for the real reason. It's only because of the situation."
"Understand?" Elliot repeated in a low tone, almost a hiss. His feelings were clearly shaken. "You... understand me?"
A small, bitter smile curved on his lips. A soundless laugh that reflected the tightness in his chest. Both his hands clenched tightly, the veins in his neck straining with the turmoil swelling inside him.
You... understand me?
You will never understand, Audrey.
You don't know how I struggle to shove this feeling away.
How my nights are haunted by guilt for dreaming of you in an indecent way. And the next day I have to face you—you who greet me with a smile as if nothing happened.
You will never know how difficult it is to restrain myself every time the scent of your hair, every movement of yours, is so tempting and makes me want to lose control.
And you will never understand what it feels like to be an embarrassing boss, because he lusts after his own secretary.
But all of that just swirled in his complicated mind. Not a single word escaped his lips.
"... let's return to our respective positions. You as the CEO of MGC, and I as your secretary. Nothing more than that."
Elliot stared at her, deep and sharp, as if trying to read all the contents of Audrey's heart.
Audrey felt her body tremble under that gaze. She swallowed hard, but still tried to look straight at Elliot.
"So, according to Mr. Elliot Harrington's competent secretary, we should go back to how things were? Pretend none of this ever happened?" Elliot asked with a challenging tone.