Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 53

C H A P T E R 5 1 : F R I E N D O R F I E N D

E L L A S T A N F O R D

When Ella walked into her building that Tuesday, the last day she needed to go to the office before she would be taking a few days off to visit her mother, a note was waiting for her at her desk. It was not signed but said, “Meet me in the office supplies room at 1 P.M. sharp.” It was a rather odd request. She knew Javier was as cautious as she was about being seen together, and she wondered what would prompt him to want to meet her.

At twelve thirty, while everyone else was outside getting lunch, she went to the office supplies room and figured it had to be something really important. But when she walked into the office that night, it was not Javier standing there in the aisles between tall cupboards filled with stationeries.

“Come in and shut the door,” Maria said, a particularly smug smile flattening her glistening red lips.

Ella did not make any move. Her body was perfectly still. She looked into the cold eyes of the one person whom she even considered as a friend. These past few weeks she had enjoyed having her around and being her mentor. Now looking at her hazel eyes, she felt like she did not know the real Maria Gonzales. There was cruelty in those big, beautiful eyes. “What is this about, Maria?” asked her casually as she moved further into the supplies room.

Maria grabbed a file from the shelf and threw it toward her. Ella immediately caught it midair before it hit her forehead. “First, you might want to see this. Then we can talk business.”

“What? What business?” Ella opened the file and her heart slammed against her ribs as she saw what was there. Inside were photos of her and Javier. There were about a dozen of them, but the most incriminating picture had been snapped the night she had come out of her flat wearing nothing but her slick black raincoat. Although it had been dark outside, the photograph clearly showed Javier kissing her while his hand was inside her coat cupping her breast. Her stomach fell and she thought she might vomit all over the floor and the front of Maria’s tight purple dress.

“Where did you get this?” Ella shook her head, suddenly feeling nauseous. “I mean, why did you do this?”

“That is not important,” she answered, her smile turned creepy. Even though she was a gorgeous girl with beautiful dark hair in a stunning dress, her smile looked like one of Joker’s. And for a moment, Ella found herself feeling a bit scared. “What important is who I am going to send these to. I am sure that after I send the photos to the newspapers, you will have another nickname other than Miss Stanford. Something like, I don’t know, maybe whore? Or do you like S word more?”

“What do you want?”

“It is simple. I want you to leave the company.”

“I am going to leave the company at the end of this month,” she asked incredulously. “What difference would it make if I leave nor or then?”

“It is not for you to know. All I am asking now is whether you leave now and these photos will not fall into the wrong hands or you wait and be persistent and you might find them in the front page of each newspaper or magazine you could find.”

“I am practically a nobody.” Ella chuckled. “Why would anyone care about my affair?”

“Not you, of course.” Maria laughed, even her laughter sounded cruel. “But Mister Summers, the third son of Cedric Summers? That is a different story. The news will eat whatever I am giving them. And you know what I am going to say?” Her eyebrows arched perfectly on her smooth forehead. “I will tell them that he forces his way on all of his secretaries.”

“No one will believe you,” said Ella tightly.

“I am leaving but mark my word, you will not get away with this.”

“Are you thinking of informing Javier? If you are then think twice because as you can see, I have eyes and ears everywhere and if I know that you told him, I will have these photos sent to all newspaper companies in town and uploaded them to the internet as well. Not only you will bring him down but you will bring the entire Summers Empire down with you. With these photos, I could make any accusation I want. For example, I could tell them that you slept with him and have someone else took these photos so you can use these to blackmail him. Perhaps that story will be a hit.” Maria folded her arms in front of her breasts and lifted her eyebrows. “Don’t you see, Ella, I have all the power. I am going to get away with this.”

Ella believed her. She believed Maria would do what she said. “Maybe for now,” replied her with a shrug. “But not forever. Someday someone is going to find out and the truth shall prevail. I am gonna leave now. I do not have to stand here and listen to any more of your insanity talking.” Ella looked down at her through her frosty gaze. Then she turned around and left.

She heard Maria laughing while saying, “Good riddance. Bye-bye, bitch!”

Ella kept her head held high as she walked out of the supplies room and made her way back to her office. Currently, she had no clue what she should do but she knew that in time, she would figure out how to fix this. All she had to do was think this through. She had to find out what Maria’s angle was, the reason why she was doing all of this. Once she figured that one out, she could start planning her counter strike.

She grabbed her purse from her drawer and left a note on Javier’s desk that she would have to leave early. Frankly, Maria had disgusted her and she could not stay here for another five hours with her. She went to the parking lot in the basement, unlocked her car, and dumped her purse inside. She was about to get inside her car when someone called her by her full name.

Looking around to find her caller, her gaze landed on a figure that she had not seen for at least a month. The last time she had seen him, his skin was tanned from the Sicily sunlight and his hair was slightly longer, passing the collar of his shirt. Now he looked just as muscular as he was previously even though he was wearing a business suit and not a plain worn out shirt but his hair was short and brushed back. “Ella, Dio Mio! Do not tell me that you have forgotten me.”