The Heiress's Revenge,Shattered Vows and Silent Lies

I was late-night scrolling through videos of hot guys and dropped a spicy comment, having no clue the man in the video was actually my CEO. The very next day, my boss took a red-eye flight back from abroad. He yanked at his tie in visible frustration. Desperate to calm him down, I scrambled over like a loyal lapdog and offered him a replacement. "I knew that ten-dollar tie was way beneath your status." He froze. "Ten dollars?" I nodded earnestly. "Yep. Poor kids learn to run a household early. Save where you can, spend where you must." "Pervert!" Today was my first day assigned by my parents to work as Damian Rivers’s executive secretary. I never expected that on day one, I’d run straight into a creep. I had left home in a rush without checking the calendar, and my period decided to show up out of nowhere. Fumbling with my phone to message my besties for help, I dashed into the office restroom. I was hunched over the sink, desperately trying to rinse the bloodstains out of my white dress, when a pair of large hands reached out from the side and handed me a paper towel. "Here." "Thanks, girl!" In my panic, I took the towel. But a second later, my brain short-circuited. Wait. This was the women’s restroom. Why was there a man in here?! I shrieked at the top of my lungs, screaming for help. Within seconds, the restroom was swarming with women. Since it was right around clock-in time, everyone had their heavy designer bags on hand. They beat the creep black and blue until he scrambled out the door. Once the chaos died down, I finally got my dress clean. I ordered an emergency delivery on an app, but it would take at least half an hour to arrive, and I only had five minutes before I had to clock in. Just as panic was setting in, my foot bumped against something on the floor. A pink pouch containing a pad, stamped with a cute cartoon pig. I figured one of the girls must have dropped it by accident. I’d borrow it for now and return a fresh one once I found out whose it was. Later, I searched the entire company, but none of the women owned a pink pouch with a cartoon pig on it. I had to let it drop for the moment, keeping the pouch safe with me. I originally wanted to ask Damian, the eldest son of the prestigious Rivers family, to hunt down the pervert. But my coworkers told me he had flown overseas on an emergency trip the very day I joined. Men truly were unreliable. If I wanted something done, I’d have to handle it myself. I investigated for days without finding a single lead. The creep was ridiculously lucky—the security cameras had been malfunctioning, and he had slipped out literally seconds before they came back online. Life at the office soon felt… no different from lounging around in my private estate. Since Damian had been on a business trip for a whole month, and I was his personal secretary, nobody dared to assign me any work while the boss was away. My parents had also been living abroad for years. They were so busy they barely ever FaceTimed me, and getting a single text back a day was already a miracle. Thankfully, I wasn't bored. My favorite pastime was staying up late and dropping out-of-pocket, flirty comments under videos of hot guys shaking their hips. By day, I was the pampered heiress of a top-tier dynasty; by night, I was an unhinged internet princess scrolling through eye candy. Lounging across my diamond-tufted king-size bed, I swiped through man after man. "Approved!" "Approved!" "Ooh, approved too!" After wading through countless flashy, overly manicured guys, my finger suddenly froze on the screen. The video showed only a man's silhouette from behind. The minimalist background music gave him an aura of untouchable, aristocratic cool. The comment section was packed with praise: "This is literally the main character from my romance novels." After a couple seconds of deep contemplation, my nimble fingers danced across the keyboard like lightning. An entirely unhinged comment popped up under the video: "It hurts my soul to think that someone else is gonna get to crank your engine one day." Then I quickly swiped away and moved on to the next guy. My life motto was simple: as long as you approve new men fast enough, there’s no room for sadness, only love.The next day, yawning endlessly, I had just settled into Damian’s executive leather chair when my phone buzzed with a text. "Open the door." My eyes went wide. How was Damian back already? How was I supposed to explain the mountain of junk food covering his entire desk? I forgot to mention—during the month Damian was away, I had completely turned his office into my private fortress, forbidding anyone else from stepping inside. The room was packed wall-to-wall with snacks. When life tenderizes you over and over, you end up bouncy and resilient. Oh, wait. That was just the gummy bear I had casually popped into my mouth. "Approved!" Facing the urgent knocking on the door, I scrambled up and pulled it open, trying my best to use my small frame to block the mountain of chips and candy behind me. Damian was still breathing heavily, looking exhausted and windswept, clearly straight off a long-haul flight. "Damian—I mean, Mr. Rivers… sir…" Under his sharp, questioning gaze, I could only dart my eyes around guiltily. In the end, whatever pathetic excuse I had prepared went down my throat along with the half-chewed gummy. I hung my head and fidgeted nervously with my fingers. I knew turning his office into a convenience store aisle was wrong. If he threw all the snacks out right now, I’d accept it. Just throw away the snacks, please don't throw away me! Instead of ordering security to clear the desk, Damian let out an irritated hiss. I looked up, confused, only to see him yanking impatiently at his tie. Realization struck me instantly. "Mr. Rivers, here, let me get you a new one! I told you a ten-dollar online tie doesn't match your commanding presence at all." His smoldering anger was doused by a splash of cold water. He stared at me, bewildered. "This? Ten dollars?" "Uh, yeah. Poor kids learn to manage the house early. Save where you can, spend where you must." I scratched my head awkwardly. Damian saw right through my act. He pointed at the tiny, subtle stud earring on my ear. "You bought that at an auction for twelve million dollars. You call yourself poor?" Before I could come up with another excuse, Damian stepped forward and pinned me against the edge of the desk. He held up his phone, showing a comment with over a hundred thousand likes. I opened my mouth to laugh it off, but then my eyes went wide. Wait… isn't that my comment from last night?! "Does this mean Mr. Rivers thinks I have the potential to be a lifestyle influencer?" Damian leaned down, pressing closer. His deep voice carried a dangerous, husky edge. "Like to crank engines, huh? Why don't you crank mine, then?" I didn't answer him. My eyes had already wandered somewhere lower. I turned my head slightly and swallowed hard. Back when I gossiped with my girls, we figured seven, maybe eight inches was the absolute ceiling. Looking at it now, a conservative estimate was… definitely nine. Noticing my silence, Damian loosened his grip on me. "Did… did I hurt you?" I shook my head with a goofy grin. Catching him off guard, I pulled a sly move, slipped right under his arm, and bolted toward the corporate supply warehouse. How bizarre. Who actually has a fetish like that? "Damian wants me to crank his engine." I spent the whole walk trying to steady my breathing. This was the first real task Damian had ever given me. I couldn't mess it up. I had been sheltered and protected by my parents my entire life. The only eccentric skill I possessed was something I had secretly learned on our family farm years ago. I personally preferred peace and quiet, and because old-school tractor engines were deafeningly loud, I hadn't touched a manual crank in years. Who would've thought an elite billionaire had a thing for vintage farm tractors? I rummaged through the maintenance wing and storage yard until I finally found the biggest hand crank they had. Carrying the heavy iron rod, I walked up to Damian and asked hesitantly, "Are… are you sure about this?" Damian looked at me, then looked down at the iron rod in my hands. He froze for a second, then a deep crimson rushed all the way up his neck to his ears. His voice was hoarse. "I mean… it’s not out of the question." I could tell this was his first time. He looked completely lost and flustered. When it comes to this kind of thing, you can't show fear on your first try, or you won't be able to put your back into it. Taking his reaction as confirmation, I drove him straight to my private family estate. The staff had the day off today. In this massive, sprawling estate, it was just the two of us. I told Damian to close his eyes. Then, with lightning speed, I shoved the iron crank right into the starter shaft of the vintage utility rig parked out back.Damian wasn't prepared at all. Seeing how fast and aggressive I was, he looked slightly alarmed. "Wait… right here?" I raised an eyebrow. Where else? Right as the words left my mouth— "Vroom!" With a furious jerk, the engine roared to life with enough raw horsepower to rattle the windows of the nearby villa. I hopped onto the utility vehicle and grabbed the wheel, raising my voice to compete with the deafening roar. "You coming up? Want me to take you for a spin?" The noise was so loud I couldn't hear whatever Damian was shouting from the ground, so I hopped back down. Just as I stepped up in front of him, the machine let out a massive, explosive backfire! "BANG!" In an instant, a sharp, splitting pain tore through my skull. I froze on the spot. It felt as if several tiny, fractured silhouettes were spinning wildly in my head. Damian lunged forward and covered my ears with his warm palms. He whispered softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm right here." For some reason, hearing those words brought an overwhelming sense of peace, as if all those chaotic silhouettes in my head suddenly wore his face, rushing forward to shield me. I was famously known in high society as a delicate, pampered canary. That didn't mean I belonged to any man; it meant I had to be carefully shielded because loud, abrupt noises would trigger intense migraines. That was the exact reason my parents had forbidden me from ever touching motorized farm equipment again. Looking at Damian, who seemed even more panicked about my health than I was, my heart skipped a beat. "Ring, ring, ring…" Feeling a bit self-conscious, I ducked my head slightly and pointed at his jacket pocket. "Your phone." Damian pulled out his phone and stepped aside to take the call, allowing me to let out a quiet breath. A soft breeze brushed past, but the warmth of his hands still lingered against my ears. After hanging up, Damian took my phone and added himself to my SnapChat contacts. He told me he had urgent business to attend to and asked me to head back to the office on my own this afternoon. I nodded like a good little secretary. Turns out the legendary cold, ruthless CEO wasn't as terrifying as the rumors made him out to be. I immediately whipped out my phone and fired off a message to the group chat: "Girls, girls, stop guessing! Nine inches! AHHHH! I swear on my life, it’s definitely nine!" That afternoon, an urgent project proposal came up, and the task landed squarely on my shoulders. Even though I was a pampered heiress, writing a business proposal was child's play for me. Less than three minutes after I submitted the document, furious shouting erupted from the corner office. "Who wrote this garbage? How could anyone come up with something this braindead?!" After a relentless barrage of insults, I gritted my teeth and clutched my sleeves. My name was plastered right on the cover page. There was no way Damian didn't see it. He was definitely doing this on purpose. To revise the proposal, I worked overtime until nine at night. Looking at the dark silhouette sitting in his office, my fingers hovered over my screen, tapping restlessly. I wanted to remind him to rest early, but on second thought, I decided against it. He had just dragged me through the mud today. The moment I stepped through my front door, a wave of hurt washed over me. In all my years growing up, no one had ever dared to yell at me like that. Just as I was silently cursing Damian in my head, a message popped up from him. "Did you get home safe? [Puppy wagging its tail, waiting politely]" You scream at me all afternoon and now you're asking if I got home safe? None of your business. Careful, or I'll report you to HR for harassment. I tossed my phone onto the sofa and headed into the shower. When I came back and read the wall of text he had sent, I realized he actually had a point. He explained that he had put on a show for the rest of the company so people wouldn't dismiss me as a privileged nepo-baby and target me behind my back. The next day, when I saw a nasty bruise on Damian’s cheek, I couldn't resist sending him a text. "What happened to your face?" He replied instantly. "Nothing. Just… slipped and got into a fight with a dog." "You… have a hobby of wrestling dogs?" Damian sent back a sweating emoji. Before I could reply, my phone buzzed with a blind date alert sent by my family. I rubbed my temples in defeat. Even a billionaire heiress couldn't escape the cursed fate of arranged blind dates. As I left my desk, despite the scorching summer heat, a strange chill ran down my spine, as if someone was watching my every move.When I arrived at the high-end restaurant that had been entirely bought out for the private date, I genuinely questioned whether I was adopted. Sitting at a table covered in tacky pink decor was an oily, balding man with heavy stubble. I turned around to leave immediately, but he stood up, hitched his belt, and grabbed my wrist. "Leaving so soon, princess? Aren't we here on a date? Give me a kiss before you go~" He was much stronger than me. I opened my mouth to yell, but to my horror, not a single server was in sight. Realizing this was a setup, I grabbed a wine bottle from the table and smashed it right over his head. Just as I thought I wouldn't make it out, Damian appeared. Seeing Damian walk in, the man actually sneered, "Hey, Rivers, care to join in?" Damian didn't waste a breath. He kicked the man straight to the ground, leaving behind a chilling remark: "It's getting cold. Time for your family to go bankrupt." Left completely broke and utterly bewildered, the man lay on the floor, having no idea what hit him. Damian scooped me into his arms and carried me out into the street. I looked up at the blazing afternoon sun. Fine. He’s a ruthless billionaire. If he says it’s cold, it’s cold. Sitting in the passenger seat of Damian’s car, I watched him drive, feeling that something was off. I was sure I had seen a bruise on his face this morning, but now it was completely gone. Was I seeing things? I reached up to adjust my glasses, only to touch bare skin. Right, I wasn't wearing my glasses today. That had to be it. Damian mentioned it was lunch time and invited me over to his place, and I didn't refuse. As expected of the city's top heir, his villa was even more extravagant than my family's. The wine wall alone had to be worth over a hundred million dollars. But the CEO certainly had peculiar tastes. Every single vintage bottle was tied with a neat pink bow. I probed gently, "Your sister must have a real soft spot for cute things. She sounds adorable." I watched his reaction closely. As an avid romance reader, I knew every brooding billionaire supposedly had an untouchable first love. I had developed feelings for Damian, but I was too proud to ask him outright. Seeing his eyes light up, my heart fluttered with nervous anticipation. When he confirmed that he did indeed have a younger sister, the knot in my chest finally loosened. Although the bottles were spotless, the faded edges of the pink ribbons showed that time had passed. They really had a close sibling bond. I was already daydreaming—marrying a man who cared this much about family wouldn't be a bad deal at all, right? Damian went into the kitchen to prepare lunch and told me to make myself at home. As I strolled toward the study, the distinct scent of medical antiseptic caught my attention. I couldn't help but marvel. A powerful man really had eccentric tastes even in his room scents. On the mahogany desk, pinned under an inkstone, was an unsealed letter. The worn fold lines proved it was something Damian treasured deeply. Seeing that half the envelope was hanging off the edge, I moved to set it back safely. I didn't mean to pry, but the overwhelming love poured across that single sheet of paper was too glaring to ignore. And at the very bottom were four clear words: "Your loving wife." When my parents arranged for me to be Damian’s secretary, every hint they dropped pointed toward setting us up together. And Damian had explicitly told my parents that he had no girlfriends or dating scandals. Of course. A wife isn't a "scandalous girlfriend," after all… A bitter disappointment washed over me. In my entire life, no one had ever dared to play me for a fool—least of all an arrogant heir like Damian.