Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO - Chapter 798

798: In your dreams.

798: In your dreams.

“Sister Zenith, are you okay?” Michael asked with a slight hesitation laced in his tone.

When Zenith turned to him, his brows tugged slightly more.

“You had plans for the evening, but if you go to present this project to the sir now, you are surely going to be late for it.” Zenith checked the time on her watch, and surely, Michael was right.

She would be late for the date if she didn’t leave the office right now.

And that made her uncomfortable.

Not because she was dying to attend the arranged date, but because something felt deliberate in the entire situation.  Seeing her silent, Michael suggested, “How about I go and do it for you?

You can leave, and I will explain to Sir that you had something urgent.”  Zenith heard him and at once shook her head.

“Oh, he wouldn’t like that.

Remember the last time it happened.”  Michael pursed his lips.

Of course, he remembered.

It was hard not to cry in that moment, but because he was a man, he held back his emotions.

“Then what are you going to do?”  Zenith picked the file and nonchalantly shrugged.

“I will do what’s to be done.” She then eyed the file in her hand in an obvious gesture.  “But what about your date then?”  “It’s not as important as my job, and I already dropped him a text.” Saying that, she already moved with the file, rounding her desk and coming out to step in the direction of Ryan’s office.

“He should understand that it’s something urgent that held me up.

And if he can’t understand that, I guess we already would know that we aren’t the right fit.” Michael felt what she was saying was right.

Nodding, he then simply said, “Then I will help you wrap up here until you finish presenting to Sir.”  “Then I will have to thank you for that.” Zenith gave an okay sign to him before walking to Ryan’s office.  Stopping at the door, finally, she paused to knock.

And right after she did, she heard Ryan’s voice from inside.  “Come in!”  Pushing the door open, she stepped inside.

Walking to his desk, she slowly lowered the file to him before pushing it his way.

“Here is the report file you asked us to prepare.

You can let us know if there’s any improvement needed.” All the while she spoke, her gaze was unintentionally at the file.

She never looked Ryan’s way.  And that’s something that only worsened Ryan’s mood further.

He felt like she was avoiding him.

And that was weirdly making him furious.  He took the file and flipped it, his movements aggressive, revealing his mood.  Zenith flinched for a second at the sharp noise of pages flipping, but then she composed herself.  Throughout the read, Ryan pointed out some trivials and she nodded understandingly, taking notes of it.

When done, Zenith leaned it to take the file back.  “I understood, sir,” she said, her voice as composed as it had ever been.

“I will get it done before the deadline tomorrow.” And with that, she was about to bow and leave when Ryan spoke, interrupting her plans.  “Where are you going?” he asked.  And blinking a little in confusion, Zenith stared at him.

“Back to my desk to wrap up everything before leaving.”  “And who said you could leave early?”  Her brows tugged in a frown, and she checked her watch before saying, “It’s already the log-out time, sir.

I am not leaving early.” It was the usual time for everyone to leave for the day.

How could she be leaving early?  “And who made you decide that?” Ryan asked, his brows quirking up in half-amusement and half-challenge.  “Sir, I -”  “While signing the employment contract, have you read the terms and clauses properly?”  Cutting her off smoothly, Ryan asked, standing up from his chair.  Zenith watched him and nodded confidently.

“I did, and -”  “If you did, then you must have forgotten to remember the clause number eighteen there,” he interrupted her again, continuing, “It’s mentioned there that, being the CEO’s secretary, your work timings would be flexible.

You would need to do sudden overtime and stay back at the office whenever needed.”  Of course, Zenith remembered that, but the meaning behind that clause wasn’t like this.  “I remember the clause, sir.

But that clause was for the special situation where there is an urgent need.

And right now, there seems to be none.

The Green Valley Project is not urgently needed, and there are just a few improvements needed, which I can easily do before you need it tomorrow.”  Ryan stared at her and then slowly walked her way.

His every step made her heart beat louder.  “And what if I want you to do it today.

Now itself.” He asked, his voice dropping low, but carrying the same challenge his eyes were holding.

“What if I don’t want you to push the work tomorrow and complete it tonight itself?”  “I -” Zenith was about to say something, but seeing Ryan raising his brows, she pursed her lips and changed her tone to say.

“Then I would sit and finish it now itself, Sir.

It’s not a lot of work.

It will be done quickly.”  Ryan spread his hand and gestured her towards the couch on the side.

“Then please get on it and finish it up.”  Zenith closed her eyes briefly to compose herself and nodded.

Then, turning, she went to complete her work.  Just as she was about to sit, she heard her phone buzz.

When she checked, it was from David -the guy she was supposed to meet.  Feeling apologetic, she picked up the call to answer him.

“Hey, hello, David.

I am so sorry.

I didn’t intend to make you wait, but things cropped up at the last minute.

I hope you don’t mind.”  Ryan heard her apologizing with so warmth, and his fingers clenched.

It was weird, but he didn’t like her using such a soft tone for someone else.

He had the urge to snatch her phone and disconnect the call; however, he held it in, knowing it was against the best decision.

“Oh, I am still at the office and have something to do here,” Gianna spoke again, without being aware of the mood shift that was happening behind her.

“It will take me a little while more, probably another half an hour.

But I don’t want to wait for me there.

How about we reschedule it?”  The man again said something through the line, and Ryan didn’t hear it.

But what he heard was Zenith’s slightly surprised tone.  “Are you sure?” she asked and paused to hear the man respond on the other side.

When he did, she reciprocated, nodding her head subtly.

“Then, I will try to be quick.

I will be there as soon as I finish my work.”  And with that, she hung up the call.

Then walked to the couch and sat to start her work.

Her movements were unhurried, but the way she promised she would be there just in time irked Ryan, and he couldn’t help but ask.

His tone was not soft but carried an obvious displeasure.  “You had plans to be somewhere else?” he asked, his words coming through the subtle grit.  Zenith looked up merely and shook her head.

“It’s fine, sir.

I have already adjusted my plans.

This is my responsibility, and I will go once I complete it.”  Ryan’s fingers fisted tightly.

“In your dreams.”  “Huh?” Zenith looked back at him, her brows drawing slightly together, confused about what she heard.

“Did you say something, sir?”  Ryan looked at her, his gaze cold.

Nodding, he answered, “I said it’s good to see you putting your work responsibilities over everything else.

Finish your job, and you can leave.

I am not going to hold you here.”  Zenith nodded.

And then she focused on completing the work.

However, she never realized, Ryan’s intention was not to get the work done, but rather to keep her there for as long as he could.  After almost thirty minutes, Zenith was done with all the improvements Ryan had suggested to her.

She turned to him, submitting the work once again.

But unexpected Ryan wasn’t satisfied with it.

He again pointed out a few more things and asked her to work on it.  This didn’t just happen once or twice, but again and again.

And every time it happened, it only made Zenith frown more.  “You are frowning, Zenith,” Ryan said suddenly, “Is there a problem?

Are you getting annoyed or irritated?”  Zenith wanted to say yes, but she shook her head, letting her lips curl in a professional smile.

“I cannot be annoyed or irritated, sir.

This is my job, and I need to do it either way.”  “Good, you know that,” Ryan nodded with appreciation that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Now I hope I made it clear.

You can proceed.” Zenith nodded and turned to walk back.

However, once again her phone buzzed and she checked it was from David.

Taking it, she straightforwardly apologised.  “I am sorry, David.

I think this will take me a little longer.

Let’s reschedule our meeting for another day.”  The man spoke something through the line, to which she nodded.  Once she hung up, she dragged herself back to work on the project file.

She was actually feeling exhausted going back and forth to the same information.

This time, it didn’t even take her time to finish the changes.  Once she was done, she presented the file back to Ryan and said, “Sir, see if it’s fine now.”  Ryan took a long look at her before taking the file from her hand.

And just when Zenith thought he would suggest something else again, he nodded and said, “It’s perfect now.

I am satisfied.”  Zenith looked at him and her brows furrowed in confusion, but she said nothing.

Nodding, she accepted it as a relief from the torment.

Taking the file back in her hand, she said, “I will then pass it down for execution.”  Ryan nodded and watched her turn to leave.  But just when she was about to step out of his room, he said, “You don’t have to force yourself into certain things.

Especially those you genuinely don’t approve of.”