PROLOGUE

Twenty years ago.

"Damien honey, go to the closet and stay there for a while, I'll come to get you out of there soon Ok?" said Lilith to her 10-year-old son.

"No mum, I hate it there, you always make me do this. Please mum, don't make me go in there" he cried.

Lilith was torn, she hated this also, but there was no way, absolutely no way she was going to do what she was about to do in front of her son.

No! I will not think about him, Lilith shook her head and turned to her son at that moment with a stern look on her face.

"Now listen to me, young man, don't make this harder for me, you will go into that closet, you will remain there and wait until I get you. Is that clear?"

Lilith watched as her son shook his head in affirmation and headed towards the closet. Oh! How she hated it when she was this way with him, but then she was left with no choice.

Damien could see his mother through the peephole of the closet. He watched as she went to open the door. There were three men at the door this time. Although he had always thought it strange that men would always come to visit his mother, this time it was different.

These men were huge and one would easily tremble at the sight of them. One was taller than the others and had an ugly scar on the right side of his cheek which made him look horrible. The others were tall but not as tall as the scar-faced man.

"Who are you?" He heard his mother. He could tell there was something amiss because there was a difference in the tone of her voice. "Who the hell are you people and what do you want?" She asked but got no reply from them.

She was scared mostly for her son. She was expecting Andy, her regular client, not these scary-looking men.

They pushed through the door and Mr scarface struck her hard on her face. She hit the door and fell to the floor.

"Where is Damien, where is your son?" the other man asked. He had brown hair and was well built. One could easily notice his Mexican accent. Lilith tried to run but Mr Scarface pulled at her hair, She screamed."This puta won't talk. Let's make her talk" he said.

"There is no point. We'll find him ourselves, he's in the house somewhere" said Mr Scarface. He pulled his gun and pointed it at Lilith" for the last time, where is he?" He asked. "Leave me and my son alone. What do you want from us? Who sent you?" Lilith said.

The other stern-looking man kicked her stomach and she wailed in pain. She looked towards the closet where her son was. She knew he was watching, so she shook her head amidst pain signaling him not to come out.

"You'll never find him, besides you are going to kill me anyway. Go ahead, shoot me, you bastard!!" She said aloud.

Mr Scarface pointed the gun at her once more and said "Ladybird says Adios" he shot her in the head.

"Search the house boys," Mr Scarface commanded. They searched all the rooms in the house but they couldn't find him. Suddenly they heard the sound of sirens blaring from a distance.

"Shit!, the cops are here,” one of them said. " we have to get the hell out of here". They ran through the back door and escaped.

Annie Gilbert woke up as the sound of the alarm clock filled the room. She groaned. "Stupid clock," she muttered as she went back to bed.

I have to do something about that clock, she thought aloud.

As she was about to drift back to sleep, the blaring sound of the clock woke her up again.

"Bloody hell!!!" She cursed as she smashed the clock across the room. She smiled dreamily as she heard the shattering sound of the clock and then she remembered.

"Holy shit!! No! No! No!! Not today" she screamed as she sprung out of bed.

It was her first day at work at Steel Cedar Incorporation. She had recently gotten a job there as the Secretary to the CEO.

I wonder what he is like, she thought as she dashed into the bathroom and was out in a minute. That was the quickest bath she had had in history.

It was 7 am already, an hour before the start of work.

She stared at herself in the mirror and admired her dress. It was a gift from her father on her birthday.

"You can do this Annie, you've got this", she said to herself. She stood in the mirror one last time and smiled to herself.

She picked up her bag and left the apartment.

"Good morning Mr Howard" she greeted.

Mr Howard lived opposite her. He was a sweet old man with a beautiful heart.

"Good morning Annie darling, ready for your first day at work?" He asked.

"I'm so excited," she replied.

"You should be. You deserve it" Howard said. "Hey, you better hurry, you don't want to be late on your first day".

" Bye, Mr Howard, see you soon," she said as she walked towards the bus station. The bus station wasn't far from where she lived so in less than 20mins she was already on her way to work. She got onto the bus and sat close to the window, her thoughts were filled with what her schedule would be like and most importantly what the CEO would be like. Rumors have it that he wasn't the nicest person to work with and she prayed silently that she hopes to have a pleasant and peaceful day during her work with her boss.

The sound of the bus horn deviated her away from her thoughts, she realized that she must have zoomed off with lots of thoughts in her head, apologizing to the driver and the passengers. She alighted from the bus and waited at the zebra crossing line, and when it was green she smiled before heading to her company.

Outside the building of her new place, where she would have to spend the rest of her life until she retires except her boss was unbearable for her. Taking in a deep breath and realizing her breathing, putting on a fake smile, she walked into the company.

She was met with new employees like herself who were busy introducing themselves, she didn't know if she belonged, or if she was good at making friends but she wanted things to be different this time around.

A slight tap on her shoulders jolted her and she quickly turned around to meet the smiling face of a pretty lady.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, you must be the new Secretary. Hi, I'm Esmeralda. You can call me Esme. I work as an Architectural designer here".

"I'm Annie, nice to meet you," Annie said while exchanging handshakes with the lady.

"I love your outfit, it's lovely. Where did you get it from?" Esme asked

"Uhm, sorry, my dad bought it for me as a gift last year, so I didn't get to ask the price from him" Annie answered.

"Ohh, Daddy's girl huh?” Esme teased her and Annie flushed. "You are welcome anyways; I hope you last long here. I could use a friend around here".

"What do you mean?" Annie asked curiously.

"Oh, never mind. See you around Annie" Esme said as she dashed back to her office.

I hope you last long here; Annie couldn't stop thinking about what Esme said.

What does she mean? Is there something wrong here? She thought. She knew the CEO wasn't one to mess with but she didn't know that it would be that bad.

Soon a lady arrives and addresses them about the rules and regulations before leading Annie to her corner and giving her the files left over by the former Secretary. She smiled softly and thanked the lady. She began her job hoping that today would be a bright day.

Annie stood in awe as she saw him walk past her. She couldn't stop staring.

"Oh my Gosh!! He's beautiful," she thought.

He arrived at her corner immediately after she stood up. He walked with pride as his eyes scanned her for a fleeting second.

His physique was like that of a Greek god. His movement was swift and agile. He had a very large build and was brawny. His eyes were as blue as the sea, it was the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. His eyebrow was bushy. His beauty was quite remarkable. He had short wavy black hair. Beardless but beautiful. His lips were alluring. Never had she ever met a man with such alluring lips as Damien's. he was handsome and had a charming smile when he did smile. He looked smoking hot in his blue suit, a perfect match with his eyes.

She was still in that state when the telephone on her desk rang.

"Steel Cedar, how may I-." she was interrupted

"Get me my coffee," said the deep husky voice of Damien from the other side. She felt a cold chill run down her spine.

"Yes sir". She said as she dashed to get the coffee and in no time she was knocking at his office door with a tray of hot coffee and hamburger. She had been informed earlier by a lady who went to get her coffee that he loved his coffee with a hamburger.

"Come in," Damien commanded. She heaved as deep before she went in and placed the coffee and hamburger on the table.

He was working on his laptop when Anna walked into the office. Not glancing at her, he picked up the cup of coffee she had placed on the desk and took a sip and he spat it out immediately.

"Holy shit!! What is this!!" Damien asked angrily "what did you just serve me?!" He was fuming in anger.

Annie was perplexed and wondered what was wrong, never has she been yelled at in her entire life, and she couldn't quite picture where she had done, or what went wrong.

"That's coffee sir, is something wrong?" She replied amidst fear.

"Wrong?! Is something wrong? Really?! Oh, I'll show you what is wrong here" he trashed the coffee in the waste bin close to him.

Annie couldn't place her head as to why he was reacting that way.

"The next time you'll serve me coffee like this, I promise that I'll empty it on you. For God's sake, how many times do I have to tell you guys that my coffee must be served at not less than 70°c and without sugar!! Also, I don't like onions in my hamburger!!" Damien yelled.

Annie was in shock. She trembled at the threat he made. How can he be so arrogant, callous, and mean at the same time? she thought. He was worse than the gossip she had heard about him; he was the devil himself.