Indulging the CEO

"Why do you have a lot of things to do? Can't you hand that back to the old thing?" Gephardt made a long face before turning to Keagan. "Hey, you know what Wren is doing, right? Can't you help her? Take half of her workload!"

"Huh? I can't do that…" Keagan gasped as Gephardt even hissed in her direction. 

However, Wren only chuckled before reaching out to take a few pieces of strawberries from a platter. She then bit onto one before asking, "How about you, Keagan? Did you get any sleep last night? I figure you'd be too worried about him. I asked Cherie to relay things to you. What do you think?"

Relay things to her? Keagan turned to Cherie, but the maid only bowed her head a little. She apologized to Wren. "Please forgive me, madam. Miss Allard spaced out deeply the entire night. It seems my voice didn't reach her at all. Shall I repeat my words from last night?"

"No need. I'll just tell her." Wren watched Keagan look away in embarrassment. "I didn't find anything in his unit aside from another woman who didn't make it out in time. The police have already released a list of those who were found deceased, but his name isn't on it. If anything, he must have escaped the place through another path. Is there a place he might crash if he wasn't staying at his house?"

"He's not there?" Keagan gasped and forgot to listen to the other things. She then lowered her head and smiled in relief. "It's good that he wasn't home when it happened…"

Gephardt took a bite of his pancake and turned to Wren. "That guy should have friends. Maybe one of them took him in. Do you want me to look for him?"

Wren shook her head. "Stay here and guard the house for today. Ah, no, actually, stay around Keagan for now. It's best if we look for him first before letting her out."

"…people liked running into each other. Maybe she could find him a lot faster than we could." Gephardt pulled a long face before looking at the sad smile on the other woman's face. "I'll let her out. I can walk her for a while. Maybe she can find him faster."

"I didn't think you'd like to see her with him so much. What did I miss?" Wren hummed in a tease, but Gephardt only pouted. "I just don't want her to depend on you. You'll pay less attention to me with her around you all the time. Better find her carer as soon as possible."

Wren laughed, but she slid the knife too deep against the plate and made a screech to make Gephardt look at her. "He's not her carer. What are you saying?"

Gephardt shrunk his shoulders and his ears if they were visible on his head. He just moved to continue eating, not looking in Keagan's direction even once. As for Wren, she glanced at Keagan once before sighing again. It seemed like they needed to find Elijah, dead or alive.

…

The board was buzzing with angry remarks and rumors, but Wren set everything aside. She already knew about what the people thought about her sudden interest in Elijah. Actually, before she even met Keagan in person, this madam had already been seen speaking to the young director. Rumors only grew stronger when she decided to visit him in his office all of a sudden.

Worse was… she was doing it again. Wren, however, didn't sent a forward word to Elijah's secretary. She wanted to see how he was going to solve the problem of her more sudden visit.

Wren only went to find Elijah in person, so she could assure Keagan. If he reacted perfectly fine and as flawless as before, then it was for the best. If he looked worried about having no home, then she would offer a place she could monitor twenty-four-seven. 

She cared too little about the rumors. She would even take advantage of it if Elijah felt pressured to come to her for show. Making him fear for his position by not indulging the CEO should be a good excuse to keep him where her eyes could see him.

"Is that Madam Chastain…?" someone whispered as Wren opened the door to their office. Every employee under Elijah stared at her as she walked in. In return, she glanced at them, noting of their faces all at once. It was just that… she stopped while gazing at them all.

"…the person who occupied this desk… and that one… where are they?" Wren noticed that two more desks were vacant that morning. It was already past the first working hour, so they should be there unless they were not coming in.

The employees looked at one another. None of them knew why those two were out. Actually, even their boss was not yet in the office. It was not like any of them was a higher-up that would know if one of them would be out. It was normally Elijah or Silvano who received words—ironically, they were the ones missing in the office today.

Soon, the secretary came to greet Wren since she saw the CEO from her distant desk. "Madam Chastain, I'm sorry. Director Jenkins is not yet here. He's not answering his phone, either. Don't worry, we'll reach him soon enough. Would you like to wait in his office for now? Maybe he's just running very late."

"…didn't Fiona say she's in Boss's house last night? Could they be skipping work to have more sex? I mean… she was so happy about that…" someone whispered in her softest voice, but Wren's ear managed to catch it. In an instant, Wren walked up to the one who spoke, making her shriek in response.

"What time did you last spoke to this Fiona?" Wren glared at the woman, her cold dark eyes squeezing the life out of the lowly mortal.

The employee shuffled to take and unlock her phone. "That was around eleven last night, Madam! That was the last time I spoke to her!"

Wren snatched the phone and stared at the screen. There was a photo of Fiona on the bed, only holding the blanket to her chest. Along with her sent image were a few chats about how she felt. After all, Elijah didn't hold back even if he was drunk. However, there was no mention if he ever called her by her name or if he said 'Keagan' instead.

An angry huff came from Wren. She recognized that woman in the photo as the dead woman in the unit. Even if she was almost burnt beyond recognition, the eyeballs and the hair remained untouched. Wren could also remember the shape of the woman's face. 

As for why she was angry, she just realized something. That Elijah didn't seem to be as loyal as she thought. What if she had to use her body as bait? That was a no-go. Moreover, she had to look for other women who could have spent nights with that guy. 

Wren felt a headache coming. It seemed she had more work to do.