Chapter 2

Vanessa hadn't expected me to give in so easily. The insults she'd prepared died on her lips.

[What's wrong with her today? Since when is she this agreeable?]

She had no choice but to play nice on the surface.

"That's great, Serena! With you assisting me, I'm sure things will go even smoother!"

That night, back home, Derek was clearly drunk.

He stripped off his clothes and collapsed onto the bed.

I stared at his discarded clothes, deep in thought.

I crouched down and searched through his pockets.

Sure enough—there it was. A purple lace panty with an iris pattern.

I held back my disgust and stretched it open.

There was an obvious wet stain on it.

The thought of Vanessa stealing and wearing my underwear made my stomach turn.

I ran to the bathroom sink and dry-heaved.

Furious, I threw the panties right onto Derek's face.

But he was too drunk to even flinch.

I collapsed onto the couch. Tears of humiliation and rage streamed down my face.

The next morning, Derek came to me holding the panties, his eyes slightly evasive but his tone defensive.

"Where did you find these?"

I glanced at him coolly. "In your suit pocket."

He pressed his lips together.

"The washing machine must've tangled them into my pocket. See? I told you they wouldn't just disappear."

I took the panties from him. They'd been washed spotless.

"But I've lost more than just this one pair."

Derek's expression tightened. He quickly explained, "You probably left them somewhere around the house. Where else could they have gone?"

Before I could press further, the doorbell rang.

It was Vanessa.

"Mr. Thompson, the meeting with Mr. Sullivan is almost time."

Derek immediately grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door.

"Oh, Serena—be a good assistant and print out all these documents for me."

Vanessa shot me a condescending look, her tone dripping with contempt.

[Bossing Serena around feels amazing.]

I looked down at the files she'd sent me. Over a thousand pages.

I didn't know what she was planning, but I followed her instructions and printed everything.

From my observations, I realized my mind-reading ability had limitations.

I could only hear Vanessa's thoughts, and only within about fifteen feet.

Like right now—when I placed the printed documents on her desk, she didn't even glance at them before slamming her hand down.

"Are you stupid? You've been here long enough to know company printing standards! Key points need to be in bold! Go reprint everything!"

"You only told me to print them. You didn't—"

She cut me off. "Do I have to spell everything out? Can't you think ahead? The company doesn't pay you to be a brainless waste of space!"

I gritted my teeth and nodded.

Before I even left her office, I heard:

[So this is what being a director feels like. I'm going to put her in her place every chance I get!]

Every chance?

She wouldn't get many more chances.

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