The CEO’s Substitute Lover

Octavia Gills feels that she is not afraid of the tittle-tattles and that she is not able to control the mouths of others, so she goes to work and leaves work as if nothing happened.

But the news soon reached Domino’s ears, and being a righteous person, not only did she scold Octavia Gills for not tell those scheming women off who tried to hook up with Eddison but failed to do so. She also confronted them saying, “You may not be capable of seducing him, but why do you want to take it out on Octavia? Are you jealous when you see that the GM is giving his full attention to her? I’m telling you, I’m Domino, and believe me, I can bring you demons down.”

Domino also went to Eddison’s office at the risk of being fired over the matter.

“General Manager, you were born to be the second prince and rich kid, you don’t understand how difficult it is for a girl like Octavia, who comes from a poor family with a pitiful background, to struggle to get to where she is today, I don’t care if you have sincere intentions or not, but by doing this, you are obviously putting Octavia Gills in a difficult position at work. And as her best friend, I strongly disagree with you. You have succeeded in satisfying yourself, but you have also put Octavia Gills at the firing line. That makes you very selfish in my eyes!” Before Eddison could respond, Domino indignantly headed to leave the GM’s office, but before closing the door, she left a particularly feminine remark to threaten Eddison, “If you weren’t the top boss, I’d cut you, General Manager!”

Oh my God! A terrified Domino walked out. With her legs feeling like jelly, she headed straight to the pantry to get a glass of warm water. She didn’t even look at the general manager. Domino, who was chatty, had also heard rumors about Eddison’s mother, and if they were true, she hoped that Eddison would back off and leave Octavia Gills alone, otherwise, the future of Octavia Gills was in jeopardy!

A stout, forlorn man leaned against the corner in front of Octavia Gills house, the expression on his face obscured by the shadows created by the mass of hair on his forehead. That figure? Was it Tredan? Why had he come here? Had he come to see her? No, no, don’t think about it, Octavia Gills lifted her palm and slapped her head a few times, afraid that the more she thought about it, the more she would dwell on it. Grabbing the keys, she wanted to go inside to take a shower and wake herself up!

“What? Don’t you want to see me or are you afraid to see me?” Tredan walked up behind her and exhaled a light puff of white smoke into her neck before tossing the butt to the ground and stamping on it with his foot.

Octavia Gills was both shocked and delighted, and not knowing how to react, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of anticipation, had he come to find her? Tredan took the keys from Octavia Gills’ trembling little hand and opened the door for her, and Octavia Gills walked in like a good little lamb.

“Who did you go out with? You only get one chance to tell me the truth!” Looking at Tredan, who looked grave, Octavia Gills wondered why he was asking this question.

“I went with the managing director of the company, Tredan, why do you ask?” Octavia Gills looked at Tredan cautiously.

“What is your relationship with Eddison?” He deliberately put a heavier tone on the word Eddison, and with a sharp look in his eyes he pressed one step closer to Octavia Gills until he had her cornered against the wall.

Why is Tredan so frightening today? What’s wrong with him? Octavia Gills is nervous and depressed.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Eddison and I are colleagues, to be precise, he’s my boss, Tredan, why are you asking such a strange question?” Could it be that he’d heard the rumors too, that he couldn’t really be believing in them? How could he? Her person, her heart, belonged to him completely, he couldn’t do that to her!

“What was it like for you to hold him this morning? Why do I look at you so hedonistically in love with him?” At this moment Tredan’s anger exploded and suddenly struck out, throwing Octavia Gills, who silently bowed her head, into a closer sofa.

She was totally unprepared and was pushed by the uncontrollable and unrelenting force that sent her stumbling backwards onto the sofa. Before she could get her bearings, she saw Tredan angrily walking closer to her.

“No!” Octavia Gills said as her misty eyes looked sincerely at Tredan.

“My heart is full of you, my feelings for you are real, I’ve always had you in my heart, I’ve always thought about you, I came to work at Group Davi because of you, Tredan, do you know that I gave up the job I loved to come to Group Davi for you, please don’t doubt my love for you. That would be worse than killing me!” Tears rolled down her face, and her look was one of resentment.

Tredan’s whole being was stunned by such a look, should he trust the woman in front of him?

“Remember who you are, you are my lover, even if you don’t want it, you can’t be Eddison, do you understand?” And with that, Tredan left, leaving a miserable white-faced Octavia Gills to sit silently on the sofa for a while before getting up. Did he ever have even the smallest bit of a place for her in his heart. Was she really just a stand-in for Lilian Drye? Her heart was sinking!

Tredan looked at the clear, white liquid in his hands, the little bubbles rising from the bottom in a steady stream, and, as if drowning in water and trying to breathe, he tilted his head and drank. It was sweet and soft, a bit spicy in his throat, and a slight stinging coldness that reminded him that she was just Lilian Drye’s stand-in, that she meant nothing to him. It was as if Tredan was beginning to lose track of who she really was, she was like Lilian Drye that year, only she wasn’t her!

Dingdong …

The doorbell rang disturbing Tredan’s thoughts! Who was it in the middle of the night? Tredan was inexplicably expecting her to come back to him with her suitcase in tow. However, he hurried over to open the door and saw Lilian Drye, dressed in a bright red dress, with big wavy hair falling casually around her shoulders up to her waist, her lips as red as a cherry, she was all-enchanting yet stylish and elegant. Upon seeing Tredan open the door, Lilian Drye’s heeled feet was just about to step inside when she expertly faked a brake and tripped smoothly into Tredan’s arms.

“How are you? Have you twisted your foot!” Tredan asked distressed, watching Lilian Drye’s brow tighten into a frown, worrying if she had broken her foot and was in severe pain, rushing to carry her towards the bedroom, laying her gently on the bed and taking off her somewhat shockingly thin heels.

“Don’t ever wear these heels again! You’re tall enough and be beautiful enough, why do you need to abuse your feet by wearing these heels? Idiot.” Tredan carefully examined Lilian Drye’s feet at her ankles.

“Darling, you know that as the only heir to the Drye Family, I need to dress up for all those events and receptions, and I can’t go in and out in a pair of loafers!” Looking at Tredan’s concern for her, she knew she had a good eye for the right things.

“Look at you, you’re not at all as breezy as you were when you were 5. You don’t have to worry about how people are going to look at you. Back then, you said that comfort was the most important thing, especially shoes, and that your feet, which get the most exercise every day, must be comfortable.” For Tredan, the two years she spent abroad with him were some of the happiest and warmest times for both of them. He kept reminiscing about it.

Why did he think of her being five again? Lilian Drye inexplicably cringed a little inside.

“Why are you talking about that time again, didn’t you say that we would create a better future together? And we were both so young then, how can we dwell on all those memories. Honey, let’s just talk about the future and the present, not the past, okay?” Lilian Drye pouted with that little cherry mouth and took Tredan’s hand in a petulant plea.

“Why? Did those two years not mean anything to you? What is the reason you never like to mention them?”

A puzzled Tredan wondered why Lilian Drye seemed a little repulsed whenever he mentioned it. Was it was because she found it too hard to look after him during those two years abroad, after all, she had often complained about family matters and even lost her temper at times, but she was able to put up with his nonsense, and had comforted him without thinking of herself.

Perhaps she felt that it was a time of torment for her? Thinking of this, Tredan felt guilty and took Lilian Drye into his arms and said to her with a remorseful look on his face, “Lilian, I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through! I’ll always love you for the rest of my life.”

Tredan tells himself that this woman is the one he should love, the only one who should have everything he has, and that Octavia Gills was just a stand-in lover.

Looking at the enchanting Lilian Drye before him, he ducked his head and kissed her mouth, his moist lips pressed against her seductive lips, and Lilian Drye responded passionately to his tender caresses. He was so passionately captivated with her that he fell asleep, exhausted, in the rich scent of love!

Morning came, and Lilian Drye woke up to a sleeping Tredan beside her, satisfied and sweet, with his undeniably hot chest, warm embrace and passionate kisses, which had always made her lose her mind and sink into his arms.

Lilian Drye got up cautiously, and unable to find slippers in the bedroom, walked barefoot to the changing room by the front door, where a pair of red women’s slippers were sitting on top of the cabinet. Lilian Drye picked them up and put them on.

Huh, why would Tredan have a woman’s shoes in his house? Did Tredan prepare them for her on purpose? But they seem to be a bit small for her? Could it be? No, Tredan couldn’t have another woman, no woman had ever been near him in the past twenty years except her! With a woman’s sensitive instincts, Lilian Drye felt uneasy and went back to the bedroom to ask him.

As Lilian Drye was walking towards the bedroom, she passed by Tredan’s study and noticed the gift from Octavia Gills to Tredan, the one containing her hand-painted drawings and bearing Octavia Gills’ inscribed name.

Lilian Drye walked in and looked at the elaborate packaging and thought to herself that only a woman could do such a thing. Her eyes began to darken and she slowly opened the dark blue box and saw that it was a hand-drawn, hand-bound comic book.

It was an authored a book entitled, “The Beautiful Picture.” Lilian Drye found the words particularly harsh, stinging her eyes with fire and brimstone. Her anger surged as she flipped from page to page. Finally, her eyes rested on the pseudonym “Octavia Chihiro” and Lilian Drye’s clenched her fists tightly, her tiny white hands erupting with veins as she gritted her teeth and said, “It’s you, Octavia Gills!”

Because of the Drye Family, Octavia Gills had the opportunity to go abroad to study the art of drawing, and because of her hard work and success there, she was noticed by the famous professional art schools in Japan and Taiwan, and was later awarded one of the only three exchange students to study manga in Taiwan.