The office's tension built up too much—too much for Sharmaine to handle. She wondered why weren't they saying anything before she snapped out from her conscious mind, carefully stepping out of the room. As soon as she had closed the door, a sigh of relief came out from her.
"Sh*t. What the h*ll is happening inside?" Still, her spinning vision and throbbing head was all she had at the moment. There were no orders, no reports, and frankly no work.
She took this opportunity to go out and explore parts of the corporation she had not seen before. She did not even know that the corporation had a giant garden at the back until now. Her eyes were amazed with what she saw. It felt like she had left the city and embraced the cool breeze from the province.
Tons of greenery surrounded the place; it was nothing like she had seen before. Blooming flowers made the place feel colorful as she followed the paved stones towards the hedge maze. Sitting on the grass calmed her, getting rid of the nauseous feeling and all. The power of nature was much greater than that of a human, she thought.
She reminisced a few moments as every second passed by; she wondered how Shaine was doing right now after her torment and escape from Ivan; she wondered why he, Ivan, had visited Suarez Corp. two days in a row.
"This is relaxing," she said as she breathed in the magnificent air around her.
"It is isn't it?" Sharmaine kept looking over the horizon, not noticing the man who stood beside her.
"What are you doing here?"
She breathed in. "Sitting."
"Aren't you supposed to do work?"
"N—" She suddenly snapped off from her conscious fantasies, jerking up to look beside her. It was the man himself, Ivan. It was him who she had been talking to?
"I thought I was just talking to myself."
Ivan smirked. "It's just your thoughts." Sharmaine took a few breaths to calm her pulsating heart. Frankly, she started to take small strides away from him.
Ivan grabbed her wrist. "Where are you go—"
She yanked it off and yelled, "Get your filthy hands off me!"
"Sharmaine." She was paralyzed upon hearing her name—her real name. It was at that moment she realized that she was no longer alone; she was chained to this man.
"Would you mind calling me 'Shawn' here?" Her eyes screamed danger. He smirked yet again as he clasped her hand and kissed her palms.
"I would not, yet I seem to feel jealousy upon other guys claiming you as their own."
She pulled her hand away from him with a disgusted look. "I am no man's property."
"But you're mine."
"No way. I'll bypass the r*pe since you're Denzel's brother, but you are not claiming me."
Ivan gave out a laugh to the point where tears welled up in his eyes. "Did you say 'r*pe'? Oh, Sharmaine," he gripped her waist and pinned her to the hedge, leaning closer to her ear, "You asked for it. I simply gave it to you."