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In the background, Willem heard a distinctly male voice ask jovially, “Well, my beautiful ice princess? What’s it to be? Yes or no?”

The call ended.

Willem stared at his phone incredulously. What the fuck?

A sense of foreboding struck him, and acting on his instincts, Willem switched his computer on, keyed in his password, and accessed the real-time footage of his company’s cameras. With a few clicks, he was able to tap into the CCTV cameras installed on Serenity’s floor.

Serenity showed up on the screen, blonde hair plaited, her slender body sheathed in a long-sleeved turtleneck wool dress. She looked her usual, stunning self. His gaze narrowed at her pale, strained face. She also looked like she was facing hell.

Willem switched the volume on.

A young, dark-haired guy was perched on the side of her desk, and despite the charming smile he wore on his attractive face, there was no doubting the abrasiveness of his words as he half-whined, half-threatened, “It’s just one date, Serenity. Take pity on me. Just one date before your internship ends. Everyone’s going to think you’re cruel and cold-hearted if you refuse me in front of all of them.”

****

SHE SHOULD HAVE TOLDWillem about this, Serenity thought while doing her best to ignore the fact that her head trainer had somehow turned her desk into his personal chill space.

As she listened to Wayne tell the other interns about his plans for his date with her, which he was absolutely sure would happen tonight, Serenity wondered if maybe it should have been the other way around.

Maybe she should have told everyone about Willem instead?

Even now, she was still confused, having never encountered this kind of problem before. When Daniel had still been alive, she had been homeschooled. And when Melanie had taken her in, she had been placed in a boarding school exclusively for girls. Nothing in her life had involved boys – nothing except for Willem, that is, and he was so different from Wayne.

Willem, despite being who he was, had never used his power or money to intimidate her. But Wayne had. From the very start, he had made Serenity feel guilty for not returning his interest in her. Every day, she had to suffer his ogling, play deaf to his suggestive words, and dodge his teasing attempts at copping a feel. And every time she did all that, she would wonder if she had herself to blame, wonder if there was something she had said or done that would make Wayne treat only her and no one else in such a manner.

The answer was no, of course, but Serenity was too naïve to know this.

Wayne, however, was not.

He had taken one look at the sixteen-year-old and knew that he had to have her. She was beautiful and pure, the proverbial Sleeping Beauty just waiting to be fucked.

As far as Wayne was concerned, he was that person, and he had systematically taken steps to ensure it. First, he had dealt with the other male interns. He had seen it in their eyes that they saw the same thing he did. Her innocence, her dislike of causing trouble – to the point of letting others take advantage of her – Wayne knew if he didn’t make his move soon, the others would. To keep the coast clear, he had made certain the younger men understood that he had first dibs on Serenity and that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill their chances of working for DKE if they tried to get in his way.

After that, he had dealt with the female interns, isolating Serenity from everyone else by constantly praising her beauty and her work, knowing it would piss the others off and prevent them from making friends with his ice princess.

He wanted her alone and vulnerable, wanted her to feel that in the end, all she had was Wayne.

But Serenity had proved to be a lot tougher than he expected. She had not seemed to mind that the male interns avoided her or that the female interns disliked her guts for being pretty and perfect.

Too bad for her, Wayne thought, he was also a lot more persistent than most men.

Still perched on the edge of Serenity’s desk, Wayne studied his target smugly, knowing he had successfully backed the younger girl into a corner. Even if she said no to him now, the others would be quick to jump on her. If he were patient, it would only be a matter of time before guilt would make her say yes.

Bending forward, Willem tugged at a loose blonde lock, trying to make Serenity look up at him. “Are you really going to ignore me forever?” he whined. His back to the door, Wayne was unable to see the glass doors of the training center silently sliding open and the CEO of the company walking inside.

Everyone in the center was shocked into immobility, and all they could do was watch in horrified fascination as the Dutch billionaire walked straight to where their head trainer was.

“It’s just one date,” Wayne cajoled. “If you give me a chance, I think you’re going to enjoy yourself more than you expect.” He wetted his lips as he spoke, unable to keep himself from imagining how he would enjoy the date as well. As soon as he had this pretty filly in his car, he would place his hand on her lap and finally get a feel of those beautiful long legs of hers. She would struggle, of course, but that was expected. Girls always played coy. But in the end, they wanted what men wanted. A rough fucking—-

Dimly, Wayne heard someone behind him say his name, the sound interrupting his pleasurable thoughts and at the same time causing Serenity’s head to shoot up. Wayne saw her blue eyes widen in shock, and teeth gnashing in irritation as he wondered who the hell had the balls to interrupt him, he straightened and turned around.

Wayne whitened.

Willem de Konigh smiled pleasantly at the younger man, now quivering in terror like a wimp. “You’re fired.” Without taking his gaze off the bastard, he commanded to Serenity, “Come here, Ms. Raleigh.”

Wayne was beside himself with fear now. Goddammit, the boss knew Serenity’s name! How the hell did that happen? Who the hell was she?

Feeling faint and dizzy, Serenity slowly stood up, her nervousness making her limbs stiff and her limp more pronounced as she moved around her desk. But just as she was about to take a step towards the billionaire, she found herself beset with fear and worry. Had she done the right thing, telling Willem about her problem?