The CEO’s Substitute Lover

It would be deceitful to say that Octavia Gills doesn’t mind Tredan Davi’s distrust of her.

Everything was too much for Octavia Gills to take in as a normal daughter would, except that she had always been used to not revealing her heart to others, she kept it all bottled up and buried deep, she told herself not to cry, not to think!

“Ring… ring…” Octavia Gills’ phone rang over and over again without her hearing it. Instead, the caller was particularly patient and persisted in calling for half an hour, never pressing the end call button. Because of the caller’s persistence, Octavia Gills finally heard her phone ringing and was particularly surprised to see a familiar number when she picked it up. It was a comic book studio in Japan!

“Hey there! It’s been a long time since we’ve been in touch!” Octavia Gills greeted the other party, speaking Japanese fluently. He had been calling for half an hour and she was overjoyed to hear this long-awaited voice!

“Octavia Gills, it’s nice to get in touch with you!” It was Mr. Kawashima, the president of the Japanese manga club!

“Octavia Gills, did you get the email I sent you to think about turning ‘Seeking’ into an anime?” Mr. Kawashima’s voice sounded particularly eager to get an answer from Octavia Gills.

It is actually Octavia Gills’ dream, a comic book artist’s dream to have her work turned into an anime film. Now that this dream has found its way to her door, she didn’t hesitate! But why is it so hard to let go of what is really in her heart?

“Mr. Kawashima, may I reply to you in a month? My brother will finally have his operation at the end of this month and I would like to see him living a healthy life after the operation so that I can return to work with confidence.” Mr. Kawashima had always been aware of Octavia Gills’ family situation and knew she had to return to her home country to look after her brother because of the illness that prevented him to attend school and his psychological problems.

Octavia Gills is a wonderful, wonderful sister! Mr. Kawashima appreciates a responsible, family girl like Octavia Gills. This is not something that just any girl can do, and not just any girl is willing to take on everything for the sake of her sick brother!

“Yes, but I still wish you’d get back to work sooner! The manga fanatics in your fans club are anticipating your new work, there’s no stopping this craze. After all these years, it’s only right that you come up with something new to give back to the fans who have been supporting you so faithfully, you can’t let them down after all these years, especially the loyal ones who have stuck around during your hiatus! Don’t you think so?” Mr. Kawashima is right, no one can be such a staunch cheerleader for you. It’s not easy indeed, the ones who have stuck around to this day are truly extraordinary loyal fans and Octavia Gills is ashamed in her heart for the support they have given her.

“I get it, I’ll treat them to a better piece of work for making this kind of stalwart support for me.”

“Very well! I’ll be over here waiting for your return!” Octavia Gills suddenly felt that she was quite a lucky person and that she shouldn’t be so disheartened! She had to pull herself together!

Octavia Gills opened up the official Twitter account, which she hadn’t logged into for a long time, and was grateful for the support of her fans as she read the posts.

Looking at the tweet fragments, she started drawing because she was inspired tonight, Octavia Gills suddenly had an idea of what to surprise these comic fans with!

She picked up a pen, worked it in her hand with no rust at all, and in the blink of an eye, Octavia Gills had drawn a cover! The title: ‘5 Years Old, That Year’.

She grabbed her phone and took a picture of this cover which she uploaded on her Twitter feed called Octavia Chihiro. She posted it on her Twitter account, with the following message: Gratitude! I am grateful for your unwavering support in my life and for the support I have received over the past ten years. It’s hard to return the favor, it’s hard to describe the warmth of a heart that is locked in by the deep love of her fans.

This new production will be Octavia Chihiro’s way of giving something back to everyone!

It’s great to have you!

Octavia Gills’ empty heart seemed to be filled, and as she watched the fierce responses on Twitter, she finally burst into tears, crying uncontrollably, crying with her inner soul. Octavia Gills sat at her computer that night, hugging her knees, crying, and screaming at the top of her lungs.

She did not dry the tears on her face and cried until she felt tired and went to sleep.

Because, in her heart of hearts, Octavia Gills knew that when she woke up, she would never cry again!

The next morning, Octavia Gills washed up and was ready to leave for work, she saw that Eddison was waiting for her downstairs. A little startled, she felt that something was wrong, but when she saw Eddison’s normal behavior, Octavia Gills didn’t know why there was this uncertainty in her mind.

“Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?” Eddison saw Octavia Gills coming down the stairs and got out of the car to greet her.

“Good morning!” Octavia Gills was slightly embarrassed, Eddison had been picking up and dropping her off so diligently lately that she felt particularly uncomfortable with it.

“Come on, I’ll drive you to work!” Octavia Gills looked hesitant as she looked at the car door, she wanted to tell Eddison that he didn’t have to come and pick her up for work every day, but was it okay to say refuse him that way? Was that the right thing to say?

“What’s wrong, Octavia, get in the car, and let’s go! We’re running late and the traffic will be heavy soon!” He looked at Octavia Gills with a frown on his face and wondered if women didn’t like to be driven to and from work by a handsome man in an expensive sports car.

“General Manager…” Octavia Gills was about to call out for the General Manager but stopped herself in time, forgetting that Eddison was no longer the General Manager of the subsidiary but the Vice President of Group Davi!

“Vice President, I’m sorry, I’m not used to calling you that yet!”

“He he… you’re still bothered about that! It’s just a title. What are we to each other? Good partners, good colleagues, good man and woman, right? We have such a deep bond, just call me by my name! You can call me Eddison from now on!” Eddison wanted to try to get closer to the barrier that Octavia Gills built around her. But it was like Octavia Gills threw cold water at him, quickly dampening his thoughts, saying, “If I call you by your first name, it will disrupt the company straight away, it will not look good for you and me!”

“I thought I had worked with you for so long, that there is at least a little tacit understanding between us, but today you so refused such that I feel we are not even friends.”

“It’s not!”

“Then you can call me Eddison outside, except for work and at the office, where I am called Vice President of something!” Eddison maneuvered the situation so skillfully that Octavia Gills couldn’t find any reason to say no!Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“Well, Eddison, from tomorrow onwards, you don’t have to go to all that trouble to come and pick me up! I’ve reloaded my metro card with hundreds of dollars, so it’s not a good idea to waste them if you pick me up every day.”

It’s a naked rejection, and even though Eddison heard Octavia Gills’ calculated rejection, was he willing to give up his only chance to get close to her?

“I hear you, Octavia, don’t be embarrassed, you think it’s too much trouble for me, don’t you?” Eddison was thinking of reasons that could convince Octavia Gills not to refuse.

“No, it’s not!” Octavia Gills panicked and tried to explain herself clearly, only to be cut off by Eddison.

“Even if I don’t pick you up, I have to drive past here every day, I just stop and pick you up, I don’t even pick you up on Saturdays and Sundays, you can use this metro card if you want to go out somewhere, and I’ll save you a fortune in transport costs, that would be nice for you. So, it’s settled, let’s go, we’re late!” Eddison has won again!

Inevitably, it was quickly rumored by the staff that Octavia Gills was mediocre and was only appointed to work at the head office because she had hooked up with Eddison.

Gossip is amazing and has, unsurprisingly reached the ears of Tredan Davi.

“Ah, that uh… Ms. Octavia, President Davi wants to see you!”

Assistant Selwin was scared out of his wits thinking about the horrible look in Tredan Davi’s eyes just now. The fat man and the gossip swallow were talking about Octavia Gills’ affair with Eddison, the Vice President, in the office early in the morning. No one else could have imagined that Octavia Gills was Tredan Davi’s woman, but only Assistant Selwin was helping Tredan Davi to look into Octavia Gills’ profile and saw that something was wrong. It’s all the fault of those people in the company who have nothing better to do than gossip.

“Eh? Do you mean President Davi wants to see me? Did he… want to see me about something?” Tredan Davi hadn’t contacted Octavia Gills since the fight that day, what did he want to see her about now?

“Ms. Octavia, you should go and ask him yourself; President Davi is very anxious to see you.” Assistant Selwin was hesitant to remind Octavia Gills. I don’t think so, it’s better to let Octavia Gills have her way. No, she was President Davi’s lover, so she might get special treatment, and she wouldn’t be treated like this anymore!

“Oh, yes, I’ll be right over. Thank you!” Octavia Gills arrived at the door of Tredan Davi’s office with some trepidation, and after a moment’s hesitation, knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Tredan Davi’s magnetic male voice came out and Octavia Gills’ heart skipped a beat. Everything about Tredan Davi made her heart come alive, including his voice which made her heart beat faster.

“… President Davi, what did you want to see me about?” Octavia Gills came in and saw Tredan Davi in his white shirt without a tie, extraordinarily fresh and handsome, his hair a little messy as if the sea wind ruffled it, watching him earnestly seeking approval without saying a word, and exuding an irresistible charm that Octavia Gills fell for.

“What exactly is your relationship with Eddison?” Tredan Davi didn’t even look up to her and worked as if she was a stranger.

“Ordinary relationship!” Looking at Tredan Davi with such a cold attitude, Octavia Gills lost a lot of heart, and the first words out of his mouth were to question her character, he still didn’t believe there was nothing between her and Eddison!

“An ordinary relationship? How is it ordinary? An ordinary relationship in bed? An ordinary relationship with an underground lover? At least make it clear to me, the one who’s sleeping with you!” Tredan Davi finally put down his pen and looked at Octavia Gills without a ripple in his eyes.

Octavia Gills listened incredulously as all those hurtful words came out of Tredan Davi’s mouth and said, “Why do you always have to put words into my mouth? Can’t we just sit down and talk about this calmly?” Octavia Gills was deeply wounded inside.