My CEO Keeps Wanting to Eat Me - Chapter 1

Friday, 8:58 a.m.

I stared at the glowing down button for the elevator and pictured my perfect-attendance bonus sprouting wings and flying away.

I had plans to meet my best friend for dinner, so I’d put on a butter-yellow puff-sleeved dress that morning. The skirt was delightfully full, and I’d spent five whole minutes admiring myself in the entryway mirror.

Beautiful, yes. But I might die for it.

The elevator doors opened with a ding.

Without looking up, I charged straight in.

I had just pressed my floor when a cool, woody perfume slipped into my nose.

I looked up and met a pair of frosty eyes.

I was doomed.

It was Shen Qinglan.

Our company’s resident ice queen, she-devil, and my immediate boss.

She stood in the center of the elevator in a sharply tailored charcoal suit, her long hair pinned up without a strand out of place. Every inch of her radiated one message: KEEP AWAY.

The air in the elevator instantly turned heavy.

I looked down at my runaway-Disney-princess dress, then at Shen Qinglan’s custom Armani suit.

I immediately flattened myself against the wall and hardly dared breathe.

“G-good morning, Ms. Shen.”

Shen Qinglan glanced sideways at me. She said nothing, merely dipping her chin.

The elevator fell deathly silent.

Head bowed, I stared desperately at the floor and did my best to erase my presence.

Just as nerves were about to starve me of oxygen, a cool voice suddenly slipped into my head.

*…A little cream cake? So fragrant.*

My head snapped up.

Shen Qinglan still held the same aloof pose, eyes forward and lips sealed. Not even her eyelashes had moved.

Was I hearing things?

Or had Ms. Shen really skipped breakfast and started craving cake?

Noticing my stare, she turned to me. “What is it?”

Her voice was identical to the one that had said something about a little cream cake.

“Nothing.”

I shook my head quickly, thoroughly confused.

I remembered the half packet of soda crackers in my bag and was debating whether to offer them as tribute when the elevator arrived.

Shen Qinglan strode out on her long legs, leaving a trail of crisp cedar fragrance behind her.

The voice came again, carrying a trace of barely perceptible delight: *Today’s my lucky day.*

My knees nearly gave out.

I returned to my desk still shaken.

Xiao Zhao from the next desk leaned over and pinched my sleeve. “Wow, Lu Jia, your dress is so kawaii today! You look like a soft, sweet little cake!”

My head buzzed. My brain’s CPU had burned itself dry.

A little cake?

A little cream cake?

I turned stiffly and peered through the blinds toward the boss’s office.

Shen Qinglan sat behind her broad desk reviewing documents, her expression focused and cool.

As if sensing me, she suddenly raised her head and gave me an icy look through the glass.

Then the voice returned.

*Is she looking at me? That blank little face… So cute.*

My mouth fell open.

Help.

I thought I could hear my boss’s thoughts.