My CEO Boss Is A Masked Internet Sensation-Chapter 180: Heart-Wrenching Detachment

(Arata)

Hurt crawled into my heart at his tone and clutched it so tightly that I could feel it would burst.

"Watch your tone, I am not one of your side-pieces whom you can thrash." I glared at him. Anger and disappointment boiled into my chest and never before felt agony crawled into my soul.

Karsten leaned against the table with his long legs crossed at the ankles, his hands holding the edges so tightly that his knuckles had fully bleached.

One would think he would show restraint, but it seemed like he was here to totally shatter me.

"I didn’t know you could be so dumb as to believe the words of someone else." My eyes widened at the accusation while he simply said.

"Yes, I know someone spoke to you at the event. I don’t know who but I will soon find out." His voice was flat, devoid of any emotions he had begun to carry in the last three months.

The Karsten I had come to know, cherish and love had completely evaporated. He could be rude at times but never to this level. Considering he was entirely at fault here and yet was trying to fix blame on me.

"No, actually, I was dumb enough to trust someone like you," I retorted, trying to keep myself as far away from this man as possible. He was scaring my soul, leaving imprints that were going to last a lifetime.

Why was he hell-bent on hurting me?

No emotions passed over his face like they had previously when I confronted him in the changing room. This version of him had always scared me, and I had always dreaded facing him like that. But here we were.

Like the eye of the hurricane, he stood calm while the swirling winds and chaos his actions had caused wrecked me. Instead, he watched me with a hint of disinterest as if he would prefer to be somewhere else and not here.

"There are a few truths for you, Arata. Take them with a grain of salt or the way you want. It’s up to you. I don’t care, either way."

Of course, he didn’t. Why didn’t I learn and avoid complicating my life by getting involved with him?

"Firstly, I didn’t know you were engaged, nor did I have any hand in breaking your engagement.

Secondly, I didn’t know you when you started working for me, and an innumerable amount of women have tried to get close to me, to gain favours or extract information for the enemy. Someone working as my personal secretary needed to be watched before I could trust her. That’s why I had a camera in your office. Once I began to trust you, I stopped watching the footage," he paused, watching and ensuring I was listening to his self-righteous tales.

"You accused me of having cameras in the bathroom and the room back at home. I take such threats extremely seriously. I am not a bastard to watch a woman without her consent in compromising places. If I had a kink for voyeurism, I would pay to do it. So, don’t make the same mistake of hurling such an accusation."

As soon as he found control slipping from his hands, every emotion he felt for me simply vanished, only to be replaced by that icy void in his soul. He cared deeply for his reputation; if I were to openly make such an accusation, it could ruin him.

Instead of apologising, he was threatening me? I searched his detached face and void-like eyes for any semblance of remorse or regret. Only emptiness and indifference stared back at me.

"Are your words supposed to make me feel better or worse?" I shook my head in a mocking laugh.

The state of me was, I wanted to cry, laugh and hurl something at the same time. Not even Andy had me feel this wretched.

But he didn’t budge, the mask that had covered his face didn’t crack as he flatly said, "It’s up to you."

My hands tightened against my arms, holding on to whatever sanity I had left. I concluded I couldn’t continue to keep up the little act with him. Not anymore, especially after the immense pain he had caused me.

"I am not going to act as your girlfriend anymore, I want to end the contract."

A hint of something flashed across his face.

Hurt?

Possessiveness?

Insecurity?

Whatever it was, it disappeared in a fleeting moment before I could decipher what it was.

His hands shifted from the table and plunged them deep into his pockets.

"Miss Arata, you signed a contract; it cannot end before its specified time."

What more did he want from me? I had already given him my heart and soul. Couldn’t he hire someone else to torment?

This was a mess, I knew I could always involve Baba and return home. He would make this stupid contract void in the blink of an eye, but that would be a disaster. Baba would fucking kill him, irrespective of what I would say. And Baba’s health was already deteriorating, I didn’t want to cause more stress to him.

Besides, I still needed proof of whether he had done what Andy had accused him of and acting the part might get me the required answer.

"I am not going to work from a room with a camera. I am not a fucking thing to be ogled at without my consent."

The reality so fucking hurt in that moment that I wanted to just leave everything and go back to Angel City. But with that stalker situation, I couldn’t leave this place.

Unless I revealed the truth behind all this fiasco, I wasn’t going anywhere, even if that meant continuing to work for this remorseless, stone-hearted man.

Once I know the truth, I will be leaving him and this city behind me forever, but until then, I will play his game. If he could turn cold, I would show him a whole iceberg.

"That won’t be a problem. You won’t have to work as my secretary. Effective from Monday, I will be shifting you to another department."

His words were like razors, but I refused to show any vulnerability. It was better this way; the less I would interact with him, the faster my heart would heal. The caring and affectionate man I had come to know was just gone, leaving behind this block of ice.

Detached. Insensitive. Rude and Emotionless.

"Good, as soon as the contract ends, I want to leave," I said flatly, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

"You may, but until then, you will continue to live with me. As much as you might hate me now. This place isn’t safe for you."

The audacity of this man was admirable. After everything I had learnt and the way he had broken my heart and spoken to me, he believed I would still be willing to live with him.

"Never in a thousand years. You and I are done. I am never moving in with you." I shook my head, stepping back as if that would somehow shield my heart. Every organ in my body ached, and I wanted to scream my heart and soul at him.

Karsten remained detached—immovable, almost bored watching me with those predatory eyes of his. They had gotten so dark that I feared if they would ever shine again.

"It’s either you live with me or I will inform your family that someone has been stalking you. I am sure your father will have a lot to say about that, and he would never want his daughter to live alone with a stalker tormenting her," he smugly said, knowing too well that I would never want to disclose that information to them and make them worry.

"You are an asshole, Karsten. A manipulative fucking asshole..." I yelled, fighting back tears, threatening to fall from my eyes. A vein in my temple throbbed so badly that I thought it would burst.

Why was he continuing to hurt me? What wrong had I done to him?

"Yes, I am, and that’s why I told you there is no room for love in my life. I warned you. Now you understand why?" He coldly said, his obsidian eyes flickering with icy detachment.

Stunned and speechless, I just stared at him with tears finally pooling in my eyes when he finally dropped another bomb that was like a wooden stake to my already wounded heart.

"And you are naïve to think you are in love with me. How can a woman be in love with a man when she sneaks out for a booty call with another freak who wears a mask and makes stupid internet videos?"

All my patience and composure, the tolerance I had been showing this man, just withered with that last statement. It was like he was here with one agenda, just to hurt me and then hurt me some more. I moved without thinking of any consequences, lifting my hand, I slapped him hard across his face.

~Thwack~