The CEO's Seductive Doll-Chapter 139: The CEO was theirs to Gatekeep

Eternity looked around the elevator carefully, as if there was any way possible to hide in the small space.

"Did Esteban leave because he knew I’d interrogate him again?" she whispered to herself.

The feeling of wanting to know the truth was debilitating at this point, with her chest hurting like it was closing up and squeezing her innards close to death, but at the same time, it felt like it was going to burst any time soon.

"Shit!" Eternity swore, pressing the elevator’s button to the executive floor. "I have to talk to this person directly to find out the truth."

Eternity considered herself a pacifist. It was most likely because this was the personality Evan initially wanted her to have: a passive, submissive one. But as time passed, she managed to outgrow it and become her own person. Still, it seemed like her original personality still had remnants inside her.

Although there were a few times where she set her principles aside and argued with someone (that ’someone’ being none other than Evan), she generally didn’t like confrontations. But she needed to set aside her principles if she wanted to hear the truth.

The elevator made a ’ding!’ sound before opening its doors. She exited the elevator, where, much to her surprise, Jakob was standing in the corner of the hallway that led to the CEO’s division.

Eternity swallowed the imaginary lump in her throat, clenching her fists before heading toward him. She was mere feet away from him when Jakob noticed her presence.

"Eternity?" Jakob smiled widely. "Hey, where’ve you been? I was looking for you—"

She continued walking toward him until they were face-to-face, which was a feat that was a bit difficult to do on Jakob’s part since Eternity was shorter than him. Still, Eternity maintained a composed disposition as she looked directly into his eyes.

"What’s with the frown?" he teased. "Did something—"

"Esteban told me." She interrupted him, her voice clear and steady, even though it took everything in her not to cry at that moment.

Jakob wrinkled his forehead, his playful grin faltering.

"Esteban?" he repeated, although there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. "What did he tell you?"

"You’ve been stalking Evan for a while now."

He froze for a few seconds before bursting out in a fit of laughter. For some reason, this laugh wasn’t the same one that made Eternity think his laughter was beautiful. This laugh was fake and forced.

This one made her heart ache.

"You would honestly believe Esteban more than me, your best friend?" Jakob said as soon as he composed himself. "Do I need to remind you that Esteban and I had a murky relationship, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was making up stories—"

"I saw you on the CCTV footage, Jakob," Eternity said coldly. "I saw you following, no, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 Evan every day for more than half a year already."

He opened his mouth as if wanting to defend himself, but she didn’t give him the opportunity and continued.

"I also saw in the CCTV records that it was you intruding in the CEO’s office yesterday." Her moss-green eyes turned cold as she spoke. "Tell me, Jakob, why did you spread what you saw?"

Suddenly, the aura Jakob was exuding was no longer like that of a friendly golden retriever. His smile turned into a scowl, and for some reason, Eternity felt utterly terrified of him at this moment.

"Simple," Jakob smirked. What an unusual sight it was! "I wanted to destroy you."

But she needed to stand her ground.

"Why?"

It was only one single word, yet it was said with a mixture of different emotions: anger, disbelief, sadness, and feelings of betrayal.

He rolled his eyes, scoffing.

"Do you really want me to expound on this, Eternity?" he said, as if Eternity had said something extremely stupid. "Isn’t it obvious? You’re a fucking whore who stole Sir Holz from us! What made it worse was that you used your relationship with him to get inside the company like some sort of manipulative, social-climbing leech!"

She could understand his anger toward her because of the latter. She was aware that this was unethical. But the former?

"I didn’t steal Evan from you," she sneered. "He was never yours to own."

Jakob’s eyes darkened, and he took a step closer, his presence looming over her.

"You think you can just waltz in here and ruin everything the company employees had?" he shouted, his voice echoing in the hallway. She wouldn’t be surprised if people started to check what the ruckus was all about. "Evan was ours, and you took him away with your slutty charms and fake innocence."

Eternity felt a surge of anger, her fear melting away. "You’re delusional, Jakob. Evan is his own person. He makes his own choices. If he chose to be with me, it’s because he wanted to, not because I manipulated him."

"You really believe that, don’t you?" Jakob laughed bitterly. "You think he chose you because he loves you? No, Eternity."

Jakob began jabbing her chest with her index finger.

"He chose you because you were convenient, a pretty face to show off, a distraction. And now look where that got you."

Eternity clenched her fists, trying to keep her composure. "You don’t know anything about our relationship. You never did. You’re just a jealous, obsessed stalker who can’t accept that Evan isn’t an object for your gatekeeping."

"Gatekeeping?" Jakob repeated before spatting at her. "He was never yours to begin with! You were just a passing phase, a momentary lapse in judgment. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re little sexcapade in his office reaches every ear in this building, so you’ll have no choice but to resign."

Eternity felt a chill run down her spine.

She never knew that Jakob could be this cruel and deranged. In fact, it seemed like she never knew him at all. But she couldn’t back down now.

She had to fight.

"Your actions will have consequences, Jakob," Eternity spoke in a calm voice. "𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 consequences. I have more than enough evidence to show to the police. I hope you’re ready to face it."

Jakob’s face twisted in anger, his eyes narrowing with extreme intensity. He raised his hand, ready to strike her.

"I’ve always hated your face," he uttered.

Eternity braced herself, her heart racing, but before Jakob could swing his arm, a strong hand shot out and grabbed his wrist with an iron grip, stopping him cold.

"You--!" Jakob hissed, his voice a mixture of surprise and fury. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He turned sharply to confront the person who had intervened, only to stop and gasp upon seeing who the meddler was.