“That was amazing. You’re amazing,” he said, caressing his hand along my outer thigh.

Turns out sleeping with Edward Batesman, the CEO of Bates Inc., was not the best idea I had. I was stuck working for him, always feeling like I could replace him as CEO of the company.

It also was just pure luck that my last name happened to be Bates.

I placed my hand overtop of his and his fingers suddenly locked in between mine.

“As are you, Mr. Batesman. I didn’t know anything could’ve felt as good as that,” I said, still breathless from the intercourse that we just had.

“Edward. Call me Edward,” a smirk appeared on his face as he looked into my eyes. “I didn’t know you had all of that in you. You’ve always seemed so… professional. It’s really nice to experience the wild side of Lauren Bates.”

My name coming out of his mouth seemed so artificial, as if my name was just a regular word, no significance whatsoever. He still had that smirk on his face, waiting for what I was going to say next. I feel like I’ve been in my own head for too long.

“I find that everybody has a wild side to them. It’s just a matter of discovering what makes them crazy,” I said, and leaned into his lips, making sure there was still some intimacy between us.

He stroked the hair out of my face and smiled against my lips. “I’m glad I discovered what makes you crazy, then,” he whispered into my mouth. Our kiss started growing more passionate and he gently pushed his tongue into my mouth, all while caressing my inner thigh.

I couldn’t do this anymore. Once he was gone, I was next in line for CEO. I pulled away from our kiss. “I’m gonna go pour us some wine. How does that sound?” I looked deep into his eyes, noticing the specks of green and brown. They were so intricate.

He nodded back at me and a smirk arrived on his face again. “Don’t take too long. I’ve got more in store for us.”

I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I got up and placed one of his button down shirts over my body. I walked out and downstairs to the kitchen, contemplating my next move.

If I was going to kill him, I had to act quickly. The wine was already sitting out from when we had drank it earlier, the bottle was still cold to the touch. I walked over to my purse that was on the barstool, and grabbed the crushed fentanyl pill I had planned to use in the beginning.

I didn’t place all of it in the wine glass. I still had to make it seem like he overdosed on cocaine he snorted earlier in the evening. I was smart to turn down that offer, drugs are not my cup of tea.

I walked back up the stairs and gave him his wine glass and sat on the bed next to him. I felt like I was waiting an eternity for the drug to take effect. I wanted him out of the picture.

“Are you up for a round two?” He said. God, I hate that smirk he always has on his face.

“I actually should get going pretty soon. We both have work in the morning.” He sat up almost immediately and stared at me intently. Did he know what I was up to?

“That’s okay. Just let me take another drag before I drive you home,” he turned away from me and I rolled my eyes. Just one drag and I’m certain he’ll be done for.

I was right.

I gathered my composure and stood up, putting my original clothes back on and tidying up the scene. I dusted the remaining fentanyl into the pan and formed it into a line with the cocaine. This was all it took for me to become CEO.

The scene looked perfect, and I was just a brisk walk to my loft and then I’d be home free, and awake to a new job position.

The next morning I got a call from the medical examiner. They found him. This was my opportunity.

“May I speak to Lauren Bates?”

“This is she.” A smile appeared on my face. Hopefully they don’t notice it over the phone.

“I need to tell you something, urgently. It’s about your boss.”