Cordy raised her glass, offering Jay a toast. "Long time no see, Mr. Parker.""You should not drink too much when you already have a bad stomach, Ms. Sachs," Jay told her, though he took a sip from his glass in turn to acknowledge her toast. Cordy took a sip too, but said nothing else—they were still not that close, and did not have much to talk about. "Johnny…" Jay suddenly said, watching as John Levine continued to mingle with his guest. "Is a good man."…Johnny?It took Cordy a while to realize that he was talking about John.Jay was Alan Levine's adopted child, and everyone knew that he and John were close.Even so, Cordy was silent and did not comment about John. "It's late. I should get going," Jay said then, and elegantly put away his glass.Alan himself had long since left—only John was left to handle the guests."Goodbye." Cordy smiled politely.Jay returned her smile with a nod.He was certainly no different from his public image—well-mannered, soft-spoken, and
As Cordy walked ahead, John walked up to her side.They looked perfect for each other even from behind, and everyone in the banquet hall was inadvertently drawn to it. So they really were in a relationship?!-In John's car, Cordy was feeling muddled—she had too much to drink.Moreover, she had not been drinking for a while, stopping since she ditched Kyle and stopped working at Jessop Corp.And tonight… In the end, she was still a little aggrieved.She thought she knew everything about herself, but she was ultimately not as impervious as she thought she was. As the car arrived, John turned to find Cordy asleep, leaning against the car window.Her cheeks were flushed, her breath regular and rhythmic. He alighted and carried her—she frowned, clearly feeling a little uncomfortable, but she was feeling too dizzy and too limp to resist."What's the passcode?" he asked in his deep, alluring voice as he reached her apartment door.Cordy had no idea if she had been bewitched
John's deep, melodious voice was apologetic."I was too late."Cordy shook her head. "You were right on time."And everything was just fine.John's heart skipped a beat, his gaze tender as he watched Cordy's tears roll over her cheeks.He stroked her cheek then and gently wiped her tears.She flinched slightly and opened her eyes.Their eyes met, and an attraction seemed to be growing right then.She was still looking him straight in the eye even as he leaned closer. A small spark between adults could certainly burst into flames…However, as John leveled his lips against Cordy's soft, moist lips, she turned just as he was about to kiss her, so that he kissed her cheek instead.John opened his eyes, and he stared at Cordy from up close."I'm sorry," Cordy said.A refusal.John's Adam's apple was bobbing, but he slowly straightened and said, "No. I was getting ahead of myself."Cordy's heart raced once again.They clearly had not progressed that far, and John was not ups
Under the same moon, Zoe York was sent home to Levine Manor, looking utterly discontent.She made a call even as she walked inside. "Quinn! Why didn't you attend my maternal grandfather's party with your darling Sam Poodle?""I'm busy—I was working overtime.""Why do you slave for the Saunders, really? Do you think Sam would be grateful? He has so many women on the side!""I'm not doing it for Sam. It's for myself.""You're stubborn."Zoe strode to the second floor and nonchalantly opened a door, holding her phone between her cheek and shoulder while she reached behind to unzip her gown. She had to remove the uncomfortable gown, but just as her zipper reached her waist, the bathroom door swung open. Jay Parker stood frozen at the doorway. Zoe panicked for just a split second, but she soon pretended she saw nothing and continued to undress calmly while continuing to speak into the phone. "Either way, Sam doesn't deserve your sacrifice.""I know.""Oh, I also called to tell
Cordy got out of bed and turned to find a glass of yellow liquid on her nightstand.It had a note on its bottom, which read: [Honey helps with hangovers. Remember to have breakfast after you wake up—your belly is empty after vomiting, and it's bad for your health. P.S.: I will be leaving on a business trip and shall return to North City in a week.]The sharp handwriting was just like the handwriting on the invitation to last night's banquet. Cordy picked up the honey and took a sip. There was a sweetness in its chill, which seemed to seep into the chest.She felt a mysterious sensation inside at the same time, and she suddenly wondered why John insisted on making her wait last night, just so that he could give her a ride home.Was it because he had to leave on that business trip and they would not be meeting for a while?Cordy put down her glass and headed to the bathroom, where she took off the dirty gown and took a bath.Once she did that, she threw the gown into the tras
Meanwhile, Dandy continued. "But since Cordy is clearly having a thing with John Levine, it's high time you go public about your relationship with Noel. You've kept it under wraps in fear that Cordy would cause trouble, which was why you had to wait for her to demand an annulment of your engagement… But now, that doesn't matter at all, and we'd just be laughed at if we allow things to drag on."Kyle nodded. "I'll talk to Noel, and then we'll make the announcement.""Just put together a respectable, glamorous wedding. Recoup the dignity we lost yesterday," Dandy told him… though he was barely hiding his fury at the mention of yesterday. Dandy left with that, while Kyle quickly called Noel.-Noel was lying in bed, googling and skimming through the news after she woke up.She was impressed, seeing that there was no coverage of the Levines' banquet yesterday. They were simply above the rest—the public would know anything they did not want them to know. That was when Kyle's call
Soon, a week had passed, and Cordy had worked overtime twice.At present, she was in her office, seriously arranging the designs she finished. She only knew too well that she could not count on anyone from the design department since they were all Noel's cronies.Picking up her phone, she told Vince, "Have all heads of department and the design department supervisors gather for a meeting in half an hour. We're discussing the templates for the upcoming season's fashion line—no one is allowed to be absent.""Yes, Ms. Sachs," Vince replied.Every executive arrived punctually at the conference room in half an hour at the conference room of Starstream Group headquarters. Naturally, their compliance was skin-deep because they did not want Cordy to fault them. That was all there was to it too—they naturally would not actually do any actual work. They were just waiting for Starstream to fall and for Cordy to leave.Still, Cordy went straight to the point as usual. "Design has worked l
Noel was clearly excited. "Zoe York?! She's in high demand in both showbiz and endorsements, and especially so in the case of the former. However, our company might not be able to lure her—her endorsement would cost at least seven figures. We'd never afford her.""You don't have to worry if we can afford her. I just want to know what you think of her."One must certainly admit that Zoe was the best endorser one could ask for, with some even calling her the queen of brand ambassadors. If she could endorse Starstream Group, their fashion business would definitely rise to the next level."You're a good judge of people." Though Noel agreed to the idea, she was convinced that Cordy would never be able to bring Zoe in as brand ambassador. "Alright," Cordy nodded. "That's all for now. You can get back to work."Noel studied Cordy just then, finding everything she did today exceedingly weird. She wanted to ask about it, but ultimately decided against it.After all, the designs today w