Kathryn Michaels had worked as an assistant to the president of Albert Group for two whole years. Everyone perceived the young woman as diligent and honest. However, last night, Kathryn had done something out of character.Kathryn lifted the blanket over her with a trembling hand and looked underneath. Upon noticing her nakedness, she paled instantly.She vaguely recalled forcefully tugging on a man's tie and dragging him to bed with her. Just the thought made her shudder. She turned to her side stiffly and caught sight of a man sound asleep.She let out a loud, fearful gasp, then quickly pulled the blanket back up to cover herself.Last night hadn't been a dream after all. It turned out that she had indeed forced herself on her boss, Chris Albert, the director-slash-president of Orinsk International Group! The man was her immediate supervisor, for God's sake!"What have I done?" she thought to herself.Kathryn was terrified. She didn't even have time to think about the loss of h
Kathryn didn't know how she made it out of the lounge without collapsing. She returned to the venue with an ashen look on her face.When Tally saw her, she asked with concern, "Why do you look so pale? Did you get sick?"Kathryn looked at Tally, who'd been her best friend since junior high, and her eyes immediately started to water.Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, Tally quickly looked around. Noting that there weren't many people around, she took Kathryn by the hand and led her to the restroom. "What's wrong? Did Mr. Albert yell at you or something?" she asked.Once they reached the restroom, Kathryn's knees gave way as soon as Tally locked the door behind them. She sat on the floor with a pale look on her face. Tally rushed over and held an arm over her shoulders. "What happened? Don't let Mr. Albert see you like this. You'll get into big trouble!" she said.Everyone knew that Albert Group's president was a tough and uncompromising man.No matter how beautiful a femal
A pin-drop silence filled the air. It was scarily tense. Although Kathryn was standing with her back straight, her heart felt as if it were in turmoil.Chris' dangerous gaze landed on Kathryn's poker face. "What do you mean by 'probably'?" he asked.Kathryn was rendered speechless. It was all over. Chris hated answers riddled with uncertainties.She lowered her head. "After I walked you back to your room last night, no one else went in," she said firmly through gritted teeth. She made sure to sound absolutely certain and didn't leave any room for doubt.Silence ensued. Kathryn couldn't help but lament over how long every second that passed felt. Even so, she had to persevere. If Chris found out that she was lying, not only would her own future be ruined, but Tally would end up getting dragged through the mud as well.Kathyrn had already settled comfortably in Harborlean. If things didn't work out for her here, her life would be miserable.Sweat soaked Kathryn's back as time passe
Heavy breathing could be heard on the other end of the phone, accompanied by a hint of inexplicable coldness.Kathryn was stunned into silence for a moment. She took another glance at her phone. When she saw that the caller was Chris, she prayed to God that lightning would strike her down right this instant.She switched into her business mode and greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Albert.""Get back to the company right this instant," Chris said coldly. Then he hung up.Kathryn stared at her dark phone screen and pouted sadly. Her mini-vacation had been cut short once more.She quickly turned back and returned to her apartment to change. Then she hastily ordered some takeout pasta for Tally from a shop downstairs. Tally frowned when she saw that Kathryn had returned so quickly. "Was there no queue at the bank today?"Kathryn was out of breath from all the running. "Mr. Albert summoned me to the company immediately. I bought you some pasta."Then she placed the pasta on the table
Kathryn finally managed to escape from the office when Markus came knocking with a report for Chris.Chris looked through the glass at Kathryn, who was outside. The woman was always cautious and obedient in front of him. Whenever she thought she was out of sight, she would drop her calm facade. Chris' lips curled up slightly involuntarily.Markus followed Chris' gaze and watched along as Kathryn seemed to be searching for something frantically."Ms. Michaels, you're as clumsy and careless as ever," he thought.He turned toward Chris and handed him an envelope. "Sir, it's been confirmed that Mrs. Albert was the one who'd drugged you that night."After he said that, a loud buzzing sounded. Markus looked down to see a phone vibrating. Seeing the cute panda phone case, he instantly realized that the phone didn't belong to Chris. Outside, Kathryn was looking for her phone.Kathryn wanted to send Tally a message to let her know that she was done, but she realized that she'd left her ph
The air grew quiet. Chris' dark eyes gleamed coldly as he stared down the extremely nervous Kathryn in complete silence. He attempted to discern how truthful she was being.Kathryn looked at Chris anxiously, her palms drenched in sweat. She felt like she was going to go insane at any moment. She prayed that Tally wouldn't send her any more messages.Just as she was about to break down, Chris finally asked in a cold tone, "What part-time job?""Relief sculpting," Kathryn replied."What's that?" Chris asked. The profession clearly puzzled him. "It's basically a form of sculpting," she answered. It was something that wasn't related to her current job at Albert Group in any way.Kathryn assessed his response cautiously and found that she couldn't read the man's expression at all. She had no idea if she had passed his test or not.Chris cast a cold glance at her, then took a drag from his cigarette. "Don't we pay you enough?" he asked."No, it's not that. I just enjoy sculpting." S
Kathryn and Tally had originally planned to go on a shopping spree. However, after they found out that Chris was still searching for the woman from that night, the two women no longer had the mood to shop. They returned to their apartment, feeling listless.Tally slumped herself on the small couch in the bedroom and said, "Let's just quit our jobs."Kathryn turned toward her and replied, "I can't. I have a monthly mortgage of two thousand dollars. I can't afford to just quit."Tally's expression turned even more solemn. She hugged a pillow to her chest and squeezed it several times, but found that it didn't work to calm her down."Why don't you just sell the house?" Tally suggested. If Kathryn didn't have to pay off her mortgage, she wouldn't be afraid to quit her job. As long as Kathryn quit, Tally wouldn't be implicated. Even though this thought was a bit selfish, at least one of them would be able to make it out of this alive."It hasn't even been a year since I bought it. I
Markus couldn't understand why Chris had kept Kathryn as his assistant for this long. Was it because Kathryn was afraid of him and didn't act infatuated like his previous assistants? He thought that was a huge possibility.Kathryn turned back nervously. "Sorry, I dropped something. I think it'd be best if I took the employee elevators!" After telling that white lie, Kathryn tried to make a run for it. "Just get in," Chris demanded in a cold tone.Kathryn hesitated for a moment but didn't dare disobey. She walked into the elevator stiffly. She stood on Chris' left as the elevator ascended. Her back was pressed against the elevator, and she tried to make herself seem as inconspicuous as possible.Chris looked at her with a frown. "Go get me a report from the finance department.""Yes, sir." Kathryn straightened her back.When the elevator reached the finance department's floor, Kathryn sprinted out of the elevator. The way she ran resembled that of an escaped convict. Chris and
After leaving the Hunt residence, Tally made her way directly to Victor's company.Worried she might lose her way, Drew had been waiting downstairs in anticipation of her arrival.When Tally saw Victor, her face lit up with joy."You should've seen Mr. Hunt Senior's expression earlier. He looked like he wanted to eat me alive." Tally couldn't help but laugh.Victor reached for her hand as they sat down on the couch together. "Were you scared?" he asked.As Tally sat down, she casually looked back and noticed a framed photograph on Victor's desk.Out of curiosity, she picked it up and examined it. But with just one glance, she froze in surprise."When... when was this taken?" she asked. Her shock was evident as she turned to Victor.The picture was taken back when they were at Beverly Peak, during his hospital stay after being bitten by a wolf.She remembered looking after him until she herself fell asleep.In the picture, her eyes were closed, her expression peaceful.Victor
What made it even more absurd was that Elijah bought into it, too.Tally couldn't believe Elijah couldn't see through Markus' façade. He actually bought into Markus' excuse that his behavior was all because of her.And now he was acting like he'd rather die than leave her."Fucking hell," Tally muttered inwardly. She wondered who came up with this messed-up plan for Markus.Clearly, Tally couldn't quite grasp how Markus' mental state could deteriorate like this. However, given his history of going insane, this outrageous plan didn't seem entirely implausible.He was perfectly fine when he was with Albert Group, so how did he end up like this back at Skyline Group?Tally just couldn't figure it out.Elijah shot her a sharp look, gritting his teeth as he said, "You, leave!"Zane hesitated, saying, "Sir, but…""Just let her leave!" Elijah insisted.Elijah's words were punctuated by short, hurried breaths.Tally nodded, saying, "Mr. Hunt Senior, you're indeed the more rational o
Elijah and Zane glanced at each other. Then, their stares turned sharper as they both fixed their eyes on Tally.Tally swallowed nervously. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?""You're not even married to Victor, so why are you calling yourself a married woman?" Elijah snapped, his anger evident.Tally remained silent.Observing Elijah's furious expression, she nonchalantly rummaged through her bag, retrieving the marriage certificate and wedding invitation.Then, she handed them over to Zane.Zane took the documents and swiftly flipped them open. His eyes widened in disbelief as he read through them.He promptly handed both documents over to Elijah.As Elijah took them and examined them, his expression darkened significantly upon seeing Tally and Victor's marriage certificate.He was shocked when he saw that their wedding date was today, along with the printed timestamp.In that instant, Elijah's breathing grew heavier.He glared at Tally with an
Tally was completely baffled by what was happening."I've been straightforward about my feelings for him," Tally complained under her breath.From her perspective, if something were to happen to Markus now, she shouldn't be blamed solely for her decision to get married. Victor nodded, saying, "Yeah, I know."Victor had always been aware of this. By now, Markus had become such a puzzle that Victor couldn't quite figure him out.Considering how clear Tally had always been about her feelings toward Markus, it was puzzling how he got himself involved in this mess.This time, Victor didn't accompany Tally to the Hunt Residence. He believed she could handle the Hunt family on her own.The atmosphere at the Hunt residence was incredibly tense at the moment.The moment Tally stepped inside, she could practically feel the frost coming off Elijah. His gaze seemed to pierce right through her.Zane's tone was far from pleasant as he said, "Um, take a look at this."With that, he passed
Tally was pretty happy a moment ago. But now, she was all worked up talking about the Hunts.Earlier on the road, Tally filled Victor in on the phone call she received from the Hunt residence.Victor's lips twitched as he heard the news. "So Markus left a suicide note and vanished?""Exactly. Can you believe the trouble he's stirring up now?" Tally shook her head incredulously.Tally was utterly exasperated with Markus by now. It had been a while since this whole thing started.She had to admit, these days had been incredibly "fulfilling" for her. It was so fulfilling that it almost left her reeling.And it wasn't just Tally struggling to keep up. Even Victor had been taken aback by how things were unfolding.He shot Tally a look of disbelief. "So you're going to the Hunt residence now?""Yeah, I'm going. I want those Hunts to know that I'm officially yours. Let's see if they have more shameless tricks up their sleeves."When it came to describing the Hunts, Tally summed it up
Tally was beginning to see where Markus got his persistent nature from. It ran in the family. It was as the saying went—like father, like son.No sooner had she ended the call, the phone rang again.Tally took a deep breath, reminding herself that today was supposed to be a happy day, not one filled with annoyance.But dealing with these people…After giving it some thought, she hesitantly answered, "Zane!""Ms. Johnson, you might want to come over to the Hunt residence."Tally asked, "What's going on now?"She was almost out of patience with these people.Zane explained, "Mr. Markus left behind a suicide note."Tally's expression froze in disbelief.A suicide note? Tally couldn't comprehend what was happening. She wondered if Markus was pulling another one of his stunts.It had only been less than an hour since Elijah arranged his marriage, and now he went ahead and left a suicide note."Where is he?" Tally raised an eyebrow.With everything happening so quickly, it all f
Looking at her identification papers, Tally let out a sigh of relief.Fortunately, Tally had some knowledge of her father's habits. Otherwise, guessing the password for the safe, which belonged to her comatose father, would have been a daunting task.When Irina called, Tally answered, "Hey, Irina.""Guess what? Markus is engaged!""What?" Tally was shocked.Irina shared her surprise."This time, it seems Mr. Hunt Senior might genuinely have it out for you. We haven't even made a move, and suddenly they're announcing Markus and Sarah's engagement.""Sarah?" Tally was even more surprised.It was only today that they found out who had been secretly admiring Markus. Before they could even step in, Elijah had taken the initiative.It seemed like all these years, Elijah appeared unconcerned, but he actually knew everything.But if he was dead set on hating her, then so be it. Tally couldn't care less.On the other hand, if Elijah truly desired for her and Markus to be together all
Elijah said, "Very well, then."Thinking about his troublesome son, Elijah wondered how he hadn't noticed Markus' extremity in his romantic pursuits before.Elijah was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath.Giving Markus a fierce look, he tried to hold back. Despite that, he couldn't resist putting in one final word, "No matter how much you want to be with Tally, I won't allow it."This time, there was no room for negotiation.At Elijah's words, Markus' eyes turned cold. "I'm afraid you have no say in this.""You..." Elijah's breath hitched as he heard Markus' retort. In a fit of rage, he grabbed a teacup and hurled it toward him.At that moment, Elijah felt an overwhelming urge to lash out at Markus.Elijah insisted, "Regardless of your decision, you and Sarah are officially engaged starting today."His tone was unusually firm.At this point, Elijah wasn't asking for Markus' opinion. He was simply informing him.Regarding Tally becoming Elijah's daughter-in-law, Elijah
Kathryn was confused when Jessica suddenly shoved her into the car and promptly closed the door. With her hand still gripping the door handle, Kathryn looked up at Jessica and suggested, "Uh, how about dinner tonight?"Upon hearing Kathryn's dinner suggestion, Jessica paused before nodding and responding, "Let's talk about it later. I'll give you a call."Jessica seemed really busy, and Kathryn could tell from the way she talked that she was in a rush.Kathryn couldn't help but feel for Jessica as she watched her close the car door and hurried off toward the nearby office building, waving goodbye as she went.Kathryn found herself wondering who Jessica was in such a rush to meet.Kathryn couldn't resist stealing a glance back as the car pulled away. In that brief moment, Kathryn's heart skipped a beat as she saw Jessica walking alongside Lloyd. They were heading toward the glass doors of the building.Before Kathryn could double-check what she saw, the car had already turned.