Chapter 2: One Night Stand

The next morning, Lani was awakened by the ringing of her phone. Groggy, she felt utterly drained. She struggled to sit up and turn off the phone, her head throbbing as she slowly regained her senses.

"Where am I?"

Lani looked around, everything seemed unfamiliar; this was definitely not the room she had rented the night before. Her whole body ached as she slowly turned to the side.

Boom… Lani was so startled she froze. Who was this man? Why was he lying next to her?

A flood of questions rushed through her mind, but she couldn’t comprehend any of it. Lani looked down at herself, her body covered in red love bites, with not a stitch of clothing on.

The man beside her had a handsome face, broad shoulders, black hair, a high nose, smooth fair skin, and clearly defined six-pack abs that Lani couldn’t take her eyes off. This man was truly a masterpiece; he was so stunning that she was taken aback.

Lani had met many different men before, but the man in front of her was not only handsome but also mature. Even though he was asleep, she could sense a coldness emanating from him.

Lani was startled but quickly regained her composure. She had slept with a man she didn’t know at all. Lani tried to recall what had happened the previous night. After discovering that Eric had deceived her, she had been devastated.

She drank to drown her sorrows and ended up consuming far too much, losing control. She vaguely remembered being incredibly drunk, then standing up and stumbling back to her room. After that, everything became a blur…

In the end, Lani looked at the man beside her, unable to accept the reality. So, she decided to run away. She picked up her clothes scattered on the floor, now in tatters, and hastily dressed. She slowly gathered all her belongings, and before the man could wake up, she quietly slipped out of the room.

As Lani fled, her clothes barely held together, so she grabbed the man's vest and threw it on over herself. She had only gone a short distance when she bumped into a beautiful woman.

"Are you okay?" 

The woman asked, concerned, before picking up the key card that had fallen and handing it to Lani.

"I'm fine," Lani quickly shook her head and hurried away. 

The woman, dressed in a striking red dress that clung to her curvaceous figure, pulled an identical key card from her bag. The smile on her lips grew even more alluring.

“You want to compete with me for a man? It won’t be that easy. CEO Dante will be mine.”

Lani quickly packed her belongings and went to return the room she had rented. She had no idea that her room key had been switched. Lani glanced at the key card for room 6666, feeling a bit confused. Yesterday, she remembered booking room 9999, but today the key card said 6666, and her clothes were in that room, so she assumed she must have made a mistake.

Dante woke up, looked around, but saw no one. He was slightly annoyed—the woman from last night was nowhere to be found. Dante frowned and rubbed his head, which was still aching from the previous night. On the table, he noticed a stack of cash and a note that read, "I only have $1,000. Please accept it." Dante sneered; the woman had mistaken him for a gigolo.

In the CEO's suite, a man entered, bowing respectfully to Dante. By now, Dante had changed into a black suit and was seated at his desk.

“I’ve investigated who drugged you last night, sir.”

“Good.”

“So, should we…”

“Cancel the contract with that company…”

Dante didn’t even lift his head, remaining focused on his work, but in reality, his mind was far from calm. As a major businessman, often referred to as the "King of Business," Dante’s reputation alone was enough to instill fear in others. Last night, while negotiating a contract with a partner, Kevin, the man had dared to drug Dante’s drink, hoping to have him sleep with his daughter to secure the deal.

However, the plan didn’t succeed—the woman who ended up in his bed wasn’t Kevin’s daughter. As Dante thought about this, a hint of pity crept into his thoughts for the woman from last night; he had put her through a lot.

“The girl from last night…”

The man standing before him immediately understood and handed Dante a file.

“The girl from last night is a minor actress named Daisy. I’ve investigated, and it turns out she was staying in room 9999. Miss Daisy was heavily intoxicated and mistakenly entered your room.”

“That’s enough. You can go.”

Dante glanced at the picture of the woman, a somber expression settling on his face. Despite being drugged, he still had some hazy memories of what had happened the previous night, and something about it made him feel uneasy.

After discussing business with his partner, Dante went to the restroom, feeling uneasy, and decided to head back to his room. Once he reached his room, he couldn’t recall whether he had closed the door or left it ajar. A while later, he felt something heavy pressing down on him. The woman before him had an intoxicating scent, a hint of lavender.

Dante was completely unable to control himself, the effects of the drug too overwhelming. He couldn’t clearly see her face because the lights were off.

The previous night, their bodies were tightly intertwined, unable to separate. The room was filled with the sounds of passion, indicating a night of unending intimacy. As the clock struck midnight, the city had fallen into the quiet stillness of night, with only the dim glow of a bedside lamp remaining in the room.

On the large bed, clothes were scattered everywhere—here a piece, there another. The woman lying on the bed was utterly exhausted, her body completely drained of strength. She silently wished that the man above her would stop. But things didn’t go as she hoped. Under the influence of the drug, Dante had become a beast, relentlessly thrusting, causing her such pain that tears streamed down her face.

Even though the woman was barely conscious, she kept her mouth firmly shut, suppressing any sounds that might escape. Seeing her bite her lip to endure the pain only made Dante more thrilled, driving him to penetrate even deeper into her.

His large hands moved to massage and knead her smooth, rounded breasts. Occasionally, he would thrust harder, deeper, deliberately trying to coax a moan from her. His brown eyes scanned her body, the darkness unable to obscure her fair, snow-like skin.

Dante vividly remembered that night; he could sense the woman’s pain. When he awoke today and saw the bloodstains on the bed, he realized that she had been a virgin. This recognition stirred a bit of sympathy in him, making him want to find her and make amends, to offer her some help. She had endured his rough treatment all night, despite not consenting, and yet he found himself lingering over the memory of her scent.

Back in the present, Dante sat in the CEO’s chair, but the images from the previous night kept replaying in his mind, making it impossible to focus on work. When a woman named Daisy appeared, claiming to be the one who had spent the night with him, Dante remained skeptical, feeling no sense of familiarity with her.

Unable to be indifferent, Dante glanced at his assistant. 

“Ms. Daisy, my CEO has some offers and benefits for you. Please take a look,” the assistant quickly handed Daisy a contract. Daisy’s eyes lit up immediately, though she still tried to maintain an air of arrogance. Thus began the interaction between the two.

“I was merely used by someone else, so I don’t need this money.” Daisy attempted to use the tactic of playing hard to get, hoping to intrigue Dante and make him want to keep her around. However, this backfired entirely. Dante’s eyes clearly reflected his disdain. Although he was known to be a womanizer, he had never kept anyone around for more than a month, let alone a woman he had just met.

“Is adding another zero enough? Will $50,000 suffice? I’m not interested in you, so stop trying to get close to me.”

Dante wasn’t easily fooled. From the moment Daisy walked into the room, he noticed how she eyed the valuable items and how she wore an overpowering amount of perfume. He was certain she wasn’t the woman from the previous night, but he wanted her gone quickly, so he offered her a large sum of money to expedite her departure.

As expected, Daisy fell into the trap. Realizing that dealing with Dante wasn’t easy, she accepted the money and withdrew, planning to wait for another opportunity.

“How could you mess up the investigation like this? Bringing in an impostor without even realizing it?” 

The assistant’s face turned pale instantly, unsure of how to respond, especially since he had thoroughly checked with the hotel before bringing Daisy in.

“I’m giving you three days to find the real woman who was with me last night and bring her here.”

“Yes, I’ll investigate immediately.”

The assistant hurried out, knowing that the events of the previous night had left a deep impression on Dante, sparking a desire within him to pursue the mystery further. Dante massaged his temples before getting back to work.