“Ok…” I replied softly. Everything about the class was great and the instructor was very patient with me; however, I found it very hard to concentrate even though it was a private class. The main reason behind that was the fact that Ace was also in the dance studio, and he had his eyes on me the entire time. My body stiffened and it was impossible for me to relax under his gaze. I was extremely conscious of his eyes on my body the entire time and that made me feel very distracted. “Should we take a break?” the instructor suggested.I smiled at her apologetically before nodding my head. She didn’t say it outright, but I could tell that the class wasn’t progressing well. My instructor could probably sense that I wasn’t focused and had suggested the break. I should use this opportunity to tell Ace that it was fine for him to leave. The truth was, I believed that I could concentrate on the class better if he was not around. Now how do I tell him this without causing a war to break out?
“Here you go, this is for you,” Ace said as offered me the dress. “Thank you…I guess…” I mumbled in thanks. The dress turned out to be a perfect fit. Too perfect that it was quite scary. I turned around to check out my own reflection in the mirror. The deep burgundy dress that Ace got tailored for me hugged my figure perfectly and outlines my curves. Thankfully, the skirt wasn’t too long and moving about wasn’t too difficult. Dancing in this might require some additional practice, though. “You look good in the dress,” Ace commented when I came to stand in front of him. “You mean, the dress looks good on me?” I offered a correction.He shook his head and smiled at me. “You look beautiful,” Ace replied as his brown eyes held mine.The instructor cleared her throat to get our attention and I ended up blushing while Ace just offered her a smile. “Let’s start. We don’t have all day…” my instructor said teasingly.“May I have this dance?” Ace asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes
“Just like I said. Don’t worry, they’re working hard to investigate the issue,” Ace said before he took my hand in his.To my surprise, he kissed the back of my hand tenderly. The softness and warmth of his lips against the back of my hand made my heart skip a beat, and for a moment, I forgot what I wanted to say. “But how can they investigate the issue without talking to me about it?” I asked in wonder. “They’ll call for you when they are ready. This is a sensitive issue so they’re being extra careful and detailed about it,” Ace replied smoothly. “I see…” I murmured.Shortly after, we arrived at the event and Ace helped me out of the car amidst the large crowd of reporters and cameramen that have gathered to greet us on the red carpet. Ace smiled and was very calm, probably because he was used to this. The same couldn’t be said about how I was feeling inside. I stood next to Ace and plastered a smile on my lips as we got our photos taken together. I wasn’t even sure if it was fine
“Is this why you invited me here tonight?” the words slipped from my lips before I could hold them back. “If I said yes, would you get mad?” he answered my question with one of his own. Good question. Maybe, I would feel slightly mad if I haven’t started feeling exactly that already. “Don’t know…” I muttered. “You’re very funny,” Ace said before smiling a very wide smile at me.He started laughing and I found my anger quickly disappearing. It was probably impossible for me to get mad at Ace no matter what he does. “The song just ended…” I told him when the song ended. The other couples bowed and curtsied politely to each other while Ace wouldn’t let go of me.“Ace?” I called his name softly and questioningly. “Let’s go for another song,” Ace suggested. “Umm…” I murmured hesitantly.The next song started, and I found myself dancing with Ace again. He pulled me up closer to him as I pressed my hand against his chest. His arm circled my waist and kept me closer to him. I have nev
I could feel her pain and her stress; however, I couldn’t truly say that I sympathized with her. Everyone had their own problems and mine happened to come with putting enough food on the table for me and my mother. So, I didn’t really want to hear about the sorrowful story of a rich heiress and her struggle to marry the love of her life against all odds and all that. “Did Kyle admit that he stole that storyboard from me? He came to my room saying that he wanted to pick up his things and then stole that storyboard,” I spat accusingly.Then, this dear Elizabeth person came to me and screamed at me for seducing her husband because of that same incident. “At first, I didn’t want to believe it, but Ace presented some proof. On top of that, I felt like the storyline seemed to be something that Ace would have come up with. When I confronted Kyle about it, he finally admitted to it when he was faced with Ace’s evidence. Once again, I am very sorry for everything that happened,” Elizabeth ap
“I see…” I mumbled, although I couldn’t quite see anything in that situation. “In the end, as you can see, the engagement was dissolved and our companies are still rivals with me as the CEO and Elizabeth as the new CEO of her company,” Ace concluded before he smiled at me. “Right…” I said with a nod of my head. “Why are you so speechless? Don’t worry too much. Elizabeth and I have nothing but respect for each other because we work in the same field. She’s still young and has many things to learn, though…” Ace said teasingly. “Sorry, I honestly never expected this kind of outcome. You know, both for Project Alpha and also your relationship history with her…” I admitted honestly. “That just sounds very misleading. I never had a relationship with her,” Ace corrected me with an amused smile. “Right. Ok…” I whispered.“You’re clearly still confused. Sleep over it. Let’s head back, I’m bored out of my mind,” Ace said.He got up from his seat before turning and offering me a hand. “Ok
“Well, as you have just heard, that is how it is…” Ace said without much interest. “If they truly withdraw, then it wouldn’t be a stretch for us to win the competition,” Richard voiced with certainty. “I agree. Plus, we can revert back to using our original storyboard as well,” Julianna chimed in. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room had relaxed. Things were finally looking up for the team again and the prospect of our company winning the competition seemed realistic. “Karina has something to say. Please listen to her,” Ace said sternly. Everyone quietened down as they waited for me to speak. After Elizabeth’s announcement, it seemed like they were less hostile towards me, but things were very far from normal or how it used to be before this all started. I stood up from my seat as I tried to keep my knees from giving out from under me. “First of all, I would like to apologize. I am in fact the source of the leak. However, I would like everyone to know that the leak was never int
“How do I do that?” I asked. “I don’t think Elizabeth is willing to publicize the fact that her husband was directly involved in stealing confidential information and she would probably appreciate it if you didn’t mention it to anyone. I guess keeping it vague would be better…” Ace advised. Oh, right. I did not anticipate how Elizabeth wanted this all to play out. This case was a complex one. It was the prime example of how one mistake led to another. How one lie also led to another. I stared at Ace and nodded my head softly. Ace was right. During the entire press conference, Elizabeth never mentioned Kyle as the culprit. She just said that her company was guilty but never highlighted her husband’s involvement. I was starting to wonder what Kyle did that made him deserve a woman like Elizabeth and then I hoped that he would suffer severely for the problems that he’s caused all of us. After snapping out of my thoughts, I looked straight at the panel of board members who were eager