Chapter 1 Mistaken Night

Judy awoke in the hotel's large bed and opened her eyes to see the man beside her; flashes of the previous night’s passionate encounter flooded her mind, leaving her utterly bewildered.

She had slept with none other than the influential power player of Birmingham, the owner of Keller Group, Lewis, who was also her immediate boss.

Rumor had it that any woman who dared climb into Lewis’s bed seeking to become his wife would end up disappearing without a trace in Birmingham, meeting no good end.

Judy was still young; she wanted to live a few more years.

It was best to leave early.

Before Lewis woke up, Judy tiptoed out of bed, picked up her torn clothes from the floor—evident of last night's intense situation—and got dressed.

Sleeping with Lewis had been an accident. There was a company dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant; she drank too much and got dizzy.

She had thought it was all a vivid dream, forgetting the details of the prior evening and how she ended up in this room, only having a vague memory that she seemed to have been the proactive one.

Convinced that she had seduced Lewis, Judy left in a hurry, failing to notice that a resume had fallen to the floor while she grabbed her bag.

Judy returned to her rented room by seven o'clock in the morning.

Her roommate and confidante, Susan, came out from her room and said, "Judy, how come you're coming from outside? You didn't come back last night, did you?"

Judy and Susan, both orphans, grew up together in the orphanage, went to school together, and worked hard in society arm in arm, depending on each other like real sisters.

Embarrassed, Judy fibbed on the spot: "Well... There was a company dinner at the Holiday Hotel restaurant downstairs. It’s quite far, and I drank too much. I didn't want to disturb you, so I stayed over at a colleague’s place."

"Oh," Susan responded nonchalantly with a wooden expression, "Speaking of which, the resume you were supposed to help me print—did you do it? The recruitment deadline is today. If I can't find a job, I'll go bankrupt."

That’s when Judy remembered, rifled through her bag, and discovered that the resume was gone, with no memory of where it could have dropped.

Judy sheepishly admitted, "Susan, I'm sorry, but I've lost the resume."

Susan chuckled, "No worries, I’ll print it myself in a bit. It’s not like I’m guaranteed to get the job anyway.

With your university degree and my mere high school diploma, it's not easy for me to find a job. If it comes to it, I'll look for work in a factory or maybe sell clothes in a mall. Once you make it big, just don't forget about me."

Compared to Judy, Susan’s appearance and educational background were far behind, which also made her inwardly insecure and sensitive, with a hint of sourness in her tone.

"Susan, don't sell yourself short," Judy encouraged, "We made a pact to share our blessings and face hardships together. What’s mine is yours. When I have money, I'll take care of you."

Susan then asked seriously, "Judy, if there comes a day when we both fall for the Johne man, would you step aside for me?"

Judy laughed, "In my heart, you come first. There are plenty of men in the world; if one's gone, we can always find another, but I only have one sister like you."

Susan smiled, "I was just kidding. Go change your clothes and head to work. You reek of alcohol. Drink less in the future."

"Will do," Judy said, heading into her room. The thought of going to the office made her nervous.

Though she was just an intern for now, and the chances of seeing the big boss like Lewis were remarkably slim, she still worried.

This was probably what it felt like to have a guilty conscience.

If Lewis found out that she had slept with him, he would surely think of her as a vain and calculating woman, ostracize her, make it impossible for her to stay in Birmingham or even erase her from this world entirely.

The rumors always suggested that those 'vanished' girl were secretly dealt with by Lewis.

Lewis was a man at the apex of the pyramid, and she was just a nobody at the bottom, two parallel lines that should never cross.

Judy shook her head, intending to treat last night as a dream, and hoping against hope that Lewis wouldn’t remember her.

The room had been so dim; surely he couldn't recall her face?

In the hotel, Lewis woke up, bare-chested, sitting in bed with his languid, tousled hair.

His features were as sharply defined as if carved by a knife, exuding a defined coldness, and his sturdy torso screamed with male hormones.

With a hangover, Lewis's head pounded as he tried to recall the events of the previous night.

If it weren't for the blush stain on the sheets, he might have thought it was all a dream, that he was oppressed by a female ghost in his sleep.

His gaze landed on the carpet. He got up and walked over to pick it up—it was a resume: "Susan..."

Was it left by the woman from last night?