Mia attended the second round of the interview on the date the Preston group had assign and successfully passed it. At the end of the month she received an offer. The Preston group had two separate buildings in the city. The design department was on the seventh floor of the first building. It’s housed a talented team of designers who possessed exceptional skills, and experience. All the designers had graduated from well, talented schools with flying colors. Mia believed the Preston group would be the ideal place to start her career. Before going upstairs, Mia went to a convience store near the company to buy coffee. “Miss your change is on the floor.” Someone nudged her shoulders from behind. “Oh, thank you.” Mia turned around, took the money from the man, and put it into her bag. “You’re welcome” The voice sounded familiar. Mia looked up and met the man’s gaze, her eyes widened in astonishment “David?” “What a confidence!” The man looked equally suprised. He had a brown ha
“Good morning, Mr Micheal.” Mia lowered her head and greated him respectfully. She didn’t expect to meet Micheal here again so soon. “Did you encounter any problem after that?” Micheal pressed the button to the tenth floor and smiled at Mia. Mia didn’t expect him to ask about it. After all, they had met only once. The deputy CEO of the Preston Group seemed to care about their employees. “No. Everything is fine, Thank you for asking sir.” Micheal glanced at Mia who was standing beside Mia. “Who is this young man?” “Mr Smith, my name is David Gregory, if she encounters any problem. I will be of help to her. Please rest assured,” David eyes Beem with concern as he looks at Mia with concern. Micheal was a smart man, he could see everything clearly, the smile on his face dropped in an instant. Just then, the elevator door opened. Micheal walked out with a meaningful look on his face. Mia and David seemed to be close. Micheal felt someone is going to be unhappy after knowing this
Sensing the suspicion in his tone, Mia clutched the wallet tightly, she had forgotten that she was playing the role of a spoiled Eva now. “I used to spend whatever money I had, I don’t have savings anymore. I’ve been at odds with my parents, so I donot want to ask them for money. I’m broke now.” She lied, hiding her nervousness. Her eyelashes fluttered as she averted her eyes. Darren stroked the coins in his hands. He remembered seeing Mia quarrelling with her parents when he went to the Thompson family house. They didn’t seem to get along with each other. “ what happened? Why are you nervous? Why do you freak out everytime I mention your family?” Darren ruffled Mia’s hair gently. “ how can I spend a woman's money? You better use my money first.” After a moment's thought, Darren took out his wallet from his jacket pocket and placed it on Mia’s hands “ I have made some money while working part-time in a shop for the past few days.” Mia looked at his wallet, and her bangs covered
Darren averted his gaze. “ I rented this car. It’s your first day at work, I wanted to pick you up with it.” “Renting a luxury car, for just one day must have been expensive. Darren I know you did it out of kindness, but you don’t have to do this for me. We have to accept the reality and live our lives.” Mia stuttered, she was not the biological daughter of the Thompson family, but a simple girl who was used to poverty, she wasn't used to a life of luxury.The situation was embarrassing. She had been working hard to save up money to pay for the private investigator and meet her daily needs, Even though Darren didn’t spend her money, it still broke her heart to see him waste money on unnecessary luxuries. On second thought, she realized it must be difficult for Darren to change his habit because he was used to a lavish life. She couldn’t push him too hard. Mia handed the Wallet back to Darren “forget it.” She grinned happily. “ today is my first day at work, we should celebrate
Mia was busy everyday at work and seldom had time for herself. Time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye because she was consumed with work. “What a coincidence! How about we go back together?” David stopped Mia at the front of the elevator. Ever since Mia joined the Preston group, the two had been coincidentally meeting everyday at work. Sometimes Mia would meet David even though she worked over time. “David, how come we meet everyday after work?” Mia asked, smiling. Her biggest problem was not knowing to say no to people. Just then, her phone blared in her bag. She took it and saw Darren’s name flashing on the screen. Therefore, she quickly answered the call, “what’s up?” “I found a house. I’m in the cafe opposite your company. Let’s go and see the house together.” Darren’s words were brief and concise. She didn’t expect him to act fast. Mia pulled away her phone and looked at David apologetically, “ I’m sorry David, I have important work to do. I have to go now.” “Oka
‘What? One hundred bucks, for an apartment like this? That’s unbelievable’The man looked dumbfounded. However the apartment did not belong to him, so he couldn’t finalise the rent. “Mrs Edward, I’m actually surprised to hear your offer. However, this house isn’t mine. I need to check it with the landlord of the house.”He walked out of the room with his phone on the pretext of making a phone call. Taking the opportunity, he winked at Darren to ask for his opinion. Darren understood his gestures and agreed without hesitation. Mia was a little nervous. After all she knew her offer was definitely not acceptable. A few minutes later, the realtor returned with a smile. “The landlord has agreed.” Mia’s mouth popped open in shock. She tried slashing the price but didn’t think the landlord would actually agree. She blinked at Darren. Darren coughed and walked up to her “ what’s wrong?” “I don’t think this house is an ordinary haunted house. I think something extremely terrible must
Delicious smell of food wafted in the Air as soon as Darren entered the house. “Why did you come back early today?” Mia casts a sidelong glance at him and continues to toss the spaghetti in the pan. The apron accentuated her alluring figure, her curvy bum bobbed as she moved around. The bow tie on her back seemed to tease Darren, as if hinting at him to open and peek at the tempting gift inside. Darren’s eyes darkened as he felt hot in his throat. He unbuttoned his collar and went straight to the fridge to get a bottle of water. “I was off duty earlier,” he said after gulping down the water. He looked at her floral apron and touched the hem. “ it’s this an apron? It can’t even cover your thighs.” It was more like sexy lingerie. “Stop pulling my apron, I got it at a discount. It’s beautiful, right?” Mia glared at him and continued to cut the vegetables without uttering a word. Darren grinned and put the spaghetti bowl on the dining table. Several design sketches were scattered
“Thirty Thousand dollars?” Mia stared at her laptop screen, her mouth wide open. She quickly typed a message to the client, her fingers flying over the keyboard. This was going to be her first big client ever since her graduation. Given the amount of offer they had made, she was expecting a heap of struck instructions she would have to abide by. “Excuse me. May I know whether you are a gentleman or a lady?” The website played as a bridge between clients and freelance designers. The clients had the option to use their real name or not, but most of them did not bother setting up a profile. Most of the profiles in the listing were nothing but the default grey icon, with no way to tell the clients gender. “Male”Came the client's reply. “I see, do you have specific requirements regarding the design sir?” Mia leaned forward and propped her chin on one hand, bracing herself for a long list of demands. It didn’t take long for the client to write back, “I have seen the designs you pos
There was a woman nestled in Micheal’s arms. He squinted sleepily and spoke in a voice that didn’t sound completely sober. “You can’t do this to me. It’s seven o’clock in the morning. Even servants should have time to rest.” “I’m not joking. Hurry up and find a way to help me. I can’t sleep until this problem is solved.” As he spoke, Darren sullenly stared at the scenery framed by the window. “Okay, okay. Just give me a minute, will you?” Micheal struggled to climb out of bed and lumbered to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water. Then, when he was fully awake, he returned and said “buddy, I can tell from just a glance that your wife’s a little tricky. I’ve seen her a couple of times. She looked gentle and easy going, but I could never tell what was on her mind.” Darren sneered with disdain. “Don’t talk about her like that. Do you want to die Micheal?” Micheal smiled sheepishly. “Well anyways, my point is since money does not work, then you need to change tactics. Try woo
The bar looked dim except for the occasional neon lights that flashed from time to time. The loud music vibrated through the floor. Seeing Darren walking into the bar, Micheal quickly drove away the beautiful women clinging to him and straightened his clothes. After hearing why Darren was here today, Micheal burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you’d come to me one day for such a thing.” Darren slowly picked up the glass. The dim lights softened his features, making him look more handsome. He leaned against the sofa, stretching out his long legs. “Mind your tongues. Unless you don’t want to have weekends this month.” Micheal cleared his throat and swallowed the rest of his words. He picked a glass of wine and sat beside Darren. “Do you want me to be single all my life? My eighteenth girlfriend is waiting for me to take her on a date this weekend.” “Didn’t you say that your seventeenth girlfriend was pregnant? Don’t you want to get married?” Darren frowned and took a sip of the w
The three sides of the interrogation room were made of dark grey glass. People outside would have a clear view of everything inside. Darren was standing outside the glass door. His shiny leather shoes looked spotless, and his dark eyes narrowed at the dazzling emerald ring he held between his slender fingers. His fingertips rubbed against the initials carved on the inner wall of the ring he looked dangerous. The coffee in Jane’s hands had turned cold. He cautiously handed it to Darren again. “Boss, we found the woman. Well bring her in for interrogation right away. I’ll make sure she confesses everything.” Darren nodded and looked at the interrogation room. The shop manager was brought in. She was no longer arrogant and domineering as before. She looked around and found men clad in suits staring at her. “Where did you get this ring?” James pounded the table. He sounded just like a fierce detective. The shop manager rubbed her hands nervously. Judging from their clothes and
Mia’s words completely wiped the smug smile off of the shop manager's face. She quickly tried to calm down and said feebly, “I offered you that price yesterday. I don’t want to buy it anymore.” After all, the counterfeit wasn’t worth much. If she bought it at such an extravagant price, she’d be crazy. Smiling sardonically, Mia continued, “you wanted it so bad yesterday. The surveillance footage can prove it. Why don’t you want it now? Is it because you know that this one’s a fake and isn’t with a million?” The shop manager faltered, “uhm, well… I thought the ring was an antique. I had seen something similar in a jewellery magazine before. But when you left the ring here for resizing, I looked at it carefully, and I realised that it wasn’t the same one as in the magazine. It just looked similar. So I don’t want it anymore.” After saying that, she took a deep breath and regained her composure.”Miss, please go now. We have a business to run. Please escort this lady out.” But her
Without waiting for a response, Mia strides out. As he watched her leave, Darren frowned. He felt depressed. Sighing heavily, he quickly picked up his jacket and rushed out to follow her. It was late June now, and it was extremely hot in the afternoon. As he followed Mia from a distance. Darren stared at her long hair fluttering in the wind. Where on earth was she headed? Darren had no clue. Judging from the woman’s hurt tone just now, he could tell that there was more to the story. Moreover, he would’ve been able to tell if she was lying. Darren quickened his pace and collected the woman closely. As they walked, he couldn’t help but feel bad. Did he wrongfully accuse Mia?” After passing Two streets and traffic lights, Mia finally veered off the sidewalk and entered a second hand shop. Darren followed her silently. “I want to see your shop manager!” Mia slapped the ring hard on the counter. Her beautiful face was ice cold and sullen. When she wasn’t smiling, she always loo
Mia was startled and confused. With the bottle of water in her other hand, she took a sip nonchalantly and shook her head. “No. It’s right there on my finger! Or are you blind?” She looked at him playfully. Darren on the other hand was in no mood to joke. His expression darkened and his voice lowered. “Let me see.” Unlike Mia, he was very familiar with the ring. He knew something was wrong with it at just a glance. As she took off the ring, Mia muttered to herself, “weird”. Darren pressed his fingers against his temple and pucker up the ring to have a closer look. His expression grew even more serious. “The back of the ring I have you is engraved with my mother’s initials, but this ring has no such engravings.” Darren knew she was short on money, but he didn’t expect her to sell the ring just like that. He wouldn’t have minded if it were any other ring, but this ring in particular was left by his mother. “Is this a fake?” Mias eyes went wide in shock. She took the ring b
Trying to seem casual, Mia asked calmly, “ how much?” Glancing at the other people in the shop, the shop manager leaned closer and whispered in Mia’s ear, “ one million. What do you think?” This amount was more than Enough to cover the investigators payment. Mia was stunned. She looked carefully at the ring in her finger. The emerald best kr in the middle was like a pea that was just freed from its pod. The little gem was round and slightly cold, but its deep green colour was dazzling. She couldn’t believe that the ring Darren had given her was that valuable. “Sorry, this is my wedding ring. I can’t sell it.” Despite the tempting offer, Mia couldn’t give in. It was a gift from Darren after all, and it was left by his mother. Perhaps it was a family heirloom. Whatever the case, she couldn’t sell the ring. After refusing the shop manager, she turned around to leave. But the shop manager stopped her again. With a big smile plastered on her face, she said, “ No rush, miss. It’s ok
“It’s no big deal. My parents owe me a lot of money. After I fell out with them, they refused to pay me back. It’s a family matter. I can handle it. There’s no need for you to get involved.” Miss tone was relaxed even though she deliberately omitted the most important part. Darren glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and sighed. It was true that he didn’t know that much about the Thompson family, but since Mia was being stubborn about it, he respected her decision. “Fine. But if you need any help, just tell me.” Mia nodded obediently and lowered her gaze. “Okay,” she said softly. Darren pinched her cheek and warned in a low voice, “ and from now on, you have to tell others that you’re married.” “Okay, okay, okay. Do you want me to wear a sign with the word ‘married’ on it?” Mus raised her head and glared at him, pouring like a spoiled child. “It’s for your own good. It’s obvious that David had ulterior motives. Trust me. His intentions were written all over his face.” As
The people around them felt there was an inside story, and opinions gradually changed. The opulent restaurant housed wealthy diners. Many people could tell that Eva’s attire and accessories were all real deals from renowned brands by merely looking at her. “Well, it looks like she is the shameless one. She wears only luxury brands. I'm sure she is from a wealthy family.” “I guess she is slandering the girl only to avoid paying the debt.” “Damn it! I didn’t expect the situation would reverse.” Eva felt a pang of regret. But she opened the wallet anyway that was stacked with money. “”Give it to me.” With a faint smile, Mia stood up and took out the money from Eva’s wallet. She carefully counted the bills and neatly arranged them. “Ten thousand dollars is also money. Thank you Miss Thompson.” Eva had nothing left now apart from her clothes and shoes. “ just wait and see!” She said through gritted teeth. Mia smiles and puts the necklace and the money into the Hermes birkin. “Okay