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
“Did I disturb you? I will try to keep my voice down.” Startled, mia clamped her mouth with her hand and looked him apologetically. Darren shook his head and walked to her bed. Then, he slumped into it and inhaled her sweet fragrance. Propping his head on his arm, Darren closed his eyes. “ what happened why are you so happy?” He asked casually. “Don’t lie on my bed Darren,” Mia’s cheek puffed as she tried to pull his arm. He was tall and heavy. Finally she gave up and sat on the chair beside the desk. “I met a wealthy generous client who asked to design for him. I just submitted my draft and got paid. Darren opened his eyes and looked at her grinning with joy, “ then you don’t have to go for the drug trail, that’s good.” Mia smiled she rested her chin and the palm of head and poked the lamp on the desk with one finger. “ why don’t you ask me how much I have earned?” “I don't need your money, I don’t care how much you have that’s your business. I only wish for you not to go
Darren’s face darkened. His didn’t believe the restaurant that belonged to the Preston group had such a poor service. The workers disrespected the diners. He wondered how Micheal managed his subordinates? He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the manager, “what makes you think that we wouldn’t order food? You blindly believe their words without listening to us.”The argument caught everyone’s attention. They stopped eating and gawked at them. Several passerby outside were also peeking into the restaurant through the glass door. The manager broke out in a cold sweat, after all the quarrel wuld affect the restaurant reputation. If the media covered the news, people would not come to the restaurant again. “I’ve inquired from the two waitresses and they said you two were causing trouble out of nothing, how dare you question me?” The restaurant manager grew desperate and anxious to resolve the problem as soon as possible. He picked up the walkie-talkie on his chest and sai
Mia finally snapped out of her astonishment when the owner of the restaurant left with his staff. She quietly stared at Darren, “ how can you be so calm?” She wondered. “Daren! What just happened? Why are the owner of this restaurant nice to you? Besides, he didn’t prove the issue to find out what really happened. How can he be so sure that the waitresses were rude to us?” Mia fired one question after the other. “He didn’t have to question. High end restaurants always handle problems like these with care because they can’t afford to lose thier reputation. The manager and waitresses were thoughtless, but the owner knew what to do. After all, losing even one customer would impact on thier buisness because reputation is their biggest asset.” Darren explained. Bitting her lips, Mia nodded in understanding. Darren’s words made sense. “Speaking of which……”she grinned and playfully nodged his shoulders. “You were domineering like you were his boss.” “Gangster like us, had to put on
Darren pressed every inch of his body against Mia’s. The woman was soon out of breath. She tried pushing him away with all her might. “D…Darren…don’t bite me…. You are too heavy. You’re crushing me.” She turned around, trying to dodge his move, but he cupped her cheeks, trapping her face in place. Mia couldn’t move as he continued to kiss her deeper. Darren hoisted Mia on his lap and cupped her bum bum. Just as their kiss deepened, the car skidded to a halt as James slammed the brakes. The force propelled Mia and Darren forward, and the back of her head almost hit the seat. James was still in a state of shock. “That was close. I almost ran into a Dog….”He turned around and said, “ Boss, here we are….Eh” James was startled. He didn’t realise what Darren and Mia were doing until now. His face flushed with Embarrassment, and he quickly turned away. Darren took a deep breath and looked at James as he tried controlling his raging hormones. “You're an excellent driver, James.”Then
A beam of sunlight fell on Mia’s face. She winced and rubbed her eyes, and realised that it was already morning. Her throat was dry, and there was a dull pounding at her temples. It appeared that she was drunk the previous night. Mia scratched at her messy hair and padded to the bathroom una daze, intending to freshen herself up. When she faced the mirror, however, she was horrified to find her chest and neck dotted with red Marks, which were decidedly not insect bites. “Darren Edward!” Mia screamed at the top of her lungs, her face burning. “You called for your husband?” Darren said as he sauntered to the bathroom. A thin sheen of sweat covered his sculpted face, and his grey shirt was damp at the chest. “What did you do to me last night?” Mia demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Darren raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the hickeys around her neck. “You’re seriously asking me what I did to you? Shouldn’t you be asking what you did to me? You started it al, yo
The following week, Mia took precautions to avoid running into Sam, but kept on hinting at her from time to time. One morning, she went to the convenience store downstairs to buy some coffee. As she waited in line, two women glanced at her and started whispering to each other. “ isn’t that the woman from the design department who hooks up with Sam?” “ yeah I think so!” Mia overhead, the loud whispering and frowned deeply. “ What are you about?” The two women were shocked by her sudden confrontation. They quickly shook their heads and smelled and embarrassedly. “ not nothing we mistook you for someone else, that’s all.”But that wasn’t the last Mia heard of this. She soon realised that someone from the design department must have spread pleasant rumours about her and Sam. And those rumours spread like wildfire. Some colleagues who used to be nice to mua even started to keep their distance from her. Previously, Mia was viewed as a well mannered, kind young woman in the design dep
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