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
Pamela eyed Mia warily. She never would’ve thought that Mia would see to make a scene in public. “You lunatic! How dare you record me? I was having a private conversation with a colleague! This is an invasion of my privacy!” She was so anxious that her voice turned shrill. As she berated Mia, she tried to grab the phone from her. But Mia acted quickly and dodged her advance. Looking at Pamela sharply, she says, “you defamed me first. I’m going to call Mr. Sam right now. We can confront each other in his presence.” Then she walked out of the tea room and went straight to the director's office. She knocked on the door politely and announced, “Mr. Sam, it’s Mia.” Sam snickered, thinking that Mia had come around so soon. “Come in. What’s up? He asked, feigning a concerned expression. Mia opened the door and smiled slightly. “Mr Sam, could you come out here please? There’s an emergency you need to deal with.” Was she actually asking him for help? Awesome. Sam cleared his throat and
Ever since Sam was forced to clarify his relationship with Mia in public, he had stopped calling her into his office every now and then, or hitting on her like before. Mia felt that he had probably given up and was gradually relieved about it. It was Saturday tomorrow, and she was looking forward to it. She had planned to buy some fruits and call the investigator after work. She had been hearing nice info from the investigator about the whole process. As soon as Mia turned off her computer Sam called her from behind. “Sam, don't rush off work. Pack your things and come with me. Well go out for dinner later, and it will be considered overtime. The company will offer you extra payment for it.” MIA bit her lip; she had an inkling about the dinner. “Mr Sam, what kind of dinner is it? Is anyone else joining us?” Sam calmly looked around and said, “Everyone has left. Only you’re here. I can’t ask anyone else to join us can l? I just received the news that there's a chance to win this
“Help, help! He’s trying to rape me” Mia grasped the door frame and shouted desperately. Sam held her wrist tightly and dragged her into the room. Despite struggling with all her might, helpless tears rolled down her cheeks as she screamed until her voice grew hoarse. However, no one responded to her pleas. Then, a flicker of hood ignited in her heart when she caught a glimpse of a waiter pushing a dining cart down the corridor in the distance. Hoping against hope that the waiter could help her, she shouted with all of her might, “help! This man’s trying rape me! Please help me! Please help me! Call the police! Please!” The waiter paused and glanced at her as she desperately called for his help. However his eyes were cold, and then he proceeded to walk away as though he hadn’t seen or heard anything, disappearing behind the corners of the corridor. “Shut up already, people here don't meddle in our business even if they see it. After all, they’ve seen too much of it. So be a good
Darren led Mia into the elevator. She kept her head down and her haves were clasped tightly together. She was still trembling. Her breathing was also faster than normal. All of a sudden, Darren lifted the black cap he put in her head. Mia looked up in a panic. Warm tears had already welled in her eyes. Her long lashes were wet and shiny. This made her look pitiful and beautiful at the same time. “Are you hurt?” A faint gleam of pity flickered in his eyes as he checked her body. He pinched her cheeks and stared at them for a while. Next, he reached down to lift her clothes with the intentions of checking waist. Mia quickly held her clothes down with both gave. Her face flushed and she shifted uneasily. “Please don’t do that I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” she said in a low voice. Afterwards, she kept silent again. She looked depressed with her head lowered. Darren sensed her uneasiness and fright. To put her ease, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
Just as Darren was about to walk out of the bedroom, Mia, wearing nothing but bath towel, came out of the bedroom and met his gaze. The two looked at each other wordlessly for a moment. Darren then slipped one hand into his trouser pocket, while the other hand was holding a mug. Nobody spoke for what seemed like an eternity. Darren, truth be told, was stunned speechless. His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he gulped excitedly. He was much taller than Mia, so he could clearly see cleavage peeking from above the bath towel. When Mia realized what he was looking at, she blushed a bright red and tried to rush into her room, intending to pretend that nothing had happened. But the corridor wasn’t that big. It only took Darren two steps to grab her by the wrist and pull her into his arms from behind. The woman’s skin was smooth and supple subconsciously making him want to caress it. “Honey, you shouldn’t dress like this and walk around,” he teased in a low voice, deliberately poking fun of
The next day, Mai went to work. Her stomach churned with unease the entire time. She knew that Sam wouldn’t spare her for what happened last night. As soon as she arrived at her desk and sat down, Sam stormed out of his office and threw a stack of documents on her table. “You are fired! Pack your things and get out of here now!” Mia picked up the documents and looked at them. They were all designs drafts she had previously submitted. “May u know why you’re firing me, Mr. Sam?” She asked calmly. There was still a band aid on the bridge of his nose to cover the injury he had suffered last night. His eyes were blazing with rage. Mias words reminded him of the way he was humiliated last night. “You’re incompetent for your current position!” He said venomously. “Pack your things and get out if the Preston group. You’re just a graduate. I’ll make sure you don’t flourish in the fashion field, ever. As long as I’m in the industry, you won’t be able to get a job, let alone succeed in your c
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