"Go and visit that woman." Jaime ordered after a pause.

Samantha held back the urge to hurl curses at the man in front of her. All he knew was to order people around and she doubted he could do anything on his own. What did he think she was, his stupid little minion?

"You mean your mother. Why don't you pay her a visit?" She threw the responsibility back at him, not intending to be associated with Alyssa in the slightest.

"She's not my mother. I don't have a mother." He sucked in a breath and Samantha shrugged.

"She is no one's mother. Oh, right. She's probably Desmond's. That guy would do anything for her."

Jaime huffed and let out a laugh. His blood boiled just thinking about her. "A whore who cheated on my father, I would never acknowledge her as my mother."

Samantha frowned. While she disliked Alyssa, she would never appreciate another woman being referred to as a whore, and she was irked by her brother's unfiltered mouth.

"Is it about seeking justice for your father? What father, huh? The one who also cheated on his wife or the one whose life you planned to take?" She asked through a laugh to hide the disgust she felt deep inside.

"I did not plan to kill anyone. Get your facts right, little Sam." He laughed and looked at her like she was still the little sister he used to cradle and give candy to. "Besides, it's my business. Stay out of it."

She took a deep breath and gave a fake smile, one that hid her intentions. The only way to trample over Jaime was to pretend that he was in control, so she could only hold back her true thoughts and keep humoring him.

"I will make her pay for it." She heard him guffaw once again after thinking about heaven knows what.

'And I will make you pay for it'. She thought, the smile still pasted on her red lips like the supportive sister she was pretending to be.

…

"I have to go." Zaria said to Desmond who had her trapped between his arms on his lap.

"Just a little longer." He pleaded while he continued nuzzling his nose against her neck.

"I'll be late." She said, glancing down at the time on his watch since he had his hand around her waist. In truth, she was already certain that she would be late. The meeting at Royal Hotel would start at 4 pm. It was already 2 pm and it would take her two hours to go to Luxenville by train.

"So what? No one will have anything to say about it." His matter-of-fact tone was as arrogant as ever.

"No one would have the balls to utter a peep even if you are an hour late." She stated, and when he hummed in agreement, she pinched his wrist. "That's you. I would get cursed at if I arrived a minute late."

"No one will curse at you." He insisted as he pulled her so her back was almost plastered onto his chest. Before she could frown at him, he added, "You can take my helicopter. Shall I call the pilot over?"

"What?" She thought she had heard him wrong.

"I'll call him over." He went ahead and made a call without letting go of her, and when he was done, he pulled her back into place and rested his chin on her shoulder. "There's still ten minutes before he arrives."

Zaria was helpless. "Why are you acting this way?"

"Isn't that your fault?" She felt his chin move as he spoke to accuse her.

"How is it my fault?" She asked, feeling relieved that no one had the audacity to enter the CEO's office without knocking. Otherwise, it would not be good if anyone saw their current posture.

"Your scent is so addictive and you feel so nice to hug that I don't want to let go. Whose fault is that?" He shamelessly pointed the finger at her.

She knew that arguing with him was not a sane option, so she let him be. "You don't mind me working then, do you? I still need to go over the details needed for the meeting. Just making sure I didn't miss anything out."

"Go on." He shifted so she would be more comfortable. As long as she was within his line of sight and he could hold her in his arms, it didn't matter what she was doing. It gave him a sudden idea.

When the helicopter arrived, he led her to the top of the building where he once again hugged her endlessly and only let go when she threatened to ignore him if he continued being clingy.

He wanted to suggest going to Luxenville with her, but when he heard her threat, he did not dare to take the risk of getting ignored. He could only grit his teeth and let her go, immediately missing her presence.

He frowned at whatever was happening with him. What was with these overly infatuated emotions? He was not a teenager experiencing the first awakening of love.

Zaria thought about her father's reaction when Liam gave her a ferrari and wondered how he would react if he happened to bump into her leaving her boss's helicopter. Even though she knew that the chances of that happening were so thin, how would she ever explain herself if it happened?

Luckily, her worries were unfounded and she got to the conference room of Regal Hotel with two minutes to spare.

The interested parties had already submitted their proposals as well as the benefits they had to offer several days ago, so the meeting was only meant to announce which company had offered the highest benefits.

She crossed her fingers as the elderly yet energetic gray-haired man rambled on About Regal Hotel—all of which were things she knew thanks to her remarkable investigation skills. Her phone vibrated and she wanted to ignore it, but when the screen lit up with [Handsome Boss] displayed, she clicked her tongue and couldn't help secretly peeking at the content.

"Good luck." It was a pair of words that sounded impossible coming from him, and she cleared her throat to prevent a smile from surfacing.

More than the surprise, she wondered how he had accessed her phone and when the hell he had changed his contact name from "Asshole Boss" to "Handsome Boss". How narcissistic.

"So we have decided that the company that deserves most to be the new owner of Regal Hotel is Preston and Fort Group." The patriarch of the Su family announced, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She was not entirely surprised since she had worked hard enough to know that she had high chances of winning, but her heart still flooded in joy when she heard the elderly man's words.

"Could the representative of the said company come with me. I will show you around." The man quickly discarded the other representatives, not intending to keep them since he had already announced the decision after an in-depth discussion with his family.

"I object!" Came the stern voice of a woman dressed in a black suit as she stood up. "How can…"

"I have gone through all of your proposals. If you did not impress me enough on paper when you had all the time to draft a satisfactory proposal, what makes you think you can impress me now?" The man shut her up instantly, leaving the other representatives no choice but to give up.

Zaria made her way to the elderly man and he gave her the contract. "Read it at your own pace and sign it when you are ready."

"Thank you. I will send you the cheque as soon as I sign the contract." She was almost unable to contain her excitement and had to try her best to remain sane.

The elderly man led her into the elevator.

"Let's start from the top floor, shall we?" He offered, but before she responded, he added, "Of course, you can choose to skip this. I can send you all the information about the hotel or you can send someone to check it out on your behalf."

He knew that it was tiresome and time-consuming—another reason why he had ensured the meeting did not take longer than necessary.

"I will check it out on my own, thank you." Putting aside the fact that she was being cautious in case of hidden flaws, this was Patriarch Su, one of the most respected men in the republic, and he was offering to tour her around. She would be a fool if she rejected this kind of chance.

"What's your position in Preston and Fort Group?" He asked to strike a conversation as they took the elevator to the top floor.

"I'm the CEO's assistant," She replied.

The man hummed. "He's got himself a smart assistant this time. The lucky devil." There was something strange in his tone, and before she could figure it out, he dropped another question. "Girl, what's your surname?"