The boy's family was wealthy and desperate; their son had a crucial exam the next day but had barricaded himself in a presidential suite at the Outlets Hotel after a fight. They begged Jade, his tutor, to deliver his books and a last-minute study guide to the hotel.
When Jade reached the presidential floor, she was startled by a fierce argument echoing from an open doorway. She tried to hurry past, but a man in a military uniform suddenly lunged out and grabbed her wrist. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was a jagged rasp: "Don't leave... I'm on leave, and, nobody is going to stop me!"
Jade was hauled into the suite, and the heavy door slammed shut. The man had clearly been drugged; his skin was burning, and he was losing control. Despite Jade's frantic pleading and struggles, he wouldn't let her go, groaning,
"Help me, I'll give you anything you want!"
It wasn't until dawn that the man finally collapsed into a deep sleep. Shaking and in pain, Jade slipped out. On her way, she spotted a small military ID card on the carpet. It read: Colonel Mark Di-Young.
After hearing the story, Evelyn sat on the edge of the hotel bed, rubbing her temples. Why does every first time in our group have to be so traumatic?
"Which room, Jade? I'm going to find him." Evelyn stood up, her face set in fury.
"No, Evelyn..what's the point? To make him take responsibility? I just want to rest." Jade looked hollow, her energy completely spent.
"Okay. Go take a bath and try to sleep." Evelyn tucked her in, burning the name Mark Di-Young into her memory. One day, she would settle this debt for her friend.
Evelyn arrived at the Company just two minutes before her shift, but the design department was eerily silent. Every head turned as she walked in. The air was thick with disgust and whispered contempt.
She checked her reflection in a glass partition, her uniform was straight, her hair was neat. What is going on?
As she approached her desk, she saw someone already sitting in her chair. The chair swiveled around, revealing not a colleague, but Eleanor Thorn.
"Madam Thorn? Why are you here so early?" Evelyn felt a cold sweat break out.
"A cheap thing has infiltrated my son's company," Eleanor said, her voice loud enough to carry across the entire floor. "As his mother, it is my duty to lighten his burden by removing the trash."
"Madam Thorn, you keep calling me 'a cheap slut and thing' isn't that a bit too much? Have I seduced anyone for you to label me as such?" Evelyn questioned, finally understanding the source of her colleagues' glares.
"Oh? Then let me clarify for everyone," Eleanor stood up, her voice booming. "My son, Michael, has a fiancée in the UK Erica Jones. This woman, Evelyn, pesters him every day with her schemes. Am I wrong to call her a seductress?"
The whispers exploded around them:
"So that's how a drama major gets into the Jewelry design Department."
"I thought she was sleeping with Dominic, but she's actually aiming for the President?"
"Shameless. If it weren't true, why would the President's mother come here personally?"
Evelyn's face burned.
"I respect you as Michael's mother, but an elder should act like one. Please leave, Eleanor. I have work to do." She reached for her ID badge, trying to maintain her dignity.
"Who wants your respect? Get out of this company! Or should I have security drag you through the lobby?" Eleanor grabbed Evelyn's wrist, pulling her toward the exit.
Just then, Dominic appeared at the door, holding a phone with a grim expression. "Madam Thorn, the President is on the line."
Eleanor froze, her eyes narrowing as she took the phone.
"As the mother of the CEO, do you not care about your own public image?" Michael's icy voice poured through the speaker. He was clearly furious at the spectacle she was making.
"You're taking her side against your own mother?!" Eleanor hissed, but she finally let go of Evelyn's arm and walked away to continue the argument in private.
The rest of the day was a nightmare. Her colleagues isolated her completely. The senior staff, taking their cue from Eleanor, dumped a week's worth of work on her desk.
By 8:00 PM, the office was a ghost town. Evelyn sat alone under the humming fluorescent lights, her eyes stinging as she stared at the mountain of design sketches and paperwork. The silence finally broke her and a single tear escaped, followed by a sob.
Her phone rang. It was Michael.
She wiped her eyes, taking a shaky breath. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Michael had heard from Dominic that she was still at the office.
"At the company. Just finishing up." She began packing her bag with one hand, her voice thick.
There was a long pause on the other end. "Evelyn... are you crying?"
Michael was thousands of miles away, but he could hear her heartbreak through the phone.
"No... the air conditioning was just too cold today. I caught a chill," Evelyn lied, her voice thick with a sob she couldn't quite suppress. She forced a smile that felt more like a grimace, telling herself she had to be strong.
"Woman, do you think I'm stupid?" Michael sounded displeased, his sharp intuition seeing right through her.
"When are you coming back?" Evelyn changed the subject, packing her things with trembling hands. She traded her stiff office blazer for a casual jacket as she walked toward the exit.
"Do you miss me?" The huskiness in his tone made her face heat up instantly.
"I don't..." She wiped her eyes with a tissue and tossed it into a bin, stepping out into the cool night.
"You don't? I'll wait."
Michael stood on his hotel balcony, a lighter clicking as he lit a cigarette. He looked out over the city skyline, a dark silhouette of power. "Evelyn... why are you so stubborn?"
"Michael Thorn, why are you so annoying!" she huffed, the spark of a playful argument momentarily distracting her from the day's misery.
"You hate me? Careful," he warned, a dangerous edge to his voice. "When I get back, I'll deal with you."
Evelyn kicked a loose stone on the pavement, watching the city lights. Despite the bullying at the office and Eleanor's cruelty, she realized that Michael had been her shield since the moment they met. "Michael, it's actually nice to have your protection." She whispered.
"You are my wife. Who else should I protect? Other women?" He joked, but it triggered a flurry of indignant protests from Evelyn.
"You dare! You big flirt! If you protect anyone else, I'll... I'll break your legs and go out with another man!" She thought of his "fiancée" Erica Jones and the women at the company. She was still waiting for an explanation, even if their marriage was just a contract.
"If you dare hang out with another man, you won't be getting out of bed for a month," he countered.
"Can you stop being so shameless?"
"I am only shameless when it comes to you."
Suddenly, a sharp knock sounded on Michael's hotel door. Evelyn heard a woman's high-pitched, giggling voice through the receiver: "Mr. Thorn, we're here to keep you company..."
Evelyn's blood turned to ice. "Oh, I see! Mr. Thorn is quite busy in his 'beauty nest' on a business trip?"
Michael's eyes turned lethal as he saw two scantily clad women at his door, a "gift" from a business riva. "Get out!" he roared, his cold aura sending the women scrambling down the hall in terror.
"Get out? Fine, I'm hanging up!" Evelyn snapped and ended the call. She felt a surge of renewed grievance. She was back home being called a "lowly thing" while her husband had "flowers" blooming at his hotel door!
Michael called back immediately, but she declined.
Michael, realizing his wife was truly fuming, sent a quick message: Evie, calm down. I'll make amends when I return.
That was enough to half-muffle her rage. She rested on a roadside bench, her feet aching from the long walk. When the phone rang again, she answered.
"Wife!"
"Oh, so you remember you have one? How were the sisters? Ready to serve you?"
"They're gone, Evelyn. I only have eyes for you." He was already typing away at his laptop, determined to finish his work early and fly home.
"Better be. I'm sitting here in the cold while you're being pampered. It's so bitter."
"Bitter? I'll satisfy you the moment I step through the door."
"Michael! Is our marriage just a search for a fixed bed partner for you? Where is your high-cold CEO image?"
"You said you were alone in an empty room, are you blaming me for not being there?"
Evelyn stayed on the line for another thirty minutes, the bickering acting as a strange comfort until she reached the hotel. Her phone died just as she saw a man in a military uniform pass her by in the lobby.
Wait! Jade!
She realized she hadn't eaten. She grabbed a pizza and some juice, then hurried back to the suite. Jade was sitting by the window, looking lost.
"Jade, eat something." Evelyn opened the boxes. "Once you're finished, we're going to find that man. He needs to take responsibility. If Michael can be good to me, maybe this soldier will be good to you!"
"I don't want to go," Jade whispered, her face flushing as she remembered the night. "If I force him to be responsible, it won't be real."
"Nonsense! He's a soldier, they have to be committed!" Evelyn, completely forgetting she had initially tried to run away from Michael, dragged Jade toward the elevator.
They reached the presidential floor. The hallway was silent, the carpet muffled their footsteps as they approached the room of Colonel Mark Di-Young.