"Sir, I don't know you. You probably got the wrong person." Calla immediately pretended not to know Mercer.Mercer glared at her without saying anything for a few seconds. Calla felt like his gaze was very sharp. It was like a knife that instantly pierced through her clothes and saw right through her.For some reason, the memories of the night of passion they shared came back to her. Her cheeks were flushed immediately. "You're so heartless. You forgot about me as soon as you pulled up your pants? Have you forgotten about all the fun we had?" Mercer brushed his fingers through her hair and looked at her with a taunting look.Then, the elevator arrived at the 20th floor. Calla felt like she had been humiliated. So, she raised her hand and slapped him in the face.Mercer didn't expect her to slap him, so he was stunned. Before he could snap out of it, Calla shoved him with all her strength and pushed him out of the elevator. Then, she walked out of the elevator and ran away
Atlas Enterprises held its first employees' meeting for the first time since moving to Riverford at 9:30 am the following day.Only the retained employees from the branch office and the staff of the headquarters' functional departments attended the meeting, but all the seats in the large conference room were still taken.There were at least a couple hundred people there. There were flowers arranged alongside the nameplates of the executives on the platform. It was clear that the company cared about the meeting.Calla and Alicia sat further in the back while Peggy sat in the first row. She loved attention, so she would probably make the most of this chance to find a target with whom to establish a connection."Let us welcome the CEO of Atlas Enterprises, Mr. Mercer Garland, and the other executives!" Thunderous applause erupted in the room after the emcee finished talking. "Is that Mr. Garland? He looks so young and handsome!" The two female employees talking behind Calla were
Calla had no choice. She didn't dare to ignore Mercer's summon.She entered Mercer's office uneasily after a few minutes. He was seated in his chair and looking at a document. It was like he didn't even notice she was there.Calla took a deep breath as she looked at him. She tried to remain calm as she said, "You were asking for me, Mr. Garland?"She immediately gave him an unnatural smile when he raised his head. He was probably very angry because she'd slapped him the day before.She figured he probably called her over to exact revenge or to fire her.Although she didn't like him at all, she needed the job very badly. She composed herself and decided to admit defeat. After all, she was desperate. His gaze was sharp and icy as he scrutinized her from top to toe.It was the same gaze he had the day before. It annoyed Calla a little. It caused her to think about their night together, which made her blush.But she could only hold in her displeasure.She thought to herself, 'Doe
Mercer continued to walk toward Calla, and she continued to move back.Then, she felt the couch behind her with her heel, and she dropped down and sat on a single-seat couch.Mercer quickly put his hands on the couch's armrests and leaned in toward her. Calla looked at him with a terrified expression and stammered, "What… What do you want?"Mercer looked at Calla, who was like a frightened bunny at the moment. Then, he said in a suggestive tone, "I remember you said that my skills were lacking. I have been practicing very hard for the past month. "I've finally reached a whole new level. So, I've called you over to ask you to experience it again. I'd like to see if my skills have grown to an acceptable level for you—since you paid me so little last time."His warm breath brushed against her skin and caused her to panic."Mr. Garland, we're at the office right now," Calla reminded him loudly. "Are you saying that we should go back to the Grand Hill Hotel again?" Mercer said in
This time, a huge group of people had also gathered next to the elevators. Calla had no choice but to go to the freight elevator so she wouldn't be late.Luckily, there wasn't any cargo in the elevator this time. She pressed the button for the 20th floor, and the door was about to close.A man in a black coat rushed into the elevator abruptly. Calla frowned when she saw him. She lamented her bad luck inwardly. Why was it him again? Why did a CEO like him take the freight elevator? Was he doing it on purpose?Mercer saw the frown on her face. So, he asked, "Do you not want to see me?""That's not it. I'm just curious why you stopped chatting up the front desk admin so quickly." There was a tinge of mockery in her tone. Mercer smiled when he heard that. "What are you laughing at?" Calla had a bad feeling when she saw the smile."You're jealous," Mercer said as he stared straight at her."Why… Why would I be jealous? You must be kidding!" Calla said angrily.Mercer took a s
"W-What are you doing here?" Calla exclaimed in shock as she eyed Mercer.Mercer grabbed Calla by the wrist and led her out of the ultrasound room."Let go! Where are you taking me?" Calla screeched as she tried to break free from him, to no avail.Mercer dragged her to a quiet stairwell before releasing her."Mr. Garland, can you please show a little more respect to your employees?" Calla snapped as she massaged her wrist. It was hurting from his tight grip.Mercer took out a document and raised it in front of her.After taking a look at it, she was dumbfounded."That's… Why is it with you?" Calla asked sheepishly.It was a copy of her ultrasound report from her last trip to the hospital, and it included her pregnancy results. She recalled stuffing it into her bag back then, but it ended up disappearing somehow."You had a colleague named Jeanne Duran, right? She brought this document to the HR department to report you," Mercer stated.Calla had a realization. She now knew w
After leaving the hospital, Calla stood by the roadside and tried to flag down a cab.However, a black Bentley shot out from behind and came to a sudden halt beside her.Alarmed, Calla jumped backward. Immediately after that, she saw Mercer coming down from the backseat of the car.She wanted to flee, but he grabbed her shoulder before she could."How dare you trick me?" Mercer fumed."I… wouldn't dare to, of course! My stomach stopped hurting, so I…" Calla attempted to stammer out an explanation.Out of nowhere, Mercer fixed his gaze on her and declared, "Let's get married!"Calla stared at him in disbelief.What was going on? That wasn't how she envisioned things playing out between them. Shouldn't he be tossing a check or a debit card to her and instructing her to deal with the pregnancy herself?"Married? Don't joke like that. I might actually believe you," Calla said. She firmly believed he was kidding around and didn't mean what he said.Plenty of women would kill to ma
Calla combed through the terms of the prenuptial agreement."Once married, the husband (henceforth 'Party A') and wife (henceforth 'Party B') shall abide by the following terms."1. During the marriage, Party A shall bear all expenses incurred by Party B and Party B's child."2. In the event of a divorce, Party A shall give Party B a property of at least 1,600 square feet in size as well as a sum of 2 million in cash. Party B shall not be entitled to any of Party A's assets."3. During the marriage, Party B shall refrain from engaging in overly intimate interactions with the opposite sex."4. Party B shall cooperate with Party A in portraying themselves as an exemplary married couple."5. In the event of a divorce, Party A shall retain full custody of the child."Calla was Party B in the agreement, and after understanding the terms, she figured out the gist of the situation. By marrying Mercer, she would be able to live a life of luxury, but if they ever divorced, she would lose