Chapter 22The senior management of Hills corp dragged their bodies out of the meeting room tiredly. They had sat there for ten hours straight, since seven in the morning. They were weary in body and in mind, so weary that they didn’t even linger to talk to each other like they usually did. They blamed it on Lewan. The man was so focused on trying to get an emotion out of Ian that he had mentioned how well Mark was doing in recent times due to his engagement with Mava Presley. It was said in casual conversation but Ian took it personal and chaired a ten hour meeting from seven to five.None of the employees were allowed to leave until the meeting ended, no matter what their jobs were. The entire atmosphere of the headquarters of Hills corp was somber and depressing, because one man was in a bad mood. “What’s next on the list?”, Ian asked his assistant, Kevin – the one that made him discover just what would have been happening under his nose if he had gotten married. Kevin swallowed w

Chapter 24Ian didn’t expect her to be able to present anything at all. But she did, and her voice was so convincing that he had half a mind to tell her to become a saleswoman, she would succeed massively. He surmised that she didn’t formulate the proposal on her own, she wouldn’t have chosen to be a biology professor if she was this good at concocting business plans.He had to admit, even without the proposal, Ian would have given in to her demands. It wasn’t that he was jealous of Mark, he just didn’t want the literal bastard having an upper hand over him in any way. So her plan, no matter how strange it was, would ensure that he and Mark had an equal playing field. However, if he was being really honest with himself, he would have given in because of how good she looked. She was eye-candy of the highest variety, like an empress out to defend her throne.He remembered the feeling of absolute shock that descended on him when he realized Ashley was the foxy woman elegantly strutting

Chapter 26Ashley had an upbeat song in the background that made her feel like a foreign princess as she ran down the halls in a billowing red gown Ian had provided. Louis delivered it to her with a wink and she was obsessed with it. Her footsteps matched the tempo of the song as she slid down the library’s round staircase, singing along as the material flowed behind her. Chloe and Christopher would be there in an hour, so she had one hour to get up to her best shenanigans.The servants of the mansion were already used to her exuberance, seeing as none of them batted an eye when they saw a five foot six woman running bare feet in a brilliant red flowing gown.“Try muah muah, try zdaga zdaga”, she sang, and melodramatically flailed against one of the giant bookshelves in the library. It wasn’t everyday a woman got to wear gowns they only dreamed about. The long sleeved silk arms slid against her skin and she felt like a rich heiress, wiggling her arms and whipping her hand around.She

Chapter 28Ian glared at Rita before she even opened her mouth. He knew exactly what she was going to say.She said it anyway."Oh my oh my, you're doing the devil's tango in a wine cellar, how naughty", Rita grinned from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat."Which eye of yours saw us touching each other?", Ashley asked, as annoyed as he felt."You seem to be in that stage where you're giving him directions", Rita winked."We're literally not touching", Ashley said, falling back on the pillow across from him."Hey Ashley, what did I miss?", Yu Zhen strolled down in an emerald green blazer with his dress shirt unbuttoned to his navel yet again. "They were having sex", Rita said, strolling down the staircase and taking a bottle on her way."Drop it you thief-""We were not having sex, we will never have sex-""Don't sound so sure Ash, and don't be so stingy Ian", Rita chastised like a mother. Ashley threw a pillow at her in annoyance. It hit her head with a plop and she scowled."Why are yo

Chapter 30Ian had gotten his confirmation. It hadn't even been planned, he was busy brooding, but it seemed her being asleep lulled him to sleep too, and it was a worriless sleep.A perfect two hours. He woke up feeling much better than he had in an entire month. What was it about her that made his insomnia go away? Was it the fact that she always looked so peaceful sleeping that tricked his subconscious? He didn't know it was even possible to get sleep in the evening. It was always something he heard of people doing, but never himself. She could sleep anywhere. She especially loved cars.Now that he knew she wasn't what he thought her to be – because no gold digger would voluntarily give out that kind of money every month – he didn't know how he'd convince her to sleep with him. He wasn't picky, just once or twice a week was enough to atleast elongate his wonky lifespan by two years. He wished Rita hadn't gone into law. The conglomerate could under no circumstances fall into Mark'