Chapter 3

Lianne had just found out her CEO was married. Judging by the tender smile on the CEO’s face at the mention of his wife, Lianne assumed that her boss and his wife were happily married. The man had the money, the looks, and the body. Still, his devotion was to his wife. Lianne had a newfound respect for her boss. Lianne gave it some thought and replied from an ordinary girl’s perspective, “Mr. Atlas, while diamonds and jewelry are a girl’s best friend, it’s the thought that counts. How about you buy her flowers and take her for dinner or a movie?” Zane had no dating experience. Since he was married to the girl, he wanted to give the best to her. “Okay. Go ahead and make that happen.” Upon receiving the instruction, Lianne contacted the florist that the Atlas Group often worked with and picked a bouquet of fiery red roses representing love. As for a suitable venue for dinner and a movie, no job was too hard for Lianne, despite her zero experience in dating. For her to climb up the corporate ladder and now report directly to the CEO, Lianne had made unimaginable sacrifices. She made a note of the specialties of all fine-dining restaurants in Rosewood, distinguishing the venues for dates and business dinners with clients. Lianne also remembered the preference of all the clients the company had a contract with. After delivering the roses and the address for the date to the CEO’s office, Lianne came to the end of her shift. The work today may have appeared easy and gone on without a hitch, but only Lianne knew how much of a mental strain she had put herself through today. Her tense nerves were relieved once she arrived home. Lianne listlessly collapsed on the sofa and fell asleep in a daze. … Zane arrived outside Lianne’s neighborhood. He was about to ring Lianne when he realized that he did not have his wife’s contact number. He beat himself up about ditching his newlywed wife right after getting their marriage license, neglecting her for a whole year, and now failing to save her phone number. Zane promised himself that he would only do right by her from now on. He searched for a phone number in his chat history with his grandmother and called it. A soft and dazed voice, as if the person had just woken up, came on the other end. “Hello. Who is this?” Did his wife not save his number, either? Zane curled his lips. “Caleb Hill.” “Hi, Mr. Hill. What can I help you with?” She sounded courteous but distant as if she did not recognize him. A man’s voice was heard in the background before Zane could say anything. “Babe, come and eat since you’re up…” Struck by a thought, Zane squinted behind his silver-framed glasses and terminated the call. He turned to the gift box and red roses next to him, finding the gifts an eyesore. Zane looked away and lit a cigarette to take a few puffs before instructing the chauffeur, “To Southhill.” … Lianne was half asleep. With the long hours at work taking up all of her time and effort, it left no space for her marriage. Hence, she had forgotten who Caleb Hill was to her. It was her private number, not the phone number she used for clients, so she did not take the call to heart. Lianne tossed her phone aside and went into the kitchen, squeezing between Sierra Murphy and Tyler Tucker. She uttered sweetly, “Why didn’t you wake me when you came back?” Sierra gave her nose a dab. “You slept like a log. I didn’t have the heart to wake you.” While serving the food, Tyler said, “Wash your hands. Dinner is ready.” The trio grew up and enrolled at Rosewood University together. They planned to start a business back in their hometown upon graduation. No one would have predicted that something would happen to Lianne in the summer of her sophomore year that nearly cost Lianne her education. After the incident, they decided to stay with Lianne and develop their careers in Rosewood. Since graduation, the trio ran a comic studio and shared tenancy in a three-bedroom house. Seeing that they did everything together, they were as thick as thieves. Lianne looked at the table spread. “That’s quite a feast. Did we make a lot of money from the studio?” Tyler poured the girls a glass of red wine. “We know you got promoted to the CEO’s executive assistant, so we prepared a little celebration for you.” Sierra edged closer to Lianne, dying for some gossip. “The CEO of the Atlas Group has never posed for the press, even though he is the ideal man for many of the ladies. Is he too hot to handle?” As a man, Tyler found women shallow. He peevishly uttered, “Money doesn’t translate to beauty. Maybe he’s too hideous to show his face in public.” Lianne smiled and joked with a straight face, “He’s hot, all right. But you should ask his wife whether or not he’s too hot to handle.” Sierra exclaimed, “What? He’s married?” Lianne nodded her head. “Yeah. He’s married and seems to love his wife a lot. He looks familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Sierra answered, “All good-looking men look familiar to you. You have the makings of a player.” Lianne smiled. “I don’t see a problem in becoming a player. At least I won’t have to answer to any of the men.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “Might I remind you that you’re married, my dear?” Sierra immediately refuted. “Married people can have crushes too, you know. Are you expecting Gummy to wait for the jerk who played the disappearing act after getting married?” Gummy was a nickname Tyler and Sierra came up for Lianne. Once, Lianne got wasted from drinking a lot. She lay on the ground and wiggled around like a gummy worm. Lianne shrugged with a straight face. “I don’t need a jerk in my life when I have you.” It had crossed Lianne’s mind to make her marriage work with the man when she first got married. Later, when the man went radio silent, and Sally, who Lianne met a few times before getting the marriage license, had stopped contact too, Lianne dropped the idea. Lianne’s grandmother often brought up her grandson-in-law in their conversations. Marianne intended to come to Rosewood and visit him during the New Year. Sierra and Tyler replied in unison, “That’s right. No jerk is more important than us.” The trio had a pleasant dinner together, chatting and laughing together. Then, they cleared the table and drew comics as a group. Life was beautiful and fulfilling. … The following day, Lianne arrived at the office bright and early. Her new superior had a pretty erratic work schedule, but the job came with double the salary. Of course, Lianne was going to give her 110% into the work. Lianne got out of the taxi and spotted a black Bentley pulling up right outside the office building. She hurried over and opened the door for her boss. “Good morning, Mr. Atlas.” Zane nodded, looking rather upset. Not reading too much into the situation, Lianne followed him to the CEO’s private elevator while reporting his itinerary for the day. Zane had a golf session with the CEO of Jefferson Tech in the morning. By then, Zane was himself and engaged gleefully with Jefferson Tech’s CEO while carrying himself with grace. Nevertheless, Liam and Lianne, who were on standby, got an ominous feeling from their superior. Throughout all the years working alongside Zane, Liam hardly witnessed the CEO in an emotional outburst. Today was one of those rare moments. “Lianne, what do you think happened to Mr. Atlas?” Lianne shook her head. “I wouldn’t know if you don’t.” Tilting his head, Liam racked his brains. There had not been any issues concerning work lately, so the source of the CEO’s troubles must be in his personal life. It then dawned on him. “Don’t tell me… Mr. Atlas didn’t get any from his wife last night.”