Chapter 1 First Meeting

A masquerade had taken place in the Rose Hotel.

Sitting alone in the corner of the room, Lavender Jiang took off her ten centimeter heels and rubbed her swollen feet. The lack of better air circulation suffocated her to no end. After sitting for so long, she could already see her surroundings start to blur. In an effort to get some more air, she removed her mask.

Just as she had done so, a middle-aged man came over. His bulging belly was out in display, and his bald head glinted under the chandelier. Knowing his intention, Lavender Jiang quickly leaned back against the sofa and pretended to sleep. She had used this method several times to avoid disgusting old men, and it always worked like a charm.

"Miss, miss!" the man called for her several times, but she didn't answer.

His shameless grin soon faltered. "If you're just going to sleep here, then you might as well go home, bitch!" he cursed and left.

Hearing the man's retreating footsteps, she slowly opened her eyes. The man soon found his next target. He quickly wrapped his gigantic arms around the woman wearing an angel mask. Her bodice left nothing to the imagination as it outlined her slim and curvy figure. His hands wandered around her waist, and the woman responded with a flirty smile. Without another word, the two headed towards the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd.

Sighing, Lavender Jiang straightened her dress and gazed at the brilliantly lit hall.

She could see men and women flirting and laughing with no inhibitions. In a place like this, no one was looking for commitment.

It was a great place to indulge in one's fantasies and lust. Here, love was nonexistent.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared from the corner of her eyes. A man in black appeared on the sofa beside the dance floor.

From her direction, she could only see one side of his face.

The man was wearing a silver fox mask that covered half of his face. Only his sexy thin lips were seen under the shadows of the mask. He hold a glass of wine as sprawling on the sofa. A thought occurred to him, and the corners of his lips raised slightly. Then he hooked his fingers at the handle and spun the red wine in the glass.

Feeling her gaze, the man turned.

Lavender Jiang prepared for this reaction. She raised her glass and nodded at him with a smile.

However, when her eyes met his, she could feel her hands trembling at the sight. In fact, she almost spilled her red wine.

She had never seen such cold and deep eyes before. There was something about his piercing gaze that made her skin crawl. It seemed that the gentle smile on his lips was nothing more than some illusion.

The next moment, however, the man turned his head and never looked her way again. Then he raised his head and downed the wine in his glass. Lavender Jiang pursed her lips.

'Who is this man? Why does he look so different from the others?'

This was actually the first time that she had been treated like this when invited someone to drink. A bitter smile slithered its way into her face.

That was fine. Nobody knew who she was, so she couldn't care less what the man had thought of her.

Holding her breath, she drained her glass of wine in one sitting. She could already see the whole room brightening from the amount of alcohol that she had taken. The wine was sweet to the tongue, like melted honey, yet she still felt anything but. Lavender Jiang had never expected that she would work in a place like this, but reality had planned otherwise. The real world was not meant for ordinary people like her.

The wine was strong. Putting down the glass, she felt like her surroundings blur once more as she leaned against the sofa.

"Redden the lips, prove him wrong. We live in an empty city–"

A familiar melody echoed throughout the room. She subconsciously grabbed her phone, only to see that no one was calling her. Her gaze floated across the masked man.

What a coincidence! They shared the same ringtone.

Looking at the man intently, she knew that it was impossible for him not to notice her gaze. However, that man just smiled, with mockery on his lips. Lavender then held her phone tightly and turned her head with a huff.

Just as she had done so, her phone rang out. It was the same echo as the previous one. Her cheeks flushed.

The man turned to look at her. There was a faint glint in his eyes, and his smirk widened.

An awkward feeling rose in Lavender's heart. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "Hello, Chloe, where are you?"

Feeling his cold gaze directed at her, she couldn't help but steal a glance at the man once more. The man had ignored his phone. Instead, he gazed at her indifferently, as if she was the only one he could see in the ballroom.

Flustered, she turned around once more and tried to focus on her phone. Her fingers trembled as she fitted the mask once more.

Chloe Zhao's boisterous voice made her wince. "You have the nerve to ask me where I am?" she demanded. "I should be the one asking you that! What the hell's wrong with you? Don't you want to be the CEO's secretary?"

Lavender's heart raced in her chest. She blinked rapidly as she tried her best to sound gentle. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Do you want to kill me?" Chloe Zhou snapped. "Mr. Wesley is already here. Now, where are you? Why did it take you so long to go to the bathroom? It's your first day at work, and you're already asking for death!"

"Can't I just quit my job?" She had thought that she would work behind a clear desk inside a quiet office, not in a dance floor.

"Have you seen this place? The environment is just loud!"

"What did you say?" Chloe Zhao almost roared at her. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Would you stop pretending to be so innocent? Do you really want me to kill you? Go to Mr. Wesley now before I lose my mind! Go!"

"Where is he then?" She had only rejected this job on impulse. In reality, Lavender didn't have much of a choice on this matter. She stood up. Her vision was still unsteady. Upon standing, her body shook involuntarily. Her fingers grazed against the empty glass on the tea table.

The glass slipped from the table and broke into pieces.

Lavender's eyes widened. She lost her balance and stepped onto the shards with her bare feet. Pain raked her entire body, and she screamed.

"What's wrong?"

She quickly squatted down and gritted her teeth. Cold sweat beaded down her forehead as she analyzed the damage that the shards had done. Her fingers gripped onto the corner of the tea table. "I–I'm fine," she stuttered out.

"Lavender..." Chloe's voice softened. "Don't be so stubborn, okay? You've graduated. This is all I can do for you. Just go find Mr. Wesley and watch over him. Make sure that he doesn't get drunk."

Wesley Ouyang, 23-year-old, was the new CEO of the OY Group. He had just returned from England. After completing many examinations to test his capabilities and accepting a four-month investigation regarding his work, he officially ascended to his position by the end of May this year.

He was said to be talented and good-looking. In fact, he was even described as 'God's gift to mankind'.

The man was just the same age as her, yet he was already the leader of a multinational company. There were just some people who were destined to shine as bright as the sun. While there were some people who were meant to stay in the shadows. She was obviously the latter.

Regaining her composure, Lavender sighed and dialed Wesley Ouyang's number.

The phone rang for several times, but no one answered. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. However, every time she tried to call, she could hear that familiar melody from the sofa near the dance floor.

'Could it be?'

Although she didn't want to, she turned her head once more.

The silver mask on the man's face shone beautifully under the luminous lights reflected from the dancing floor. He leaned against the sofa and gracefully picked up the phone.

Then, a pleasant and magnetic voice sounded from the other end of the line, "Hello."

Lavender's palms were sweating. After licking her dry lips, she said, "Mr. Wesley."

As if hearing her, the man turned around to glance at her. His eyes glinted. "Lavender, right?"