Chapter 5 She's Not Leaving

Maurice's POV:

The next day, I left the villa in my Maybach.

I leaned against the backseat, closed my eyes, and pinched the bridge of my nose. What happened five years ago came back to my memory.

During the past five years, I had worn a simulation mask to evade Gerald Moran's spies whenever I went to the Imperial Golden Club. Only a very small number of people knew about that secret.

So how did that woman recognize me?

"Mr. Moran," Corbin Jenkins, my assistant who was sitting in the passenger seat, called my attention. "I've gotten something on her. Her name is Eliana Pierce, and she just joined the Moran Group yesterday. Gabrielle, the Design Department director, took her out last night to meet with a client."

"What else?" I opened my eyes and asked impatiently.

Corbin turned around and said, "That's all I got for now, boss. It's strange, though. I can't find anything on her before she got hired at the company."

I sneered, "Someone must've deliberately concealed her past."

And I guessed that the person who had hidden Eliana's identity was Gerald.

Over the years, Gerald had taken painstaking efforts to deal with me.

Eliana's POV:

I sat up and put a hand on my aching head. I was nursing a killer hangover.

I looked around and found myself in an extremely luxurious private room.

The bright wall reflected my disheveled look and smudged lipstick.

I put a hand over my mouth as memories of last night came flooding in.

The gigolo! The stranger I slept with five years ago!

He was here last night, and we made out.

I quickly looked down to check myself, and I almost burst into relieved tears when I realized that I was still fully clothed.

I would settle scores with that man some other day. For now, I had to go home.

I opened the door of the private room.

There were two waiters standing outside the door. They just glanced at me and then looked away.

I left the Imperial Golden Club in a hurry.

I went home, took a shower and got dressed. Afterwards, I kissed Adrian and Aileen goodbye while they were still asleep. Then, I hightailed it to the Moran Group.

I hadn't forgotten what Gabrielle had done last night.

It wasn't like she had no choice. She deliberately pimped me out to a perverted client and then hung me out to dry.

When I arrived at the office, I ran into Gabrielle near the meeting room.

"Miss Aston," I called and marched toward her.

Gabrielle was stunned for a moment. Then, she raised her eyebrows and began, "I told you to take care of Antwan so that he'd cooperate with us, but what did you do, huh? Antwan is an important client of the Moran Group. Now that you've offended him, will you compensate for the loss you've caused the company?"

The more she spoke, the louder her voice became. She even poked me with one of her pointy, manicured nails.

I grabbed her wrist and hissed, "Why did you get me drunk and leave me with Antwan? Is that how you pitch your projects to potential clients?"

Our colleagues who were standing nearby collectively gasped.

Gabrielle instantly turned red with fury and shame. She shook off my grip and started screaming, "Don't slander me, Eliana! You were the one who wouldn't stop drinking and flirting with Antwan! You ungrateful little... You know what, you're fired! Get out of my sight!"

Although I was rattled, I kept my face neutral. I couldn't get fired. I couldn't leave the Moran Group like this. "No. I won't leave."

"Well, it's not up to you." Gabrielle raised her chin and stalked toward me. "Leave or I will call security and tell them to throw you out."

"She's not leaving," a strong male voice announced.

Everyone around stopped whispering among themselves, and Gabrielle turned her head to look at the newcomer.

I also turned and saw a man striding toward us.