Devil CEO: Love Comes First

Charm Club was one of the most high-end nightclubs in all of A City, favoring a ground-shaking sound system and dancehall atmosphere where passionate men and women grooved from dusk to dawn. This was a place where everyone got what they craved-total permission to feel elation and the sort of bond that was denied in the coldness of the outside world and beyond.

There were two girls sitting in a corner, a sight which seemed contradictory to the place. This was the first time Shirley Jiang had come to such a place; she preferred a quiet time at home instead of all the noise here. Her eyebrows furrowed with concern as she watched her friend, Chloe Ai, gulping down a few shots of tequila in succession. "Chloe, stop drinking. I think you've had enough for tonight."

"Shirley, you should drink as well! Alcohol is actually a good thing. It can make you forget all your troubles. Cheers!" Chloe was already so drunk that she put a bottle of brandy into Shirley's hand, despite her complaining, and opened another bottle nonchalantly. "You know, guys are stupid. I won't fall for his lies anymore. Bad...guy...I will never love..."

Shirley sighed, as she felt sorry for her poor friend who was trapped in a vicious cycle of love. Why was their path to love so difficult? Chloe resorted to alcohol to heal her freshly broken heart from a failed relationship and the man Shirley had feelings for, was to become her brother-in-law in less than 24 hours. If this was God's plan for the both of them, he was really good at playing tricks on people. If those men weren't meant for them, then why did God allow them to cross paths in the first place? Shirley raised the glass and gazed at its contents, wondering if it could really make her feel better. Would it really work? What if she got drunk for once? Would she forget all her troubles? Dismissing all the questions in her head, Shirley took a deep breath and gulped down the brandy in her glass. Then, she poured herself another drink.

Time flew apace, and the music never stopped, while a continuous stream of people walked in, presumably seeking the same thing as them-some solace from their heartaches. After they had gone through all the bottles they had on the table and Chloe's incoherent slurring stopped making sense, Shirley realized that it was time to go home. Shirley grabbed the table with both hands and somehow stood on her feet. However, when she tried to help Chloe up, she felt a sudden head rush, which forced her back to her seat. Dizzied, she shook her head without a conscious thought, hoping it would sober her up. Then, a familiar figure appeared at the nightclub. Shirley looked up at the person in disbelief, eyes squinting to get a better look. Perhaps she was starting to imagine things because she was drunk.

However, when she closed her eyes and opened them again, she saw his handsome face again and her heart fluttered. Stunned, she wondered if it could really be him. What was he doing here? After all, he was supposed to get married tomorrow. Of all the places in the city, why did he have to be there? The thought of him becoming her brother-in-law reignited feelings of sadness and despair inside of her.

Isaac Su was ensconced on the sofa, dressed sharply to match his dashing good-looks. He took a glass of wine from his friend and responded with a smile that lit up his handsome features.

"Isn't it great how happy events have a way of keeping people in high spirits?

Look, our friend, Isaac here has been snickering all night. His smile is such a rare sight to see! In fact, I'm his friend and even I don't get to see it as often. We are truly blessed to behold such a momentous occasion in our lives!" Zachary Han knew that he wouldn't get many opportunities like this to tease his friend, so he made sure to make the most of it. However, when he thought about one of his closest friends getting married tomorrow, he couldn't help feeling excited.

Isaac, however, remained cool and aloof. "Really? Rare?"

"Come on, don't be such a killjoy. I'm giving you a compliment. Why can't you just take it?"

Sitting on the sofa across them both with a giddy smile on his face, Wilson Lu chimed in. "I didn't expect Isaac to be the first one among us to get married."

"Wilson, are you sure that you don't want to be the next in line?" Charles Luo, who was flirting with a beautiful woman in his arms, turned away from the woman and winked at Wilson playfully.

Wilson quickly responded by playfully kicking Charles and said, "People say that marriage is the grave of love. I have no intentions of sending myself to an early grave!" He felt a pair of cold eyes on him as soon as he finished his sentence.

With a dangerous look in his dark eyes, Isaac stared at Wilson and said, "Are you trying to say that I am going to an early grave?"

"Well, Isaac, you will go to heaven. I give you my word!" Wilson laughed sheepishly, begging for mercy with his apologetic eyes.

"Everyone knows that your word has no value."

They all roared with laughter while Wilson huffed out of annoyance.

Zachary sat down next to Isaac with a cocktail in his hand which he had mixed by himself. "Come on, man! Let me propose a toast to you. This is my gift to you on your last night as a single man. Have a drink with me!"

Without hesitation, Isaac took the glass from Zachary and slugged it down. Despite his usual reserved demeanor, he seemed quite happy.

Shirley stared at Isaac across the dancehall without blinking even once; she was afraid that he would disappear. Even from such a distance, he seemed quite drunk as he needed someone to help him walk. 'Is he okay?' Shirley stood up and tried to run after him, stumbling across the dance floor. However, as she was trying to make her away through the crowd in a hurry, she accidentally bumped into someone. The person Shirley bumped into reacted quickly and pushed her hard. As a result, Shirley fell to the floor.

"What's wrong with you? Did you leave your eyes at home?" The seductively dressed woman cursed at Shirley.

Shirley struggled to her feet as she felt dizzier by the second. Having realized her mistake, she quickly apologized, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean it. Are you okay?"

"Shirley? What are you doing here?"

Surprised to hear the woman utter her name, Shirley took a closer look at her and realized that it was her classmate, Mia Lan.

With an expression of haughty disdain, Mia raised her eyebrows and said, "I didn't think the goody two-shoes of our school would be in a place like this. You're really good at pretending to be someone else in school. No wonder you've managed to fool guys like Jeremy." She was angered by the fact that Jeremy would rather fawn over Shirley than her.

"Please get out of the way." Shirley clearly didn't want to talk to Mia. Mia loved best to find fault with her. However, Shirley was not in the mood to deal with her right now. Her priority at the moment was to find Isaac. Shirley was determined to profess her love to him tonight. She didn't want to miss this chance to tell him how much she loved him. After all, he was going to marry her sister tomorrow. Whether he loved her back or not mattered very little to her.

Mia staggered back to her feet and stood in front of her in defiance. Shirley, however, was so anxious that she shoved Mia back with a firm push and darted in the direction she had last seen Isaac in, leaving the exasperated woman stomping her foot in anger.

But when she felt something at the bottom of her foot, she lowered her eyes to the floor with curiosity. 'A mobile phone?'

Zachary carried Isaac all the way to the guest room on the third floor of the nightclub. He left Isaac on the bed and was about to leave when Wilson and Charles stopped him.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Zac, you are getting bolder and bolder by the day. Playing tricks on Isaac? Do you have a death wish or something?" Wilson would never dare to play such a prank, especially not on Isaac.

"What did I do wrong?" Zachary shrugged his shoulders, feigning innocence.

Charles shook his head in disdain. "Don't think that we don't know what you put in Isaac's drink. Isaac was so excited tonight that he failed to see through your trick. Is that something to be proud of?"

"You took it wrong. Can't you see that I'm doing Isaac a favor?"

"Really? It looks to us as if you just want to embarrass Isaac. Are you trying to set him up with a whore?" Charles asked.

Wilson frowned, shaking his head with disappointment. "I don't think that's a good idea. What are you going to say to Madelyn when she finds out?"

"Don't worry. I've already informed her that Isaac is drunk. She said she'll be here soon."

Zachary wouldn't dare to play such a dirty trick on Isaac. Besides, he knew how much Isaac loved Madelyn Jiang.

Wilson laughed and said, "You're not even married yet. Aren't you afraid of what Isaac would do to you in return?"

Zachary's mind went blank as he fell into a pensive silence. It never occurred to him that Isaac could make his life a living hell.

"At the worst, I won't get married." 'If I have no intentions of getting married, I'll have no reason to be afraid of Isaac, ' he thought. He had no problems getting women; to him, it was not a big deal if he didn't get married.

'This guy is such a coward!' Wilson and Charles both glared at him with disdain.

Putting his hands on his two friends' shoulders, Zachary gave them a wicked grin. "Guys, we should get going. If we're still here when Madelyn comes, she'll be shy."

Shirley dragged her drunken self, hastily stumbling towards the elevator Isaac was taken in. Fortunately, she was sober enough to see the elevator stop on the third floor. 'This must be where they took him, but which room is he in?'

One by one, Shirley twisted the door knob of every door she came across. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she stopped to catch her breath and leaned her back against a door. Much to her surprise, the door behind her opened and closed so quickly that she couldn't catch the face of the person who pulled her inside.

It all happened so fast-she was thrown onto a sofa and someone pressed himself against her. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips and she could hear his breathing.

When Shirley regained composure and finally opened her eyes, the shock and disbelief hit her like a freight train. One look at the man's handsome and yet familiar face caused her brain to stutter, as every part of her went on pause. Isaac? What was going on? Could it be a dream?

'No! We can't do this!'

"Isaac..."

Isaac's consciousness began to blur under the influence of the philter in his drink. Once the woman's fragrance entered his nose, he was incomparably intoxicated. The temperature of his body rose as his hands started to explore the curves of her body.

When he finally stopped, Shirley pulled away and took a deep breath. She tried to stop him, both hands pushing against his firm chest. The touch of his body was too real to be a dream. Out of desperation, she raised her voice and shook him. "Isaac, stop! No! It's me! Shirley. Open your eyes. Don't..."

Despite her best efforts, Shirley couldn't push the man away from her no matter how hard she tried. It quickly became clear to her that Isaac was in no state to understand what she was saying.

Isaac pressed his lips against Shirley's, firmly enough to give her the message not to speak.

Shirley widened her eyes as the words froze in her mouth, her body trembling with fear. She resisted his advance and pushed him away from her face briskly, but her resistance only irritated Isaac who exerted more force.

"You're hurting me." A painful scream escaped Shirley's lips as she felt him go hard and she realized that it was too late now.

Isaac paused when he heard her scream in pain, as if he had realized that this was her first time. Although he began to regain some consciousness, his eyes were still unfocused. He kissed her softly on the forehead to comfort her.

"Madelyn, my sweetheart. It won't hurt in a while. Trust me," Isaac murmured, still in a lustful daze. Little did he know that his words were like poisonous darts that pierced Shirley's heart, sinking beneath her skin and tainting her. She stopped struggling and allowed the pain to spread all over her body.

He was taking away something that was very precious to Shirley and yet he didn't even know who she was. No one could imagine what was going through her mind at that moment. Even in such a state, the only person he could think of was her sister, Madelyn. Not knowing whether it was because of the pain in her body or her heart, but the gates of her emotions opened and the tears burst forth against her will.

Perhaps it was jealousy, or perhaps it was her drunken state that made Shirley want to give in to this moment, forgetting the fact that he was supposed to become her brother-in-law. It didn't matter to her anymore that he didn't know who she was. Since fate wasn't going to allow her his love, she wanted to lose herself in his arms tonight, even if it felt wrong. One night was all she could have with the man of her dreams, so she found the perfect excuse to indulge in her fantasies. 'God, please forgive me, ' she prayed inwardly. She wrapped her arms around Isaac's body and started to kiss him back.

His senses were lost. His lips were pressed on hers firmly. Their arms tightly embraced each other as they pulled their bodies closer. The heat between them felt more like electricity as it flowed from every inch of his body to hers.

From that night onwards, their fates were entangled, destinies interplaying into a complicated story.

Although Shirley experienced a qualm of deep and genuine regret, there was nothing she could do.

Perhaps, she shouldn't have come here in the first place.

Who could tell her what she should do?

The guilt sat in her heart. Only in her silent prayers could she seek forgiveness for her sins.

'I'm sorry, Madelyn. I'm really sorry!'