Forbidden Love With Billionaire

Between the dim lights of the club tonight, flashes were scattered from the crowd.

Shena was very aware of being the center of attention. The flashes dazzled her from every angle. But in her semi-conscious state, Shena was completely unable to resist, and her body was too weak to avoiding the man in front of her who had grabbed her waist.

"I told you, don't try to excite me. Do you still want to continue our kiss, Miss?"

Shenna looked at the man in front of her through passionate eyes. Her heart raced as one of her palms touched his chest. The warm sensation in her chest felt so intriguing. She knew, as the kiss began between her and this man, a strange feeling arose.

It's a sensation she hasn't felt in years. A man was kissing her - that's right, Shena was kissing a stranger after never kissing anyone in her twenty-five years!

Actually, Shena wanted to refuse. Damn it, her head was nodding in control of the passionate feelings in her heart right now.

The man in front of Shena, whose name she didn't know yet, widened his grin even more. Then both hands pulled Shena's waist closer.

The second time, the man moved his face forward and landed his lips on Shena's lips. There was no resistance. They closed their eyes, letting the sensation of blood and passion that had been delayed come back.

Neither Shena nor the man cared about the other patrons turned paparazzi. All Shena wanted now was to enjoy the gentle movement of the stranger's lips on hers, open her mouth to welcome the stranger's tongue that tasted the entire inside of her mouth.

'This is crazy! Why is this man so good at kissing?! Why can't I distract myself from him?!' Shena mentally shouted at herself.

After this kiss, Shena had no idea that she would fall for her own bait. Moments ago, Shena had been challenged by a game of 'truth or dare' played with three other friends.

Shena thought it would be easy to kiss a stranger. She would just kiss and leave without any further introduction.

Too bad Shena's guess was way off. Shena had no idea that she was kissing the wrong guy - a guy who didn't let her go after kissing her. The man felt challenged by Shena's actions.

"Shena! Shena, stop it!"

Ola's voice sounded faint. Shena couldn't respond, because the man's kissing lips were getting wilder. Forced to taste every inch of Shena's lips to the point of restraining her from breaking the kiss.

Shena was half-drunk, and her ears were divided by the whispering voices of the visitors.

"What a bitch! Why is she kissing that rich CEO?!"

"Isn't that guy Xavier? The CEO of a well-known company?"

"Hey, who's the woman Xavier kissed? Is it his new bitch?"

Shena could still hear that the voices of the visitors around her were cursing her. But Shena couldn't do anything to retaliate.

Until finally Shena felt someone's hand forcefully push her body back a few steps. Shena seemed to be jolted from unconsciousness and took a deep breath.

Shena's body was almost unsteady. But someone's hand held her back. When Shena turned her head to the side, it was Jessi - her clubmate looking at her with worried eyes.

"Shena," Jessi called softly. "What are you doing? Are you losing your mind?"

Jessi patted Shena's cheek with an expression that had turned frantic. At that moment, Shena could only look at Jessi in confusion because her head was still very dizzy due to the influence of alcohol.

"Shena, let's go!" Ola-who separated Shena from the strange man immediately approached Shena. "You've gone completely crazy. That's not the guy you should be kissing!"

Shena didn't answer. She was still dazed and trying to digest what had just happened. One of her hands was immediately pulled by Ola to get away from the crowd of visitors who were still whispering. They didn't even dim the camera flashes even though Shena was no longer kissing the stranger.

Before Shena actually left, she had time to look at the strange man. He was still standing there, not listening to what the other man beside him was saying, and wiping his lips with his eyes on Shena.

Shena doesn't know his name yet to apologize!

***

"You... Shena! Do you know what you did just now?!" Ola's grumbling voice was the only thing that greeted Shena after coming out of the bathroom stall to vomit her guts out.

Shena looked at Ola through weak eyes, walking while covering her mouth with the back of her hand. She ignored the words of Ola who gave her an exasperated look.

"Shena..."

"Ola, stop scolding me, I have a headache," Shena interrupted Ola.

With a frustrated expression on her face, Ola didn't say anything. But Ola was still staring at Shena throughout her friend's movements.

"I was just doing a dare from you guys, was I wrong?" Shena said limply once again after already standing in front of the sink mirror.

Beside Shena, Ola stood leaning the right side of her body against the sink. "Shena, that's not the guy Jessi was talking about. Why are you kissing the wrong guy?"

Shena washed her hands while shaking her head. "Ah, I don't understand, Ola. How can I see clearly when I'm in this state?"

Ola, who was still wearing an annoyed expression, then moved her gaze to Agatha. "You made her drink a lot of alcohol, Agatha. You already know Shena has a low tolerance for alcohol."

Agatha grimaced guiltily. She had not spoken since earlier. "Sorry, Shena. I don't think we should do the same dare as before-"

"Never mind, Agatha. Don't feel so guilty," said Shena, who did not want to hear Agatha's lethargic tone. Finished washing her hands, Shena then looked at Agatha with a small smile. "That... was just a momentary incident. After this, no one will remember. I won't see that man again either."

"What if you meet that guy again, Shena?" said Jessi, her tone deliberately frightening.

Shena immediately shook her head with a chuckle. Without answering anything, she just walked away. However, still under the influence of alcohol, Shena almost stumbled to the side, but was immediately held back by Ola.

"Let me take you home now."

"No-"

"Don't refuse. You don't know what kind of disaster you'll be in if I'm not around," Ola replied with firmness.

Ola immediately held Shena's hand tightly, even wrapping it around her to carry her. They stepped out of the bathroom. Slowly. They didn't care about the stares of the other women who entered and recognized who Shena was.

Outside the bathroom, Shena and Ola's steps immediately stopped after seeing a familiar male figure. More precisely, two men who seemed to have been waiting for their arrival.

Shena immediately looked up, then was surprised by who she saw.

"You..." Shena hung a sentence while pointing at the face of the man in front of her.

At that moment Shena could only read the name on the name tag on this man's white shirt. Xavier Askalanka.

"You still recognize me, even though you're drunk." Xavier ended his words with a small laugh. "Miss, I don't know who you are. But what you did earlier really put yourself in danger."

Shena's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"After you wake up tomorrow, you'll definitely find your name spread everywhere. When that happens, don't forget that we'll never be apart."

Just as Xavier was about to walk away, Shena spontaneously restrained his wrist.

With a worried look on her face, Shena said to Xavier, "I... apologize. I'm sorry... for what I did..."

Xavier looked at Shena's hand on his wrist, then grinned. He let go of Shena's hand gently.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Shena. When you see our names spread, you'll have to take responsibility."

Before Shena could say anything in response, Xavier had already left her presence. Leaving Shena wondering about what Xavier had just said. Who was Xavier, anyway?

[CONGRATULATIONS, MISS SHENA!

AFTER PROCESSING YOUR APPLICATION FILE, THE ANDARSA GROUP COMPANY HAS DECIDED THAT YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR THE INTERVIEW STAGE! PLEASE COME ACCORDING TO THE SPECIFIED SCHEDULE.

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2024

11:00 PM

PLEASE ARRIVE THIRTY MINUTES BEFORE THE APPOINTED TIME]

Shena widened her eyes after reading this new email. Shena had just stretched her muscles from waking up, but this email message that came in on her cell phone completely absorbed all her sleepiness.

"OLA! JESSI!" Shena spontaneously shouted and squealed because she couldn't contain her enthusiasm.

Ola and Jessi immediately broke down the door to Shena's room. Simultaneously, with panicked looks on their faces, they ran straight to Shena's bed. In Ola's hand was already a tablet that was on.

When Ola was about to show the tablet's display, Shena immediately hugged her very tightly. Shena couldn't help but squeal with delight as she stomped her feet repeatedly.

"Shena! Shena! Oh my, look at this!" Ola patted Shena's hand repeatedly with a choked breath.

Beside Ola, Jessi was grimacing and clumsy at the same time. Jessi was confused about what to do because Ola offered her the tablet that she had been holding. But on the other hand, Jessi wanted to separate Ola from Shena's tight embrace.

"Tell me, Jessi. We... found something," Ola said in the middle of Shena's embrace as her breath caught.

"Ola, Jessi, I've been accepted into the Andarsa Group! I passed the interview stage!" Shena said after releasing her hug.

However, instead of getting excited at Shena's words, Ola and Jessi had uncomfortable looks on their faces. They looked at each other as if they were hiding something to say to Shena.

"Congratulations, Shena. Are you very happy?" asked Ola between her uncomfortable grimaces.

Shena felt strange after seeing Ola and Jessi's unenthusiastic reactions. Instantly both of Shena's shoulders slumped limply as her enthusiasm also waned.

"Why did you react like that?" asked Shena looking at Ola and Jessi in turn.

Ola didn't move for a moment. Occasionally her eyes glanced at the tablet on Jessi's lap.

"Actually, we have something to tell you, Shena. There's some other bad news..."

Shena's eyebrows immediately furrowed. At that moment, her feelings of happiness faded a little as the foreboding of the possibility of something bad happening surfaced.

"Just say it," Shena said, even though she wasn't ready.

Ola told Jessi to give the tablet to Shena through her eyes. After that, Jessi slowly handed the tablet to Shena who had leaned over to look at the tablet more closely.

Shena read the display on Ola's tablet. An article whose title was written in all capital letters and bold.

'EXCLUSIVE NEWS! XAVIER WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA KISSING A WOMAN!'

Shena scrolled down the screen a little, seeing a photo with a very familiar setting. It looked like a nightclub. There was a man and a woman kissing in the middle of a crowd of visitors, but the face of that two person aren't visible.

Right after Shena scrolled the screen again, there was another photo in the article that showed a woman's face. It wasn't too obvious, but anyone could see this woman's face.

Shena almost squealed as she pushed Ola's tablet away from her.

"What is that?! Why is my face there?!" Shena raised her voice in shock.

Ola and Jessi both gasped at Shena's shocked screech. At that moment, they couldn't answer anything. After a few seconds of silence, Ola finally spoke up.

"The article was only released this morning, Shena. We don't know what happened. Suddenly your name was trending on one of the social media and we found out that the article was published by a social media user."

Ola's explanation made Shena flinch. Speechless.

"That's... my face?" Shena's voice was almost a whimper.

Ola nodded, not in the way Shena had expected.

"Yes, you can read the caption underneath," Ola said.

Since Shena couldn't bring herself to read the whole article, Ola scrolled the screen and brought the tablet closer to Shena. Ola stopped scrolling when she reached the part where the article showed a screenshot photo of a social media display.

"This is your social media username, right?" asked Ola.

Shena read the article's subheading above the social media screenshot.

'THE WOMAN WHO BECAME XAVIER'S HIDDEN PARTNER'.

What the hell is this?! Xavier who-wait, Shena just remembered something.

"Xavier was the guy I kissed last night?!"

***

Damn.

Shena never expected last night's bad incident to be no worse than today. Shena's whole body couldn't move after seeing who the person sitting in the work chair was and was going to have a job interview with Shena.

"As expected, we will meet again, Miss Shena. But it's quite unexpected that we're meeting like this."

Shena was still stunned as she blinked her eyes repeatedly. All that time she convinced herself that she was not mistaken, and that she was not dreaming about this man.

"You..." Shena spontaneously raised her index finger. "...is Xavier? The guy from last night?"

Xavier chuckled, his attitude so relaxed compared to Shena whose whole body suddenly stiffened. While twirling the ballpoint pen in his hand, Xavier looked at Shena intensely for a few seconds.

"I didn't expect you to remember me. So, you applied to this company?" Xavier deliberately made his tone sound like he was teasing Shena.

Shena was at a loss as to how to act. However, since she needed this job, she bowed her body. Giving respect while grimacing with embarrassment over last night's incident.

"I'm sorry about last night, Mr. Xavier. I was completely out of control," Shena said after straightening up.

In front of Shena, Xavier put down his pen and looked at Shena's application file. Xavier had already read through the file, but he doubted that the upcoming applicant would be the woman who had made him feel attracted to her last night.

Xavier instantly remembered his order to Bernard to find out about Shena-any information, including social media.

"Shena, you're applying to be a secretary, right?" asked Xavier as he checked Shena's application file.

"Yes, Mr. Xavier."

Xavier knew the job opening in question was for a secretary position at the front of his private office. But unfortunately, Xavier didn't want just that. Since last night, he had been looking forward to meeting Shena because he had expected that there would be news articles about last night's kiss.

Xavier closed the cover of Shena's file and put the document away. Xavier stood up before walking over to Shena who was dumbfounded as she watched the document being pushed aside.

"There will be no interview between me and you," Xavier said as he strode over, hands in his pockets.

Shena felt nervous, but she gave him a forced smile. "Mr. Xavier, sorry if I'm presumptuous, did I not pass this stage?"

"No," Xavier replied. He was already standing beside Shena, looking at her through eyes that showed interest. "I have a job position that is more suitable for you. Also, this position will save your name from the news articles about our kiss last night."

Shena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Hearing Xavier mention the news article, her memory flashed back to the time she read the article Ola and Jessi had presented. Shena had almost forgotten about her name, her social media accounts, and the few things about her that were instantly publicized to the media.

Shena immediately grimaced at the thought.

"Mr. Xavier... read that?" Shena asked nervously.

Before answering, Xavier took a tablet from his desk and showed the screen to Shena. "I read all these articles from earlier. All the articles mentioned your name. How do you feel?"

Shena saw Xavier's tablet screen showing one of the photos in the article. It was of the two of them kissing.

'God, how embarrassing!' Shena cursed to herself.

"I could make all these articles disappear from the media and your name wouldn't be trending."

Shena's eyes lit up at Xavier's words. Hopefully, Shena looked at Xavier curiously.

"If there's anything I can do for that, I will, Mr. Xavier!"

Xavier smiled sarcastically, then placed the tablet back on his desk.

"Your job position... how about changing to my personal secretary?"

Shena's enthusiastic and hopeful smile slowly faded. Suddenly her heart felt uncomfortable hearing that. What Xavier was offering was not wrong, but the smile that implied stratagem that curved Xavier's face made Shena uncomfortable.

"Why... Mr. Xavier offer that position?" Shena asked clumsily. "Doesn't Mr. Xavier already have a personal secretary?"

"Well, I do, but the position of personal secretary is supposed to be filled by two people. I only have one. Whether you want to fill the position or not is up to you."

Shena gulped her saliva. Vaguely, Shena remembered the whispered voices of the club goers when the two of them kissed last night. Almost all the patrons referred to her as Xavier's 'umpteenth mistress'.

That meant Xavier was a man who loved to play with any woman. His predicate must have been so widespread that many club-goers knew him.

"I can't," Shena said. "I'm sorry, Mr. Xavier, but I'm not applying for that position."

Xavier raised both eyebrows. "Why? You don't want to be with me all the time because you've heard rumors about me?"

The curve of Shena's formal smile expanded. "One of the reasons, yes. I just want to focus on work. If Mr. Xavier wants to reject me now, that's fine. I'll take my leave."

Shena bowed again to Xavier, and her action took Xavier by surprise. After turning around to leave the room, Shena heard Xavier's voice say something that made her heart waver.

"If you walk out of this room with your refusal, your name will still be a trending topic and your identity will be further spread. Do you want your family or the things you own to be affected?"

The only thing on Shena's mind was a good reputation for her parents' boutique.

Shena didn't expect what Xavier was doing now.

After leaving the meeting place with a business partner, Xavier took Shena to the company building of one of the media. Not only was that a surprise, Xavier was also face-to-face with Handreson-the company director of SNN Media.

"I don't want any deals, Mr. Handreson. Your journalists have released an article that harms someone. I, on behalf of the Andarsa Group company that feels aggrieved in the articles published under the company name SNN Media, submit a take down request. Now."

In Handreson's private room, the aura of tension was thick from Xavier and Handreson. An aura of tension that made Shena, sitting next to Xavier, feel awkward and unable to say anything.

In front of Shena and Xavier, Handreson only curved a wily smile at Xavier.

"I have absolutely no authority to take down any articles that have been released, Mr. Xavier," Handreson replied without showing any guilt.

Shena frowned. For some reason, she felt that Handreson was hiding something. From the way his expression did not display guilt, and did not apologize, it seemed too strange with a high position but no authority.

"You are the director, Mr. Handreson," Xavier replied, looking calm and unintimidated. "It's impossible if you can't give the order to take down all the news that has been released."

Xavier's words did not put enough pressure on Handreson. Instead of feeling guilty, Handreson's reaction was to laugh lightly.

"I won't take your word for it. After all, the news about you has already become a trending topic. That's very profitable."

"Advantageous?" Xavier raised both eyebrows as he grinned. "In that case, I have something favorable for me as well. Do you want news about you to appear in the media as well?"

Instantly, Handreson's laughter slowly faded away, replaced by a confused and wary look on his face. Because of witnessing Xavier who seemed to be harboring a stratagem, Handreson's facial expression at first glance looked inquisitive.

"What do you mean, Xavier?" asked Handreson.

"You were at the nightclub two days ago, right? You even ordered a woman. I have proof of that," Xavier replied, showing Handreson his cell phone screen.

Handreson watched the phone screen Xavier showed him for a few seconds. His eyes widened in surprise as his whole body stiffened.

"How did you get this?" asked Handreson in an almost stammering voice.

On the other hand, Xavier chuckled. He quickly pulled out his cell phone again when Handreson spontaneously wanted to pick it up. Xavier laughed with such satisfaction that it echoed in Handreson's office.

"I wonder how your wife would react if she saw this footage..." Xavier pretended to provoke Handreson.

Handreson instantly became inflamed. His jaw hardened and the look in his eyes turned sharp.

"Is he going to withdraw all investment funds into your company? Isn't he the one who holds the most power in your business?" asked Xavier once again trying to provoke Handreson's emotions.

Handreson could not say anything after hearing Xavier's question. There was a look of indecision on his face, and Xavier was well aware that his words had made an impact on Handreson's confidence.

"I'll order them to take down all the articles," said Handreson who finally relented.

Xavier immediately curved a satisfied smile, as did Shena who could finally heave a sigh of relief. Since earlier the aura of tension between Xavier and Handreson made Shena unable to say or do anything. Because she was too worried about saying the wrong thing.

"Okay. Agreed," Xavier replied while extending his hand to Handreson. "Deal with the signature agreement on the stamp."

After Xavier took care of their signature agreement, Xavier invited Shena to step out of the room.

Shena thought everything was over if the news articles about her would be taken down. But unfortunately Shena suspected the wrong thing.

"For what I have done, you must fulfill one more condition, Shena."

Shena's steps stopped just as Xavier's also stopped. Shena's eyebrows furrowed. At that moment, she was already feeling uncomfortable. For some reason, an unpleasant thought immediately popped into her brain.

"You have to sleep three days with me in my apartment. No refusal."

***

"What are you going to discuss, Miss Shena?" Xavier's question greeted Shena who came to the office early today.

With a sharp glance, a step full of decisive stomps, Shena approached Xavier who was at the desk. As she walked, Shena's mind was certain of her decision after a night of deliberation over Xavier's offer at the media office yesterday.

"Is your offer still valid?" asked Shena after standing in front of Xavier. The look in her eyes showed conviction.

Xavier frowned for a moment, before standing up from his chair. Putting both hands on his body that was slightly leaning on Xavier, he looked at Shena with a lopsided smile.

"What if it's no longer valid?" Xavier asked back.

Shena let out an annoyed sigh. "Questions are there to be answered, not to get more questions," she replied threateningly to Xavier.

Hearing Shena's answer, Xavier chuckled. "Of course it still is. Isn't the agreement twenty-four hours? Why?"

When Shena paused because she suddenly felt a slight doubt arise, Xavier looked at her with astonishment.

"You want to agree to my offer? I know, you have no other choice but to accept the offer, right?" asked Xavier once again.

"Mr. Xavier, since yesterday you've been doing whatever you want to me. Unfortunatelyx just because you are my boss, doesn't mean you can talk to me in such a low tone," Shena threatened Xavier.

Xavier did not take offense to Shena's words. His reaction, which showed no guilt at all, made Shena furious.

"Is that so? Unfortunately, I can do what I want, Miss Shena. Everyone else can't stop me."

Shena refrained from clawing Xavier's face because of her current anger. Shena had always retaliated when dealing with people like Xavier.

"I didn't really want to accept your offer, but since you did something for me, I had to accept."

"I'm not doing for you, but for myself. And... you spoke informally to me, Miss Shena. Is that polite?"

"This is outside of working hours," Shena replied. "We do have an agreement for certain things. But outside of that, I will behave as I normally would."

Xavier was intrigued by Shena's answer. But not wanting to prolong the matter, Xavier nodded his head and sat back in his chair.

"Is there anything you want to add to our agreement?" Xavier offered.

Shena did not answer immediately, but stayed still for a split second. The truth was that Shena had a lot of things she wanted to say. Including about her wishes throughout the deal with Xavier.

On the other hand, because she had too many things on her mind, Shena couldn't say anything. Even though she had thought over and over again about how to say it, there was nothing else in her mind.

"Why are you silent?" Xavier snapped Shena out of it. "I assume there's no-"

"Wait, I do," Shena said immediately, cutting Xavier off. "I don't want to sleep in the same bed or the same room. And... since my family's boutique is experiencing an increase in sales, please provide protection from the bad image after my name is spread in various articles. No refusals."

Xavier raised both eyebrows as an interested smile instantly curved.

"No refusal? You've actually dared to order me around."

"I am not ordering you, but you are offering."

"In that case, I will withdraw my offer, Miss Shena. I cancel my offer for you to sleep with me in my apartment."

Shena's eyes widened. "What?! No... you can't cancel your offer!"

"Why?" asked Xavier with a chuckle. "After all, it wasn't you who said earlier that you didn't really want to accept, was it?"

Shena suddenly panicked instantly. If it wasn't because she was worried that Xavier would do something to cancel the article's news being taken down, Shena wouldn't be this panicked. However, knowing Xavier's power made Shena think of all the worst possibilities.

"You can't just cancel," Shena said directly. Both of her hands were placed on a pedestal as her body leaned towards Xavier. "I need your help. You also need me as your personal secretary, right?"

"I can find another secretary to replace you," Xavier replied casually, looking at Shena without guilt.

Shena was instantly speechless. That's right, Xavier had the power to replace her. Why did Shena feel like she was so important?

"I-that's true, but... we had an agreement from the beginning. You made an offer."

Xavier grinned with satisfaction as he watched Shena plead with him. "Do you really need my help?"

'This annoying boss!' Shena muttered, feeling furious.

How could Shena answer?

Shena felt uncomfortable explaining to Xavier. But unfortunately Shena also didn't want to let the opportunity slip out of her grasp.

"Yes, I really need your help," Shena finally replied. "My name is already very bad on social media. Don't let my parents' boutique be threatened, they need to repay the debt, Mr. Xavier."

Yes, that was the sentence Xavier wanted to hear.

Xavier immediately snapped his fingers. "Good! That's what you should have said!"