Love and hatred

"I'll take the usual, Tom," Max said as he sat down in front of the bar.

"Yes, sir," said Thomas, the bartender, nodding slightly and making him a Cognac just the way he liked it.

Max loosened his tie around his neck, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt to breathe, and took a sip of wine. The taste of it eased him a little. Today, when he was planning a new project, he received rather troubling news. His subordinates were suspected by the police of being involved in a drug possession case. And the one who reported it was a subordinate of Samuel Hall – one of his enemies in the marketplace.

"Boss, you know well that our people don't do that. Our business is now more than enough to make a lot of money, they have no reason to do it. Plus, I select people very carefully," said his assistant, sitting down next to him.

"I know," Max complained. "For God's sake, Ray. Can't you just leave me alone for a bit? This is a pub, not an office."

Although Ray Baker is his assistant, sometimes Max feels like he is his nanny, always worrying and pushing him. If there was a contest for the most speaking assistant of the year, he was sure Ray would be the winner.

"Sir, this is your pub. I find it more effective to talk about work here than in the office," Ray said seriously.

His words caused Thomas to drop the glass on the counter, almost breaking it. Max found it both frustrating and amusing. He glared at Ray. Ray understood, raised his hands as if in surrender, then took a large bottle of wine and scurried away. Max sighed. Ray is talkative but is an effective hand and specializes in handling the dark things behind him. He used to be a mafia. Big bosses like Max Thompson always need people like him.

"You look lonely?" Suddenly, a clear female voice spoke up beside him.

Max rolled his eyes. It was a girl about 20 years old, beautiful like a doll with blonde hair and smooth white skin. She wears a turquoise dress that hugs her slim body but is not too revealing. Her bust is neither too big nor too small.

"Can I sit here with you?" She said, smiling, and sat down in the chair beside him. Her face looks very innocent, and the makeup is very light, making Max feel quite strange and curious. Especially her clear eyes. It wasn't dull or overtly inviting like most girls who dared to flirt with him. There was also a gentle, pleasant fragrance emanating from her body.

"Hey, do you know who this is?" Thomas spoke to the girl. He knows Max doesn't like to be bothered when he's upset.

Max is the CEO of the world-famous Thompson Group and a young, handsome 29-year-old billionaire. It is normal for many girls to want to lure him to make money.

"It's okay," he told Thomas, then turned to the girl. "Of course, you can, but you should sit up here."

Then, he suddenly grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her to sit on his lap. The girl staggered, clutching her hands to the chest of his shirt, her blue eyes wide open, looking him straight in the eyes, in which there was terror rather than amusement, and her body trembled strangely.

"Let go of me!" She cried out, standing up quickly.

Max didn't keep her. He looked at her curiously, asking, "I thought you wanted to drink with me?"

"Ah," she said as if remembering her original purpose. Her slender hands smoothed back her long hair. "Ahem. That's right, sorry. But I think I should sit here." Her voice trembled as she sat on the chair next to him.

Max found it funny but held it back. This girl is so weird. If she didn't have the intention of flirting with him, she should have left. Suddenly he wanted to tease her. He handed her his half-drinking glass of wine, saying, "Then drink it."

"What?" She exclaimed with wide eyes, her face looked as if she wanted to hit someone. But then, soon after, she changed her attitude, took that glass of wine and brought it to her mouth, and drank it up.

"Hey, this wine will make you drunk if you drink the whole glass at once," said Max, looking at the empty glass in her hand.

"What? Why didn't you tell me first?" She cried out as if deceived.

This time, he couldn't help but laugh. Her expression looked unbearably funny.

"Come on, doesn't it make you more relaxed?" He said. "Now tell me, what do you want from me?"

"I don't..." she said, drawing as if the glass was too strong for her. "Of course, I want to sleep with you. Haven't any girls told you that?"

"Wow! You are so frank!" Max exclaimed. He agrees that there are a lot of girls flirting with him, but they all talk around and pretend to be polite. No one is as blunt as this girl. She's already drunk.

"Why? You want money?" he asked, half-joking, half-serious.

"No, of course not. I'm rich, hahaha," she laughed. "I just want you."

"Very impressive. Is this your new trick to seduce men?" Max marveled.

"Haha, I think so," she laughed, taking his arm and standing up. "So, what do you think? Do you want to come with me?"

"Okay," he said, getting up from his chair and following her to the door.

"Sir," said Ray's voice suddenly behind him. "This girl is not normal."

This assistant is worried again.

"Don't follow me," Max told him.

Then he followed the girl out of the bar. It wasn't like he want to have sex with her, even though she was really attractive. He felt curious. What was her purpose? Why did she seem so innocent to admit frankly that she wanted to seduce him?

"There's a very good hotel over here," she said, pulling him by the arm into an alley.

Max followed, he knew the neighborhood very well. The hotels nearby were also managed by his subordinates, or by his business partners.

Suddenly, there was a noise behind. Max immediately turned to look. Two suspicious men appeared out of nowhere.

"Max Thompson," said one, pulling out a long knife. "Die."

A glance at the two strangers, Max saw that their bodies were large but not very strong, their movements were slow, and even the weapons were very bad. In this neighborhood, the police are very regular on patrol. That's why they don't use guns. If they use knives, they should have a better plan. These guys aren't professional assassins, he concluded.

"Why do you want to kill me?" He curiously asked.

"Don't talk much!" The man with the long knife snapped and charged toward him.

Max was about to push the girl next to him back to easily fight when he saw her rushing forward. To his surprise, she quickly locked that guy's knife hand, twisted it to the side, and slammed the handbag in his face with the other hand. She looked so small, but the blow was quite strong, causing him to fall backward. The other one rushed behind her. She took a glance and then flicked the handbag into his hand that was holding the short knife. It was followed by a high kick in the middle of his groin. "Ah..." The man howled. Max covered his face with his hand, feeling the pain for him. The guy who had just fallen to the ground now stood up to attack again but stopped abruptly when the muzzle of her gun was pointed directly at his face. It turned out that in her small bag, there was that dangerous "toy".

"Go away," her voice was cold, different from her innocent and fragile appearance.

"Hey, wait--" Max said, but the two men quickly ran away. Because he was surprised by this strange girl, he did not have time to ask why those guys wanted to kill him.

"Damn it," the girl said, putting the gun back in her bag. It was glittering pink, he noticed now.

"So, do you still want to continue?" She suddenly turned to look at him, smiling brightly. Her voice returned to the same clear clarity as before. It gave Max goosebumps.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Should I prepare myself that you're going to put a bullet through my head?"

Ray didn't worry too much.

The girl looked at him for a few seconds. Then, with a sigh, her arms raised, she said, "Okay, I will not beat around the bush. I know who you are. I need a job. I want to work for you."

"What?" Guy exclaimed. "You... need a job?"

"Yeah," she said, shrugging.

"Why don't you apply and get the job properly?" He became more and more curious. "If you already know who I am, then you must know that my corporation is always open to new members."

"Well, how should I put it? Applying and interviewing tire me out," she explained, her expression sincere. "Besides, I don't have any expertise. I can't get a high-paying job. I think it would be better to take a shortcut, you know."

Max found himself chuckling. This girl always made him feel strangely funny.

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"As you can see," she held out her hands. "I can be your bodyguard. I hope you will pay me a good salary."

"Hahaha," this time Max couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Seeing her eyes darken, he cleared his throat, returned to his serious expression, and said to her, "All right, what's your name?"

"Lily Ross. Just call me Lily," she said, her eyes sparkling. "So you agree, right?"

"If that's what you want, fine," he nodded with a smile. "Go to my company to meet me tomorrow. Do you know the address?"

"Okay," she said, smiling softly. Her smile looks so beautiful, like an angel. An angel who knows how to fight and use guns.

When they walked back to the alley, Max saw Ray standing by a lamp post smoking a cigarette. He always followed him without permission, for his safety, of course, even though he was always annoyed with him.

Seeing him and Lily, Ray extinguished his cigarette, asking, "Have a good time, boss?"

"Haha, of course," he laughed.

Lily quickly hailed a taxi and left.

When she was gone, Ray asked him, "Sir, have you had any grudges with anyone I don't know about lately?"

"So there's something about me that you don't know about?" He asked sarcastically. It was because he hated Ray's serious questioning.

"Two guys just wanted to kill you for revenge," Ray said evenly. "They say you killed their brother, some guy named James Keller."

Normally, no one who attacked Max would get away with Ray, if he followed him. Of course, he didn't kill them, just made them spit out information.

"Who the hell is James Keller? I haven't f*cking killed anyone lately," Max said curiously. He doesn't understand anything.

***

In a small apartment in the city...

As soon as she got to her room, Lily threw her bag on the bed, then scratched her head over what stupid thing happened tonight. Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table lit up. She picked it up and pressed the call button.

"Yes, Uncle Leo," she said.

"Are you still alive?" Uncle Leo's voice was loud, full of reproach and sarcasm.

"The plan should have worked. I almost killed Max Thompson. Just because two troublemakers suddenly appeared," she explained.

"You should feel lucky you didn't die! If I had known sooner that you were risking your life and disobeying me like that, I wouldn't have taught you anything!"

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand. I'm so eager for revenge. I can't take it anymore." Then, she changed her voice happily. "I have earned his trust. I will approach him and kill him when he is defenseless. Trust me, Uncle Leo. I'm about to avenge my father."

Silence on the other end of the line. Then there was a sigh.

"Be careful." Finally, Uncle Leo said. "If you need anything, let me know right away. I will send someone to help you."

"There's no need for it for the time being. The fewer people the better. Max Thompson's people are very suspicious, and he is very dangerous."

"That's enough. Take a break."

Uncle Leo hung up. Lily dropped the phone on the bed, starting to make plans in her mind.

Yes, she approached Max Thompson for revenge.

Three years ago, when she was seventeen, she was still using her real name, Emily Scott.

Her parents divorced, and she had to follow her mother even though she wanted to stay with her father. Her father loved her very much but agreed to let her live with her mother. Her mother took her to a different state, away from her beloved city, her old school, and her good friends. Her father was the chairman of the famous Scott Corporation, which, if it hadn't collapsed by now, might be even bigger than Max's Thompson. But everything fell apart one day her father was assassinated.

She returned too late to see her father one last time. She still remembers her last conversation with her father on the phone, where she said, "Dad loves money more than anything, more than mom or me."

It was the thing she regretted most in her seventeen-year life. She knelt in front of her father's grave, tears silently falling. It was a rainy day, the heavy rain poured down, making her cold, her heart numb.

"Don't grieve too much," Uncle Leo Smith - Dad's close friend and business partner - told her.

He and her father's brothers stood in the rain like her.

"Who killed my dad?" she asked.

"You're too young. You shouldn't know such things. Rest assured, I will avenge your father." Uncle Leo patted her shoulder, saying firmly.

"No!" She cried out. "I have to kill him myself for revenge. I've grown up."

"Killing such a dangerous person is not easy. I worry-"

"Then teach me!" She interrupted him. "Train me to be a good assassin like my father's men."

Because of her determination, Leo Smith had to accept it. From there, he put her in a special training program, teaching her how to use guns and close combat. At the same time, to avoid letting the enemy know about her, he had people stage an accident to trick people that she and her mother were dead. She also had to change her identity.

"Choose yourself a name," said Uncle Leo.

She thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, then call me Lily Ross."

The reason she chose this name is that it sounds quite similar to her real name: Emily Scott.

But at that time, Uncle Leo still did not tell her who the enemy who killed her father was for fear of her risking her life.

Three years later, when she was twenty, he revealed to her who had murdered her father back then. It was Max Thompson. She was surprised but quickly understood why. It is not natural that now his Thompson corporation is so strong, that he has even become a billionaire though he is only twenty-nine years old. Behind his successes, everything he is today is due to his vile trickery and cruelty.

"He was a daredevil then and very daring even though he was only twenty-six. He followed the boss named Leon - a notorious boss at that time. He assassinated many people for the boss. It's his fault that his boss's in jail, I'll bet, even though there's no proof. Then, to serve his interests, he killed many business rivals, including your father. The witness of our side was also killed by his subordinates. He also bribed the police so they wouldn't investigate your father's case further," Uncle Leo told her.

Lily felt both angry and disgusted hearing that. Why did people do such cruel and vile things for the sake of fame and gain?

Then, eager for revenge, Lily quietly researched Max Thompson's schedule to get close to him. It is difficult to act when he is surrounded by bodyguards, especially Ray Barker - an assistant in name but a mafia. Furthermore, even with access, Lily wasn't sure she could kill Max. She had to find the loophole when he was the least defensive, and when a man was the least defensive was probably in bed, with an innocent girl.

That's why she went to that pub to flirt with him.

Before that, Lily always thought Max Thompson was fierce and cold. However, the moment she was near him in the pub surprised her. Although she was filled with hatred, she still had to admit that he had a very attractive appearance. He was about 6.2 feet tall, his brown hair styled back, and his gray-green eyes radiated a cold and powerful aura. On his right hand and fingers were a series of slender Rune-like tattoos. He was wearing a black suit, but when she was pulled against him, she could feel the hard and sturdy body of a regular exerciser. Her heart was beating fast and she was quite panicking. Lily forgot that she had never been this close to a man and that she had no such experience because she was too busy practicing fighting and shooting. Besides, without a gun, she certainly couldn't be his opponent.

Unfortunately, she also couldn't seduce him into bed and kill him because of the interruption of two strangers. In a few seconds, she suddenly made a crazy decision, which was to fight them to gain his trust. If she couldn't lure him today, at least she could stay closer to him to find another opportunity. Fortunately, he seemed to believe the "need a job" excuse she quickly made up at the time.

***

"Knock knock."

Lily knocked on the door of the CEO's room. Now she is in Max's company. She came just like he said last night, and they guided her in. But when she walked through the hall and the rooms, she noticed Ray Baker - his dangerous assistant was nowhere to be seen. That mafia guy appears and disappears like a ghost.

"Come in," said Max's voice.

Lily looked back at her outfit before opening the door and entering the room. Today she wears a white shirt and tight skirt with high heels, and loose blonde hair. She was originally going to wear jeans – because it was more suitable for bodyguards – but ended up choosing this one. This set looks more charming.

The moment he saw her enter, Max Thompson brought his hand to his mouth as if to hold back his laughter. What's so funny about her, Lily wondered.

"Good morning, boss," she said. "I came."

"Good morning, Lily Ross," he said in a low voice. "Sit down."

Is the boss here so friendly? Lily walked over to his desk and sat down in a chair. She was about to ask what her job was when Max suddenly spoke.

"Wrong place," he pushed his chair back a little, a hand patting his thigh, his voice calm. "Sit here."