Miss CEO: Lost In Love And Trickery

"Is Evan here?" Della Jiang asked the attendant standing at the club entrance as soon as she stepped out of the car.

She was dressed in a simple white dress, every inch of her elegant and beautiful. She looked nervous, but beneath her anxious expression there was a healthy, rosy glow to her flawless complexion. Her large, doe-like eyes, misty with tears, sparkled with mesmerizing intensity. She looked as though she had walked right out of a painting, but the effect was somewhat ruined by her messy bangs, which had clumped together from the sweat on her forehead.

The club attendant was so taken by her natural beauty he gaped at her for a few moments. He had seen many gorgeous women working at the club, but all of them had achieved the effect with layers of thick makeup. Della Jiang's beauty, on the other hand, was the real deal.

"Mr. Evan is in the private room at the end of the hall." The attendant clapped his hands over his mouth when he realized what he had done. It was club policy to protect the privacy of their guests, but he had forgotten all about it in the face of the angelic beauty before him.

As soon as Della Jiang heard that Evan Xiao was inside, she stepped past the attendant and hurried into the club without a second thought.

"I think that's Mr. Xiao's wife!" another attendant blurted out as he watched Della Jiang disappear behind the door.

The two attendants broke into a cold sweat. Was Evan Xiao's wife here to catch him in the act of cheating on her?

Inside the club, Della Jiang entered the private room and began to weave her way through the guests milling about inside. Everyone stopped to stare at her, but she didn't care. "Evan! Evan, where are you?"

Evan Xiao was seated in a corner. He saw Della Jiang stumble among the crowd, shouting desperately for him like a drowning woman. His expression hardened into a chilly frown as he took in her disheveled hair and frantic shouting. Her undignified behavior was embarrassing him.

Della Jiang spotted him. She squeezed past the other guests to reach him, and held out her hand.

"Evan, why didn't you pick up the phone? I've been trying to call you all day. Grandpa's sick again. We have to go to the hospital, right away." Evan Xiao slapped her hand away.

"Della, you're unbelievable. How shameless can you get? I only married you because you said that Grandpa was seriously ill. You forced me into the marriage. And now you're back to cry wolf again? I won't fall for the same sob story twice. What is it this time? What do you want from me?" Evan sneered Xiao. "Are you trying to trick me into sleeping with you? You want to have babies with me, is that it? Well, you can forget it. You'll never have my children. Never."

Della Jiang stared at him, stunned. It took her a minute to finally spot the attractive red-haired woman sitting on his lap.

"Ooh, I'd like to have your children. Can I?" Lana Luo purred seductively as she wrapped her arms around him.

Evan Xiao smirked. He lifted her chin and said, "You're more than welcome to try."

His icy expression seemed to soften as an uncharacteristic glimmer of warmth crept into his cold eyes. Della Jiang realized with a bitter pang that she had never seen her husband look at her that way.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice cracked as she pleaded to her husband, "Evan, please..."

"Don't call me Evan. It makes me sick," Evan cut her off impatiently as he fixed her with an icy glare.

Della Jiang shrank back. The warmth had fled from his expression. His dark, contemptuous eyes seemed to pierce her as his sharp, angular features settled into his usual disdainful frown. For a brief moment, she was struck by a strange, terrifying thought: perhaps the man before her was made of ice and stone. That would explain why she had never succeeded in any of her attempts to warm his icy heart.

"Evan... Evan, please..." Evan Xiao merely glared at her. His frown deepened, and Della Jiang suddenly realized that she had used his name again, despite his warning. She dropped her gaze and continued meekly, "Let's go to the hospital to see Grandpa. That's all I ask. Grandpa is seriously ill this time. The doctor said that Grandpa may not be able to make it through the night."

The memory of Evan's grandpa lying on the hospital bed with tubes of every kind attached to his frail body sprang unbidden into her mind. She began to cry again.

Evan Xiao's suspicions faded at the sight of her tears. He had nothing but contempt for his wife, but she looked and sounded so sincere he found it difficult to believe that she was lying. He got up to leave, but Lana Luo stopped him with a gentle tug on his shirt.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but Lana Luo merely winked at him, undaunted. She turned to Della Jiang and said, "I know that I don't have the right to stop Mr. Xiao from leaving to attend to family matters. Still, I can't help but feel that this is unfair to the rest of us. He just arrived, and now he's going to leave without having had a single drink. People will say that he is so bored with our company he jumps at the first opportunity to get away."

"That's right. How do we know his grandpa is actually sick? Maybe you're lying," someone chimed in.

"Maybe Mr. Xiao's hen-pecked, and he's just looking for an excuse to leave," another young man said with a snicker.

"That's hilarious!" The whole room erupted into laughter.

Evan Xiao's face darkened. He knew that Lana Luo was trying to embarrass Della Jiang, but he couldn't intervene without making it look like he was afraid of his wife.

His friends were rowdy and rude, but they were also excessively thin-skinned. Evan Xiao wasn't afraid of any of them, but he knew that it wasn't a good idea to offend all of them at the same time. He decided he would say nothing, and take this as an opportunity to see whether Della Jiang was telling the truth.

He was certain that his grandfather had faked his last bout of "serious illness" to force him to marry Della Jiang. After the marriage, his grandfather had continued the charade by complaining of migraines every day to guilt-trip him into coming home and spending "quality time" with her. His grandfather had cried wolf too many times for him to take him seriously.

Della Jiang bit her lips. She looked steadily at Lana Luo and said, with as much pride as she could muster, "What do you want?"

"Mrs. Xiao, relax. Don't get your panties in a twist. We're Mr. Xiao's friends. We're just having some fun here, we wouldn't dream of making things difficult for him or his wife." "Well, Mr. Xiao can't drink because he has to drive. I propose that his wife, Mrs. Xiao," Lana paused here for emphasis, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "drink three shots of whiskey in his place, as compensation for making him leave when we are just getting started."

"That's right. Drink three shots of whiskey, and we'll let Mr. Xiao go," another voice chimed in with a snicker.

Della Jiang looked at Evan Xiao. Her heart sank when she saw him watching her expectantly with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips. He was enjoying watching her squirm, and he seemed content to let his "friends" tease her.

Della Jiang steeled herself. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but she lifted her chin and refused to let the tears fall.

She chided herself for expecting Evan to step in to save her. He had never believed her, not even once, and it would be a cold day in hell before he lifted a finger to help her.

She wanted very much to leave with her head held high, but she remembered Evan's grandpa's pale, haggard face, and knew she had to put her dignity aside. She gritted her teeth. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Excellent. I wouldn't have expected anything less from Mrs. Xiao." Smiling, Lana Luo picked up the bottle on the table and poured out three shots of whiskey for Della Jiang.

She allowed her long, trailing sleeve to linger above the shot glasses as she discreetly dispensed the powdered aphrodisiac hidden inside her sleeve into the whiskey. Then she raised one of the shot glasses and handed it to Della Jiang with a mocking glint in her eyes.

Della Jiang bristled at the look of open disdain on the other woman's face. Determined to show that she wasn't afraid of her, she accepted the shot glass and downed the whiskey.

She gasped and sputtered. Her eyes began to water, but she blinked back the tears and controlled herself. She took the second shot glass from Lana Luo and downed it.

Three shots of whiskey were too much for Della Jiang, who had never actually tried alcohol before this. As soon as she finished the third glass, her vision began to swim. She tried to walk towards Evan Xiao, but her knees buckled and she fell onto the startled attendant beside her.

"Look at you. You're a disgrace to me." With that, Evan Xiao turned and walked out the door without a second glance.

He couldn't care less about his wife, and had zero concerns about leaving her behind in her drunken state. He was confident that no one in the room would dare take advantage of her, not when they knew she was his wife. Perhaps there would be a few photos and scathing remarks about her drunken, disgraceful behavior in the next day's papers, but he didn't mind. He would be able to show them to his grandfather as proof that his precious Della Jiang was an embarrassment to the family.

A sly smile spread across Lana Luo's face as she watched Evan Xiao leave. Once she was sure he had gone, she turned to look at the attendant beside Della Jiang.

"Why are you still standing there like an idiot? Take Mrs. Xiao to a room so she can lie down and rest," Lana Luo snapped with a haughty toss of her head.

The attendant nearly jumped out his skin. He took Della Jiang's arm and tried to guide her to the elevator that would take her to the guest rooms on the top floor.

"Evan... Evan... Don't leave me, please..." Della Jiang sobbed pitifully. She was so distraught the attendant had to drag her towards the elevator.

Lana Luo's smile widened as she watched Della Jiang dissolve into a sobbing, drunken mess. She was certain that Evan Xiao would divorce Della Jiang if he found out that she had cheated on him.

The aphrodisiac in her sleeve had been meant for Evan Xiao. Colorless and tasteless, it was virtually undetectable, yet extremely potent for men and women. A tiny pinch of it was enough to light the flames of lust and desire all night long.

She had lost her chance to drug Evan Xiao and have him at her mercy, but she wasn't upset. Drugging Della Jiang and sabotaging her would work just as well.

Once she was sure that the attendant had escorted Della Jiang into an empty guest room, Lana Luo found a secluded corner in the hallway, whipped out her phone, and dialed the number for a male escort service.

"Yes, I want someone large and strong, with a lot of stamina. Send him to Room 1001 in Glamour Club."

Della Jiang stood in the middle of the empty guest room, her mind sinking into hazy confusion as she struggled to remember where she was or what she was supposed to be doing. The attendant had left as soon as he had carried out his orders to see her to the room; it wasn't his job to deal with drunk, hysterical women.

"Evan... Evan..." Della Jiang cried out for her husband as she stumbled about the room, lost and confused.

The panic coursing through her veins intensified. She doubled over, seized with terror, and found herself reliving the nightmare that had been her wedding night. Her husband had not touched her after the wedding. He had walked out the door without so much as a second glance, ignoring her cries for him to stay with her.

She clutched her chest. 'No!' she thought desperately to herself. 'I can't let him walk away from me again. I can't!'

Hopelessly drunk, Della found herself losing her grip on reality, trapped in the memory of her wedding night. She stumbled towards the door, determined to find Evan and make him stay with her this time.

After some fumbling with the door knob, she stumbled out of the room, just in time to catch a silhouette opening the door to Room 1002.

His broad shoulders and powerful back muscles reminded her of Evan.

"Fuck off!" His voice was like an icy dagger that cut to the bone, but Della didn't care.

Mark Hua grimaced and clenched his jaw against the pain shooting through his body. He was already wounded and in pain when all of a sudden, a woman he had never met before pounced on him from behind. He tried to shake her off, but she clung to him like a stubborn koala.

"No. Please don't push me away, Evan..." Della begged pitifully between sobs. She was too far gone to realize that the man before her was a complete stranger.

Mark Hua frowned. Unable to free himself from her desperate clutch, he was left with no other choice but to drag Della into the room with him. He guessed that the hysterical woman draped around him had been drinking her sorrows away after a bad breakup. He wondered what he had done to deserve this.

"Okay, fine. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Now let go of me, okay?" Mark said through gritted teeth. He didn't know who this strange lady was or what was wrong with her, but he would play along with her delusions to get her to let go.

He cursed under his breath as he wondered what he had done to deserve such horrible luck tonight. He had been stabbed multiple times by an enemy, and had used the last of his strength to get away, bandage his wounds, and return to his room. His head was still spinning from blood loss, and he could feel his injuries begin to bleed again as he tried unsuccessfully to fend off the drunk, hysterical woman.

"No... Evan...don't leave me, please..."

Mark Hua stared at her as her hands found their way under his shirt. What was going on? Was she...molesting him? He was Mark Hua, the fearless head of the first intel organization, and yet a drunk woman was now molesting him.

Della was too drunk to realize who she was dealing with.

"Lady, I don't know who you are, but you better remember my name. I'm Mark Hua."

Della woke up in inexplicable pain the next day. Her body ached all over, and her first thought was to wonder if she had been run over by a truck.

Her head was throbbing badly, and there was a terrible pain behind her eyes. She realized belatedly that these were hangover symptoms. She shut her eyes again, trying to think, and finally remembered that she had been forced to drink three shots of whiskey the night before, as a punishment for making Evan leave the club.

But why was she in this bed?

Where was Evan?

She tried to remember what had happened, but everything had been a hazy blur after the whiskey. Suddenly, a few disjointed memories from the night before broke through her brain fog, and Della gave a little shriek. Her cheeks grew red and hot in embarrassment as she relived the steamy moments.

But where was Evan? Bewildered, Della looked around the empty room as she tried to make sense of the situation.

She reached for her phone to call Evan, but her phone was dead. It had run out of battery during the night.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten? Grandpa's in the hospital. Evan must have gone to see him," Della murmured to herself.

She put on her clothes as fast as she could and found a taxi to take her to the hospital, smiling blissfully the entire way.

As soon as she arrived, she gave the driver a generous tip and hurried down the hospital hall with a spring in her step, convinced that the night before was the start to a wonderful, loving relationship with Evan. But fate had other plans.

"Evan?" Della opened the door and looked around. "Where's Grandpa?"

Evan was sitting in a chair, his head in his hands. He lifted his head slowly when he heard Della's voice. As soon as his cold eyes rested on her face, he was seized by a sudden, uncontrollable fit of rage.

It happened in a flash. Evan got up, strode across the room to Della, and slapped her across the face.

His eyes burned with a mixture of fury, hatred, and disgust.

The force from Evan's slap sent Della sprawling to the floor. She lifted a hand to her swollen cheek as she stared helplessly at him, her eyes wide with confusion and disbelief. "Evan?"

"I told you not to call me that. It makes me want to throw up." Evan sneered.

"But... I..." Della looked at Evan in complete bewilderment as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Are you happy now? You killed Grandpa, you dirty slut!" Evan picked up the newspaper on the table next to him and tossed it savagely in Della's direction.

There was a large, scandalous photo of Della on the front page, seemingly taken the night before when she had been hopelessly drunk. All the color drained from Della's face when she saw what the photo suggested.

Evan looked at Della, his expression stony. His said icily, "Grandpa's condition improved this morning. He was out of danger, but as soon as he saw the news about you, he relapsed and couldn't be saved."

Della was horrified. Her memories of the night before were still hazy, but the thought of Grandpa dying because of what she had done was too much for her to bear.

"I don't understand it. How...?" Della murmured to herself in a daze.

"Here's the divorce agreement and a check for five million dollars. Take the check and get out of my life!" Evan threw a stack of papers into Della's face and stalked out the door.

Della stood rooted to the spot as the documents scattered to the floor. She grabbed the papers and ran out the door, hoping to catch Evan before he left.

"Evan... Evan...listen to me. Listen to me, please. Last night, I..." Della's desperate, heartbreaking pleas went unheard. Her only response from Evan was the sound of his car speeding away.

Della's knees gave way, and she sat heavily on the ground, devastated. Her hands trembled as she unfolded the divorce agreement. The sight of Evan's signature on it was too much for her; she felt as if her heart had been pierced by a thousand arrows.

It was some time before Della found the strength to get up and return to the Xiao family residence. As soon as she arrived, her heart sank further. All her things had already been packed into suitcases, arranged neatly outside the gates. The message was crystal clear-she had been given the boot, and was no longer welcome.

Della spotted the doorman and the butler peering curiously at her from the front porch. Their eyes met, but before she could open her mouth to call out to them, they vanished inside the house and shut the door behind them.

Della stared helplessly at the house beyond the gates. She knew the dignified thing to do would be to collect her things and leave without a second glance, but she couldn't do it. She had to see Evan again. She had to explain to him what had happened last night, even if she didn't truly understand it herself.

She waited for what seemed like forever. Finally, the sound of an incoming car caught Della's attention, and she turned to look.

The gates swung open to receive the red convertible as it sped past Della like a gust of wind. The tight, sexy skirt and the red, wavy hair caught Della's eye, and she knew at once that it was Lana.

As she drove past, Lana turned to look at Della with a mocking, self-satisfied smirk.

That was all it took. Della had been valiantly holding on to the last shred of her dignity, but now the final piece of her armor crumbled away. She burst into tears.

She closed her eyes, and suddenly found herself reliving her first day at the Xiao family residence.

Both her parents had died in a car accident when she was only eight years old. Evan's grandpa had generously offered to take care of her, and before she knew it, she had been whisked away to the Xiao family.

As soon as they had arrived, Evan's grandpa had said to her, "My dear Della, listen. Your grandpa and I made a pact a long time ago. We agreed that our grandchildren would marry each other and join the two families together. You, my dear, are going to marry my grandson Evan."

Immediately after this surprising speech, Evan's grandpa had introduced her to Evan, who was six years older than her.

The young man, so handsome and aloof, had stolen her heart away from the first moment she saw him.

From then on, she had lived only for him and no one else. She had worked hard to catch his eye, to fit into the mold of the type of women he liked. She had learned all of his likes and dislikes in her quest to be worthy of him.

But despite all her efforts, Evan had never taken her seriously.

They had tied the knot as soon as Della turned 18, but only because Evan's grandpa forced him to marry her. The marriage was a complete sham. Evan had never entered her bedroom, or even looked at her with an expression that wasn't a stony frown. They had been married three months now, but Evan was still practically a stranger to her.

The sweet intimacy from last night had been a hard-won victory for her, but perhaps that had just been one last cruel joke from Evan.

Now that Evan's grandpa was no longer around, Evan had every right to boot her from the Xiao family and cut her out from his life. Try as she might, Della found herself unable to resent him for his decision. She had been the cause of his grandpa's death, after all.

She removed the pen clipped to the divorce papers, and signed her name next to Evan's with a trembling hand. When she was done, she fastened the check to the divorce agreement with a paperclip, and left them before the gates. She took a deep breath, collected her things, and for the first time in her life, walked away without looking back.

Five minutes later, a black car rolled slowly into view and stopped beside the gates to the Xiao family residence.

Mark stepped out of the car and leaned against it with a look of determination in his eyes.

His eyes flickered to the divorce agreement.

"Sir, it's time to change the dressing for your wounds," Suzan Gu said respectfully.

Mark turned abruptly and glared at her, who had followed him out of the car and was now standing next to him. She was both beautiful and sexy; her black leather jacket and pants clung to her curvy figure, and there was a playful, come-hither look in her pretty eyes that most men found difficult to resist.

Mark frowned. He had known about her feelings for him for some time now, but had never given it a second thought. He considered it none of his business, so long as she was able to perform her duties without letting her feelings get in the way. Today, however, he found the undisguised look of adoration in her eyes repulsive, and he couldn't explain why.

"Last night was a complete fiasco. See that it doesn't happen again." The expression on Mark's face, still slightly pale from blood loss, grew cold and distant.

Suzan Gu bit her lip. She nodded her head, but as soon as Mark looked away, a malicious glint flickered in her beautiful eyes.

'He's mine. I won't let anyone steal him from me, ' she inwardly swore to herself.

Six years later, at a land auction

"Two hundred million." A woman's voice, crisp and cool, cut through the babble like a knife through butter.

The auction room immediately fell silent. Some of the guests squirmed in their seats as they tried to catch a glimpse of the bidder.

"Who is she? How does she have all that money? Two hundred million, wow!"

"I think she's representing Tang Group."

"That explains everything. They're loaded with money."

"But I've never seen her before. She's so young. Who is she, really? An illegitimate daughter of the Tang family's head?"

The guests whispered among themselves, unable to contain their curiosity.

"Two hundred and fifty million," Evan said nonchalantly.

The room, which had been quiet a moment ago, erupted into confused chatter.

Everyone present knew that the land up for auction was only worth two hundred million at most. Tang Group's bid of two hundred million meant they would never turn a profit, and yet Evan had one-upped them by adding another fifty million to the bidding price. Was he out of his mind?

"Has Mr. Xiao lost his marbles?" an onlooker exclaimed.

"But Mr. Xiao's a savvy businessman. We've all seen Xiao Group transform into a first-rate corporation under his leadership in the last several years. He knows what he's doing. That land must be a lot more valuable than we thought!" a voice chimed in.

"I agree with you. He knows something we don't. Xiao Group has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Evan Xiao is a force to be reckoned with," another voice added.

Evan sneered disdainfully as he listened to the excited voices around him.

The land was only worth two million dollars to everyone else, but it was priceless to Xiao Group. It was the missing piece in their jigsaw puzzle; once they had it, they would be able to consolidate all the land they already owned, and turn the area into a one-stop residential and commercial neighborhood, complete with entertainment outlets.

With a little marketing and hype, they would be able to flip the property for twice the amount paid today.

"Two hundred and fifty million, going once."

"Two hundred and fifty million, going twice."

The auctioneer raised his gavel. He was about to say, "Going thrice!" and seal the deal when the mystery woman lifted her bid paddle again.

"Three hundred million." Her cold, matter-of-fact voice was entirely devoid of emotion.

Evan frowned. He lifted his bid paddle. "Three hundred and fifty million."

"Five hundred million." It was the same disinterested voice.

Evan stood up abruptly and turned to scan the room for the mysterious woman he had been bidding against. Who was this woman with the audacity and the money to outbid him, and at such a ridiculous price?

Evan narrowed his eyes. The land up for auction was only worth about four hundred million to him, and not a single cent more. Bidding five hundred million for it made no sense whatsoever. Someone was clearly out to sabotage him.

He spotted the woman with the bid paddle, and his jaw dropped. He took in the long hair, tied neatly in a bun, and the flawless complexion that shone without the help of makeup. Her eyes, staring coolly back at him beneath her delicate eyebrows, were both familiar and strange to him.

He knew those eyes-they were the eyes of the woman who had worshiped him for ten years. But the affectionate warmth in them had been replaced with a confidence and steadfast determination he had never seen before. As their eyes met, he thought he could see a flicker of triumph and contempt in her eyes.

It was Della.

"Mr. Hua?" In a secluded corner of the room, Peter Liu looked at Mark with some confusion. Mark had been about to raise his bid paddle, but had suddenly changed his mind and lowered it.

They had received inside information that the new high-speed railway would pass through the piece of land currently up for auction. The government would pay the owners of the land five hundred million dollars as part of the railway subsidy, and that was on top of the other economic benefits brought about by having the train stop there. Peter stared at Mark as his confusion grew. They were prepared to fork over a billion dollars for the land, so why had Mark given up on it?

There was a small smile on Mark's handsome face. "If she wants it, I'll make sure she gets it."

Over the last six years, he had tried his best to find her, to no avail. He had convinced himself that he had forgotten her, but he knew now that he had only been deceiving himself. The moment he saw her again, his icy heart melted and began to hammer in his chest with an intensity that surprised him.

He wasn't about to let her slip away a second time.

Peter Liu watched helplessly as the auctioneer rapped his gavel upon the sounding board.

"Five hundred million, going thrice. And we have a deal! My heartiest congratulations to Tang Group."

Della stood up graciously to acknowledge the applause and shouts of congratulations from the other guests. She smiled.

She was wearing a fashionable light yellow suit, tailor-made to hug her ample curves. Her appearance was so striking every man in the room immediately turned to stare at her.

Blinded with rage, Evan strode over to Della and grabbed her wrist. His voice was angry and accusing as he yelled, "Della! What is the meaning of this?!"

He was convinced that she had returned to get her revenge.

"Mr. Xiao, I understand that you're embarrassed, but it is highly improper for you to take it out on me." Della pulled her wrist out of his grasp. "My sincerest apologies for depriving you of the land you seem so very desperate to buy."

With that, she turned and swept gracefully out the door.

Evan's face darkened. He was about to follow after Della and make her pay for her insolence when Lana grabbed his sleeve and shot him a warning look. Evan glanced around and saw that the other guests were now staring at him after his angry outburst.

He straightened his tie and cleared his throat. A few of the guests approached him to ask what had happened, but he ignored them and stalked out of the room with Lana in tow. His expression was one of perfect nonchalance, but an unpleasant storm brewed in his eyes.

Behind him, Lana's pretty eyes were aflame with jealousy and resentment.

Six years ago, the male escort she had called for Della had arrived at Room 1001 only to find it empty. Lana had been left with no choice but to disguise herself as Della by changing her clothes and putting on a wig. She had found someone to take incriminating photos of "Della" from the back while she made out with the male escort, but her plan had backfired on her. The photographer was in cahoots with the male escort, and had secretly snapped photos of Lana sleeping with the male escort after removing her disguise.

The male escort and photographer had been blackmailing her with the photos for the last six years; the greedy pair were like a pair of insatiable lions, pestering her for money day and night. But she had gritted her teeth and endured it. As Evan's underground mistress, it had taken her considerable time, money, and energy to finally earn the right to appear beside Evan at public events as his girlfriend. Della's sudden return to the scene was a wrench in her plans.

Della strode out of the auction house. Several of the wealthy, successful businessmen who had seen her at the auction accosted her and tried to invite her out to dinner, but she turned all of them down politely with a smile and a small shake of her head. She slid gracefully into the back seat of a car and turned to look at the man beside her: Dugan Tang.

Dugan Tang was over sixty years old, but he didn't look a day over fifty. He sat with perfect posture in his dark blue Chinese tunic suit; his eyes bright under his gray hair and his cheeks rosy with good health. He was Dugan Tang, the chairman of Tang Group.

"I hear that Evan Xiao was also at the auction. Is it true?" Dugan Tang asked with a grin.

Della smiled. "Yes, he was there. You should have seen the look on his face when I stole the land he wanted from right under his nose."

"Do you want me to explain our relationship to him?" Dugan Tang asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"What difference would it make?" Della replied with a self-deprecating smile.

After leaving the Xiao family six years ago, she had packed her things and traveled to another country alone. While abroad, she had stumbled upon Dugan Tang while he was having a heart attack, and had acted quickly to save his life. After his recovery, he had taken her under his wing to repay her for her kindness.

There had been the usual sort of gossip that naturally began whenever a young woman was seen with a rich elderly man, but Della didn't mind. She made no attempt to explain the relationship, and had even allowed the rumors to spread; she wasn't interested in romance, and the gossip served to keep other men from trying to approach her and waste her time.

Dugan Tang's smile widened as he regarded Della thoughtfully. "But he's your ex-husband. Surely you..."

"That's all in the past now. I don't see the point in crying over spilled milk," Della cut him off abruptly.

She was almost convinced the gods were toying with her. She had given up on Evan. She had been ready to move on, and yet their paths had crossed for the second time.

She let out a soft sigh as a gloomy look crept into her eyes. She was afraid her secret would be discovered, afraid that the embers in her heart, which she had tried to stamp out over the last six years, would kindle again.

Dugan Tang merely smiled in response. It was her choice to make, and he knew better than to interfere.