Realizing her clothes were wet and sticking to her uncomfortably, she feebly reached out and started tugging at Damien Vaughn.

"So sticky... It’s uncomfortable..."

Their clothes were soaked, clinging to them so tightly they could feel every one of each other’s curves. And she was still tugging at him?

This woman was going to be the death of Damien Vaughn.

"What are you doing now?"

"Wow, so fair."

Cecelia Archer pulled his shirt off one shoulder, revealing a glimpse of Damien Vaughn’s firm, toned chest, and suddenly laughed.

She stared at the patch of pale skin, marveling at it.

"It’s like tofu. So nice."

She even wanted to take a bite.

Seeing the suggestive look on her face, Damien Vaughn was genuinely afraid his self-control would shatter if this went on any longer. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and with a RIIIIP, yanked off her wet clothes.

He grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it, then threw his own wet clothes onto the floor.

"Go to sleep! If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation when you wake up tomorrow, you’ll have to answer to me!"

He carried Cecelia Archer into the bedroom, placed her on the bed, and covered her with the blanket. He turned to leave, but Cecelia grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going? Don’t go, I’m scared. There are ghosts, there are ghosts outside."

The curtains weren’t drawn. Outside the villa, a huge plane tree swayed in the wind, its branches and leaves casting shadows like a monster.

Cecelia Archer desperately pulled Damien Vaughn down, clinging to his neck.

"I’m scared. Stay with me. Please, stay with me."

Her slender, pale arms were wrapped around Damien Vaughn’s shoulders, her delicate, fair face nestled in the crook of his neck. The towel fell away, exposing a large expanse of her smooth, white back to his eyes.

The heat he had just managed to suppress rushed back in an instant.

Damien Vaughn was only human, after all—a healthy man in his prime.

His eyes darkened. He could no longer hold back. He lowered his head and descended upon her.

「At dawn」

Cecelia Archer’s head was splitting. She burrowed her face into her pillow a few times and slowly woke up.

But before she even opened her eyes, she felt that something was off.

’Why is this pillow so hard? Why does it feel so strange?’

She opened her eyes and—oh my god! That wasn’t a pillow she was nuzzling. It was a man’s chest—a pale, muscular man’s chest!

At this moment, she was using his arm as a pillow, with one hand wrapped around his waist and her head resting against his chest.

Cecelia Archer jumped in fright and quickly looked up.

Those sharp, handsome features, that face that radiated an imposing, noble aura even in sleep—it was her recently divorced "ex-husband," the famous male model from Veridia, Mr. Damien!

What...

’How could I... with him...’

Suppressing her astonishment, Cecelia Archer quickly tried to recall what happened. And it seemed to come back to her.

Last night, she had volunteered to drink on his behalf, then thrown up all over his car, and finally been brought here.

’So embarrassing! Mortifying!’

’I just wanted to do him a small favor to pay him back, but instead...’

’Never mind that he’s Claire Clark’s man. Even if he wasn’t, I never wanted anything like this to happen with him!’

’Forget it. What’s done is done. There’s no point dwelling on it.’

’He’s still asleep, and no one knows what happened. I’ll just pretend this was all a dream and sneak away.’

Cecelia Archer tiptoed out of bed. After looking around, she found a pile of clothes on the bathroom floor.

A man’s and a woman’s wet clothes were tangled together on the bathroom floor. A single glance was enough to conjure images of the previous night’s chaotic scene. Her face instantly turned as red as a tomato.

’Oh, Cecelia, Cecelia. Alcohol is a dangerous, dangerous thing. You need to use your brain next time!’

With no clothes to wear, Cecelia Archer could only take a shirt and a pair of pants from Damien Vaughn’s closet. While it was still not fully light out, she hurriedly fled the scene.

She rushed home, changed clothes, and hurried to the office, arriving just as the workday was beginning.

Mr. Jordan and Mr. Lee were both in the office. When they saw her, their eyes flickered, and their expressions became a little subtle.

"Cecelia’s here."

Cecelia Archer wasn’t sure if she had drunk too much in front of them last night or done anything inappropriate. She offered a smile.

"Morning. Mr. Jordan, Mr. Lee, about last night..."

"Last night? We all left early. We went home right after dinner," Mr. Jordan said hurriedly, putting an arm around Mr. Lee. "Lee, about that project you mentioned..."

Since President Vaughn had instructed them not to talk about last night, they would naturally pretend not to know anything.

Cecelia Archer didn’t need to probe their attitudes any further. The two men tactfully started discussing work as they walked into the office.

Cecelia Archer saw that their attitudes were relatively natural; they weren’t looking at her or speaking to her in a strange way. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

’Looks like nobody knows. I’ll just let this whole thing blow over quietly.’

When Damien Vaughn woke up, it was already past nine in the morning.

He had sweated a lot during the night, and his fever had subsided a bit. He felt much lighter now.

But when he opened his eyes, the space beside him was empty. Cecelia Archer had left at some point.

This surprised him.

’She went to all that trouble to get what she wanted, so she should have waited for me to wake up to take credit. Why would she just leave like that?’

’Could it be...’

’Whatever. No point overthinking it. She’ll definitely come looking for me on her own.’

Damien Vaughn got dressed and went to the office. But the entire morning passed, and Cecelia Archer didn’t send him a single message.

She was playing it cool. Damien Vaughn waited until the afternoon, and then until the end of the workday, but still no message from Cecelia Archer.

A whole night passed, and still there was nothing.

’Don’t tell me she was so drunk she forgot everything that happened last night?’

’No, that’s impossible.’

’A set of clothes was missing from the closet. She clearly wore them when she left.’

’Since she saw the state we were in when she woke up, she must have guessed what happened. So why is there no reaction at all?’

’The only explanation is that she’s a master player, far more composed than the average woman.’

’So she wants to play it cool. Fine, let her. Let’s see how long she can keep it up.’

Damien Vaughn tossed his phone aside and prepared to work, when Ryan suddenly came in to see him.

"President Vaughn..."

His expression was hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but was holding back. Damien Vaughn shot him a glance.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

"...The cleaning lady went to the Sable Bay Villa to clean. She just called to ask me... if you still want those two sets of clothes in the bathroom?"

There was a strange silence for two seconds. Then, Damien Vaughn said impassively, "Throw them out."

"Yes, President Vaughn."

Ryan turned to leave, but Damien Vaughn suddenly felt annoyed. He swiveled in his chair a couple of times and called out to him in a low voice.

"How is the execution of that proposal Stratton submitted a couple of days ago?"

’Once a proposal like that is approved, I don’t usually need to track its progress. Why is President Vaughn suddenly asking about it?’ Ryan thought.

Thinking that he was placing special importance on this project, Ryan said quickly,

"I’ll call Mr. Jordan right now and ask."

"No need. I haven’t been to Stratton to check on Mr. Lee’s work since he came on board. I’ll go take a look today."

With that, he stood up.

Ryan was very surprised. "Go now? How long will we be? There’s a meeting at ten..."

"I don’t feel like having a meeting today. Postpone it."

Ryan: "...Well, should we notify Stratton ahead of time?"

"No need."

"Then, Miss Archer..."

Damien Vaughn thought irritably: ’I’ll reveal my true identity to her today! Let’s see how she’ll keep up her act then! Let’s see if she can still play it so cool!’