LOGINEthan stared at Damien, taking in his appearance. His eyes lingered on Damien's well-defined face before settling on the beard he had grown. It looked strange to Ethan because he had never seen Damien with a beard before. Still, he couldn't deny that it made him look even more attractive. The beard gave him a more mature look, making Ethan blush just by looking at him.Damien, on the other hand, couldn't hide his surprise at seeing Ethan standing in his office. He quietly watched as Ethan's eyes wandered over him.When he noticed that Ethan had no intention of speaking or looking away, Damien cleared his throat."Ahem."Ethan immediately snapped out of his thoughts. Realizing he had been staring at Damien for far too long, he quickly looked away in embarrassment."I'm sorry. I zoned out for a moment."Inside, however, he wanted to slap himself.Yeah, right. You zoned out because of his handsome face, he thought. He had no idea how Damien had become even more charming. He looked so att
Ethan took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. It's just a passcode, right? No need to panic. He glanced back to see if the receptionist was still waiting. She was. When they made eye contact, he offered her another small smile, which she quickly returned.As he turned back to the keypad, he didn't notice the faint blush on her cheeks. She had been admiring him from the moment he walked in. Staring at his back, she couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to charm their notoriously cold boss. Even after seeing the press conference video, she hadn't believed the negative rumors for a second. She just had a gut feeling that there was still something deep between them.Looking at Ethan's broad shoulders and his neatly styled blonde hair, she thought dreamily, He's so handsome. I really don't blame the boss at all.Her starry-eyed admiration was a complete contrast to what Ethan was actually feeling. He was practically begging her to leave in his head. Why is she still stan
Ethan stood there in silence as the reality of what he had just promised dawned on him. He face-palmed in frustration. "Why did I say yes? How on earth am I going to convince Damien now?"He sat down, letting out a long sigh, but then he shook his head. "No, I have to do this for Anna. She has done too much for me to just ignore her when she needs help."Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he stood up and walked into the guest room he had been staying in. He put on a pair of jeans and a clean top. He also took the time to trim his overgrown beard. He wasn't entirely sure why he was suddenly caring so much about his appearance, but deep down, he wanted to look good for Damien. He didn't want Damien to think his life had become a complete mess since their fallout.Once he was ready, he walked out of the house and hailed a cab.As he arrived at the company, Ethan felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. Walking into the reception area, he couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous. He vi
Anastasia hesitated to continue as she turned to her father. Dimitri gave her a thumbs-up to keep going. Smiling secretly, Anastasia began to fake-cry, sniffing as she stammered, "I... I don't know how to tell you this, Ethan. It's just..."Ethan grew apprehensive. He didn't like Anastasia's tone; the Anastasia he knew was always strong and never cried without a major reason. Something terrible must have happened. "Just what, Anna? Trust me, you can tell me anything."Anastasia sniffled again. "Next week is my grandfather's birthday, Ethan, and my dad is pressuring me to bring a wealthy partner. The entire family is treating me like trash, calling me useless. I'm so tired, Ethan. All because of a man?"Ethan was dumbfounded. He had always assumed Anastasia was completely spoiled by her father. The Dimitri he saw at their graduation seemed wrapped around his daughter's finger. How had he changed so suddenly? "But why are they pressuring you to bring a suitor? You just graduated—isn't i
Ethan's thoughts were completely filled with one particular man. I wonder what he's doing right now, he thought to himself.Meanwhile, Kristen was busy talking about a date with his high school crush, whom he had recently run into. "Jessica is even prettier now, but I don't know if I'm ready for something serious right now. She asked me out on this date, and I feel like it's her way of showing she wants a real relationship. What do you think?"Kristen turned to his friend, wanting some advice on his relationship drama. He immediately became annoyed when he realized Ethan was completely lost in thought. "This dick , he's not even listening to me," Kristen muttered.However, his annoyance quickly turned into mischief. A playful plan popped into his head. He began swimming quickly toward Ethan.Ethan, who was still daydreaming about Damien, suddenly caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He tried to stand up from his wooden chair, but he was too late. Within a second, he was comp
Damien's face darkened as he heard that it was Ethan's classmate. "Any special background?" he asked.Elijah shook his head. "No, sir. She's just an ordinary student who is attending on a scholarship."Damien furrowed his eyebrows as a realization hit him. "If she is on a scholarship and still dared to post that video, she must be working with someone. She wouldn't risk going up against me unless someone powerful promised to protect her."Elijah’s eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "That's true, boss. But how sure are you that she has a partner?"Damien replied coldly, "If she doesn't have a partner, then she'll just have to face my wrath all by herself."With that, he shut the door completely, leaving Elijah alone in the hallway. Stunned by the realization, Elijah knew he had to dig deeper and do a lot more investigation to uncover who was truly pulling the strings.Linda received a call from the reporter—the exact same one who had aggressively questioned Ethan at the press c
Ethan froze at the door, hearing the apology made his eyes widen in pure shock. He slowly turned back to look at the man behind the desk, wondering if he had heard correctly."I'm sorry for strangling you," Damien said, his voice level. "It wasn't intentional, it was out of instinct."Ethan froze.
The final bell of the day usually felt like a victory, but for Ethan, it sounded like a death toll. He walked toward the school exit, his stomach tied in knots. He had no idea how he was going to face Damien, let alone ask the man to tutor him. It felt like crawling back to a lion and asking it to
Ethan entered the room, his heart pounding against his ribs. He didn't want to be anywhere near Damien for now. Ever since that night, he had started to see the man in a completely different light. He slumped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Fuck, I shouldn't have left," he muttered to the e
Ethan soon got home, feeling truly exhausted. As he entered, he unintentionally scanned the room for a furry little being named Leo. Anna, hearing the door open from the kitchen, shouted, "Who's there?"She stepped out of the kitchen and smiled when she saw Ethan. "Oh child, you're back home! How w







