Chapter One

"Ariana, drink."

Linda pushed the glass into her hand.

Ariana didn't take it. She just looked at her stepmom.

The Knight Hotel Gala was packed. Music loud. Everyone drinking and talking. But in front of her table, it was quiet.

"I don't want it," Ariana said.

"What do you mean you don't want it? Investor Li is waiting for you upstairs. Room 8808. This is for your father. Don't be selfish," Linda said, smiling but her eyes cold.

Chloe sat next to Linda, swirling her own wine. "Sister, don't be like this. Investor Li said he really likes you. He is old but very... generous. He will take good care of you."

Ariana laughed. Short, cold.

"Take good care of me? That 60-year-old pervert?"

Linda slammed the glass down. Wine spilled.

"Keep your voice down! Are you crazy? You will go up. You will toast him. You will make him happy. Then your father's company will get the investment. Understand?"

"I understand," Ariana said. "You drugged this wine. You want to push me to him so you can take my mom's shares when I am ruined. Right?"

Chloe's smile disappeared. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," Ariana said. "I am not drinking it."

Linda leaned close, whispering so only she could hear. "You think you have a choice? Your father already agreed. If you don't go, he will throw you out tonight. Where will you go? Useless girl."

Ariana's head suddenly felt heavy. Dizzy. Her vision blurred a little.

Wait. Did she already drink earlier? The waiter that gave her juice...

Heat started crawling up her neck. Her skin felt hot.

They already drugged her.

Shit.

She stood up fast. The chair screeched.

"I need air."

"No, you sit" Linda tried to grab her.

Ariana shook her hand off and walked away fast, almost running. Her legs felt soft. She needed cold water. Now.

She pushed through the crowd to the elevator. A waiter passed with key cards for VIP guests.

She looked down. 8808. That was the trap room where Investor Li was waiting.

She threw that card away and grabbed another one. 8809. Next door.

Elevator up. Eighth floor. Her heart beating fast. Hot, so hot.

8809. She swiped the card. The door opened. She fell inside and locked it three times.

Bathroom.

She ran to the bathroom and turned the bathtub faucet to the coldest. Full blast.

She didn't even take her dress off. She climbed straight in.

"Ah”

Ice water hit her. Cold to the bone. But it worked. The heat went down a little. Her head cleared a little.

She sat in the water, hugging her knees, trying to breathe. She pressed a point on her neck with her fingers her own acupressure trick. She always carried antidote pills in her dress pocket for emergency. She needed to find them.

Then she heard water.

Not from her faucet.

Another sound. Behind her.

Someone breathing.

Her whole body froze.

She slowly turned her head.

A man stood at the bathroom doorway.

Tall. Black pants, white shirt half unbuttoned, tie on the floor. Handsome face but cold, very cold. His hair was messy. His eyes were dark and angry. And his face was also red, also drugged.

Ethan Knight.

Ariana knew him. Everyone knew him. No.1 CEO in the country. Cold CEO. Knight Group.

What was he doing in this room?

Ethan stared at the girl in his bathtub. Soaking wet. Dress sticking to her body. Hair dripping.

His first thought: trap. His uncle Ray's trap.

"Who sent you?" His voice was low and dangerous. He walked in. "Ray? How much did he pay you?"

Ariana stared back. Angry.

"What?"

"Get out of my bathtub," he said.

"Your bathtub? I was here first!" Ariana shouted. "Get out! I don't want to see you!"

Ethan laughed coldly. "You break into my room, climb into my bathtub in a wet dress, and you tell me you don't want to see me? Good acting."

"I didn't break into your room! I ran in here! I was drugged! My family drugged me!" Ariana stood up, water pouring off her. She was furious. "You think every girl wants you? Look at you! You are drugged too! You think I planned this?"

Ethan's eyes narrowed. He stepped closer. He could smell wine but also something else. He was dizzy too. The drug his uncle gave him was strong. He needed a doctor.

"Stay away," Ariana said.

"Or what?" he said.

Ariana grabbed a small towel and threw it at his face.

Ethan caught it. His anger rose. No one ever talked to him like this. No one ever threw things at him.

"You”

"Don't you 'you' me! You think you can scare me because you are Ethan Knight? I am not your fangirls! Move!" She tried to push past him.

He grabbed her wrist.

Ariana reacted fast. She twisted his arm and pressed hard on a point inside his elbow.

Ethan hissed. Pain shot up.

"What did you do to me?"

"Acupressure. To slow the drug. You are going to have a heart attack if you keep standing there like an idiot," she snapped.

She let go and reached into a tiny hidden pocket sewn inside her dress. She pulled out a small black pill.

Ethan watched her, wary.

"This is antidote. I made it," she said. She bit it into two halves with her teeth. "Half for me, half for you. Take it."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Then don't. Die here. I don't care," Ariana said, putting her half in her mouth and swallowing.

She held the other half out to him. "Your choice, CEO."

Ethan looked at the girl. Soaking, rude, eyes fierce. Not seductive. Not acting scared. Just angry.

He took the half pill and swallowed.

Bitter. Very bitter.

Silence for a minute. Only the bathtub water running.

Ariana sat on the edge of the tub, pressing points on her own neck and wrist. Her hands were cold. She was shaking but trying to stay calm.

Ethan leaned against the wall, breathing slowly. The burning heat in his body slowly went down. His head cleared.

He looked at her again. Really looked.

Wet hair stuck to her cheek. When she moved her hair back, behind her left ear there was a small tattoo. Light purple butterfly. Small, but clear.

Ariana felt him staring and quickly covered her ear with hair.

"What are you looking at?"

"Your tattoo," he said.

"None of your business."

She stood up, still dripping, and walked to the sink. On the sink, there was a watch. Patek Philippe. Millions.

She picked it up.

Ethan frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Medical f*e," she said. "My antidote is not free. And acupressure is not free. This watch will do."

"You are stealing my watch?"

"I'm charging you! You think a miracle doctor is cheap?" Ariana put the watch in her dress pocket. "We are even now. I was never here. You were never here. If anyone asks, you don't know me."

She walked to the door.

"Wait. Your name”

"I don't have a name," she cut him.

At that exact moment, from the hallway outside, a loud voice shouted.

"Ariana Cole! Where did that bitch go! She should be in 8808! Investor Li is waiting in 8808! Find her!"

Chloe. In the hallway, looking for her.

Ariana's eyes went wide. She looked at the main door, then at the balcony.

Ethan also heard it. He understood now. She really was drugged by her family. Not sent by Ray. And Investor Li was next door in 8808, waiting.

Ariana ran to the balcony, opened the door. Wind came in.

She looked back once at Ethan.

"Don't die," she said, rude but with a little concern.

Then she climbed over the balcony railing and disappeared.

Ethan stood alone in the wet bathroom.

Water everywhere. A girl's footprints.

And the faint smell of her antidote.

He picked up his phone and dialed.

"Leo."

"Sir! Are you okay? The doctor”

"I'm fine. Someone already... helped me," Ethan said, his voice back to cold. "Find a girl. Tonight. At Knight Hotel. About 22. Rude. Fierce. She has a butterfly tattoo behind her left ear. Soaking wet dress."

"Rude... butterfly tattoo?" Leo was confused.

"Find her. I want everything about her in one hour."

He hung up. He looked at room 8808 next door and called security. "Check room 8808. There is a 60-year-old man waiting to commit a crime. Kick him out of my hotel."

Meanwhile, at Cole house 11 PM.

Linda, Robert, and Chloe sat in the living room waiting, smiling.

"Where is she? The drug should have worked by now. She should be with Investor Li in 8808," Linda said happily.

Chloe laughed. "Maybe Investor Li already got her. By tomorrow her video will be everywhere. Then we take her mother's shares."

Robert said nothing, weak.

The front door opened with a loud bang.

Everyone turned.

Ariana Cole walked in. Dress dry now, but hair still a little damp. Face calm. Eyes cold like ice.

She looked at them one by one.

Linda's smile froze. She stood up, knocking over her glass.

"You, How are you here? You should be in the hotel with Investor Li!"

Chloe screamed, pointing. "You! You should be ruined! How did you escape!"

Ariana walked closer, step by step.

She smiled. But it was not a nice smile.

"Disappointed? Sorry, stepmom. Wrong room didn't work. Your plan failed. And Investor Li? Knight Hotel security just threw him out like trash."