Semua Bab Guarding the Rose: The CEO's Secret Duty: Bab 1 - Bab 10

"Tess."Zoey gave me a pat, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Yes?""Lorcan hasn't attended any of our class reunions since the high school graduation party," Zoey whispered in my ear.I hummed lightly in response, then rose to my feet. "Excuse me while I use the washroom."I knew Lorcan hated me, and by extension, he hated his high school days. After all, my affluent background was the total opposite of his unfortunate one. I'd ordered him around time and time again—demanding and unreasonable.Between the ages of 8 and 18, Lorcan had always done as I asked without protests—until that fateful day. If I hadn't heard him tell me to scram and stay the hell away from him, I might have forgotten that he was a young man with his fair share of pride.My guilt deepened at the thought. I approached the door with my head hung. As I reached for the doorknob, someone pushed the door open.My eyes widened with shock as I met the dark, steely gaze on the other side of the door.As it turned o

"Tess!"I woke up with tears streaming down my face, only to see Jonathan staring at me worriedly. I grabbed a tissue and dried my tears, my voice hoarse. "I'm fine."Jonathan handed me an opened bottle of water. I took it and let the water soothe my grainy throat. "Head over to Skylark Entertainment without me tomorrow, Jonathan."Skylark Entertainment was the largest entertainment agency in the country. Lorcan acquired it five years ago."Why?" Jonathan asked, baffled.A humorless smile tugged on my lips as I opened the car door. My voice was drowned out by the sound of the pouring rain. "Because I've still got some pride left."Alas, an ordinary person's pride and integrity were only worth so much.While researching potential celebrity candidates in the hotel, I'd only just come across a decent-looking young man when Jonathan called. "Tess, it's best if you come to Skylark Entertainment."I looked no better than a bedraggled goblin as I leaned into the swivel chair behind my

Lorcan had knocked over the cup of honeyed tea and grabbed me forcefully by my wrist.I barely registered what was happening as he flipped me around and pinned me under him. He leaned over me, biting my lip with newfound ferocity.As the sparks went off in my head, I felt his weight crushing me, holding me down so completely that I couldn't budge. I turned my head to the side and snapped, "You're out of your mind, Lorcan!""Yes, I am." Lorcan clutched my jaw and turned my face to his. He stared at me intently, his voice rough. "I'm out of my mind because I miss you too much and I'm jealous of all those men leering at you."I froze, but Lorcan continued to kiss me. A few seconds later, tears sprang to my eyes, and I tried my best to shove him away. "Lorcan, what are you doing? What about Sabrina? Aren't you worried she'd catch you doing this?""What does any of this have to do with Sabrina?" Lorcan paused, though he pinned me in place as he frowned at me."But you and Sabrina are

I was stunned, not because of Sabrina's sudden appearance here, but her looks. She'd lost a terrifying amount of weight. Her face was gaunt, and she wore her pallor like a second skin. Gone was the young woman and little girl who'd been bubbly and warm."Oh, don't look at me like I'm some creature to be pitied on," Sabrina chided, quirking her mouth. "Don't worry, I'm recovering well. I should be back to normal after New Year's."I said nothing, but Sabrina continued anyway, "What happened to Lorcan? Don't tell me he's actually sleeping when the person he's missed the most is right in front of him! Has his intelligence gone down?""He got into a car accident," was all I said."Oh." Sabrina grabbed a stool and planted herself beside me. "So he lost some of his intelligence due to the accident."I gaped at her speechlessly."Say, Tess, you look different."I met Sabrina's gaze. "What, you got a problem with that?""No…" Sabrina couldn't help snickering at my inexplicable hostil

On the morning I was waiting at the airport with a ticket in hand, a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind me, the owner practically grinding out his words. "Tessa!"The stunning, imposing man who'd ambushed me at the airport stepped forward and tore my ticket into pieces.Then, cornering me against the wall, he stared at me with red-rimmed eyes. He sounded menacing but wounded as he said, "How dare you leave me like this? You promised to give me a complete family, remember? You called me cheap, well, guess what? I am—"I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. I couldn't bear to hear him degrading himself.I'd been so hung up on Lorcan's rejection of me ten years ago that I couldn't resist bringing it up during my conversation with Sabrina.She'd sputtered in disbelief. "He wanted you to stay away from him? Please. That was because he had low self-esteem and believed you were too good for him. You may not know this, but given the chance, he'd work himself to death to pr