“What’s wrong?”
There was no one in the bedroom. The scream – and the sound of rushing water – were coming from the bathroom.
He charged inside, and the scene caught him off guard.
Hannah was standing at the sink, fighting with an out-of-control faucet. Ice-cold water sprayed through her fingers, soaking everything, leaving her nightgown and hair drenched.
“I … I don’t know … ” Hannah looked at him like she’d just found her savior, her voice trembling. “I just wanted to wash my face, and then the faucet went crazy!”
At this hour, the butler and housekeeper were long gone. The only people left in the big villa were the three of them.
Ethan’s brows knitted. He strode over. “Step aside. Let me take a look.”
He reached to shut off the main valve, but as he got close, Hannah, who’d been holding the faucet with all her strength, suddenly let go as if she’d run out of energy.
The jet of water swung around, spraying Ethan right in the face.
He instinctively raised his arm to block the water.
“Watch out!”
Hannah cried out, and amidst the chaos, she stumbled right into his arms.
With water blurring his vision and the floor slick beneath him, Ethan couldn’t keep his balance. Hannah’s sudden lunge sent them both crashing to the wet floor.
With a heavy thud, he landed hard, and Hannah ended up sprawled across his chest.
The distance between them disappeared in an instant.
The sound of the gushing water still filled the air, acting as a wild soundtrack to the awkward scene.
Her night gown clung to her curves, every line and angle visible, leaving little to the imagination.
“Ethan … “
Hannah rested against his chest, her voice shaky and raw with emotion.
She lifted her delicate face, still clouded with fear. Water trickled down her cheeks and clung to her lashes, like tiny drops of sorrow.
Hannah stared at him in confusion, then suddenly seemed to realize just how compromising their position was. She scrambled to get up.
But the wet floor offered no grip. Each time she moved, she pressed even closer. Awkwardly shifting and squirming, her whole body inadvertently ground against his.
The warmth, the softness, the scent – any man would have struggled to resist being intimate with Hannah in that moment. The temptation was real.
Ethan couldn’t deny it. A long time ago, before Hannah married Jack, he had vague feelings for her.
But that was all it ever was.
Now, with her right up against him, Ethan felt nothing but startling clarity. He wasn’t tempted in the slightest.
If anything, Amelia’s face kept flashing through his mind, sharp and vivid.
“Stop moving.”
Ethan’s voice cut through the tension, breaking the ambiguous atmosphere Hannah had tried to create.
He didn’t give her a chance to react. He simply reached out, pushed her off, and stood up.
Hannah almost lost her balance, but she caught herself just in time.
Already on his feet, Ethan strode to the faucet, found the main valve, and twisted it shut.
Everything fell quiet in an instant.
He turned to leave, but he noticed Hannah coming toward him. She clutched a towel in her hands, looking apologetic.
She was still in her wet gown, making her look all the more pitiful in the light.
“Ethan, I’m sorry, I … “
“I’ll clean up myself. I’m going back to my room.” Ethan stepped back, widening the distance between them.
Then, he said in a stern voice, “Hannah, I’m married. It’s not appropriate for me to stay in your room this late.”
With that, he just turned and left, not giving her another chance to speak.
He closed the door gently behind him.
After Ethan left, the apologetic, fragile expression on Hannah’s face vanished in an instant.
She gripped the dry towel tightly, her eyes fixed on the closed door with a dark, brooding look.
How could this happen?
By all logic, after everything she’d planned, Ethan and she would be alone in the bathroom, with the mood set perfectly for the next step in intimacy. There was no way Ethan should have walked away unaffected. Any normal man would have caved.
But he didn’t even seem tempted for a second. He just left like that!
Hannah stood there for a long time, replaying every detail of the incident in her mind.
She went over everything, finally pinpointing the problem.
Looks like I didn’t use enough of the drug.
The next day, right on time, Amelia arrived at the Rowe Group’s Design Department.
No Sex for Six Years Because of Her? I’m Done!
She headed straight for Peter’s office.
Peter looked a bit uncomfortable. He politely poured Amelia a glass of water before sliding a brand-new file in front of her.
“Ms. Harlow, I really am sorry,” Peter explained. “Here’s what happened. Stellar Attire suddenly brought in a new design director.
“Her taste is completely different from the last director’s, so as soon as she took over, she overturned everything from our collaboration project, even though it was already wrapped up.
“Stellar Attire’s CEO is close with Mr. Rowe, so Mr. Rowe promised him that we would come up with a whole new set of design sketches.”
Amelia flipped through the documents, skimming them quickly.
“The requirements are completely different this time,” Peter continued. “They don’t want the traditional Cindara-style anymore. Now it has to be a modern Cindara-style design, something that shows off the power and confidence of modern women.”
That wasn’t a big deal for Amelia. She could handle any style.
But then Peter added something that made her frown.
“There’s one more thing … Ms. Harlow, the management gave a special instruction.
“They want you to work in the office full-time for this project, so you can focus completely and be available for communication at all times.”
Amelia paused, her fingers resting on the papers.
She didn’t need to guess – when Peter said “the management,” he could only mean Ethan.
This was just his way of keeping her under his nose.
Before she could respond, Ethan’s assistant came in and respectfully said, “Ms. Harlow, Mr. Rowe would like to see you.”
No one in the Design Department knew
Amelia’s real identity. They just thought she was another unlucky designer about to get scolded by the boss.
A few sympathetic looks were thrown her way.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.