I dreamed of you leaving. I woke up weeping.

Sitting by the window, I watch the wind blow. Can you feel my love?

When we grow old, will you still be by my side?

The promises we made and the lies we told will all be gone with wind, just like our past.

So many people adored you when you were young.

No one likes getting old.

People meet and part.

I will never leave and will always hold you dear to my heart.

Alyssa sang beautifully. Her voice was so soft and affectionate everybody stopped what they were doing and shifted their gazes to the stage. She was confident and composed, neither proud nor too humble.

Pamela was in a golden strapless dress, which accentuated her thin waist. Her big breasts were only half covered. When she moved, the hem of her dress stirred in the air. The makeup she was wearing gave an elegant and aloof impression. She was really a distraction at the party. Many male coworkers of hers couldn't take their eyes off her.

Holding a glass of wine in her hands, she took a sip and asked indifferently, "There are so many singers. Why is she singing the opening song?

Her assistant answered, "Gillian was stuck in a traffic jam. She couldn’t make it."

Pamela nodded, staring at Alyssa with a profound look in her eyes.

When the song was over, Alyssa got off the stage with sweaty hands.

She had performed many times in college but had never been so nervous.

She wiped her hands on her dress. "I’ll remember this," she said to Callum when she walked by him.

Callum smiled. He didn’t seem to care.

Next, as the CEO, Aaron gave a speech, in which he summarized the work they had done in the past year and looked into the future. Alyssa knew what he was about to say even before he started, because it was her who had written the script.

Then, the other members of the top management made their stereotyped speeches too. Each was more boring than the other.

Alyssa wanted to be alone, so she walked out onto the balcony. It had been raining in the past few days. Today, it finally let up. Warm, sunny. She took some deep breaths. The air smelled of rain, refreshing.

She lit a cigarette and took a drag on it.

Alyssa had learned how to smoke when she was sixteen. But she wasn’t a heavy smoker. She only did it to play cool or when she was in a bad mood.

Basil’s parents went to see her yesterday, asking her to leave their son alone. It didn't surprise her that they didn’t approve of her. She wasn't from a rich and powerful family, after all. She had expected that they would give her a handsome sum of money to keep her away from Basil, but they didn’t.

If they had and Alyssa had turned them down, they might have raised their offer; and if she took the money, she would be rich now.

Reflecting on the scene, she took a hard drag, indignant.

Go to hell! You want me to stay away from your son? No can do! I’ll see him as often as I can, and there’s nothing you can do about it!

She had the cigarette between her lips, squinting. The smoke swirled around her. The way she smoked was kind of cool.

She enjoyed it when the smoke rose inside her body and came out of her nostrils like a blooming flower.

But later, when she turned her head, what she saw made her freeze. Three incredibly good-looking men were also smoking on the balcony. One of them was her boss, Aaron.

The other two were Cyril, the second most powerful man in the company, and Maurice, who was rumored to be Aaron's lover. If the rumor was true, Alyssa had to admit that her boss had good eye; Maurice was indeed handsome.

They were looking at her. Alyssa was about to take another drag; the cigarette was at her lips, but she didn’t know what to do. Should she remove the cigarette? It would look hypocritical. They already saw her smoking. Should she continue smoking? Smoking in front of her boss seemed rude and arrogant. Besides, she was a girl. Smoking wasn’t ladylike at all. She used to think women who smoked were troublesome. Now she herself was smoking, and her boss had seen it. What if he formed a low opinion of her based on it?

After giving it some thought,

she turned around and went on smoking, as if she didn't notice the three of them at all.

Under their sharp gazes, she finished the rest of the cigarette and felt that she had accomplished a remarkable feat.

After putting out the cigarette and throwing the butt into the bin, she turned around to walk back into the room with feigned composure. She was sure that she would be traumatized by the whole matter.