“Oh, we’re going to have dinner. Do you want to join us?” Alyssa asked Sharon. There was a faint tinge of provocation in her eyes.

For a moment, the smile on Sharon’s face froze. Then she countered, “Thanks, but I can’t. Basil’s mom invited me to go shopping with her tomorrow. I need to go to bed early tonight.”

Clever move.

She was trying to win Basil’s mom over, Alyssa thought.

She raised her eyebrow and replied in a feigned innocent friendly smile, “Oh, okay. Maybe next time. Nice meeting you.”

Sarcasm was plain in her tone.

Sharon returned her smile and said, “Likewise. And I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

Then she left. Alyssa had a feeling that woman would be a big threat. She hated trouble, and she hated two women scheming against each other even more. It was stupid, meaningless, and a waste of life.

“Let's go,” Basil prompted.

His voice brought Alyssa to the present. She stared at him. Basil was puzzled by her look. “What's wrong?” he asked.

“What if your parents will never approve of me?

You know me. I won’t let myself live an unhappy life.

Life is too short,” she queried, looking him in the eye.

Basil took her hand in his and looked at her sincerely.

“Believe me, Alyssa. You're the only woman I love. If I’ll ever get married, my bride will only be you. I’ll make you happy and won’t let anything or anybody come between us,” he promised.

In the past five years, they had never fought. Even if Basil was mad and Alyssa was being unreasonable, he would say it was his fault.

It was a man’s deeds, not his words, that mattered.

Alyssa remembered what Basil had just said. So the day when he married someone else, she realized that sometimes, a man’s promise was just a load of crap. She should never have taken it seriously.

“I hope you remember what you just said,” she uttered.

Basil pulled her into his arms. Her fragrance filled his nostrils. “I’ll always love you, only you,” he promised in a serious tone.

Alyssa soon forgot this episode. She continued working hard. It was just that she found that she was seeing her boss more often than before.

His exclusive elevator being out of order, Aaron had been taking the staff’s elevator in the past few days. This day, Alyssa hurried to the elevator with a stack of papers in her arms. A man was standing in front of the elevator, waiting. He looked pretty tall and strong.

As soon as the elevator arrived and the doors opened, she hastened in front of him, saying, “Excuse me. Let me through. Lady first. Thank you.”

She stood somewhere she felt comfortable in the elevator and then slowly raised her head. That was when she met his cold eyes.

Alyssa gasped and pressed her lips tight. She was the only one in the elevator. She walked out and said to him, “Boss, after you.”

It was only after Aaron had stepped in the elevator that she walked in with her head lowered. Standing in a corner, she remained silent and wished she could turn back the clock.

“What’s on my schedule today?” Aaron suddenly asked.

Alyssa fumbled around in those materials, flustered, for her notepad. When she found it, she paged it through to check.

Sadly, she was so nervous the papers slipped out of her arms and fell on the floor of the elevator.

Alyssa squatted down to pick them up. Some of them fell at Aaron’s feet. When she stretched her hand to pick up the last piece of paper, he happened to turn around. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the elevator doors opened at that very moment, and standing at the doors were some of her colleagues, with Pamela among them. They all looked at the two in a surprised and weird way.

When Aaron turned around, Alyssa’s head happened to be at the same level of his crotch. So, what her colleagues saw was that she was facing his crotch, at which they assumed that they were doing it in the elevator.

Realizing what was going on, Alyssa stood up abruptly, her face flaming as if it were on fire. So embarrassed and startled, she darted out of the elevator and rushed to her desk. What a morning!