Arthur, however, ignored Sophia and proceeded to clean up her wounds with at sterilized Q-tip. When he went on to apply the


    antiseptic, she hissed in pain. and gasped softly. ‘Ow, that hurts!”


    The way she yelped was so suggestive that Arthur stopped and shot her a freezing look, as though angry that hist testosterone


    decided to react to her voice.Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    At present, neither of them noticed the fuming figure that stood on the second floornding with her hand on the banister. Emily


    had been awakened by the ruckus downstairs, so she came out of her room and Sophia’s soft moans of pain. sounded. She


    then decided to head. downstairs only to see Arthur helping the girl clean her bleeding shins.


    One could call it first-aid, but to Emily, who was so blinded by jealousy she could hardly think straight, Sophia was a cunning


    vixen who had resorted to such cheap acts to win over Arthur''s attention.


    “What happened, Arthur?” Emily asked aloud, pretending as if she had been woken up by themotion as she continued her


    way down the rest of the steps.


    Sophia hurriedly rolled down the legs of her pajama pants and apologized, “Did we wake you, Miss Jennings? I’m terribly sorry


    for that.”


    “Did something happen to you?” Emily asked, meeting the other girl’s gaze confrontationally.


    “| fell and scraped my knees earlier, so Mr. Weiss helped me stop the bleeding,” Sophia answered frankly.


    “Well, if you’re not bleeding anymore, then go back to your room,” Emily bit out grimly.


    Arthur went to keep the first-aid kit while Sophia hurried up the stairs, but when she passed Emily, thetter grabbed her by the


    wrist and warned through gritted teeth, “Stay away from my man if you don’t want to end up in the sorriest circumstances known


    to man.”


    Emily had said this so quietly that Sophia was the only one who could hear it, but the icy warning in her tone was not lost.


    It was only after Sophia was released from her grip that she hurried up the stairs, baffled by how much untoward hatred Emily


    had for her. She wanted to tell her that she was a natural klutz and had no intention whatsoever of seducing Arthur.


    Letting out an angry huff, Emily met Arthur at the bottom of the staircase and said, “I don’t think | can go back to sleep now. Stay


    up for a chat, Artie.”


    “I''m tired,” Arthur said, handing her the bottle of milk he had taken from the fridge earlier. “Here, you can have this.”


    He hadn''t actually been thirsty at all when he grabbed the milk. He had out of his bedroom when he heard gone footsteps


    coming down from the third floor, and as for the milk, it was nothing but chilled subterfuge.


    Emily was furious. So, Artie would rather rendezvous with the maid than stay up


    and talk to me. Is that it? Looks like I’ve severely underestimated how much Sophia means to him.


    The next morning, Anastasia woke up as the weak sunlight spilled into the room and over the side of the bed. Elliot had already


    called Larry, the vice president of Bourgeois, and asked him to drop by the house with aption of all the relevantpany


    information. Over the phone, Elliot added that Anastasia would be in charge of running the business starting from today.


    Elliot had left for work after that, leaving Anastasia to wait for Larry''s arrival at home. When the clock struck 10, Larry and his


    assistant were escorted into the living room by the maid.


    Larry nced at the woman on the couch. She’s blossomed into a whole new person now, one that must not be overlooked


    under any circumstances, he thought.


    He still remembered the days when she had started out in Bourgeois. Elliot had asked him to persuade her to ept the


    gift of top-quality real estate and made him bring her the information on the property as well. However,pletely unfazed by the


    otherwise-tempting gift, Anastasia turned him down.


    From that moment onward, Larry had a feeling that she could very well be his superior. As it turned out, his gut had been


    right.


    Unlike the first few times they met, Anastasia looked wiser and more focused now, with a confidence that seemed to shine


    through, polished by years of experience.


    “Vice President Young, it’s been a while,”


    she greeted with a smile.


    “Mrs. Presgrave, | hope you’ve been well,” Larry replied affably, acknowledging the difference in their positions now.


    “You can always call me Anastasia, you know.”


    “Oh, no, | couldn''t. | think Madam President has a nice ring to it, or maybe President Tillman,” he said humorously.


    She did not try to dissuade him from addressing her as such. “Could you give me a run-down of the business strategies for


    Bourgeois and the execution ns for them? I’ve only just taken over, and I''d really appreciate it if you could be my stalwart


    guide inpany matters.”


    Larry was more than happy to do so. After all, Anastasia was married to Elliot now, and under her leadership, Bourgeois was


    sure to reach new heights in the industry.


    Anastasia listened to what Larry had to say attentively. He was practically a veteran and a treasure trove of work experience, and


    she heartily approved of the strategies he hade up with for the business.


    “We''ll be holding a press conference for a new productunch soon, Madam President. You must make an appearance; it''ll give


    the media a field day.”