Chapter 2

Chloe shot Victor a pleading look. He frowned, then slipped back into his gentle mask.

Taking over with a hint of exasperation, he said, "Emily, cut it out. Everyone wants to hear about your adult life."

He stepped half a pace closer and draped an arm around my shoulders as if he were being affectionate, but his grip left no room for me to pull away.

His voice took on a suggestive edge as he said, "How about a more direct question, Ms. Carter? What color is your underwear today?"

The question was blunt and vulgar. Coming from a man with Victor's polished, gentlemanly appearance, it was jarringly out of place.

A few suggestive whistles rose from the crowd. Most people held their breath, waiting for the spectacle. The women frowned, and several started to object, but those beside them quickly silenced them.

"Don't get involved. Can't you see this is between the executives?" someone warned.

"If you want to play hero, at least read the room," another person muttered.

"What if the executives are only joking? Stick your nose in, and you'll offend both sides," a third voice warned.

They were about to say more, but I cut them off with a single word. "Black."

I said it with my usual composure, without a flicker of emotion. There was none of the mortified shame they had expected.

Discussing something so private was as ordinary to me as talking about the weather.

They'd expected me to fidget, blush, or lash out. Instead, I offered a single color. The bluntness of my answer instantly bored those waiting for a more thrilling spectacle.

The men who had whistled loudest froze, the predatory anticipation on their faces collapsing into loud, mocking hisses of disappointment.

"That's it?" one of them scoffed.

"Black? That's so ordinary, Ms. Carter," another man jeered.

"I thought we'd hear something wild. What a letdown," a third man complained.

They heckled me, using louder noise to cover their embarrassment over a failed plan and drag the atmosphere back to the lewd mood they knew.

Victor's brow tightened almost imperceptibly. Clearly, he wasn't pleased with my unremarkable answer.

Chloe smiled and said, "Emily's so open about it. She can even talk about her underwear. I'd die of embarrassment."

I rolled my eyes without bothering to hide it and shot back, "Is that so? I can't see you blushing. If you knew how to be embarrassed, you wouldn't..."

Victor quickly cut me off. "Emily, our game isn't over yet."

He put that indulgent, helpless smile back on his face, as if I were only a fiancée throwing a tantrum.

"Emily, look. Everyone's disappointed." He tipped his chin toward the crowd, using their hisses to press his advantage.

"One color isn't enough. Our Ms. Carter is the company's resident ice queen. Since we get to play Truth for once, don't you all think we should dig a little deeper?" Victor called to the crowd.

He turned back to me, his falsely tender tone making my stomach turn. "Come on, sweetheart. Don't be shy. Let's ask it another way. What style of underwear are you wearing?"

I wasn't angry, and I didn't cry from humiliation. Instead, I took the initiative and addressed the crowd with perfect composure.

"I'm wearing a product from our company's lingerie line," I said with a polished smile. "It's comfortable and beautifully made. If anyone here is shopping for themselves or their family, I recommend starting with our brand."

A faint stir ran through the crowd.

Some people stared, surprised by my corporate answer. Others lit up, realizing it had sidestepped the privacy issue while exposing Victor's shamelessness.

He'd tried to turn an executive's intimate details into a public spectacle. I'd turned it into a brand pitch, making the contrast between our characters impossible to miss.

Victor's smile thinned, his eyes darkening as he tried to shut down the discussion and turn everyone's attention back to me. "Looks like you know our products inside and out, Emily."

Chloe joined in with a smile that never reached her eyes. "Since Emily loves work so much, why don't we talk about that instead?"

When she saw everyone's attention turn to her, Chloe asked in an innocent tone, "Does Emily have anyone she dislikes at work? Or she could share some company gossip with us."

Oh? Was she trying to make me reveal my most honest thoughts so everyone would turn against me?

If that was her plan, she'd miscalculated.

Richard Grant had transferred me directly from the parent company, and I'd been at Grant Holdings longer than Victor.

I had watched countless expense reports cross my desk. I knew exactly who was lining their own pockets.

On all those nights I'd worked late, I'd stood at my office window and looked down. No one knew how many cheating couples I'd caught in the act.

As Richard's trusted right hand, I knew far more than they could imagine.

Chloe and Victor knew none of it. They saw only the perfect chance to humiliate me and never imagined the explosive secrets I might spill tonight.

One employee who loved a spectacle jumped in and asked, "How can we know Ms. Carter is telling the truth?"

Chloe smiled mysteriously. "Victor gave Emily truth serum, so everything she says has to be true."

Before anyone could react, I began to speak, and Chloe fell silent.

I turned to Victor and asked, "Can I name anyone?"

Victor nodded, encouragement in his eyes. He was probably afraid I'd refuse.

With his permission, I began speaking freely, calling out everyone I saw.