Her body temperature was alarmingly high.

Her eyes were glazed, her cheeks flushed.

Marcus Valentine frowned deeply.

Had she been drugged?

He gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. "Mina, look at me. Do you know who I am?"

"Marcus…"

Mina's voice was soft and pleading as she pressed herself against him.

Marcus's breath hitched.

He held her waist, his voice low. "Is this your first time?"

Mina felt a moment of disorientation.

The drug was overwhelming her senses, but a sharp pain still pierced her heart.

She looked up at him and suddenly laughed. "Of course not."

Marcus's eyes darkened.

He waved for his assistant and bodyguards to leave.

The moment the private room door closed, he pressed her onto the sofa. "You started this."

......

Footsteps of a client approached from outside the door.

The assistant promptly intercepted them. "Mr. Valentine is unavailable at the moment."

Faint, suggestive sounds drifted from inside the room.

The client understood and smiled. "We'll reschedule."

The assistant, blushing, retreated further away.

The bodyguards tactfully turned their backs.

Eavesdropping on this was deeply uncomfortable.

Mr. Valentine definitely needed to increase their pay for this.

......

Mina awoke aching all over.

Outside the window, the sky was already dark.

She looked around in confusion, finding her clothes scattered on the floor.

"Awake?"

The lights suddenly flicked on.

Marcus sat opposite her, impeccably dressed in his suit, his expression unreadable.

Mina gasped, hurriedly covering her chest.

Memories came flooding back.

She had been the one who initiated it...

Her cheeks instantly burned with heat.

"Miss Sherwood." Marcus slid a bank card across the table. "For last night."

Mina's fingers tightened.

Payment?

He was insulting her like this.

"Not necessary," she said, her voice cold.

Marcus studied her. "If not money, then you want something else?"

He leaned closer. "Considering your performance last night was adequate, I can grant you one request."

Mina stared at him in disbelief.

She had liked him for so many years...

He was never this frivolous.

Why was he thinking of her like this now?

"Could I have a set of clothes?" she asked quietly.

Marcus pointed to a corner. "Already prepared."

The suit and skirt were exactly her size.

He was always this attentive.

Just like years ago, when he saved her from those thugs and carefully handed her band-aids.

She had kept those band-aids to this day.

Mina gave a bitter smile.

She dressed and turned to face him.

Marcus was still waiting for her answer.

"I want nothing." She bent to pick up her bag. "I overstepped last night."

She pulled a stack of cash from her bag and placed it on the table. "This is compensation for you."

Marcus's eyes turned icy.

Mina forced herself to appear calm as she turned and left.

The moment the door closed, she clutched her pounding chest, almost breathless.

She hurried away from that place.

......

When the assistant entered the room, Marcus was staring at the stack of cash.

"Mr. Valentine, there's trouble with Miss Valentine's company," the assistant reported quietly. "They failed to submit the R&D proposal on time. The Sherwood Group is suing. The penalty is twenty million."

The contract stipulated an annual R&D fund of two million. The penalty was absurdly high.

Marcus sneered. "What happened?"

"There were trap clauses in the contract."

Marcus remembered Mina's words about "retaliation." His eyes grew colder.

So everything she said was true.

Deliberately setting contractual traps just to crush Grace.

Such vicious methods.

Her act of aloofness earlier was probably just another ploy.

Marcus irritably smashed a teacup.

It was just one night. Why care about a woman like her?

He adjusted his collar and stood. "Let's go."

The assistant picked up the cash. "Mr. Valentine, what about this money? It's about twenty thousand."

Marcus sneered. "It's yours."

He strode out of the private room. In the parking lot, he saw Zack Davis and Kelsey Lopez loitering near his car.

The assistant whispered, "They can't find the Third Master, so they're pestering you."

Marcus frowned.

Normally, he wouldn't bother with such scum.

But remembering Grace was a member of the Valentine family, he suppressed his anger and walked over.