Urban Romance

"Mr. Ulmer! What is going on with your company!"

Lily, plump and impeccably dressed, planted her hands on her hips and glared at Alastair. "Is this how you show sincerity in a partnership?

"Talking about collaboration on one hand, and then causing problems for me and my husband on the other?

"If Marjorie hadn't insisted I come here today to talk business, I might have actually believed you!"

Lily's face and neck burned bright red with anger.

Alastair sat beside me, gripping his phone so hard his knuckles stood out, looking ready to explode. He stammered, unable to get a full sentence out. Finally, out of options, he shot me a desperate look.  

I smiled faintly, gently resting a hand on Lily's arm and offering her a glass of water. "Mrs. Murray, please calm down. We are all-in on this partnership, and you can see our commitment.

"After all, we wouldn't have brought the CEO all the 

When I arrived at the office, everyone was seething, muttering under their breath.

It was 2:30 am, and they'd all been dragged out of bed for this meeting. Naturally, every ounce of their anger landed squarely on me. Their venomous stares cut like knives, sharp enough to slice me to pieces.

Beatrice strutted in, a smug, calculating grin plastered across her face.

"Jorie, weren't you strutting around this morning, bragging about not being some kind of slut? So what happened—did you get caught in the act with Mr. Murray? It's all over the internet. How do you even plan to live this down?"

I met her smug smile with a cool, indifferent shrug. "Yeah, everyone's seen it online. How am I supposed to show my face around here anymore?"

Alastair stormed in, fuming. He pointed a finger at Beatrice and bellowed, "You! Explain why all the reimbursement requests are stuck with you! Why is the app

All afternoon, I ran down to the Finance Department every half hour. I was chasing my own reimbursement and checking on a few stalled claims for some of my female colleagues.

One reason was to rattle Beatrice and push her into making a reckless move against me. The other was to track down that lingerie expense report.

In my past life, that expense report appeared out of nowhere, perfectly detailed and convincing. There was no way it could have been forged on short notice. Unless, of course, it had been real all along.

I stirred up all the colleagues whose expense reports had been blocked. They cornered Beatrice in the pantry, demanding answers. Meanwhile, I slipped into her office and rifled through her things. 

... 

"Marjorie!"

Cole's roar made me flinch. I rushed out and found him standing outside my office. His arm was wrapped around a sobbing Beatrice, and his brows were drawn together in anger. 

"You're a senior here," he snapped. "Bullying a young woman like this? Don't you have any shame?" 

I arched my brow and let out a scoff. "Young? She's 24. When I was 24, I had the company's expense reports running like clockwork. Every single penny was accounted for. 

"And here she is, sitting at her desk, munching on potato chips and calling herself Bae. That ridiculous nickname. Does she really think she can just dodge responsibility?"

As the tension reached its peak, I said lightly, "Or maybe you've been pocketing our reimbursement money? Is that why you can't hand it over?"

For a split second, the room went silent. Then my colleagues erupted with fury. They closed in on Beatrice, surrounding her and lashing out with their words. After all, it was all about their own interests.

I turned on my heel and walked away, tossing a few words over my shoulder. "I'm going to discuss business with Mr. Murray. No point wasting time with you."

I could feel Beatrice's venomous glare burning into my back. Good. The angrier she got, the better. I wanted her boiling with hatred.

I swapped my short skirt and pantyhose for a sharp, tailored pair of trousers.

I had originally planned to go on a date with Cole that night. But that was no longer necessary.

I went over all the partnership details and made all the necessary arrangements. Then I drove to the five-star Kingswell Hotel.

By midnight, Ethan Murray and I were belting our hearts out in a private karaoke room when my phone buzzed twice.

I barely managed to suppress a grin as I unlocked it.

In the company's main group chat, Beatrice posted a familiar expense report, followed by two messages. "Jorie, the Finance Department needs a break too. I can't process a reimbursement in the middle of the night. 

"Also, the naughty items you and Mr. Murray used aren't reimbursable. Sorry!"

I trembled with anticipation for what would happen next.

Sure enough, the chat went silent for a moment, and in the next second, it was trending online with the title "Slutty Saleswoman Files Midnight Lingerie Reimbursement".

My phone buzzed nonstop with notifications.

The music and clinking glasses in the lounge came to an abrupt halt as a booming voice rang through the mic. "Which damn bitch is out here spreading lies about my husband!"

I smirked, sneering coldly as I looked at Beatrice's profile picture.

Beside me, Alastair Ulmer, the company CEO I'd brought along to keep things under control, looked pale. He stared at Beatrice's message, jaw clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grinding.



"Mr. Ulmer! What is going on with your company!"

Lily, plump and impeccably dressed, planted her hands on her hips and glared at Alastair. "Is this how you show sincerity in a partnership?

"Talking about collaboration on one hand, and then causing problems for me and my husband on the other?

"If Marjorie hadn't insisted I come here today to talk business, I might have actually believed you!"

Lily's face and neck burned bright red with anger.

Alastair sat beside me, gripping his phone so hard his knuckles stood out, looking ready to explode. He stammered, unable to get a full sentence out. Finally, out of options, he shot me a desperate look.  

I smiled faintly, gently resting a hand on Lily's arm and offering her a glass of water. "Mrs. Murray, please calm down. We are all-in on this partnership, and you can see our commitment.

"After all, we wouldn't have brought the CEO all the way from headquarters tonight, putting him out just to be here with you otherwise."

Leaning in, I w

Chapter 4