# Chapter 3
5:02 a.m.
Aneli woke up first.
The sky outside the window was still dark blue. The streets below the hotel weren't busy yet, illuminated only now and then by passing headlights.
Aneli sat on the edge of the bed, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“Damn...” she muttered.
Everything that had happened that night felt far too real to be called a nightmare.
She rubbed her face repeatedly, then lowered her head to stare at her own hands. Her fingers were still trembling.
“Leave. Right now.”
Aneli grabbed her clothes and bag. She hurriedly stuffed everything inside, then glanced toward the bed.
Lu Zeyan was still asleep.
Without his sharp gaze and cold demeanor, the man looked much younger. His face appeared tired, as if he, too, had been carrying something he had never spoken about to anyone.
Aneli fell silent for a few seconds.
Then she shook her head.
“Forget it.”
A hotel memo pad sat on the table. With hands that were still trembling, Aneli wrote a few words.
Let's pretend it never happened. Thank you.
She didn't write her name. She didn't leave an explanation.
She placed the note on the table before walking toward the door. Her hand paused on the doorknob.
There was a heaviness in her chest. It hurt, but she forced herself to ignore it.
Click.
The door closed.
Aneli didn't look back.
6:00 a.m.
Lu Zeyan woke up.
Reflexively, his hand groped across the bed.
Empty.
His eyes opened. His gaze immediately turned sharp.
“Aneli?”
There was no answer.
He sat up and swept his gaze across the entire room. The only thing there was a memo on the table. Lu Zeyan picked it up and read the brief message.
Let's pretend it never happened.
He let out a short, humorless laugh.
“Let's pretend it never happened?”
He crumpled the paper but didn't throw it away. A few seconds later, he smoothed it out again and slipped it into his suit pocket instead.
His phone rang.
“Good morning, sir. The board meeting starts at eight. Everyone is already here.”
“I'll be there.”
He ended the call.
Lu Zeyan looked once more at the door Aneli had walked through.
For some reason, her departure bothered him far more than it should have.
Meanwhile, Aneli ran toward the bus stop.
Luckily, the bus arrived right on time. She climbed aboard, panting, then sat in a seat by the window.
Lu Zeyan's face kept appearing in her mind throughout the ride.
His cold gaze. His low voice. And his promise to pay her mother's surgery costs.
Aneli closed her eyes.
“This is just a transaction,” she whispered to herself. “Nothing more.”
When she reached her boardinghouse, she immediately showered and changed clothes. It wasn't until she was putting on her shoes that she realized she had put them on the wrong feet.
“Oh my God...” She let out a small laugh, but it sounded bitter.
Then she hurried off to work.
8:10 a.m.
The meeting-room door opened.
“Sorry I'm late.”
Every head turned at once.
Aneli froze.
At the head of the table sat a man in a black suit, his face impassive and his jaw clenched.
Lu Zeyan.
Aneli's heart seemed to stop.
“She’s the new intern from the marketing division,” one of the HR staff members said with an awkward smile. “Her name is Aneli.”
Lu Zeyan said nothing.
He only stared at Aneli.
That gaze didn't merely recognize her. It seemed to demand an answer.
Aneli pulled out a chair with trembling hands and sat down. Throughout the meeting, she tried to focus on the presentation screen, but her thoughts were a mess.
She misread two figures.
Lu Zeyan tapped the table once.
“Focus.”
His voice was low, but it was enough to make the entire room fall silent again.
The meeting ended nearly an hour later.
“Aneli.”
Lu Zeyan's voice stopped her before she could leave.
“Come to my office afterward.”
Aneli swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
Five minutes later, Aneli stood in front of the CEO's office.
Knock. Knock.
“Come in.”
Aneli opened the door slowly.
The room was spacious, with glass walls overlooking skyscrapers. A large black desk stood in the center, while the scent of Lu Zeyan's cologne still lingered in the air.
“Close the door.”
Aneli obeyed.
Click.
The sound sent a shiver down her neck.
“You called for me, sir?”
Lu Zeyan stood with his back to her, gazing at the city through the window.
“So you work here?”
“I didn't know you were CEO Lu.”
“Really?”
He turned around. His gaze was calm, but that only made Aneli even more nervous.
“Or did you deliberately get close to me?”
“What? No!”
“I didn't even know your name at the hotel,” Aneli quickly continued.
Lu Zeyan walked closer but stopped before they were too close.
“Then why did you leave without saying anything?”
“Because it was for the best.”
“For whom?”
“For us. I don't want this job to become a problem.”
Lu Zeyan took the memo from his suit pocket and placed it on the desk.
“Let's pretend it never happened,” he read slowly. “You wrote this, then simply left.”
“I was embarrassed, sir.”
“Because of me?”
“Because of myself.” Aneli's voice weakened. “I don't want to be seen as some cheap woman who sold herself to her boss. I don't want my career ruined because of one night.”
Lu Zeyan's expression shifted slightly.
“I never thought you were cheap.”
“But the way you talked made me feel that way.”
Silence.
Aneli tightened her grip on the folder in her hands.
“I did all of that because of my mother. Not because I wanted to.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't!” Aneli finally raised her voice. “You don't know what it's like to watch the person you love most lying in a hospital bed while you can't even afford her surgery costs!”
Lu Zeyan fell silent.
Aneli's anger slowly crumbled. Tears fell from her eyes.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn't have spoken to you like that.”
“Don't apologize.”
“Are you angry?”
“I'm angry at the circumstances.”
Aneli looked at him.
Lu Zeyan let out a long sigh.
“I sent the money to the hospital this morning. Your mother's surgery can go ahead.”
Aneli's eyes widened.
“You already...?”
“Consider it part of our agreement.”
“But the agreement was for one night.”
“That agreement is canceled.”
Aneli quickly shook her head.
“I don't want your pity.”
“I'm not pitying you.”
“Then why?”
Lu Zeyan stared at her for a long moment.
“Because I don't want you to feel like you had no choice.”
His words left Aneli speechless.
A moment later, Lu Zeyan stepped back and gave her some space.
“You can keep working here. No one will know about that night.”
Aneli wiped away her tears.
“And you?”
“I'll be professional.”
“Really?”
“As long as you are, too.”
Aneli nodded slowly.
She turned to leave, but Lu Zeyan's voice sounded again.
“Aneli.”
She looked back.
“Don't run away without telling me again.”
Aneli bit her lip.
“I didn't run away. I was just... scared.”
“Scared of me?”
“Scared of my own feelings.”
For the first time, Lu Zeyan didn't respond immediately.
Aneli opened the door, then paused for a moment.
“Thank you for saving my mother.”
Then she left.
Lu Zeyan stood alone in the room. His gaze remained fixed on the door that had closed once more.
He picked up the memo from the desk and read it again.
Let's pretend it never happened.
Lu Zeyan slowly crumpled the paper.
“Unfortunately,” he murmured, “I can't.”