CHAPTER 20: CHAPTER 20: AM I THAT SCARY?

"You’re in a good mood today!" As soon as Sophia Lowell arrived at her desk, Lily Ellison leaned over, eyeing her rosy cheeks as if she’d just been thoroughly pampered.

"Am I? Is it that obvious?" Sophia chuckled lightly.

Rosy cheeks—maybe it was because she’d been slapped, who knew.

"A couple days ago I saw Henry Quinn waiting for you outside the company with flowers—was he proposing?" Lily’s gossip caught her completely off guard.

"Henry Quinn? He’s not worthy." She told Lily, piece by piece, about Henry and Sienna Lawson. Lily broke out in a cold sweat.

A wolf and a tiger—guess those two really are a perfect match.

"Where are you staying now, then? Send me your address, so I can rest easy." Lily tidied up her sketches.

She couldn’t possibly say she was living with the boss.

"I’m just staying at a friend’s place for now. I’ll tell you once I settle in somewhere."

Sophia hadn’t told Lily about her marriage yet.

"I heard we have to leave two days early for The S Republic Fashion Week. Are you ready?" Lily asked.

Sophia’s brain short-circuited—she’d actually forgotten all about it.

The S Republic Fashion Week would be attended by top-notch designers; if she could network with any of them, it would be huge for her.

"Ms. Lowell." Right then, Wyatt Nash approached Sophia with some files. "Let’s go—Mr. Sterling wants to discuss the fashion week with us."

"Right now?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

Going up to the 30th floor again, she felt a bit jittery.

"Don’t be nervous. Mr. Sterling seems tough, but he’s actually pretty gentle and easy to talk to. As long as you haven’t made any giant mistakes, he’s not going to eat you alive."

Wyatt saw how tense Sophia looked and tried to reassure her.

Gentle? Ha! Compared to what happened that night, she really couldn’t see any trace of his gentleness. The man was an absolute beast.

Sophia smiled and nodded, keeping quiet.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

"Come in."

He was sitting on the sofa, his rimless glasses hanging lazily on that high-bridged nose, several files scattered across the coffee table. His brows were tightly furrowed, like he’d hit a wall.

The pen he was holding seemed forgotten in his hand, his eyes fixed on the document as if at a loss.

"Mr. Sterling," Wyatt said.

"Sit." He didn’t even look up.

Wyatt and Sophia sat down across from him.

"Here are two files. Take a look at them first."

Ethan Sinclair passed them each a file from his stack.

Sophia glanced through the file—nothing seemed off—but her eyes hung up on the phrase ’Dizzy Egg.’

"Mr. St—Mr. Sterling..." She nearly called him by his full name.

"Yes?"

He suddenly looked up at Sophia. Their eyes met—like two strangers forced together.

"This ’Dizzy Egg’..." she asked, perplexed.

"All the collections at Fashion Week are by famous designers, except this ’Dizzy Egg.’ She enters anonymously—someone referred her. I want to get her information and invite her as our freelance designer for next year."

Zane Sterling finished, placing another thick file stack in front of them.

Wyatt and Sophia exchanged hushed whispers—it all looked above board, but Zane’s gaze was ice-cold as it landed on Sophia.

When their eyes met, Sophia quickly scooted away a little.

His stare was like a sword—still in its sheath, but you could already feel the chill.

Wyatt didn’t seem to notice; maybe his boss was always like this. He picked up the files Zane handed him and gave half to Sophia.

Ethan pulled up a well-known designer website on his phone and set it on the table. "Here’s the person. But none of the platforms have any way of contacting her."

Sophia picked up the phone, staring at that all-too-familiar avatar and those uploaded sketches. She laughed awkwardly and quickly put the phone down.

"Our in-house designers are pretty good too. Is it... necessary to recruit one at Fashion Week?" Sophia asked.

"The famous ones don’t want to come. The unknowns, we don’t want. This ’Dizzy Egg’ does things her own way—sometimes posts her work when she’s in the mood. Any design she uploads gets snatched up immediately, so we can’t compete. The only way is to find her in person—maybe we’ll stand a chance." Ethan explained.

"Flight’s at dawn the day after tomorrow. No need to come into the office tomorrow; prep at home. The S Republic is freezing, so pack more clothes. You’ll get the itinerary later. The design drafts I asked for last time—do you have them ready?" Zane Sterling straightened up, looking weary as he leaned back on the sofa and looked at Wyatt.

Wyatt glanced at Sophia. Then Zane’s eyes followed, landing on her, and Sophia snapped back to attention.

"Y-yes, it’s ready." She started to stammer.

The truth was, she hadn’t prepared a single thing. She’d been too busy dealing with those two scumbags, and the whole draft assignment had completely slipped her mind.

"Ms. Lowell, am I really that scary?" Zane Sterling spoke suddenly.

"..." She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Off to the side, Ethan tried to cover his mouth, clearly trying not to laugh.

"Don’t mind her, Mr. Sterling—Ms. Lowell just doesn’t do a lot of formal project work, so it’s normal to be nervous."

Zane said nothing, just waved them off, signaling they could go.

Sophia hurriedly gathered her things, following Wyatt out of the CEO’s office.

[Come up before lunch.] Vampire Boss

As soon as she walked out, Zane Sterling sent Sophia a message.

[Okay, Mr. Sterling.]

Sophia never knew how to address him. In the office, it could only be business, so she replied ’Mr. Sterling.’

Zane’s eyes darkened, staring at her WhatsApp contact name for him: ’Hubby.’

Then he looked again at her reply: ’Mr. Sterling.’

——

At lunchtime, as soon as work ended, she quietly slid into the elevator while everyone else headed for the cafeteria.

Ethan had set her up for elevator face recognition access, which she hadn’t expected.

"I’m headed down for lunch. Not going in with you," Ethan grinned, leaving Sophia blushing bright red.

Sophia tugged nervously at her shirt dress, feeling awkward as hell.

"Knock, knock—"

"Come in."

Sophia slowly pushed the door open, immediately catching the aroma of food.

"Mr. Sterling, you wanted to see me?"

She noticed Bianca White, the same secretary she’d seen at the hospital, crouched by the sofa prepping disposable bowls and chopsticks.

Zane got up from his desk and walked toward her. Instinctively, Sophia took two steps back.

Zane naturally took her hand and sat her down beside him on the sofa. Bianca finished up, stood, and left the CEO’s office, closing the door behind her.

"Relax, when it’s just us, you don’t have to call me Mr. Sterling."

Easy for him to say—having lunch this sneakily was nerve-wracking.

"Okay."

Sophia kept reminding herself: you’re married now—don’t be scared, act normal.

Except the more she did that, the more nervous she got.

She was so on edge she didn’t react until Zane pushed her a bowl of soup.

"Thanks." She fumbled clumsily for it.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Zane sipped his soup, turning to look at her.

"No."

"That’s not like you."

Zane pressed his lips together and continued eating.

He still remembered how aggressive she’d been during conversations a few days ago—calling him Zane right after work, addressing him bluntly like she’d throw down at any minute.

Now look at her—got the marriage license and suddenly turned into a meek little bunny, can barely put a sentence together.