Chapter 74 Before The Gala
Dual POV~Becca / Mark
BECCA’S POV
The morning sun filtered through my studio windows, catching on the silver pins scattered across my worktable.
Lady Han’s personal assistant stood across from me, stiff as marble, her eyes sharp enough to slice through skin.
I forced a smile.
“Please, come in. I’ve prepared everything you asked for.”
Her gaze flicked around with the cold precision of someone who’d swallowed a ruler.
She didn’t speak.
“At least pretend to be polite,”my subconscious mind yelled. At least no one hears that part.
Why does she look like she wants to dismantle my soul?
Lady Han’s PA stepped forward, hands clasped behind her back. “Lady Han wants an update. She would like to ensure the dress meets her… standards.”
I returned her stare with a calm I absolutely didn’t feel.
“I understand. But I cannot show you the full piece yet. The design is exclusive, and Lady Han asked for something no eyes should witness before the gala. Even yours.” I softened my voice. “I hope you understand.”
Her expression didn’t flicker.
She was literally like a living mannequin with judgmental energy.
She moved closer, assessing my workspace like she expected to find a bomb.
I lifted the corner of the rich fabric; soft, luxurious, shimmering like water under moonlight.
“You may inspect the material,” I said. “And the sewing details. But the dress itself stays covered.”
That cold stare again.
What did I do? Did I kill her pet rabbit?
She finally reached out, lightly brushing the fabric with her fingertips.
I got no reacting from her, not even a single hum of approval.
The silence grew unbearable. My heart pounded against my ribs.
Say something! Anything.
Nod! Smile. Blink! Good gracious, blink.
But she just… stared.
Her hands moved to the seams, her eyes narrowing slightly as she inspected the threading, the tension, the tiny beaded details.
She leaned down, examining the inner lining and the invisible boning I had stitched by hand.
Still nothing.
My breath started stuttering. “If there’s anything you’d like changed, I—”
She held up one finger.
I froze.
She straightened, clasped her hands again, and finally spoke.
“It will do.”
My knees nearly gave out.
"It will do."
Not “great. Not “amazing.” Just… "will do."
She turned toward the door.
“Lady Han will come by soon,” she added, voice flat enough to iron clothes. “Don’t disappoint her.”
Then she left.
The door clicked behind her, and I let out the breath I’d been holding for ten minutes.
I pressed both palms against the table, trying to steady myself.
I didn’t know if she approved it or hated it.
I didn’t know anything.
All I knew was my heart wouldn’t stop racing, and for the first time since taking this job, I wasn’t sure if I was good enough.
But I didn’t have time to crumble.
Not with the gala approaching.
MARK’S POV
“Tick!! tick,’ the sound of the wall clock filled the room. The employee had finished the day, no one was working overtime today.
Well…except me and Olivia.
We were still planning on the project. How to get the investors interested. Who ans who we were supposed to pay a visit to and those that we were supposed to grease their palms.
Olivia sat across from me at the long conference table, a half-filled wine glass beside her stack of documents.
The overhead lights cast a soft glow on her hair, and the only sound in the entire Simmons Project office was the turning of paper and the occasional clink of her glass.
“...If we restructure the partnership with Daesen Energy, and shift the investment timeline, the stocks will stabilize. We just need the board to sign off.”
I heard the words, but they floated past me like smoke.
My attention was somewhere else.
Becca wasn’t speaking to me. Carmen was a ticking bomb.
The stocks were bleeding and my head was spinning at the speed of three thousand meters per second.
I rubbed my temples.
Olivia paused, watching me.
“You’re not listening.”
“I’m trying,” I said quietly.
She moved a little closer. “You’re exhausted.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
Her voice was soft, almost gentle.
She stood, walked around the table, and sat beside me, too close that her perfume wrapped around me like a slow, warm fog.
I should have moved. I should have asked her to give me space.
But I didn’t.
Weeks of tension, frustration, pretending, ignoring…
Days of Becca pulling away. Days of Olivia stepping into that empty space like she’d been waiting for it.
“Mark…” Olivia said, watching me carefully. “You’re carrying everything alone. Nobody can survive that.”
I leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
“Maybe I deserve it.”
She reached out and touched the side of my face. “Don’t say that.”
Her gaze flickered from my left eye to the right then to my lips.
Her lipstick had a little smear by the side, instinctively, my fingers went to her lips to clean up the mess but it then…
This strong pull draw us closer and I felt her lips against mine. It was slow but intense and our tongues made way to each other, giving is the comfort we both needed.
“I'm sorry,” she apologize, snapping away.
But it was too late, I was arose.
I grabbed her by the neck, using my mouth to lubricate her body.
“Umm..,” she moaned.
Gosh! Her voice made want more.
In a haste, I unzipped her dres, my fingers playing with her panties.
“Don't stop Mark,” she yelled, as her finger dug into my back.
She made her way to my belt like an hungry baby.
We were both naked, deeply lusted that we couldn't decipher what's wrong and not.
She grabbed my little boy, who was fully erect and thrust it into her wet clit.
Slowly she began to move her waist in circles and simultaneously her speedincrease that she banged me so hard.
Woman in power.
I could feel the heat, rushing in my body, I had reached the peak of our moment as my juices poured into her.
“Becca..”