He had to admit that his assistant had an uncanny ability to make him forget his problems, if only for a few seconds, with an offhand comment that came out of nowhere.“So, I take it you already have an idea of who she is,” he deduced.“More or less. I remember her because she was the one who showed us to our table.” She suddenly narrowed her eyes, looking at him, no—scrutinizing him without restraint. “What I’m about to say may be out of line, and I apologize in advance, but I’m going to say it anyway.” Surprise washed over him; he blinked, caught off guard by the accusing finger pointed straight at him. “I had no idea you were attracted to younger women. She is young, sir.”“And no one, including you, was ever meant to know that,” he replied, recovering from his initial shock.“But now I do.”“Yes,” he agreed. “And it’s not as though I have the power to erase from your mind what you saw.” He took a deep breath in and out, watching Johari lower her hand and hide the finger that had b

He didn’t quite catch the last thing Johari said, and he found himself wondering what was going through her mind.“What do you mean, Johari?” he asked, intrigued by her line of thought.“If you think about it, that means she has the video on a computer.”Surprised, he raised both eyebrows.“And if there were some way to access that computer’s storage system… well, it could be deleted.”“Are you suggesting hacking her computer?” he asked, incredulous.He didn’t know how to interpret the small, almost innocent smile she gave him. Then it hit him that there were things he didn’t know about his assistant—things that perhaps weren’t very “nice.”“Do you know how to do it?” she asked. “Because that would be a great advantage, sir.”“Are you aware of what you’re suggesting?” he said sharply. “Hacking computers is a crime, Johari.”“Oh?” she replied. “Because blackmailing you isn’t, right?”His brow furrowed as he leaned his head back against the chair, closing his eyes for a few seconds. His

His best trait was being a good person, but above all, being a truly good best friend. That, more than anything else, was the real reason he had agreed to help Oriana’s friend. He certainly didn’t know Johari well enough to consider her a friend, but it was enough for him to know that she was someone important and deeply loved by Oriana.When she called him, she explained—broadly—what was going on, without going into too many details. She simply told him that both she and Johari needed help. He didn’t think twice before agreeing. At first, he didn’t fully understand what this “mission” would involve; he only found out when he arrived at the apartment the two women shared.He was greeted by Johari, and while they drank coffee and waited for Oriana, she shared more specific details about the situation. That was when he understood, with a tightness forming in his chest, the real reason why he was there.He admired Johari’s bravery. She had set out to solve a problem of that magnitude on

After the conversation he had had with his assistant, he found himself unable to do anything but sink into tangled thoughts. Johari had asked him to trust her, had said she would take care of solving the problem, and that idea alone had him completely on edge.He had left Chrome Machine very late and hadn’t cared about losing an entire Saturday afternoon locked away in his office. Once home, he felt tempted to call his assistant and bombard her with questions. The urgency to know exactly what Johari had been plotting gnawed at his mind. He trusted her, trusted her ability to resolve conflicts, but this was no ordinary conflict. It was deeply personal, and if he himself had failed to find a possible solution, what guarantee was there that his assistant could?He never should have left everything in Johari’s hands. And just as he was about to call her and tell her that he would handle everything himself, his mind betrayed him, bringing back the pleading tone she had used when she spoke

His mind was definitely not focused on the important meeting taking place in the boardroom. He knew he should have been paying attention, especially since it was a meeting he himself had requested to be rescheduled for that very day.“Our company operates nationwide and provides services to the automotive sector,” he nodded, fully aware that he had no idea what CEO Smitch was actually saying. “We offer consulting, training, research, and technological development. Our mission is to strengthen the value chains within the automotive industry in order to increase competitiveness in the national market. Many companies need to strengthen—”And his mind drifted off again.Under normal circumstances, he would have been exchanging ideas, evaluating proposals, and looking for ways to add new projects to the company. But that day, he wasn’t being productive—at least not as the CEO of Chrome Machine was expected to be. Even so, he had no idea how to excuse himself from the meeting without giving