Collateral Damages

Wang Company, Country A

A man in a white shirt with two of his upper buttons left open and a black white stripe tie around his collar was leaning back on the executive chair. His tousled ink-black hair hung sexily after being ran through a couple of times by the owner's fingers, meanwhile his eyes were closed. His hands were folded in front of his chest.

He sat there lazily with his legs crossed like a king on his throne. His dashing face appeared peaceful but focus. He was listening to the man who was speaking from across his desk.

"...and then for the project on the newest X cellphone, President Han had accepted the proposal and Manager Ning will proceed with the rest of the detail. Our design team is already lining out the designs as we speak and for the software..." Assistant Rong continued to report all the company progress in detail while the other party listened in silence.

However, only God knew what was going on in this Wang Empire King's head as he sat there quietly, as silent as a statue. If there wasn't any sound of breathing or his shoulders moving, people would mistakenly think that he was dead.

Well, in fact, half of Oliver attention was focused on listening the report while the other half couldn't stop thinking about a certain mysterious being. He kept getting distracted here and there.

He was somehow constantly reminded of 'her' image that made his face frowned and his eyebrows scrunched up.

The beauty that was akin to Da Vinci's masterpiece or Rosseti's arts which encapsulated women's beauty in all different shapes.

But 'she' was all of them in every way. That fair complexion, a pair of deep blue eyes, long eyelashes, sharp nose, and the red blossom of her lips. All that was her that bloomed like a wild rose.

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't enthralled by her presence. She dazzled him, in a different way than how he felt of Alice Hu.

If with Alice, he felt the sense of longing and comfort and the feeling to cherish her, with that mysterious woman, Ivy, he felt passion like a sudden spark of chemistry or an explosion of fireworks. It was the feeling of excitement that hit him fast like an electric current.

Perhaps it was the way she looked at him with her deep profound gaze as if she was exploring him or perhaps the way she stood fearlessly in front of him as if she had nothing to lose.

A daredevil who wasn't afraid of any challenge. And that personality of hers seemed to challenge him instead. He wanted to conquer her, take claim of her as his own.

Oliver twitched at his own thoughts. He couldn't help but laughed in ridicule at himself. Was he crazy? What was he thinking?

He didn't know anything about her. For all he knew, she could be saying the truth that she was a stripper. He wouldn't downgrade himself to love something that was already defiled.

While Oliver was busy with his train of thoughts, Assistant Rong, on the other hand, was getting more and more nervous as he didn't get any reaction from his boss even when he told him there were some problems within a few projects.

Although they were just trivial, usually Oliver would gave him the deathly stare and criticized the employees for being negligent or they were getting paid without doing anything.

When assistant Rong finally finished the report, there was only silence. His boss was still in the same position and his eyes were still closed. His face stoic and cold. Assistant Rong gulped. He should pray for the other divisions who had messed up in their works.

However, currently in Oliver's head, he was going back and forth fighting his inner desire. He kept questioning himself and getting all confused, feeling sad, happy, angry, all because of a single presence, the mysterious so called stripper, Ivy.

He was extremely disturbed. What was it about her that haunt him so? Was it only her beauty? Yes, he had never seen someone with her kind of beauty. Someone that would definitely leave an impression on a person.

But Ivy was more than that. She was disarming. There was something about her that attracted him in a way he couldn't explain. The whole feeling was ineffable.

Perhaps that was why he agreed with her offer. Then again, why would he bring her, a stranger, to an event where all of his friends and colleagues would be present?

Oliver recalled the way she was dressed. The plunging neckline that showed her cleavage and her bare back. The way she presented herself with her violet hair while leaning against the wall in front of him smoking her cigarette.

He frowned. He could pin point every single thing he disliked from her if he were to make her his partner.

He exhaled a long exasperated sigh. Assistant Rong flinched when he heard that sigh. "B-Boss?"

Oliver snapped open his eyes. He stared at his assistant. Right, he was listening to his report. He cleared his throat and sat up, pretending as if he hadn't been distracted at all.

"If there isn't anything else, just put the report there. You may leave," he said flatly.

Assistant Rong put down the documents on Oliver's desk and was about to leave when he remembered something.

"Ah...president, what should we do with the Chen and the Young? Should we cut them off?" He asked.

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows as he fixed his eyes on his computer. It was all over the media, the Young's and the Chen's scandals.

The madam of the Young family, Anna Young, was reported to be having an affair with the president of the rival company. There was a footage of their sexual intercourse and photos which was suspected to be the rival's doing. But the most important thing was the Young company was also accused of plagiarism.

The project design for a limited edition jewelries which the Young was working on in collaboration with Wang corporate was published this morning but the rival company had also published the same design a step earlier. Thus, they accused the Young for plagiarizing. But, the CEO, Nicholas Young, had responded by denying it.

Both parties had been working on this collection since two months ago. It was Wang's Group current top priority. In fact, Oliver had handled this project personally because he wanted to present it to his grandmother for her birthday and his grandma had a particular eye for jewelries. She was exceptionally sharp on quality as well as minutiae of an accessories.

Wang Group was one of the biggest multinational company in Country A that had also expanded its business abroad. Its massive corporation owned various businesses and a wide network across the globe with billions amount of profit a year.

The company was well-known for its number one high-end store called Quintessa. It was a house to only the best and high-quality jewelries with limited edition designs. It was an exclusive household name among its kind. But the most important thing was, Quintessa was founded by the worldwide actress, Lyndell Quintessa, the mother of Edward Wang, the legendary business tycoon, and the grandmother to the current sole heir of the Wang Group, Oliver Wang.

In the past, Lyndell had been very famous for her powerful and realistic performance which had graced the entertainment industry. She had been the highest paid actress of that time. On top of that, she had come from an aristocrat family in England whose father had been a duke and a member of the council house.

Lyndell was also famous for her involvement in many charities event and for her own foundation to help disabled children. Due to her great legacy, to this day, her name still existed in the public's heart and bore a positive image.

That was why he made this project his top priority. When the Young family patriarch came to Oliver with a proposal for collaboration to create this wonderful collection of jewelries called Dawn of Neptune which based on blue diamond, Oliver accepted it right away to make it a present for his grandma. He thought it would be suitable and she could present it at the same time on her birthday party.

Yet now, the design was stolen and they were accused of plagiarism. And before he could handle the situation, the whole thing blew out of proportion.

After the affair between Anna Young and the president of the rival company was released, Nicholas out of anger stepped in to the media saying that his wife had betrayed him by divulging the company's data to their rival.

The situation escalated quickly and was all over the front page and the medias. Although the Wang Group didn't suffer that much from this scandal but they were still involved in it and was reported in the news. On the other hand, the Young's business suffered a blow and their company shares dropped.

The whole project was affected and now they had to delay it while thinking of an explanation to give to the parties involved. This was not yet finished when another problem occurred.

To the everyone's surprise, the juicy news did not stop only for the Young. A bit later in the morning, another piece of scandal was released concerning the heir of the Chen, Kevin Chen, known as the notorious playboy and for his suave appearance.

He was reported for consuming drugs and also charged with sexual abuse and a murder. Apparently he was caught by a reporter in one of the private room in a club, getting high and there was a woman lying unconscious by the floor who turned out to be dead. It was later found out that she was a woman who he had paid to accompany him from the club.

This scandal had delivered a massive blow to VC Company which belonged to the Chen family. Their company shares plummeted in a matter of an hour. Currently, they were on the edge of bankruptcy.

Oliver glanced coldly at assistant Rong. "Cut the collaboration with the Chen and as for the Young's, you know what to do."

Of course, the Wang Group wouldn't want anything to do with the scandal even though Kevin's grandfather was a close friend to Oliver's grandpa. Oliver would not risk it.

Assistant Rong nodded. "Yes, President. I will investigate this thoroughly."

As he was about to leave, Oliver once again called his assistant. "Steve."

Assistant Rong turned back. "Yes president?"

"Ask one of the celebrity under our company agency to be my partner for the Ru's party."

Steven blinked his eyes in confusion. Didn't boss say that he had found one two days ago? Suddenly, his eyes widened. Perhaps.... did that lady actually reject the president at the last minute?!

"Steven."

Steven Rong flinched at the call of his name.

"I will give them a call," he replied quickly.

Only after that, assistant Rong finally left. Oliver turned his chair around and gazed at the view of the street and the skyscrapers from the top floor of his company building. He rested his head atop his hand.

Her figure slowly crept into his mind again. Her alluring red lips curled into a smirk.

"I like your spirit."

Oliver instantly felt ticklish on his left ear. He shut his eyes at that point as he tried to erase her image from his mind. She was a stripper for God sake!

He wasn't himself that night in the club. He was angry at Alice. But he shouldn't downgrade himself to actually hire a stripper.

Oliver sighed. He grabbed his phone and unlock it. He gazed quietly at the smiling woman in the wallpaper.

Her long black hair was dancing beautifully in the air while she was grinning widely holding her hat. Her floral dress was swaying with the wind. It was a lovely picture with a background of a beach.

Oliver unknowingly smiled as well. She was and always would be his first ever love.