CHAPTER 7: CHAPTER 7: THE SECOND SHIRT YOU TORE

The news that she was summoned to the CEO’s office was spreading like wildfire.

Everyone assumed the boss was questioning her, so when she had lunch at the company cafeteria on the 10th floor at noon, people pointed and whispered behind her back, further confirming the gossip about the manuscript theft.

But that didn’t bother Sophia.

She remained calm as she said to Wyatt sitting across from her, "Director Nash, I want to take a vacation starting the day after tomorrow."

Wyatt noticed her tired look, thought about what had happened today, and agreed reluctantly.

Lily, sitting nearby, quickly chimed in, "Yeah, just rest for now. Once the security footage is fixed, we’ll know the truth."

"I’m not asking for leave because of this. I’ll clear everything up before I go, so I won’t be any trouble to the company. I’m just exhausted and need a break."

Sophia didn’t say much more. Instead, she grabbed her phone and sent Zane a cash gift on WhatsApp, note: breakfast money.

Zane was upstairs in a meeting when he heard the ping on his phone.

In the serious atmosphere, everyone was sweating for whoever had forgotten to set their phone to silent during a meeting, when Zane simply opened WhatsApp.

Seeing the cash gift, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

The executives in the meeting room all exchanged curious glances.

This was the first time the boss had ever smiled...

And Ethan, standing nearby, saw through everything.

"Meeting adjourned. Let’s continue this afternoon."

Zane opened the envelope and accepted the fifty bucks.

——

"Heard from HR that the CEO is recruiting a secretary, specifically asking for a woman."

After lunch, Lily glanced at the HR lady who just walked by, then whispered to Sophia, "Mr. Sterling, that eternal ice cube, could he be melting?"

Heh—

Melting?

This boss who’ll even accept a fifty-buck cash gift? Even welding torches couldn’t melt him.

Sophia didn’t object or argue with her.

After parting ways with Lily, she went down to the underground garage and called Henry from her car.

After skipping their meeting last night, she’d made up an excuse about her car breaking down and asked him to help get it serviced.

But what was even more interesting, last night Sienna and Henry bumped into each other, and the two had to pretend to be just regular friends in case Sophia caught them.

Henry ended up waiting outside the cinema all night for Sophia, but she never showed—only to get teased by Sienna instead.

Henry’s got decent acting skills, and it’s obvious he really likes Sophia, so he immediately agreed to have her car serviced.

Knew he’d say yes—feeling guilty, all it takes is a little hint and he’s out like a shot!

Sitting in her car, Sophia adjusted the pinhole camera and touched up her makeup.

Then she started recalling everyone’s reactions that morning.

Most of the people badmouthing her seemed fine, but there was one exception—the woman in the crowd with a teasing smirk, as if she was just there for the drama. She remembered her clearly.

Chloe Vance—daughter of the head of logistics, and key player in the design department.

Normally, everyone liked hanging out with her—she was rich, was good at "making friends" with little gifts, and pretty, too.

Sophia didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

——

When work ended, she clocked out ten minutes early—her first time sneaking out since joining Spectra.

She got back to her car, changed into black tactical clothes, and hid in a dark corner by the elevators, watching the cars leaving after work.

She picked up her phone, ready to snap photos, afraid she’d miss something.

Until Chloe Vance emerged, the sound of her heels echoing, got into her BMW 290, and drove away slowly.

Sophia grew more certain it was her.

She thought for several minutes, then walked out from her spot beside the elevator.

Maybe she was in too much of a hurry and bumped into a shadow coming out of the elevator.

Her white sneaker (size 37) hooked onto a man’s leather shoe, her phone slipped from her hand, and she lurched forward.

Just then, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his chest.

Sophia crashed into his hard chest, and her hair tie snapped, letting her golden hair tumble loose.

She instinctively grabbed his shirt, and right then, two buttons were torn off and popped against her own forehead.

"Ow!"

She winced and pressed her head against his chest, breathing in that faint sandalwood scent.

Carefully planting her feet, she rubbed her brow, finally looking up at the man who’d just saved her.

"Mr. Sterling..." she murmured, her lips quivering, her face flushing instantly.

They locked eyes, tension sparking between them.

Sophia could feel her hand on his chest, sensing the rhythm of his breath against her palm.

Ethan discreetly turned away, pretending not to see anything.

Under the dim light, Zane glanced at her loose golden hair, then focused on his shirt, now ruined at the chest.

Through the open shirt, his perfect collarbone and chiseled chest muscles were just visible.

"This is the second shirt you’ve ripped." He said

He spoke so flatly, like answering a trivial question.

Yes, this was the second one.

The first time was in the car.

He slowly let go of her waist.

Sophia bit her lip, carefully tugged his shirt closed, straightened his tie.

Zane stood there, not daring to move as her small hands occasionally brushed his skin.

He was burning up, body flushed, haze in his eyes, not daring to look at her.

When she’d finished tidying his shirt, Sophia retreated two steps and gave him a 90-degree bow:

"I’m sorry, Mr. Sterling!"

Zane didn’t say anything, just swallowed, and handed her phone back to her.

She quickly took it in both hands, thanked him, and hurried to her car.

Sitting inside, she covered her face, pressing her forehead against the steering wheel.

Great! What is this, bad luck season? Always getting tangled up with the boss.

And why does her face keep flushing like this?

She stayed that way for a long time.

Once she’d calmed down and checked that Zane was gone, Sophia hurriedly got out, took the elevator up.

She brewed two cups of coffee in the break room, split a sleeping pill and dropped half in each.

When the elevator reached the second floor, she went to the surveillance room, left the coffees by the door, and knocked three times.

The door opened, the security guard glanced around and—seeing no one—just found two steaming cups of coffee and a note: Thanks for your hard work.

The guard smiled, grabbed the coffee, and shut the door again.

About ten minutes later, Sophia knocked again. This time, no response from inside.

She checked the hallway, made sure it was empty, and quickly slipped inside.

The surveillance hadn’t malfunctioned—someone had just edited it. On the computer’s desktop, in the trash bin, she found the deleted video, made a copy, then snuck back out.

Back home, she made instant noodles and watched the backup clip; sure enough, the time was right after one in the morning, showing Chloe Vance hurriedly leaving in her car from the underground garage.

"Crap, did she see me with Zane...?"

Just thinking of him made Sophia inexplicably blush.

Chloe Vance’s dad was in business with Zane; Spectra Apparel’s logistics were all handled by the Vance Family. If this got out, would it affect him?

Sophia thought it over—better not rush things.

She picked up her noodles, sighed, turned on a movie, then sprawled out on the sofa to eat at her leisure.

Just then, she noticed his suit jacket hanging by the sofa...