With great effort, Lily dragged Alger into her unit. And somehow, she had the courage to refuse to let Alger's girlfriend in, saying that only she and James could enter.
Fortunately, the girl didn't insist on coming along and seemed to understand that Alger lived with another woman.
Lily roughly tossed Alger onto her bed, stretching her body as she watched him mumble on the mattress.
"I can't believe I said that no one could enter except me and James. Will Mr. Alger be mad if he finds out I was rude to his girlfriend earlier?"
A second later, Lily shook her head. "I'll think about that later. But seriously, how did he end up this drunk? His girlfriend wasn't even drinking, was she? Did he do this on purpose…?"
She waved her hand dismissively while taking off Alger's shoes, her mind battling itself, and for some reason, her chest felt uncomfortably warm.
"There's no way I'm jealous, right? Besides, who are you, Lily? You're just in a contract marriage. In a year, if Alger doesn't fall for you, he'll just cast you aside. So what are you even hoping for?"
Carefully, Lily removed Alger's shoes and pulled the blanket up to his chest.
"If we weren't trapped in this complicated relationship… and if it weren't for the past… do you think you could have accepted me, sir? Could we have met and gotten to know each other like normal people?"
"I'm sorry if I ended up wanting more," she whispered before standing up.
"Don't leave me," Alger murmured with his eyes still closed. His hand grasped Lily's wrist and pulled her, causing her to fall beside him, straight into his embrace.
"Sir, wake up. I'm not your girlfriend," she whispered, trying to pry his hand away.
"Why are you so cruel? Why did you leave me all this time?" he mumbled, holding her even tighter.
"Sir, please don't do this."
"Hmm…"
Instead of letting go, Alger's arms tightened around her. She tried to push him away, but his strength far exceeded hers, making it impossible to break free.
"If only you knew… how this makes my heart feel so uneasy, sir," she whispered, gently grasping Alger's hand.
Lily had intended to wait for Alger to fall asleep before making her escape, but it turned out that not only did Alger fall asleep—she did too.
The sun began to rise, its rays slipping through the gaps in the window.
Alger slowly opened his eyes, his head still throbbing with pain. His arm felt heavy, as if something was pressing down on it. Blinking, he turned to his side—only to widen his eyes in shock when he saw Lily still asleep beside him.
His gaze dropped to his arm, which was wrapped around Lily's body.
"How did this happen? Last night, I…"
Alger tried to recall what had happened.
"I was drunk last night? Then… who brought me home?"
His eyes softened as they landed on his wife's peaceful, innocent face. A faint smile played on his lips.
"Could it be… that I'm starting to feel something again? Could the feelings I thought were long gone… be returning?"
The moment Lily stirred and began to wake up, Alger quickly shut his eyes, pretending to still be asleep.
Lily gasped and immediately covered her mouth when she saw who was lying beside her.
"How could I forget?!" she thought, panicking.
Carefully, she lifted Alger's arm and attempted to slip out of bed without waking him.
Though it took some effort, she finally freed herself from his embrace. Without wasting another second, she bolted out of Alger's room and ran to her own.
The moment Lily disappeared, Alger opened his eyes, a small smirk forming on his lips.
"Trying to sneak away, huh?"
Unlike Alger, Lily slammed her bedroom door shut, pressing her hands against her flushed cheeks as her heart pounded wildly.
"What the hell, Ly?! If Mr. Alger finds out, this is beyond embarrassing!"
She groaned, repeatedly hitting her own head with an exasperated sigh.
"Ugh, Lily! How are you ever going to face him again?"
Slowly, she stepped toward her vanity, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were visibly red.
"Oh my God… this is so embarrassing."
The next second, she shook her head.
"But Mr. Alger wasn't awake yet, right? So that means he won't know I slept beside him, right?"
Lily tried to regulate her breathing, fanning her flushed face.
"Okay, Ly. Just pretend none of this ever happened. Mr. Alger is still asleep—he won't know."
After calming herself down, Lily grabbed her towel and quickly got ready for work.
She needed to forget about this morning's incident. She had to act normal when facing Alger.
Especially since her job revolved around Alger—she was constantly around him, no matter where he was.
This time, Lily rushed through her morning routine at record speed. She wanted to leave for the office before Alger even stepped out of his room.
But she was wrong.
Alger was already sitting at the dining table, casually having his breakfast—a simple meal of bread and milk.
"How is he already out of his room?" she mumbled under her breath, closing her bedroom door behind her.
"Eat first," Alger said flatly, motioning toward the food on the table.
"I'll just eat at the office, sir. I don't want to risk being late because of traffic," Lily lied, quickly walking past him.
Alger glanced at his watch, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Spending five to ten minutes eating won't make you late. This is my apartment, not your house that's far from the office."
Lily shut her eyes for a moment.
The real reason wasn't traffic.
It was because if she looked at Alger, she would get flustered. And if she got flustered, she would remember this morning—when she had slept comfortably beside him.
"Staying silent won't save you from being late."
Lily immediately turned around and sat in front of Alger.
Her gaze focused solely on the bread in front of her, refusing to look up, which made Alger lean in closer, narrowing his eyes.
"Why won't you look at me?"
"E-eh, it's nothing, sir. I just want to eat quickly and get to the office as soon as possible," Lily lied once again.
"Was I drunk last night? Who brought me to the apartment?"
Cough… cough…
Alger handed her his glass of milk before standing up to grab another from the fridge.
"Why do you look so nervous?"
"Who said that? I just ate too fast, that's why I choked," she replied, placing the glass back down.
"Really?" Alger said, locking eyes with her.
Lily quickly nodded with full confidence. She resumed eating the last bit of her bread while answering Alger's question.
"Your girlfriend brought you to the apartment last night."
"Did she come inside? Did she see that you're staying here?" Alger deliberately tried to bait Lily into telling the truth about last night and why she ended up in his room.
Lily shook her head firmly. "Don't worry about that, sir. I told her that I had some business with you and was waiting outside the apartment. So your girlfriend won't suspect anything."
"And you're the one who changed my clothes last night? What else did you do?"
Lily immediately stood up and glanced at the watch on her wrist.
"Sorry, sir. I really have to go now. I'm just an employee, and it wouldn't be good for me to be late," she replied before dashing off, leaving her dirty plate on the table. She didn't care about anything else—her priority was escaping from Alger today. She couldn't afford to act awkward and let Alger corner her.
"It's so obvious she's nervous. Funny, considering how comfortable she looked in my arms this morning."
Lily truly fled from the apartment, driving straight to the office. She knew today wouldn't be safe for her—especially since Alger's behavior was unpredictable.
Upon arriving at the office, as usual, Lily stopped by Team A's section—the most comfortable spot before she was moved to the desk right outside Alger's office.
"Morning, Ly."
"Morning," Lily replied casually, sitting next to Eliza. "You're here early today."
"You're the one who's late. It's almost time, and you just got here. That's not like you, Miss Secretary. Something happen on the way?"
"Want some coffee, Ly?" Sony offered, holding out a cup.
Lily responded while glancing at Eliza, "No, I'll just make one myself later."
"I overslept, stayed up late finishing reports, so I woke up late," Lily lied.
"Twenty-four hours in a day, and you're still working non-stop, Ly? Seriously, it's so different from when Mr. Daniel was in charge. You were busy back then, but not like this. Take care of your health, okay?"
"Got it. Alright, I'm heading to my office now. Oh, by the way, there's a meeting at ten today. Good luck, guys! I hope your team catches Mr. Alger's attention."
Her friends all nodded in agreement. "Actually, Ly, you could promote us, right?"
"No way. You have to work hard and compete fairly. I can only support you, but the final decision will be carefully considered. Especially since Mr. Alger will strictly evaluate which AI project proposal makes the most sense, and that's the one he'll choose."
"Good luck!" Lily added as she prepared to leave the room.
But just then, Sony's attention was drawn to something above Lily—a stack of books about to fall directly onto her head.
"Lily, watch out!" he shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Lily's arm.
BANG!
The sound of objects crashing filled the room, along with Lily being thrown backward, her head hitting the corner of a desk.
Alger, who had just arrived and was passing by, widened his eyes in shock at the sight of Lily collapsing, her head striking the table. Meanwhile, Sony's hand was scraped from falling and accidentally hitting the edge of the desk.
"Lily!"
Alger immediately rushed over and crouched down in front of her.
"Are you okay? We're going to the doctor right now!"
Lily shook her head and weakly grabbed Alger's hand, stopping him.
She couldn't say a word—her head was throbbing with a strange, unclear vision flashing through her mind.
"What am I even remembering, God?" Lily thought, clutching her head.
"James! Get the car ready. I'm taking Lily to the hospital!"
James immediately ran out of the room, while Alger lifted Lily into his arms and carried her out.
"Hang in there, Ly."
The entire office froze, watching the scene unfold.
"Is this really Mr. Alger?"