After Being Bullied, The CEO Stood Up For Me

The atmosphere at Zeke's company was completely different than the old-fashioned Hanson Corporation.

There was no distance between colleagues and they were easy to get along with. In fact, their enthusiasm often made me feel a bit overwhelmed.

That was why I was sitting here on the sofa at a karaoke lounge and holding a glass of wine while trying to figure out how I ended up agreeing to join this dinner party. What made me more in a daze was the fact that this was a department's celebration party for a successful proposal that I was not even involved in.

"Tessa, why are you daydreaming here? Cheer up! Come on! Cheers!"

The crisp clinking of glasses and the cheerful laughter around me brought a surge of happiness I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Without thinking, I downed more than half of my drink.

As I put down the glass, the smile on my lips hadn’t even faded when I locked eyes with Zeke, who had just walked in.

He seemed momentarily surprised to see me here, then quickly approached the table with a big smile on his face and lowered his head to say, "Are you having a good time?"

My head was spinning and for some reason, Zeke's smile looked incredibly gentle. I raised my eyebrows at him and when I was about to answer him, one of the colleagues behind me spoke up, “Of course we’re having fun! Boss, why are you coming so late?”

I froze for a moment, then lowered my head. What was I just doing? I almost mistook his warmth and thought it was directed at me.

"Well, I was doing real work, such as having meetings with clients, okay? Not like you guys." Zeke took a glass of wine handed to him by someone and drank it all in one gulp.

"What? How come you don't think we are doing here real work?" someone joked and laughed, then went over to toasted.

Amidst the lively banter, I refilled my glass. I had long forgotten that my tolerance for alcohol was a bit low.

Then, the next time I knew I was lying on the large hotel bed with a female colleague next to me and it was already noon the next day.

I struggled to sit down. Sensing the movement beside her, the female colleague opened her eyes and looked at me. After thinking for a moment, she seemed to recall the event last night. "Ah, we partied late at night and you drank too much. So, the boss got us room here."

She closed her eyes again. "Relax. He gave us a day off. Just go back to sleep."

While rubbing my throbbing temples, I could not shake the feeling that I had done something horrible and this was not a good sign. So, I gently nudged her, "Um, I didn't do something crazy last night, right?"

"No. You were doing fine." She barely finished her sentence before falling back asleep.

However, I still felt something was off. Just as I reached for my phone, a call came in.

When I picked up the phone, it was Zeke. "President Jeremy."

“Have you sobered yet? Does your head hurt?”

“It’s not too bad.”

“I’ll have someone to bring you some hangover medicine. Can you open the door when they arrive?” he asked.

“No need to trouble yourself, I ….”

Before I cut finished my sentence, he cut it, “There is something you need to be done tonight and you can’t be showing up with a headache.”

I could not refute him anymore and agree. "Okay. What kind of work will I do tonight?"

“It’s a dinner party. Get yourself ready and head home to change. Later, I’ll send you the details.”

It would never enter my mind that I would meet Mark there. After all, he always hated this kind of occasion. Even if business demanded his present, he would usually send a manager to accompany me.

His exact words were, “Schmoozing for a bit of money isn’t worth it. I’d rather spend that time to paint.”

However, there he was, dressed nicely in a suit and tie, talking and shaking hands with someone. And, if I’m not mistaken, the person he’s talking to was a big shot in the film industry. It seemed he did it for Sandra. The drama of a prince bowed his head for his love never got old.

I was silently musing when suddenly Mark looked at my way.