Mistaking The Company's Crown Prince for A Male Model

I don't know who shared the link, but when I clicked on it, it led straight to that influencer's homepage. She had a massive following. I couldn’t figure out how someone like her ended up with Zian. Maybe she found the life of an ordinary person refreshing after living in luxury for so long.

It was annoying to see my ex thriving while I was... well, not. I went to the restroom and did three deep squats to calm myself down. When I stepped out, I ran right into Zian. He looked like he’d been waiting for me.

I had nothing to say to him, so I pretended not to notice and tried to walk past him. But he wasn’t going to let me go that easily—he grabbed my wrist.

"Linda, let's talk."

"Do we even know each other that well? What's there to talk about?"

"You’re still the same as before," he said, curling his lips into a slight smirk.

"Heh, save your commentary, Zian."

"It’s just... hard seeing you like this."

I glanced down at myself. A red sweater, yellow sweatpants and hair that hadn’t seen shampoo in two days. Yeah, maybe I did look a little rough, but hey, I got dragged here straight after work.

I woke up early and threw on whatever I could find. It’s not like I expected to run into him.

"Let me drive you home when this is over. It’s tough getting a cab around here."

His persistence made my stomach turn.

"No thanks, my boyfriend’s picking me up."

A woman who’s been strong all her life isn’t about to lose face now. Back at the table, my phone screen was lighting up with messages.

My girlfriends were on it.

[We need a super handsome guy to save the day.]

"I ran into Zian at the reunion."

That one line was enough to set my best friend’s gossip-loving heart ablaze.

[Don’t worry, I got you. Get ready to play big.]

I didn’t get any updates by the time the party was winding down. Just when I was starting to get nervous, a wave of gasps erupted from my classmates at the door. Curious, I looked up. Black suit. Long legs. Red sports car. A devastatingly handsome face. He matched the profile my best friend sent earlier. Without a shred of doubt, I confidently pushed through the crowd and ran up to him. Throwing my arms around his waist, I felt him stiffen in surprise.

With a sly smile, I leaned in and whispered, "Professional, I’ll leave you a five-star review later."

It seemed like my best friend was right—new hires are always a little nervous. He didn’t react at first, but at least he was cooperative.

"Baby, I missed you so much today!" I said loudly, winking at him furiously.

Finally, he responded.

"I missed you too." His deep voice sent shivers down my spine and for a second, I felt like I might just fall in love.

"Come on, let’s go home!"

Glancing back, I saw everyone’s jaws on the floor—including Zian’s. That smug look he had earlier? Gone.

I had no idea what kind of car my "boyfriend" rented, but it looked expensive. Good enough. Trying to suppress my grin, I casually waved goodbye and slid into the car. Pretending to have your life together was actually... kind of fun.

Once inside, I turned to find that the man—now revealed to be none other than Nick Carter—was still outside. He stood there, one hand in his pocket, talking on the phone. His expression didn’t look great.

After a few terse words, he hung up and finally got into the driver’s seat.