Married To A Big Shot

19th APRIL 2022… 7:38 PM.

~Royal Suites Hotel City H~

At the far side of a large hall, the gaze of a young woman in a plain white knee-length dress darted across the room.

Her long dark-brown hair that cascaded down her back barely moved an inch with every small turn of her head.

She stood in that corner and watched the youngsters of the top socialites of the city partying hard with no trace of emotion in her eyes despite her stunning appearance.

Seeing everyone having such a good time mingling amongst their peers, her fingers gripped the handle of her green statement handbag.

This was the same social circle she once used to belong to until five years ago. Currently, she was still an outcast, an identity she wished to end soon.

Having taken a good look around, Elena Huang turned and walked towards the hallway as the pop music playing in the background faded behind.

Stepping into the elevator, she reached out and was about to input the number of the floor she was going to when a hand appeared and stopped the elevator doors from closing.

Instinctively, she took a step back.

A drunk man with a hand over his face staggered inside. "P-Please h-help me. C-Call my brother," he slurred.

---

"Once again, thank you ladies and gentlemen for attending the 'Helping Hands' foundation's tenth annual dinner. You are the real MVPs here!"

An elegant middle-aged woman standing on the stage raised a glass of champagne in the air, a proud smile on her face as her gaze moved amongst the rich young men and women in the room. "Cheers!"

Following her lead, the members of the foundation raised their glasses of champagne in the air as the live cellist and pianist began to play.

"Finally, the real party is about to get started." Eric breathed before sipping the champagne in his glass.

Turning his back to the stage, he was going to walk away when two ladies approached him.

"Eric, the after-party just got started. Where are you going?" one of the ladies asked while raising an eyebrow.

Eric gave them a good glance before flashing a smile. "To the dance floor."

"Oh, we…" The other lady was just about to ask him for a dance when she noticed the familiar older woman walking toward them. Immediately, they bowed their heads with warm smiles. "Good evening, Mrs Wang."

"Good evening." The older woman who had just finished speaking on stage glanced at the two women before resting her gaze on the young man by her right.

"Mum," Eric called out as the ladies walked away, leaving them room to hold a private conversation.

"Where is your brother?" Mrs Wang asked while looking around, hoping that she could spot her oldest son.

Three streaks of lines appeared on Eric's forehead. "Mark?" He looked around for a second before returning his gaze to her. "I don't know where he is. I only saw him coming in for the event half an hour ago."

Eric had been enjoying himself since a while ago. How the hell was he supposed to keep an eye on a full-grown adult male?

"Find him immediately and keep him away from the drinks. While you're at it, get the women off his back. I don't want any scandals from tonight."

"Maybe he should have stayed at home."

"My thoughts exactly. Call me when you find him. Good night." Mrs Wang patted his shoulder gently before walking away with her gold pouch under her arm.

Walking past the sea of people while acknowledging their greetings, three men in black quickly walked up to her and successfully escorted her out.

As soon as his mother left, Eric huffed. "How can I find him amongst this sea of people?"

He seemed pretty annoyed at the task delegated to him.

---

In the elevator, Elena was still trying to make sense of the unexpected encounter when she heard a panicked female voice resounding outside the doors as her heels marked the tiled floor desperately.

"Oh no! Where did he disappear to?"

Hearing the cry of his stubborn pursuer closing in on them, the drunken man implored while struggling to keep his eyes open and lift his head. "P-Please…"

At his pleading, Elena immediately shut the elevator doors and pressed a series of numbers before going back to lean close to the wall. She kept an eye out on the intoxicated man struggling to hold his footing.

"If you feel dizzy, you should squat instead," she advised without sparing him a glance.

As soon as her cold and collected voice reached his ears, the man seemed to recover a bit and finally lifted his head. "That sounds familiar," he said slowly while trying to make out her facial features, but it seemed hard as his vision was blurred.

Elena rolled her eyes half-heartedly. Was that a new pick-up line?

Despite being unfazed by his conduct, she couldn't stop her gaze from falling on his expensive Italian shoes to his printed ash pants.

Elena's gaze trailed his ironed shirt with the hems neatly tucked inside the black leather belt around his waist and stopped at the few missing gold buttons on his black shirt that exposed some parts of his chest muscles.

Her mind was a little blown away. Only for that moment.

'He has a good body,' she noted. Letting out a soft sigh, she finally moved her gaze to the man's face and froze. 'It's him?'

At the same time, Mark closed in on her after failing to tell what she looked like from a distance. Immediately, the scent of liquor on him assaulted her nose.

"Have you ever been hit in the balls before?" Elena threatened, returning to her former state as she covered her nose with her index finger.

She swore that she would forget all reasoning and hit him if he dared to touch even a strand of her hair.

Hearing his balls being mentioned, Mark who was a little out of it, looked down to see the obvious bulge and sighed heavily.

"Don't hit it. I-I was drugged by that woman. It will go down after I recover a bit," Mark explained while staggering.

He was only two steps away from ramming into her.

Blinking his eyes repeatedly while trying to steady his body, he leaned in close to her. "Can I hug you? O-Or kiss you?"

"Stay in your lane drunkard!" Elena glared at him. Had she made a mistake by trying to save him from the hands of the woman that drugged him?

"Help me, just this once. I promise to compensate you later." With that said Mark reached out to take her hand. However, before he could touch her, he felt himself soaring in the air and not long after, he landed with his back on the elevator floor.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the pain that shot out from his head and back. It'd felt like death.