Brownie point

 Present day….

Azalea stood before a ginormous tower, her eyes fixated on the topmost floor of the building. Who would have thought the man she would kiss would be such an important figure? 

"His name is Adam Shen, the heir of the R&B conglomerate and CEO of R&B entertainment. There is no girl in his life or even rumored to be with. He has known the best CEO awards for the last five years. If that's not at all, he is known to be a kind and good leader among his employees. Rich, handsome, kind, powerful, and most of all he likes you. What else do you want in a guy after this?" Her father's words echoed in her mind. 

Azalea didn't understand why her parents were hellbent on marrying her off to this guy. Did they get a bribe? Threatened? Sure, he has no flaw but isn't having no flaw the biggest flaw? Azalea was sure this man was nothing but a psychopath and she was going to prove it to her parents. 

With determined steps, she walked into the building entering the luxurious lobby. If she had one word to describe the scene in front of her eyes it would be luxury, it screamed richness. The white marble tile and walls were adorned with gold decor. At the center was a statue, with a roof above it left transparent for the sunlight to fall on the statue giving it the royal walk, and behind the reception desk, and indoor waterfall. 

"Does this dude have a lot of money to waste? What's with this extravagance…" Azalea scoffed, walking up to the reception desk. 

A female receptionist greeted her. "Hi, Can you tell your Adam that his not-to-be-wife is here to meet him?" Azalea quipped with a smile on her lips. 

With a conflicted face, the receptionist glanced at the woman in front of her. In a black dress, embellished with a golden button, her dark wavy hair cascaded down her shoulder. Her pale face like the late winter moon shone in that dress. From nowhere, she looked crazy or ugly. But the words that she uttered did prove otherwise. From the way she dressed, she seemed well off. What do those words mean?

The receptionist didn't delude herself and gave a polite smile before forwarding the message to the secretary. "Sir, there is someone called 'Not-to-be wife' who wishes to meet Mr. Shen." The receptionist informed, sparing a few glances at the unhinged woman. 

She was assured that the secretary of Mr. Shen was going to scold her for this but instead, "Send her in." The voice spoke before cutting the call. 

Stunned, the woman looked at Azalea, wondering who this woman was and how much power she held to speak like that in front of the CEO. The woman quickly changed her expression, and with a polite smile, she led her the way to the elevator. Only after Azalea did the woman take a breath of relief, thankfully she didn't mess with her otherwise who knows what would have happened to her. 

Azalea glanced at the floor the receptionist pressed, '58'. She thought she would never be surprised by being rich after having an A-list actor as her father and a University Dean as her mother, but it seems she was wrong. Their family looked dirt poor compared to this. Is this because they are in the top 1% of the country? The royalty? Azalea shook her head to shake off these thoughts, it didn't matter to her. Once she told him she was interested in this marriage, she was done and back to her cave. 

As she enjoyed her victory before the war, the elevator door opened and right in front stood Daniel holding a file in his hand. The smile was completely wiped off her face as soon as her eyes landed on the man. Daniel, eyes rounded and blinked a few times, froze in his place. 

Just as the elevator door was about to close, Daniel put his hands between the door and hurriedly entered the lift. Azalea didn't speak, she ignored his existence as a whole. Just as she thought her life would be all flowers and glitters there he was stuck up like a sore thorn. 

"Lea, did you come here to meet me?" Daniel asked, his face glimmered with joy and eyes filled with hope. 

Azalea couldn't help but snort at his delusion, "Why will I come to meet you even?" 

"Then why would you come here if not for me? Lea…stop acting like you don't care about me. I know you do." Daniel refuted, turning to her side. 

Azalea felt like her head was about to lose all rationality and murder him right there and then. Just as she was about to state something, the door opened. 

"Mrs. Shen, Sir is waiting for you in his office." The man greeted, interrupting Azalea and Daniel. Azalea smiled, giving a small nod and walking out of the elevator, following the man. While Daniel's jaw dropped, as he walked out of the elevator, a coworker showed astonishment at Daniel and couldn't help but ask, "You okay, Mr. Han?" 

Daniel gasped out of his thoughts and looked at his coworker, "Sir…" Daniel pointed at the leaving Azalea trying to figure out a word to ask. 

The coworker glanced in the direction Daniel pointed, and without a second he replied, "Ah that! She is our ladyboss, Mr. Shen's wife." The coworker answered. 

***

The man took her to the end of the corridor where a large wooden door was left closed. The man knocked on the door, and without wasting a minute, a voice responded," Come in!" 

The man opened the door to the office and entered with Azalea following him inside. The room was clean and tidy with white walls making it look spacious. The wall across the door was turned into a floor-to-ceiling window, with a sitting arrangement at the middle and the right side of the room on a large maple table, a man remained seated, his eyes busy scrolling through the paper in his hands. 

His dark hair pulled back making him look elegant. Unlike the other day, he was wearing gold-rim glasses and his god-like appearance. Azalea couldn't take her eyes off him, this was not supposed to happen. Why does he look more handsome and sophisticated than that day? It seemed he looked better in the daylight. Azalea gulped, her heart almost jumping out of her chest seeing such a handsome man in front of her. 

"Sir, Mrs. Shen is here." The secretary informed, taking his leave. Only then did Adam glance up at her. As their gaze met, Azalea felt butterflies in her stomach, this was too much. Unconsciously her eyes went lower down to his lips. Such perfectly sculpted lips, and instinctively the kiss from the other night replayed on her mind. The delicate warmth with a hint of cinnamon and whiskey took her by storm. 

Azalea's eyes remained fixated until she saw those picture-perfect lips curved into a smirk. Caught in the act, she hurriedly averted her gaze, clearing her thoughts. Suddenly the room felt a lot hotter. Azalea touched her cheeks trying to calm down her racing heart. 

Adam chuckled seeing her staring. He got up from his chair and strode up to her, "How was it?" He questioned, from behind; startling her. 

Azalea instinctively took a step back, looking at the man standing in front of her, "H-how what?" She staggered, trying to focus her mind at the moment. 

"You were checking me out just now. So how was it?" Adam questioned, arching one of his brows. 

Azalea opened her jaw and closed it like a fish out of the water as she was out of words, before finally answering," Two out of ten, two points cut off because of arrogance. So, zero out of ten." With a relaxed smile, Azalea chipped, crossing her arms against her chest confidently. 

Adam smirked, at her comment. Feisty, she was. But he had always been a fan of spicy stuff. "Looks like I have to work hard to satisfy my wife." Adam quoted, closing the distance between the two. 

Startled, Azalea took a step back while he stepped forward, till her back was pinned onto the pillar with Adam caging her with both of his arms on each side of her. 

"What do you think you are doing?" Azalea glared furious at the situation. 

"Can't you see? Trying to earn brownie points."