Dangerous Desire The CEO’s Hidden Woman

The beautiful cellist who broke her arm lent her cello to Scarlett. She accompanied Scarlett to practice hoping that Scarlett would be able to play well, so she wouldn’t have to feel so guilty for letting the whole orchestra down.

“Scarlett, we are practicing solo now, but you should try to keep up with the overall rehearsal tomorrow, okay?” Young also joined their practice, giving timely guidance when necessary.

“I…I’ll do my best.” Scarlett was not too confident in her abilities because she hadn’t practiced in a while.

The melody of “The Virgin Mary” was somewhat familiar to her, but she hadn’t touched the strings for a long time. The task before her was challenging. Still, she persevered and managed to get the hang of the melody.

On the day of the celebration, the auditorium was filled with teachers and students. The show attracted a lot of attention. The President of UI volunteered to open the show, and even the aisle outside the hall was brimming with students from other schools and faculties.

“Hey, I noticed yesterday when I joined the rehearsal that all your group members are, like, really good-looking. I’m kinda curious about your criteria for recruitment.” Scarlett asked Young before the show, joking around with him.

“Don’t make false judgments about me, Scarlett. I concentrate only on their skills and merit as musicians.” Young grinned back at her, a mischievous smile on his face.

At around 6 p. m., the orchestra was called up to the stage to open the show. As the curtain went up, the auditorium was filled with round-after-round restless applause.

Scarlett was placed at front and center by Young and attracted the most attention, naturally. Scarlett squinted in the dazzling spotlight when the curtain was fully pulled up and looked at the audience. She was stunned to find Francis sitting next to the President.

The man who had disappeared for a few days was now sitting there in front of her, dressed in a suit, calm, solemn, and somehow… charming. When Scarlett spotted him, the president was talking to him quietly. But Scarlett could see that Francis was barely paying attention– his eyes were on Scarlett.

Scarlett was dressed in a long, silver gauzy dress, sitting behind her large cello. Her long wavy hair obediently lay on her shoulders. The soft light highlighted her delicate features. She bowed her head and touched the strings gently, at the same time tugging at the audience’s heartstrings. As the performance was closing, the audience thundered and burst out in ever-increasing applause and screams. All the while, Francis’s gaze did not move.

***

Scarlett followed Dan to hand in the final form. Dan touched her shoulder lightly and said, “I’m delighted to see that you finally made up your mind. But I have to remind you… life can be pretty bitter there. I really want to make sure that you prepare yourself for it… both physically and emotionally. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I know, Dan. Thanks for looking out for me. I’ll do my best to prepare.” Scarlett smiled.

“Have you…” Dan hesitated for a moment and asked, “Have you told Francis that you’re going to Saudi Arabia?”

“Oh…Well, of course.”

But Scarlett was thinking quite the opposite thing.

“Well, of course not.” She wanted to say. She wasn’t ready to share anything related to her relationship with Francis with Dan of all people, so she just smiled at him and hoped he would drop the question entirely.

“Cool, cool. Alright then. Get yourself and your luggage ready, yeah? We’re leaving in a few days.”

“Yes, sir!”

After Dan left, Scarlett made a phone call to Chuck, but he didn’t answer the phone.

Scarlett took a taxi to Francis’s villa, but she had no courage to walk in. She stood in the middle of the path leading to the house, looking through the magnificent French windows to detect any possible traces of Francis.

Of course, she wanted to say goodbye and give Francis an earnest, meaningful kiss. But she felt her feet stick to the ground; she just couldn’t move them forward no matter how hard she tried.

The real-time monitoring camera hidden up the gate had already captured her presence, but Scarlett had no idea. She had not realized that she was being watched the whole time.

“Shall I allow her in, Mr. Sandler?” The housekeeper was not sure what to do.

Francis stood behind the curtains quietly. His hands were buried in his pockets. “The problem can’t be solved if I compromise right now.”

Scarlett was lost in thought for a while, and finally, she decided that she should just walk into the house and make everything she was thinking about crystal clear to Francis. Standing outside a man’s door without a word to say just didn’t line up with her attitude towards life and her values.

But before she walked to the gate, a red sports car drove into the area, and a woman dressed in a fitted scarlet dress got out from the driver’s seat.

Scarlett recognized her. She turned away to avoid being recognized by the woman. It was Vivian. Fortunately, Vivian didn’t notice Scarlett and walked directly into the house. Now, Scarlett knew, it was really time for her to leave.

“What are you doing here?” Francis sat on the sofa, looking at her with a blank expression on his face.

“Can’t I simply pay you a visit? Do I have to have a reason?” Vivian was annoyed with Francis’s sour attitude.

“I didn’t mean it like that, but I just don’t think that there’s any reason for you to visit this house anymore. Is there?” He spoke coldly.

“I visited Mom and Dad this morning, and the tuna sashimi they ordered straight from Kyoto just arrived. I decided that I should bring you some. Here, don’t you want to have a taste of this delicacy?”

Even though they had been divorced for many years, Vivian had continued to refer to Francis’s parents as if they were her own: she called them, in loving tones, “mom” and “dad.” Francis was annoyed at the beginning. But since his parents seemed to accept it without any protest, he decided not to bother.