My One-Night Stand Turns Out To Be My Boss?!

It was late at night when Cathleen Gordon begged in a hotel room, "Please let me go."

Someone had trapped Cathleen against the king-sized bed. The man's weight held her down while he forced his mouth against hers and ignored every attempt she made to pull away.

Each unwanted kiss felt harsh and feverishly hot. His breath scorched her skin, and dark red marks spread wherever his lips had touched.

One hand restrained her wrists above her head. The other clamped around her waist and prevented her from escaping. He showed no restraint as he violated her, and every merciless movement left her struggling to breathe.

Cathleen fought beneath him. "I have a husband... Please don't do this..."

Hours earlier, she had attended the birthday party of her stepsister, Emily Gordon. A strange heat had overtaken her after only a few drinks, and dizziness soon left her unable to think clearly.

Emily had volunteered to escort her back to the room so she could rest. However, Cathleen had barely crossed the doorway when an unfamiliar man seized her and hurled her onto the bed.

The room was so dark that his features remained hidden.

Cathleen's desperation made her bite his shoulder.

Instead of stopping him, her resistance made his attack even more vicious. He behaved as though he intended to consume everything she had left.

Everything around Cathleen turned hazy as her body grew too weak to resist. The scent of his cologne mingled with the bitter smell of alcohol and dulled her senses. When she could no longer fight him, he took what she had never chosen to give.

Right before she lost consciousness, his soft whisper broke the silence. He brushed a kiss across her tear-stained cheek and said, "Don't be scared. I'll take responsibility for what happened tonight."

Cathleen regained consciousness sometime after midnight. Her thoughts remained scattered, and much of what had happened was still unclear. She avoided looking at the man beside her, snatched up her clothes, and dressed with trembling hands. Moments later, she escaped the hotel and rushed to her best friend Jemma Davis' apartment.

Jemma woke up when she heard the commotion. "Cathleen? What's wrong?"

Cathleen couldn't bring herself to answer. She headed directly into the bathroom and locked the door. Once she had showered, she faced the mirror and discovered dark red hickeys covering nearly every part of her body.

The man had assaulted her more than once, and her legs still shook from the ordeal.

Cathleen eventually stepped out and saw Jemma waiting on the couch. A ring rested between Jemma's fingers. "This is beautiful, and there's no doubt it's designer. How did you end up with something this expensive?"

Cathleen looked away. The truth dawned on her at once. The ring must have belonged to the man in the hotel, and she had probably taken it by accident while gathering her clothes.

She was so flustered that she clung to the first excuse she could think of. "I picked it up from the street. It was so pretty that I couldn't leave it behind."

Jemma smiled. "Since you only found it, does that mean I can have it?"

"Go ahead," Cathleen said in a hollow voice.

"Wait... are you really okay?" Jemma asked.

"There's nothing to worry about. I had too much to drink, so I came here to shower and clear my head," Cathleen said, forcing a casual tone.

Last night's incident had been a terrible mistake. Cathleen wanted to bury it forever, and she had no intention of ever seeing that man again.

"I need to go home." Worried that Jemma might sense something was wrong, Cathleen quickly left the apartment and returned to Bayshell Villa, where she lived alone-though it was supposed to be her home with her husband.

During her sophomore year of college, Cathleen had been pressured into marrying the son of a wealthy family.

Nothing she had heard about him sounded promising. People claimed he was lazy and lacked ambition. They also said he suffered from poor health and was both short and unattractive. Still, his family had given the Gordons more than a hundred million as a wedding gift.

The enormous amount of money had been enough for the Gordon family to force Cathleen into the marriage.

Three years had passed, yet their marriage existed only on paper. Cathleen and her husband hadn't even met once.

As soon as she entered the villa, the butler came forward. "Mrs. Riley, Mr. Riley is home."

Cathleen's heart started pounding with worry. Her husband's timing couldn't have been worse.

Why had he chosen today to come back?

The memory of last night sent a chill through her.

Cathleen might not have loved her husband, but she was still his wife. What had happened felt like a betrayal she could never excuse.

Still, none of it had been her choice...

The butler looked at her pale face. "Mrs. Riley, is something wrong?"

His question snapped her from her thoughts. "No. I'm fine."

"Mr. Riley asked you to meet him in the study the moment you returned." Once he had delivered the message, the butler walked away.

Cathleen pulled in an unsteady breath before climbing the stairs.

Each step toward the study made her pulse beat faster.

Her husband had left Alobert on their wedding night to establish an overseas branch office. Over the next three years, he hadn't returned or called her even once.

Cathleen had never seen his photograph. She didn't even know his first name.

How would he react when he finally saw her?

After gathering her courage, Cathleen reached for the handle and eased the study door open.