Shalma Hughes smiled, a faint halo seeming to glow upon her exquisitely beautiful face. Thea Grant stood behind her, admiring Shalma's elegant silhouette. She couldn't help but wonder why there was such a massive disparity between two women. Only after meeting Shalma did she truly understand what it meant to be endlessly captivating and irresistibly endearing.
Inside the chairman's office, the atmosphere was exceptionally tense.
Shalma slouched on the sofa, propping her slender, beautiful legs directly onto the priceless desk. Her gorgeous eyes seemed to brim with boundless anger as she glared at the man before her, who was calmly reviewing documents.
"I'm not doing it. Have someone else take this account," Shalma said. She lowered her long, fair legs and stood up to leave.
Just as she took a single step, a slightly aged yet naturally commanding voice rang out from behind her. "Don't be stubborn. The client specifically asked for you."
"I said I'm not doing it, so I'm not." Shalma had clearly lost her patience, an unconcealable sharpness flashing in her eyes.
Marcus Hughes put down his pen and looked up at the hostile young woman before him. "Haven't you always wanted to prove yourself? This is a perfect opportunity. Chances like this don't come around every day. Now that it's landed in your lap, grab it."
Marcus had hit her right where it hurt. She *did* want to prove herself. In the Hughes household, she had always been relegated to the shadows. It was a miracle that an illegitimate daughter like her had been allowed to work in her father's company. People assumed she had simply ridden his coattails to get there, completely ignoring the hard work she had put in.
"Think it over. Give me your answer tomorrow," Marcus said.
Shalma stared at the fifty-something-year-old man before her. He was her biological father, yet despite their undeniable blood ties, he still felt like a complete stranger. After a few seconds of silence, she picked up the case file from the desk. "I'll take it."
Walking out of the chairman's office, Shalma flipped open the file. Emblazoned across the top were the bold words: Winslow Conglomerate.
She realized that *this* was the new connection he had mentioned.
After taking on the company's new project, Shalma was swamped all morning. The afternoon meeting was originally scheduled for 2:00 PM, but she instructed Thea to push it up by two hours to noon, once again depriving the sales department of their lunch break. The meeting lasted a full two hours. Once it concluded, she left the office and drove straight to the Winslow Conglomerate.
She had never once set foot here. She knew her place all too well. As his hidden lover, kept strictly in the shadows, she knew exactly how a mistress ought to behave and the boundaries she was expected to maintain.
The Winslow Conglomerate headquarters was terrifyingly tall. Standing at its base and craning her neck, she couldn't even see the top, and the glaring sunlight reflecting off the glass was nearly blinding. A flicker of apprehension passed through her beautiful eyes, but she stepped inside anyway.
The lobby was exceptionally pristine and completely spotless. She walked straight to the elevators. Stepping inside, she scanned the panel of numbers and pressed the button for the sixtieth floor.
When she selected the sixtieth floor, the other passengers in the elevator all turned to look at her. Before long, the elevator chimed, and the doors slowly slid open. Waiting right outside was a solitary figure.
"Miss Hughes, long time no see," Assistant Sutton said with a polite smile, looking every bit the consummate professional.
Shalma was slightly taken aback, wondering if he had known all along that she was coming. "Assistant Sutton, did your Mr. Winslow ask you to wait here for me?" she asked.
"Yes. If not for Winslow's explicit orders, Miss Hughes, you would have been stopped by security the moment you entered the lobby," Assistant Sutton replied softly.
Shalma blinked in realization. No wonder she had been able to waltz in completely unimpeded. Shortly after, she was escorted into a room. Glancing at her surroundings, she deduced it was likely his private lounge.