He snapped back to reality and checked his phone, it was from George, his former delivery manager!
"Oh no!" Charles suddenly remembered he had an appointment that evening.
"Hey, George?" He quickly answered the call, realizing he'd been too busy that afternoon.
"Where are you, man? You're the only one missing!" "Sorry about that, I was busy moving and completely forgot, my bad, George. You guys go ahead and order, I'll be there soon!"
"Alright, just be safe!"
"Will do!" With that, Charles hung up the phone.
He hurried out the door, catching a taxi under the respectful gaze of the security guards.
The same two guards from earlier watched as Charles hailed the cab with practiced ease, exchanging a look of disbelief. A billionaire who always takes a taxi—what an eccentric character with such unique habits!
In his rush to make it to his appointment, Charles had no idea that, in the eyes of the security guards, he had become a wealthy man with peculiar tastes.
Luckily, the meeting place wasn't far away, otherwise, by the time he got there, everyone would have already finished eating.
Half an hour later, Charles scanned to pay for the taxi and stepped out onto a bustling street, the delicious aromas wafting through the air made his stomach growl, reminding him of how busy he'd been all afternoon.
Charles skillfully made his way to the dining table, offering an apologetic smile to everyone. After downing three self-imposed penalty drinks, the group finally let him off the hook.
The conversation flowed easily as they drank, covering all sorts of topics, they knew that soon Charles would be living in a different world from theirs and everyone was in high spirits.
Charles was game for anything and the farewell dinner turned into an emotional affair, almost like a goodbye forever.
But Charles didn't forget to settle the bill and it wasn't until nearly ten o'clock that the gathering finally wrapped up.
Among them, only the delivery manager and Charles had any semblance of sobriety left, the two of them managed to get the others into a car before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Charles! You can always join us for drinks in the future!"
"Yeah! Thanks for looking out for me this past year, George!" "No problem! I'll get them home now!"
"Alright!"
Watching the taxi drive away, Charles plopped down onto a nearby bus stop bench. Though he could hold his liquor, he couldn't withstand the group's relentless toasting.
He may have won the drinking battle, but he was pretty tipsy himself.
After resting for a bit, he staggered to his feet and started walking forward.
Nearby, at the entrance of a fancy restaurant, a couple was in a heated argument, pulling at each other.
"Jessica, think carefully. If you walk away today, our families' partnership ends here!"
One of the men, Jeff in a suit spoke with a threatening tone, to Jessica. Her eyes were filled with anger; she couldn't believe how shameless the other person was!
"Jeff, don't push it too far!" she exclaimed, her beautiful face turning pale with rage.
"How am I pushing it? I just wanted to invite you for a drink at the club and you wouldn't even give me that courtesy! so, what's the point of our families working together?" Jeff said with indifference.
"Hmph! don't you know what you're really after? let me tell you, if you think you can blackmail me, Jessica, you're dead wrong!" Jessica regained her usual calm and turned to leave.
Jeff's face darkened and as he watched Jessica's enticing figure walk away, a flicker of desire crossed his eyes, he quickly followed her.
In the underground parking lot, Jessica had just gotten into her car when Jeff caught up.
"Jessica, don't be like this, I apologize for my attitude earlier, I just wanted to have a drink with you, nothing more!" he pleaded.
But Jessica didn't give him a chance, her car sped away without hesitation.
"Jessica!" "Jessica William!"
He called out twice, his voice echoing through the vast parking lot.
"Fine! You forced my hand! You witch! One day, I'll crush your pride!" Jeff muttered darkly. Of course, Jessica was unaware of all this and even if she knew, she wouldn't care.
Right now, she felt a wave of frustration, she knew how tough it was for a woman in the workplace, but she had no intention of giving up.
However, she hadn't expected something so disgusting to happen.
Her company was in the business of product development and processing. Recently, she had secured a major international contract, which required completion in two months, she had confidently agreed, as it was no pressure for her.
But today, when she was meeting with various material suppliers to sign contracts, William Group's biggest raw material supplier had a peculiar request: dinner that evening.
She thought about it and agreed, only to find out it was Jeff Langston.
She finally understood that he was the one causing trouble.
After being in the business world for so long, she could see through his intentions clearly.
How could she accept this? She could just find another partner, with the William brand, as soon as word got out, suppliers would be lining up.
With that thought, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, as she looked ahead, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her so much that she slammed on the brakes.
"Screech!"
The sharp sound of brakes echoed across the road. Finally, the car came to a stop several yards away from the figure.
"Phew~" She relaxed for a moment, then anger took over.
"What were you thinking? are you trying to get yourself killed?"
She swung open the car door and started yelling at the figure!
Charles, with stars practically dancing in his eyes, suddenly heard someone speaking loudly behind him, he turned around.
He saw countless blurry images flickering before him, and then he collapsed.
He vaguely heard a pleasant female voice before losing consciousness.
"Charles? Hey, are you okay?"
Jessica recognized Charles as soon as he turned around. When she saw him fall, she rushed over and was hit by a strong smell of alcohol.
Realizing Charles was drunk, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why did you drink so much?" she asked instinctively.
Obviously, Charles couldn't answer her.
With all her strength, she managed to get Charles into the car, initially planning to take him to a hotel.
Neither of them had their ID cards, so she gave up on the idea, but she couldn't get into Charles' home, so she had no choice but to take him back to her place.
The next morning.
"Ugh! Where am I?" Charles groaned, rubbing his temples as his head throbbed, he remembered having drinks with some former colleagues, getting drunk and then meeting someone, but everything after that was a blur.
Looking around, it was clear he was in a guest room. The style reminded him of a high-end place, like the ones he was used to, did someone bring him home last night?
He got up and walked out of the room, only to find everything unfamiliar. "Where is this?" he wondered, dumbfounded, thinking he was in his own house.
"You're awake!" A pleasant voice came from his right.
He turned his head and froze, standing there was a stunning woman, about 5'7", with an oval face, almond-shaped eyes and perfectly arched eyebrows. Her features were so well-crafted they seemed to be sculpted by an artist, blending naturally into a harmonious whole.
Her long, dark hair cascaded down to her waist and she wore a simple set of home clothes, carrying two bowls of porridge as she approached him gracefully. She looked like a fairy from a painting.
What left him speechless was that he recognized this face. "Jess... Jessica?"
"What? Don't recognize me?" Jessica walked over to the dining table, smiling warmly at Charles.
Charles's face turned red. "No! You... Why am I here?"
Jessica smiled warmly. "You really don't remember?"
Charles shook his head, looking completely confused.
"Alright, let's have breakfast first! we can talk while we eat," Jessica suggested, gesturing gracefully.
After hesitating for a moment, Charles sat down across from Jessica.
"Who were you drinking with last night? You drank so much and no one was looking after you. If I hadn't happened to pass by, who knows where you'd be now, maybe digging in some mine!" Jessica teased, rolling her eyes playfully at Charles.
"Uh, uh!" Charles, sipping his porridge, suddenly choked at Jessica's words.
Jessica burst into laughter, completely unreserved.
Charles hadn't expected the legendary Jessica to be so down-to-earth in private.
After swallowing his porridge, Charles thanked Jessica, "Thanks for last night!"
If it weren't for her, he might have spent the night outdoors.
"No problem! So, where are you working now? or have you started your own company?" Jessica asked, suddenly curious.