His imagination of her smiling face appeared before him, "How could you lie to me?", he clenched his teeth, his expression was unreadable. He missed her. Samantha was probably the only woman he had very strong feelings towards.

Recalling what he did to her in the past, he was actually regretting it the next day when he remembered what happened. He searched for her everywhere but Samantha was like a bubble, appearing one second and then gone the next.

He realized that he didn't really know a lot about her. The truth is that, despite him meeting other women even while they were dating, he had always thought of her differently.

Whenever he and Samantha goes out for a meal, she would always pay for hers. There were only a few times that he could convince her to pay for both of them.

-Samantha's still like that with Daniel sometimes. She had always believed that it's never a man's duty to pay for the meal all the time.-

Andrew had always wanted to get to know her more so he would ask her questions but she was always evasive and often changed subjects of their conversation. He knew that she must really not want to share anything personal, so he just tried to understand her more and let her be.

About a week before Samantha's birthday, he had stopped flirting with other women and thought about her more. But of course, old habits die hard. And so, on her birthday, when he was getting drunk, he saw Samantha who was also intoxicated and his urges made him do things to make her submit to him.

When he caught her one time after her baking cla.s.ses, he was excited that his heart raced. He was prepared to ask for her forgiveness but when Samantha tried to walk away, he got aggressive because it was the first time that she was like that to him.

She had always been calm around Andrew even if she refused to sleep with him. So because of her change of att.i.tude, he got p.i.s.sed and then that man appeared, getting in between him and Samantha. Samantha was his! Other men can't stake a claim. She was his!

Now, he was seeing Samantha in a different light. He had always known her as someone who was breathtaking even with an 'average' background.

Many times, he had offered her spending money, his credit cards, and many other things. He spoiled her, well... tried to spoil her but every time he does so, she would always refuse.

He thought that she really wasn't after his money and that's one thing that he liked about her. So now that he learns that she's actually not average but rather someone who's breathtaking, a woman with power and wealth. What was he supposed to think of her now?

Andrew sat inside his car for more than an hour but he didn't see her. It looked like Samantha wasn't planning on showing up in front of the media. He started up his car and was about to drive away when the reporters suddenly went wild.

"Ms. Kim! Please look here!"

"CEO Kim, why did you hide your ident.i.ty for years?"

"CEO Kim, who are you going to collaborate with?"

"President Kim, why did you decide to reveal yourself now? Are you planning something?"

The media bombarded her with questions but Samantha was being s.h.i.+elded by Alexander and her security detail towards a waiting car outside her company. She thought that if she drove her baby Taz, it might attract more attention. She really didn't antic.i.p.ate that she would get this kind of attention after appearing last night. Who would have known that people were also noticing the IT industry this much? Or was this a special case? Whatever the reason is, Samantha wasn't prepared for it.

The car that was waiting for her was a car arranged by Daniel, he wanted to pick her up himself but Samantha refused when she learned that he was going to use his car. She wanted to avoid more gossips.

His car and Liam's were quite known by the reporters so it wasn't an option, the only thing he could do was use an inconspicuous car to fetch her. The reporters tried to get her attention but failed, looking at Samantha getting in the car, they were wondering who it was inside but the car's plate number showed that it was a rental.

The rental car sped off leaving the reporters disappointed.

Andrew Park immediately followed the car where Samantha is, trailing just behind them but because of the traffic, he eventually lost track of the rental car.

"d.a.m.n it!", he slammed his hands on the steering wheel repeatedly.

…

Daniel was sitting with Samantha in the back seat.

"Are you okay?", Daniel asked her.

Samantha's expression was unreadable, Daniel kept looking at her and his brows raised when she started laughing hysterically. 'Has she gone mad?'

"Why are you laughing?", he asked, concerned that his woman has a screw lose.

She turned to him and still continued to laugh, "Honey… what the h.e.l.l did I just get myself into?", she spoke and covered her mouth with her hands, she was tearing up.

Samantha was so emotional that she didn't know how to react to the situation. "It's ridiculous! How could they react this way?! Trident is just a small private company in the IT industry! Are they actually so interested in my life?"

Daniel wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled, "It'll be okay, they're just making gossip so that people will pay attention to the media. It's what keeps the businesses running. We'll announce the partners.h.i.+p soon, so be ready."

Back then, it was just a simple software project. But during Samantha's disappearance, he and the executives have decided to change it into the a full parnters.h.i.+p between the two companies. And it should be the company who will win the bidding.

She nodded and asked, "Where are we going?"

"To get your outfit for tomorrow.", he said nonchalantly.

"But I already have a dress…? Why do I need another one?", Samantha was puzzled.

"You only need to wear what I prepared for you. That way, we can coordinate and match. It will be good for the photos.", he said before he turned his head to look at her., "It'll be our first public appearance together in front of the media, did you think I'd let them keep your photo with your COO trending out there?!", he turned his head away again and muttered under his breath, "Lovely pair my foot."

Samantha stared at him as he complained like a jealous teenage boyfriend. 'Is he seriously jealous over a photo?'

Apart from her solo pictures, there were also several photos of her and Alexander entering the hall. Some people commented that they looked good together and some speculated that they must be in a relations.h.i.+p.

Daniel Cho saw some of those comments and although he knows that they were just saying nonsense, how could he accept that his Samantha was paired up with another man?