Too late To love

Cecilia Mellon woke up with her entire body aching.

The moment she stirred, a deep, raspy male voice came from beside her. "Awake?"

Cecilia's eyes flew open. What greeted her was a face so handsome it felt almost aggressive—strong nose casting deep shadows in the morning light, lips pressed thin, and bottomless blue eyes fixed directly on her.

"You're not..." Not the greasy old man pushing fifty with a body ravaged by alcohol and debauchery that she'd imagined.

Quite the opposite—he looked barely in his early thirties, with broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, powerful muscle definition, and an aura radiating the ultimate appeal of mature masculinity.

Cecilia stared dumbly at the man's austere features, her mind completely blank. 

She recognized this man. He was identical to the CEO portrait hanging on the wall of her newly joined company.

The man she'd just had sex with was actually Edward Clifford, the feared devil CEO everyone at work dreaded!

"Not who?" Edward tugged at the corner of his mouth, casually toweling off his damp short hair.

"Disappointed? I was quite surprised myself when you barged into my room during my episode last night and behaved so... uninhibitedly in my bed. I must say, you were quite the pleasant surprise."

His words drained the color from Cecilia's face as memories of last night's chaos came flooding back.

Her twenty-second birthday. Last night, Cecilia had drunk a lot. Too much, in fact.

Her mother had set her up with a blind date—a wealthy man with a notorious reputation as a nouveau riche, a whoremonger, both old and calculating. 

She had no interest in developing a relationship, but the old man had launched into an obsessive pursuit after meeting her just once, and after her repeated rejections, he'd gone so far as to drug her.

The black market drug was potent—she would die if she didn't have sex with a man. Cecilia had barely escaped him, and in her drugged haze, she vaguely remembered stumbling into a penthouse suite. 

She recalled a coworker mentioning that those suites usually employed retired male models as servers, and the service was quite affordable.

The room was dimly lit, filled with swirling smoke, with a man sitting on the couch, his back toward her. His posture was straight, not appearing elderly at all, with long fingers holding a cigarette.

Cecilia was already thoroughly intoxicated and desperate for sex due to the drug. Assuming he was a male model, she rushed over and embraced him from behind.

The man stiffened, turned his head, his eyes blood-red. The lighting was too dim to make out his face clearly; she could only see his deep-set features.

"Are you... a male model here?" she asked bluntly.

The man was silent for a few seconds, then let out an ambiguous soft laugh. Playful yet dangerous.

Cecilia took his silence as confirmation. Her body was burning so intensely she could barely stand, collapsing in front of him. 

He instinctively caught her, but as the drug took effect, she seized the opportunity to kiss him.

What followed was both natural and completely out of control. She remembered drunkenly taunting him, asking if he was too old to perform. In response, this man proved with actions that he was not only capable but excessively so.

Being her first time, Cecilia had no experience and suffered greatly. By the end, she was crying and begging for mercy, thinking that even a retired male model shouldn't be this relentless.

Returning to the present, she stared at the infuriatingly handsome face before her, her feeling of regret lasting only three seconds. 

She'd been too caught up last night, genuinely impulsive, but never imagined she'd mistaken her own boss for a male model and slept with him. 

She'd worked so hard to get this internship at Summit Enterprises Group—this job was incredibly important to her!

Cecilia pushed herself up on her aching body, pulling the covers around herself. "Mr. Clifford, having sex with an intoxicated woman is equivalent to rape. I could sue you."

She tried to maintain calm and rationality while advocating for herself, appearing unaffected by the wild night they'd shared, but her trembling fingers betrayed her.

Hearing her threat, Edward chuckled dismissively. He bent down to pick up his phone, scrolled through it briefly, then casually tossed it in front of her. "I have evidence, which I'm happy to provide free of charge."

Cecilia looked down to see herself in the video, eyes unfocused, long hair spread across the pillow, face flushed, with intermittent moans of pleasure escaping her lips.

Suddenly, Cecilia's earlobes turned red.

Before she could collect herself, Edward approached her. "I was planning to keep this as a memento, but if you need it, I can send it to you. I know some excellent lawyers I can recommend as well." 

His lips curved into a smirk. "But... you seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit there. Doesn't look like coercion to me."

Cecilia clenched her fingers, her chest heaving with anger. How could anyone be so shameless! He'd already slept with her and now he was humiliating her!

"You slept with me, you need to take responsibility," Cecilia's eyes rimmed with red. She initially thought to leverage this to secure a permanent position at the company, but on second thought, that didn't seem appropriate.

Edward gazed at Cecilia, whose eyes had reddened with irritation, and once again caught that peculiar scent emanating from her. His eyebrow arched slightly, as if finding her amusing. "Then marry me."

Hearing Edward's proposal, Cecilia was completely stunned. She never expected Edward to make such an outrageous demand.

However, what Edward said next made Cecilia understand why everyone at the company said he was notoriously cold and difficult to please!

"Five hundred thousand dollars a year," he stated matter-of-factly. "I'll draw up an agreement—daily hugs for no less than one hour, kisses for at least ten minutes, sharing a bed for eight hours..." 

His eyes darkened slightly. "If you perform the terms of the agreement exceptionally well, you'll receive more."

After waking up, Edward had immediately ordered an investigation into Cecilia. She was a new intern in the legal department, a patient, well-behaved pretty face with a poor family background who desperately needed money. 

In high society, such women were a dime a dozen.

His grandmother was pressuring him to get married, and coincidentally, this obedient pretty face had transformed into a wild, untamable little fox last night, her claws scratching at his curiosity. 

Most importantly, her touch unexpectedly alleviated his insomnia and the pain from his old ailment.

He had suffered from chronic headaches for years, and last night when his bipolar disorder flared up, after smelling that faint yet clear fragrance on her, his pain vanished completely. 

Marrying her would be convenient—not just to appease his grandmother's marriage demands, but the family situation truly couldn't wait.

"You don't have that much time to consider," he added coldly.

Cecilia, who had been contemplating going down fighting, ultimately bit the bullet and agreed after seeing a text from her mother. "Fine."

Her brother's condition was worsening, and the treatment would cost well over a million dollars. Without money, the hospital would remove his life support! 

Cecilia consoled herself that Edward was wealthy, powerful, and handsome. Marrying him wouldn't be a loss for her.

Upon hearing her agreement, Edward began changing clothes, untying the loose robe at his waist without any modesty, revealing his perfect physique. Smooth muscle definition without an ounce of excess fat, exuding strength. 

Cecilia's cheeks warmed slightly as she averted her gaze.

Two hours later at City Hall, Cecilia clutched the marriage certificate in her hand, still unable to believe it. 

She had just had a flash marriage with her new company's boss, the CEO of Summit Enterprises Group, Edward, who could determine her fate with hardly any effort.

Cecilia took a photo of the marriage certificate but didn't send it to anyone. She truly didn't know who she could share it with.

Cecilia looked up with a bitter smile. "I need it urgently—when can you transfer the five hundred thousand dollars to me?"