“Thalia, Mr. Dimitrei will be arriving from Europe tomorrow. You need to prepare all of his documents because there will be a big meeting tomorrow morning, and there can't be any errors in our reports,” said Mr. John, the head of the Finance Division.

“Alright, Sir, I’ve prepared them,” Thalia answered confidently and firmly while smiling.

“Good, I hope you always enjoy working here even though the workload is very high. I don't know what I would do without you,” the middle-aged man encouraged Thalia.

"I will always enjoy working here, Sir, because of the big salary,” Thalia answered honestly, making John laugh softly.

"Yeah, you're right, no one can match this company's salary, Thalia. Be grateful for that,” John replied, and Thalia just smiled.

"You've never met Mr. Dimitrei, have you? My advice is, don't show any nervousness in front of him, even though he's a very intimidating person. He doesn't like indecisive and hesitant people, so you have to be able to face him tomorrow if he attacks you with many questions,” John advised.

“Okay, Sir, I've read some articles about him even though I don't know what he looks like. He must be a very intimidating person," said Thalia.

"Yes, he is very dangerous to all women. Be careful.” John smiled meaningfully.

Thalia nodded with a smile.

After finishing her work, Thalia went home to her apartment. Thalia deliberately rented a small apartment to reduce her living expenses, which were quite high in the big city.

This allowed Thalia to save quite a lot of money, and her savings were still very substantial, so she wouldn't be confused if she needed emergency funds.

*

*

Thalia Brown was a woman whose life was a real-life example of the unusual contradiction between physical appearance and extraordinary intelligence.

In her everyday appearance, she was never flashy. Her brown hair was always tied in a simple ponytail and sometimes braided like a teenager who had just entered the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Thalia also preferred to wear shirts and skirts below the knee rather than trendy formal suits like her other coworkers.

She looked like someone who didn't want to attract attention, but behind that, there was unparalleled intelligence.

She was a model employee and had no enemies at all because she never interfered in other people's business and liked to help if anyone had difficulties in their work.

Thalia was a professional in the business world. She worked at one of the big companies that dominated the financial world.

In the company's finance division, Thalia held a very important position.

She was a brilliant financial analyst and had the ability to see patterns in complex numbers.

Thalia had proven herself to be a valuable asset to the company and had earned the trust of her colleagues who respected her despite her young age.

However, behind all her achievements, Thalia had a very complicated family background.

Her father's death made her run away from home, and in her father's will, her name was no longer listed there because Thalia was the child of his second wife.

They considered Thalia to be just a daughter who was not entitled to the official inheritance from her father, even though her father's first wife had no children.

The middle-aged woman actually gave Thalia's rights to her extended family and her step-siblings.

A charismatic man was seen sitting alone, escorted by his two men, in a nightclub.

He was Dimitrei Uvarov—a successful businessman who started everything from scratch, although he was actually the adopted son of a famous mafia in Russia—Dom Petrov—who possessed abundant wealth.

Dimitrei dared to defy his adoptive father when he decided to quit the mafia world and start his own business at a very young age.

However, Dom did not let his son go that easily and gave Dimitrei a small amount of capital. Until finally, Dimitrei proved his hard work by turning that small capital into spectacular wealth after 15 years.

Now, he is 35 years old and still single because of his distrust of women.

Even so, Dimitrei is not actually a man from an ordinary family. His biological father was a conglomerate who was a business partner of his adoptive father.

His father died in an incident involving his father's business enemy, leaving Dimitrei to be raised by his adoptive father—Dom Petrov—a big-time mafia who is still respected today.

Dom's upbringing made Dimitrei a man who is not easily oppressed and very strong mentally and physically.

He was currently thinking about something that had been bothering him for a month because of what his adoptive father had said a month ago.

*

A Month Ago…

"Get married, because you have to inherit all your abundant wealth later. You are 35 years old, Dimi. You don't want to live a miserable life like me, do you? Without a wife and children at my age," Dom said at the time.

"But you are always surrounded by women every day, Uncle," replied Dimitrei.

Dom laughed upon hearing that.

"They are actually waiting for my death, Dimi. All they want is my wealth. Remember, I will be the one to select the woman who will be your companion later. I can help you find candidates, how about that?" asked Dom.

"Tsk, your choices are always bad, and look at the women around you, Uncle, none of them are good. They are only sexy and satisfying in bed," replied Dimitrei, and Dom laughed again.

*

And last night, Dimitrei heard the news that Dom's health was declining and his desire to see Dimitrei get married was very strong.

However, Dimitrei felt that he couldn't bring himself to force a marriage too hastily, and he didn't want to make a mockery of marriage.

That's why Dimitrei just wanted to show Dom that he already had the perfect lover so that Dom would be calmer and no longer think about Dimitrei.

Dimitrei loved Dom very much and already considered him as his own father, so he didn't want Dom to overthink his love life because it would make his health deteriorate.

Dimitrei still remembered that conversation until now, and he seemed to have started looking for a woman to be his temporary girlfriend.

There were already ten women who became his candidates yesterday.

But after only a few days, he could already assess that the ten women were far from his expectations because all of them only had good looks with standard intelligence.

Dimitrei knew his adoptive father very well, who was quite critical in judging someone, and he wanted to have a girlfriend in a complete package even if the relationship was just a fake one.

Dimitrei could have paid a random woman who could act perfectly, but he knew very well that Dom had sharp instincts.

So, Dimitrei would really look for the perfect woman who would impress his adoptive father.

Dimitrei Uvarov, a man whose presence was so electrifying, strode confidently through the doors of the grand company lobby.

Although he was the CEO of this company, he rarely made an appearance as he often resided in his homeland, Russia.

However, on that day, an important agenda summoned him to one of the company's headquarters located in New York.

As Dimitrei entered the room, all eyes immediately turned to him. The aura of leadership and the high charisma radiating from him were undeniable.

He was the figure who ruled this company with an iron fist, and today, everyone felt a pressure in his presence.

Thalia, a staff member working in the finance division, stood behind the Division Heads gathered in the lobby. Her heart pounded as Dimitrei approached.

She tried to maintain her composure, bowing her head low, ready to carry out any orders from the Head of Finance standing near her.

Every step Dimitrei took felt like an earthquake in her life, as she had heard quite frightening rumors about Dimitrei from her colleagues.

The division heads, who had known Dimitrei for a long time, greeted him respectfully. They knew that today was a very important day for the company, and they were ready to support every decision their CEO would make.

Dimitrei didn't waste time. He immediately directed his steps towards the main meeting room on the tenth floor of the building.

The company executives followed Dimitrei's steps towards the private elevator. Thalia joined them because her Division Head instructed her to always be by his side.

Inside the elevator, the atmosphere felt awkward, and there was no conversation from Dimitrei, who was known to be a man of few words.

Soon, the elevator doors opened and Dimitrei stepped forward. Suddenly, he stopped, causing Thalia, who was walking with her head down behind him, to bump into his back.

"Shit!!" Thalia cursed under her breath. It seemed her first encounter with the big boss was already problematic.

Dimitrei turned around and looked at Thalia, who was still looking down.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Thalia tried to remain calm and collected. However, she had to look at Dimitrei because the man didn't like it when people talked to him without making eye contact.

Dimitrei didn't answer and stared into Thalia's soft eyes.

"What's your name?" asked Dimitrei in his deep voice that sent shivers down every woman's spine, making Thalia's blood rush.

Thalia tried her best not to waver and feel nervous facing her super charismatic boss.

"My name is Thalia and I'm from the Finance Division, Mr. Uvarov," Thalia replied calmly and confidently.

No one dared to interrupt what was happening at the moment, and all the employees around them remained silent, not daring to make a sound.

Dimitrei took a step forward, his face lowered, and whispered in Thalia's ear.

"I like your scent," whispered Dimitrei, making Thalia's chest feel like it was about to explode. She never expected Dimitrei to say something like that to her.

Thalia swallowed hard, her hands suddenly cold. She could no longer hide her nervousness.

Dimitrei then stepped back, turned around, and walked back towards the meeting room.

John held Thalia's arm to help her snap out of her nervousness, and they followed their big boss to the meeting room.