Luckily, he had some honeyed water for a hangover.
Carefully propping her up, he called her name softly and offered her the honeyed water. “Drink this, Miss Scott. It’ll help you feel better.”
In a daze, Bianca noticed the honeyed water and instinctively drank it.
Seeing her react, Zane felt a sense of relief.
Just then, his phone rang-it was Dave.
Zane answered quickly.
Dave’s deep voice came through the line. “I’m delayed. How’s Bianca?”
Zane looked at Bianca, still slumped by the sofa. “She drank a few glasses of wine.”
“Drank several glasses of wine?” Dave’s voice sounded sharp.
Zane quickly explained. “I gave her some honeyed water to sober her up. She should wake up soon.”
“Make sure she gets some rest. Stay with her tonight. I’m worried my grandpa might cause trouble.”
Dave wasn’t sure his grandfather had accepted Bianca.
With the ship full of his associates, he couldn’t take any chances.
The only person he fully trusted was Zane.
Zane had been his confidant for a decade and would never betray him. With Zane around, Dave could relax a little.
Once they got off the ship the next day, he could make sure Bianca was safe.
“Got it. No worries,” Zane replied firmly.
Hanging up, he went back to Bianca and gently nudged her. “Wake up, Miss Scott. Let’s get you to bed.”
Bianca slowly opened her eyes at the sound of her name.
When she saw the man in front of her, a wave of emotion rushed over her.
“Dave…”
To her, the man wasn’t Zane. It was Dave.
And the room wasn’t a luxurious suite. It was their cozy apartment, their safe place.
Everything looked exactly as she remembered, with the soft glow of the living room lamp and the warm light from a nightlight.
They were cuddled up together on the sofa, watching a movie they had seen before.
Disoriented, Bianca wondered if it was all just a dream.
The breakup, Dave’s identity as the CEO of Phoenix Alliance Group and heir to the Evans fortune, his deception-was it all just a nightmare? Were they still living a happy life together?
Looking at the handsome face of “Dave,” tears filled her eyes.
Zane noticed her dazed, glassy-eyed look. He knew she wasn’t fully awake, but at least she was conscious.
Leaving her on the cold floor wasn’t an option.
He reached out to help her up. “You should get off the floor. It’s cold.”
Suddenly, Bianca threw her arms around him.
In her dream-like state, she could only think of Dave. She held him tightly, burying her face in his chest.
“Dave, I had a horrible dream,” she choked out, her voice thick with emotion.
The memory of the dream made her nose tingle, and she gripped his arm even tighter.
“I dreamt we broke up, that you lied to me the whole time.” Even though she knew it was just a dream, sobs shook her body. “Please don’t leave me. Tell me it wasn’t real. Tell me you’re just an ordinary person, not some powerful CEO. Tell me you were always honest with me.”
Surprised by her sudden embrace, Zane tried to gently push her away. But she clung to him with surprising strength, pulling him down to the floor with her, landing on top of him.
Bianca was sobbing, her voice saying words Zane couldn’t fully understand.
He didn’t dare touch her. She was his boss’s woman, and he knew he should never lay a hand on her. His hands stayed in the air, unsure.
“Miss Scott, please snap out of it! It’s me, Zane!” He shouted loudly, trying to get through to her.
“Dave, I need you to hold me.” Bianca looked up at Zane, her eyes blank and unfocused, clearly mistaking him for someone else.
Zane immediately realized something was wrong. Her state didn’t seem like just drunkenness.
It looked more like she had been drugged!
Having worked closely with Dave for several years, Zane had seen how hallucinogenic substances affected people. Bianca’s current state reminded him of that.
She had completely lost awareness and was fully immersed in her hallucinations.
That explained why she had mistaken him for Dave.
Could the honeyed water he gave her earlier be the cause?
Realizing this, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer.
The situation would only get worse. He quickly pushed her away and grabbed his phone to contact Dave.
But then, he noticed a strange smell. It had been there before, but he hadn’t paid attention to it with all the chaos.
He turned around and saw that the room door was closed, with a thin wisp of smoke coming from under it.
His head started to feel heavy, and his senses became unclear.
The phone slipped from his hand, and his vision began to blur.
An ordinary person wouldn’t last long in this state, but Zane wasn’t ordinary. He was Dave’s most trusted and capable assistant.
He tried to grab his phone, but his blurred vision made it hard to focus.
He realized he was close to losing control. He had to act fast.
Fighting to stay clear-headed, he gathered all his strength and lifted Bianca off the floor, dragging her to the bedroom.
After placing her on the bed, he quickly left the room and shut the door behind him.
He stumbled toward the exit, knowing he needed to leave to stop himself from doing something he might regret.
When he reached the door, he found it was locked, as if someone had purposely sealed it.
Someone had set a trap for him and Bianca!
Collapsing against the door, Zane felt his heart race, and his breath grew heavier.
He was on the edge of losing control, desperate to calm his rising urges.
Even though he fought to control himself, his eyes drifted back to the door to Bianca’s room.
Inside that room was what he needed. Slowly, he began to lose his grip on reality. This was the only thought that filled his mind.
Struggling to maintain some clarity, he stood up and moved like a zombie, drawn by an overwhelming need, step by step, toward the bedroom.
Meanwhile, Bianca had completely lost touch with reality. In her hallucinations, she and Dave were close. She kept calling his name, trying to make her hallucinations feel real.
Her clothes were scattered across the floor. Her hands reached out as if holding an invisible person.
She didn’t notice the danger approaching.
The doorknob of the bedroom turned slowly, followed by a faint creak as the door opened from the outside.
Zane’s eyes filled with greedy desire as he stared at the nearly naked woman on the bed.
His blood seemed to boil more with each passing second.