I just know that, if you are a billionaire like Ethan, you will receive a lot of invitations around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here I am sitting with a pile of luxurious invitation cards in front of me.

I asked Ethan earlier what should I do with this? Professional or not, this is not a normal executive assistant's job. My former boss, Tim, got some invitations during the year, but not as much as this one. Ethan told me to pick some of it. He doesn't really care. He said we can just send money to the charity event and send flowers to the Thanksgiving or Christmas events. According to our PR team, he needs to show up to minimal 3 events. After that, he is free from this duty.

Ahh.. I can go to the PR and ask them. I take a paper bag from the cafeteria and put all the invitations. Damn! it's heavy. I check on my computer to see whether my boss/boyfriend is on the phone. Yes, he is on the phone. Oh, well... I'll be back in ten mins, anyway. No need to tell him.

On our PR's floor, I go to Eddie Watanabe, the PR manager. In his 60s, he looks much younger. Must be his Japanese secret medicine.

"Hi Eddie!" I come to his office.

"Hi Mads! Please sit down." He smiles. He doesn't have any accent. Eddie is American born Japanese. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes. I need your advice. Which invitation Ethan should go to. I got these on my desk this morning." I put it on the desk.

He laughs. "Well, for your information, these invitations have been here before. My team filtered which one is the best for Ethan to attend. Apparently, we have this much."

My eyes widen. "You expect Ethan to come to all these events? Some of them even on the same date and time."

"No, no. We are just the filter. The decision is in Mr. Hall's hand. But I think now it's in your hand," he chuckles. "Just choose 2 is okay. We need Ethan to maintain his public image. But he doesn't have to come to every event. And since he told the press that you are his girlfriend so we are expecting you to be his date in every event, Mads. This could be tiring, but that's what people expect from Ethan Hall's girlfriend."

I bite my lower lip and lean closer. "What do you expect from Ethan's girlfriend, Ed?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "You didn't know yourself that much, Mads. Look in the mirror! You are a pretty woman, by any standards. We all know that you are smart enough to sit as Ethan's executive assistant, not to mention the charity event you held. Raised a lot of money for the poor. Put the Hall Foundation back on track. And your appearance at the charity was amazing. You nailed it with flying colors."

I blush. "Thank you, Ed. But, it's not me. I'm blessed with a great team."

He chuckles. "Add humble personality in the list."

I laugh and shake my head. Thank God, Ethan's employee doesn't think of me as a gold digger or someone who just wants to take an advantage of Ethan Hall's big name.

"Well, if you think that's all not enough, Helen Hall's speech that day will be enough."

"Helen?"

"Yes. She never mentioned Ethan's date before. You are the first one. From the day you sit on Amanda Hall's chair at the meeting, we all know that Helen Hall chose you as her granddaughter-in-law. So brace yourself, Mads. It's not a simple job for being Mrs. Ethan Hall and Helen Hall granddaughter-in-law. But you did great so far. Guess you were born for this." He winks at me and takes out the heavy paper bag. Eddie checks the invitations while my face blush and my heartbeat racing in my ribs. Helen Hall's future granddaughter-in-law...

"Give me a sec," he tells me while picking his phone. "Bring Mads invitations to my office, please. Thank you," he says and puts down the phone.

"Sorry? My invitations? What—" before I can finish my question someone comes in and puts some invitations on Eddie's desk. If Ethan's invitation is mount Everest, this one is like mount Kilimanjaro.

I peek at the name. Madeline Parker... all of it in my name. Well, some of it is Madeline Hall (who is she?)

"Welcome back to your famous life, Mads." Eddie smiles at me.

***

I come back to my floor. Thanks to Eddie, I don't have to worry about the invitations. We picked 3. The first one is the charity events that both of us are invited to. The second one is Katherine Dale's engagement party. She invited Ethan and + 1. The third one is the fundraising for women victims (single mom, the victims of domestic violence, sexual harassment). This invitation is for me and doesn't have +1, so I'll come by myself. I chose this one by myself, and Eddie agreed. Even though I don't have as much money as Ethan, but I can use some money from The Hall Foundation. All I need is to call Helen and ask for her permission. Eddie is right, The Hall Foundation got a lot of money from the fundraising we held.

I just sit on my desk when Ethan calls me to go to his office. I come in with the invitations.

"Yes, Mr. Hall?"

"Where have you been, Ms. Parker?" He stands up and gives his hand to me.

I round the table and hold his hand. "You miss me?" I laugh and kiss his lips.

He holds my nape and kisses me thoroughly. "Very much, Sweetness," he whispers huskily.

I laugh despite my breathlessness. "I was in Eddie's office." I give him the invitations. He gestures to me to sit down on his chair while he's sitting on the edge of his desk and check the invitation. "Eddie helped me to choose the invitations for us".

He looks at Katherine's invitation. "You sure?" He shows me the invitation.

"You don't want me to go?"

"No. I want to introduce you to Kate, of course, but I don't know whether you are comfortable to meet her. I mean..."

"I want to meet her." I smile. Especially after Ethan showed me their texts. Katherine sent him the picture of her engagement ring, Ethan sent her our kissing picture. And she replied with, "your girlfriend is too good for you. I feel bad for her. She deserves better." The way she texted him, somehow I can picture myself sending the same things to Drew or Tony if I think the woman is good for them. That's why I want to meet her. Maybe not all the women in Ethan's past as toxic as Geneva.

"Okay." He kisses me and checks the invitation again. "This one?"

"That one is for me. Apparently, now I'm back to my famous life. Thanks to you," I say dryly, and Ethan laughs. "I want to give some donation for that," I continue.

He looks at it and nods. "You will meet the victims there?"

"Yes, that's why the invitation is for women only. So I will go by myself. But I need some funds. My plan is to ask Helen to write some check from The Hall Foundation. Will she approve it?"

"I can give you the check, use your name on it." Ethan shrugs.

"No," I say sharply.

He holds his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Just suggestion, Sweetness. Helen will say yes to you, anyway. She weak with you." He chuckles.

I giggle. "I want to ask Meredith to come with me. Hopefully she can help with the publication to raise awareness and hopefully some people will want to help as well."

"I doubt she can go with you. But ask her anyway. It's too close to Thanksgiving. Most likely she'll be on the island for the shooting."

"Shooting? Island?" I am confused.

Ethan nods. "I just received the concept of Christian collaboration with Meredith. They're going to shoot the MV on Christian's private island."

"Christian has an island?!?"

***

I'm back in my seat. There is a brown envelope. What is it? I glance around. No one is here. I open the envelope. It contains a lot of papers and some pictures. I take it out.

The people in the photo are Ethan and Geneva. Who sent me this? I peer closer at the picture. It's actually just some picture of the events they went together. It's not like something too intimate for blackmail. Is it blackmail?

Ethan is as handsome as always in every photo. Geneva looked sexy in every picture. Does she have any dress with more fabrics?

And the last picture is... Ethan and me. Huh? There is a small sticky note. 'Compare Ethan's expression.'

I do as it said. Okay, Ethan looked happier with me. It's obvious. His gesture is also more intimate with me, like he wants to stamp me as his.

I take out the papers.

The details of every event. Ethan and Geneva were invited to the events. 2 out of 4 events are Steven Hitchcock's film with Hall Production. The others 2 were just some general events.

There is also a paper about Steven Hitchcock's 60th Birthday with a small picture of Ethan. He was there with another woman. While Geneva was looking murderously at the woman. The woman is actually a Hollywood star, Olivia Boucher. The date is between Ethan and Geneva 3rd and 4th events.

And there is another paper about Geneva flying in Ethan's jet to Bora-bora. It's written that there was a party for one of Hitchcock's films with Hall Production. Geneva and some stars were late and couldn't catch the original flight, so the Hall Production had to send them using the Hall Private Jet because the press expected them to be there. And of course there are some pictures of Geneva and some movie stars in Hall's jet (it's different from the one I flew to Napa with Ethan). There are some pictures of the party as well, but I couldn't find Ethan in every picture. Where is he? And it's like the sender knows I will ask this question. The next paper is Ethan's picture in Chelsea Dobrick and Edward Smith's wedding. He came with a blonde woman. The sender circles the date. It's the same date as the party in Bora-bora.

Whoever the sender is... he/she knows what Geneva did to me. I collect the papers and photos, put it back in the envelope. A small paper falls down. Do not trust in people's words, trust the fact. Ask for the proof.

I bite my lower lip. I was a fool for believing in Geneva's words. This person is right. Next time whatever it is, I will ask for the proof. I glance at Ethan's office. Is this from him? I don't think so. Ethan would go straight to me and explain everything to me.

I stare at the anonymous brown envelope. Who sent this to me?