When Lina tasted the first sip of the alcohol, she knew the night wasn't going to last long. Genuinely intrigued by Mr. Leur's words, they visited a newly opened club in the city that was crawling with new money and questionable members. Usually, Lina drank alone at her usual place, but Estella was intrigued by the opening.

  "Is the liquor that bad?"

  Lina turned at the sound of a voice, but smiled to herself when she saw what was happening. Besides her, Estella wore a sour expression after tasting the cocktail she ordered for herself. Realizing the man was flirting with Estella who was seldom seen with a man, Lina returned to her drink.

  "A bit," Estella responded.

  Lina kept a watchful eye over Estella's glass when the man conversed with her. She was worried something could slip into it within the blink of an eye.

  Lord knows the drugs in here could knock someone out. It was precisely why Lina was beginning to grow tired of the bright spotlights, booming music that made her headache, and the scent of sweat stinging her nostrils.

  At the first sight of Director Lina, the manager of the club personally came out and invited them upstairs, to an extremely private lounge. There was a glass railing that overlooked the dance floor below, but it didn't soften the eye-caching atmosphere. Everything was too bright in here, from the gaudy gold lining the walls to the crystal chandeliers looming over them.

  "Why don't I recommend you a drink then? On the house," the man said.

  "No thanks. Anything from this place is going to ruin my insides before I even start downing shots," Estella shot down. That usually worked.

  "We can't have mere liquor hurting your insides before I can," he smoothly told her.

  Lina nearly choked on her saliva. Who could be this shameless? She glanced and saw a man she had never met before. Originally, Lina didn't know if she was in the right mind to come here. Usually, drinks meant networking, and here, none met her interest.

  Estella, on the other hand, blanched at the man's words. She glanced at her Boss, almost embarrassed.

  Taking that as a cue to leave, Lina stood up and motioned for her security guards to quietly watch over Estella—in case anything ever goes wrong. Picking up her glass of alcohol, Lina made her way around the circular railing, boredly peering over the dance floor.

  Sweaty bodies were everywhere, mingling and cheering amongst the crowd. Bright lights shone from the dance floor below. Loud nightclubs were never Lina's forte.

  "Perhaps I should head home," Lina muttered, raising her head to see Estella was suddenly gone. Lina blinked in disbelief.

  Turning around, Lina tried to search for Estella. Then, Lina saw Estella and the man descending down the stairs. She narrowed her eyes, watching her security guards quickly follow the two of them. Well, at least one of them was going to get some action.

  Throughout the years being with Estella had softened their friendship. Lina learned those things about her secretary. For one, as modest as Estella was on the outside, she was a wild drinker on the inside, downing vodka like it was water.

  Lina didn't mind Estella's departure. It was technically both of their off-times and who was Lina to stop the two from having fun? In fact, Lina was relieved. She wanted to head home, take a nice long bath, and forget the horrendous incident from today.

  "Estella is in good hands," Lian realized.

  Lina had already sent out half of her security team to secretly tail Estella and the stranger, in case anything got out of hand.

  Lina took out her phone and called one of the guards tailing the couple. He picked up on the first ring. But before she could say something, a group of people roughly bumped past her. Her drink sloshed and she turned in time to see them leaving.

  "Ma'am?"

  Lina slightly scowled, watching her alcohol bubble slightly from their rough actions. They were long gone before she could even make a retort about their crash behavior. Taking a sip of her alcohol, she returned her attention back to her phone.

  "Make sure Estella gets home safe and sound if she's too drunk to make a wise decision tonight," Lina instructed.

  "As you wish, Ma'am."

  Lina nodded her head in relief. But then, she paused. Estella and the man were nowhere to be seen.

  "Ma'am, we've lost sight of them," the leader of the group explained, his voice slightly rising in disbelief.

  "Estella is too valuable to be harmed. I'm sending more down," Lina decided, gesturing for her guards to hurry and go down.

  "All of you," Lina demanded, growing worried with each passing second that Estella wasn't spotted. So, maybe the two of them went somewhere private, but that was unlike Estella who loved to play hard to get.

  Estella had standards. She'd seldomly let them anywhere near her before the third or fourth date.

  "We're still locating her," the leader insisted.

  "Have every comb the club from the ground up, not a single spot untouched," Lina warned.

  "Yes, Ma'am."

  She hung up the phone and decided to call it a night. Taking a final gulp of the alcohol, she began to make her way to the staircase.

  With each step, her eyes grew hazy, her body began to sway, and she nearly stumbled over her heels.

  Lina let out a small curse. Those bastards. She should've known the minute her alcohol swooshed and tiny bubbles rose from the bottom up. Dropping her glass on the ground, she hoped it'd catch the manager's attention. Reaching into her pockets, she glanced around and realized how alone she was.

  Lina had just sent all her security downstairs. They had rushed at her first command. Immediately, she regretted her foolish actions, grabbing her phone and attempting to call. But before she could reach into her purse, a cold hand grabbed her wrist.

  "Just when the night couldn't get any worse," Lina grumbled under her breath, but it came out more like a slur. Her tongue felt numb and she was growing exhausted.

  "Seems you need a hand," a voice reassured her, his arms immediately coming around her body. "I'll take you downstairs, Miss."

  Lina squinted at how polite the person was. Glancing over his formal attire, she realized he must've been an employee. Her plan worked. To her relief, she nodded.

  "But first, where is your employee badge?" Lina asked.

  "Here you go, Miss," the man told her, revealing a name card and identification.

  Lina could barely move her limbs. Whatever drug that group put into her drink, it was enough to knock out a grown elephant. She tried to move her arm and grab the identification, but the next thing she knew, her eyes were rolling back. She could seldomly move her body.

  Lina could only hope the group wasn't lingering somewhere. In the back of her mind, she was cursing herself for being so foolish.

  How could she not have known better?

  "Take… me… downstairs…" Lina managed to force out, her legs suddenly giving out, but the man caught her in time.

  The last thing Lina remembered was his mouth that curled into a smile.

  "Do not worry, Miss, we'll be downstairs soon."