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004: Intruders in the Night

Harry then paused for a moment, locking his eyes with Sophia's, before he burst into laughter, breaking the tension.

"Geez, that escalated quickly. I was only messing with you," he said with a chuckle.

Sophia, still stunned, was unsure how to react. She remained silent.

Harry continued with a friendly smile, "Yes, Miss Sophia, I did summon you because of what happened at the party, but only because I couldn't get my mind off you ever since. I've been trying to find you, even going so far as to collect data on all the company's employees to locate you, and all I had to work with was your name."

Sophia's anxiety began to ease, and she asked, "But, sir, why?"

Harry explained, "Well, as I said, I couldn't get you out of my mind."

He continued, "Locating you in this massive workplace wasn't easy. It would've been simpler if I knew you were one of our reporters.

His face showing how difficult the search had been.

He then extended his hand across the table, offering a handshake. "Allow me to reintroduce myself; I'm Harry."

However, Sophia hesitated to shake his hand, keeping her hands in her lap.

Harry continued, his expression sincere, "I understand that I may have gone too far with my teasing. I'm sorry if I overstepped. So, are we cool?"

Sophia's fear gradually subsided, and she asked, "So, I'm not in any trouble?"

Harry reassured her, "No, you're not."

Sophia playfully prodded, "So, Mr. Harry, why did you go through all this trouble to find me? It can't be just for a casual chat."

Harry quipped back, "Well, you've stolen my heart ever since our encounter. I called you here to get it back."

Sophia retorted, "It's going to cost you much more than that to get it back."

Harry, with a sly grin, said, "Well, I'm quite persistent. I won't stop until I get what I want, and trust me, I always get what I want."

Sophia couldn't help but get lost in her thoughts, wondering how those lips of his would taste.

Interrupting her daydream, Harry said, "I'd like us to be friends. Days can be quite long in the office when I don't have someone to chat with."

Sophia asked, "Don't tell me you don't have friends?"

Harry explained, "Well, I do, but most of them are in Europe."

Sophia then teased, "If you want me as a friend, you'll have to pay me, and I'm not cheap."

Harry responded confidently, "That's not a problem."

Amidst this, Harry's personal assistant walked in and said, "Sir, you have an appointment with your ufologists. Should I cancel it?"

Harry glanced at his assistant and back at Sophia. "Oh, it's time," he said. Looking at her with a glint in his eye, he asked, "Shall we continue our discussion later? Perhaps over a date?"

Sophia's heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a composed expression. "Sure," she replied.

With that, she left the CEO's office and returned to her desk, her thoughts racing.

Several hours later, Sophia back in her apartment in Queens, lying in bed and surfing the internet. feeling exhausted and ready to sleep. Suddenly, she received a text from Selena.

Selena: "Hey, girl, I heard the CEO called you into his office today. Hope it's nothing?"

Sophia replied: "Did Helen tell you that?"

Selena: "Yes, she did. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Sophia explained: "No, just asking. I figured it could only have been her; she was at her desk right next to me when I got the call from the CEO's office."

Selena inquired further: "Well?"

Sophia downplayed the situation: "It's nothing."

Selena, noticing something amiss, probed: "That doesn't look like 'nothing'."

Sophia decided to have some fun: "It seems the acting CEO wants a piece of this cake."

Selena in disbelief: "Girl, come on."

Sophia continued with the joke: "I'm serious."

Selena finding it hard to believe: "Really?"

Sophia maintained her playful tone: "Yessssss, girl."

Selena still finding it hard to believe: "Brooooo, really? Nah, that can't be true. Stop it, you play too much."

Sophia playfully insisted: "Are you calling me a liar? Why would I lie about such a thing?"

Selena was taken aback: "OMG."

Sophia finally revealed the joke: "Hahaha, gotcha!"

Selena playfully retorted: "Joking with me, huh? Screw you."

Then suddenly, Sophia heard a strange noise coming from her apartment's living room. It sounded like something breaking, similar to the noise of shattered glass. Scared, she quickly got up from her bed and decided to investigate the source of the noise.

As she tiptoed out of her room, trying to make as little noise as possible, she noticed a masked stranger in her living room. In a hushed manner, she quickly retreated to her room, grabbing her phone to dial 911. However, before she could make the call, she received a heavy blow to the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.

As she faded into unconsciousness, she overheard the intruders' conversation.

First voice: "Shit, did you have to hit her that hard?"

Second voice: "Whoa, damn, that was hard."

Minutes later, Sophia regained consciousness. She found herself tied to a chair with a blindfold over her eyes. She screamed for help, "Help!!!!!!"

One of the quickly intruders responded by delivering a stinging slap to her face, causing her to lose consciousness once again.

One intruder scolded the other, "Could you please keep your hands to yourself?"

The other replied, "What was I supposed to do? She was screaming; I had to do something."

The first intruder insisted, "When she wakes up again, let me handle the talking."

The other intruder agreed, "Whatever you say, boss."

After several minutes, Sophia regained consciousness. A voice close to her whispered, "Wakey, wakey."

Hearing this, Sophia was filled with terror. She wept and pleaded for her life, "Please, I don't have any money with me."

One of the intruders let out a sinister laugh, "Hahahaha."

Before continuing, he reassured her, "We're not here for your money."

Terrified, Sophia implored, "Please don't kill me. I'll do whatever you want."

A heavy silence filled the room as Sophia's fear grew. She begged again while crying, "Hu...hu...please...I...beg...you."

One of the intruders ordered her to be quiet, saying, "Shut up, let me think."

Sophia remained in a state of fear, believing that this might be the end for her. She whispered a few prayers under her breath.

Amidst the tense atmosphere, one of the intruders spoke to her.

"We're here to deliver some information."

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