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CHAPTER 69 A Familiar Perfume
publish date:
2026-07-19 09:24:00
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One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 70 Queen’s Invitation
*POV Derby* White cardstock sat perfectly centered on the dark wood of my desk, its gold-embossed edges catching the glare of the fluorescent lights. The delivery guy hadn’t even asked for a signature. He had simply dropped it off with a formal nod, as if delivering a royal decree to a low-tier commoner. I didn't pick it up immediately. I just stared at the heavy, elegant script looping across the front: Ms. Derby Odellia. Right below my name, the silver crest of the Hayden family family foundation gleamed with effortless authority. Tamara hadn’t wasted a single second after catching me in the hallway the previous evening. The trap wasn't hidden behind corporate red tape anymore; it was neatly wrapped in the guise of a high-society charity gala. "Is that... an invitation to the Hayden Autumn Benefit?" A sharp, slightly envious voice pulled me from my thoughts. Megan, one of the junior analysts from logistics, was leaning over the partition, her eyes fixed on the gold lettering. "
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 69 A Familiar Perfume
*POV Derby* Sheets of gray drizzle bled endlessly against my bedroom window, a bleak continuation of yesterday's relentless storm. I stood motionless in front of the full-length mirror, my fingers smoothing down the dark charcoal wool jacket resting on my shoulders. It was far too large for my frame, the sleeves completely swallowing my wrists until I cuffed them back twice. My own coat was still a damp, shapeless heap draped over the bathroom tub, leaving me little choice but to wear his. The sharp scent hit me the moment I adjusted the lapels. Heavy, expensive notes of cedarwood and crushed black pepper bloomed into the small room. My eyes closed instinctively against the sudden wave of sensory data. The fabric felt weighted, pressing against my collarbones like a physical hand, and for a terrifying second, my mind didn't see the draft outlines or corporate charts. It went straight back to the dark, quiet heat of that first night. I remembered the sudden, uncalculated saf
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 68 — The Apartment Door
*POV Derby* By eleven in the evening, the rain had turned the concrete streets into rushing, black rivers, blurring the headlights of passing taxis into smeared streaks of yellow. I dragged my feet through the lobby of my apartment building, my waterlogged heels squelching against the linoleum. My umbrella had collapsed three blocks back, leaving my hair plastered to my skull and my cheap wool coat thoroughly soaked through.ä Then came the final insult of the day A bright yellow, handwritten sign taped over the elevator doors: OUT OF ORDER. My chest tightened. Five floors. Five floors of steep, concrete stairs after three sleepless nights and a corporate execution delivered over the phone by Victor Vasquez. My body practically begged me to just sit down right there on the lobby floor and let the dampness take me. Instead, my fingers gripped the iron banister. Action first, thought later. I hauled my dead weight up the first flight, the muscles in my thighs burning instantl
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 67 — The Price of Rumors
*POV Derby* Whispered on conversations always died down the moment my heels clicked against the corridor floor. It was a cowardly kind of silence, the type that left the air thick with lingering glances and sharp, knowing smirks. For the past forty-eight hours, the Vasquez Group headquarters had felt less like a multinational corporation and more like a high-society courtroom where I had already been tried and convicted in absentia. I kept my chin up as I walked past the glass-walled lounge, my fingers tightening around the leather strap of my briefcase until the seams dug into my palm. I could handle the internal politics. I could even handle Senior Director Vance’s cold shoulder. But this morning, the poison had finally breached the walls of the corporate office. During the presentation with the regional investors from Apex Holdings, Mr. Sterling, their lead representative, hadn't asked a single question about the supply chain optimization model I had spent three sleepless n
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 66 — Under His Protection
*POV Derby* The air conditioning in the main boardroom was always set to a freezing threshold, but today, it felt like an arctic chamber. A thick manila folder slid across the polished mahogany table, coming to a dead stop right in front of Derby. The sheer size of the printout was enough to make everyone’s posture stiffen. Vasquez Group had just secured the regional expansion project. It was huge. The kind of career-making portfolio that directors killed for, with a budget that had too many zeros to count. Derby’s fingers tightened around the edge of her tablet. A sudden stitch formed in her ribs. Don't blink, she told herself. Don't look weak. "A project of this scale requires seasoned hands," a voice boomed from the far end of the table. Senior Director Vance leaned forward, his tailored suit straining against his heavy frame. He didn't look at the project brief. His eyes were locked entirely on Derby, sharp and dripping with condescension. "We cannot afford liabilities. I se
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 65 — Not Mine
*POV Derby* City lights bled through the towering glass walls of the executive office, casting long, fractured shadows across Jordan’s desk. He didn't look up when the heavy oak door clicked open, though he knew exactly who had walked in. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Vasquez?" Noah stood near the entrance, his posture relaxed but his professional guard fully intact. He didn't carry his usual playful grin from the lower floors. Up here, everyone played by Jordan’s rules. Jordan closed the folder in front of him, his movements slow, almost mechanical. "The secondary integration metrics for the European corridor. Your team's latest submittal was missing the localized tax adjustments." Noah walked over, pulling a tablet from under his arm. "I reviewed those an hour ago. The adjusted data has already been uploaded to the shared network." He paused, tapping the screen to bring up the file path. "Derby caught the discrepancy before we finalized the batch. She stayed late to manually overri
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 2 — Morning After.
-POV Derby I woke up first. My heart was already hammering before my eyes could adjust to the ceiling that wasn’t mine. The room still smelled like him — clean soap, warm skin, something that still clung to me from last night, the same scent that had wrapped around me last night when he paused r
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 1 — Okay.
-POV Derby The message came at 9:47 PM and killed two years in ten seconds. I think you deserve to know. Three cold sentences from a girl I’d never met. Rian had been fucking her for eight months. Eight months of him coming home late, smiling at his phone, telling me “it’s just work” while I k
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 4 — Impulse
-POV Derby I spent most of Thursday morning pretending my life hadn’t become significantly more complicated over the course of a single night. By the time I slipped into a seat near the back of the conference room, my presentation was already open on my laptop. The slides waited patiently on the s
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 3 — Just a Name.
-POV Derby By Monday I’d almost convinced myself it was over. Not in some dramatic way. Just… closed. Like shutting a tab you left open too long and deciding not to open it again. I made coffee that tasted like nothing. Went to work. Answered emails acting like the weekend had never happened,
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