A Moment’s Spell

On graduation day, Liam Archer strode up to me, his expression arrogant.
“You’ve done well these past few years. You’ve earned the right to join the Archer Corporation.”
“But you’ll have to go through the standard hiring process. I’m not pulling any strings for you.”
I was stunned. “Who said I wanted to work for Archer Corp?”
With that, I pulled out my acceptance letter from a prestigious international university.
The smug look on Liam’s face shattered.
“You’re leaving the country? How are you supposed to chase after me from that far away?”
Wait, who said I was chasing him?

1
Liam Archer was convinced that I had an ulterior motive for getting close to his sister.
He believed my real target was him.
As God is my witness, when I first helped Lily Archer, I had no idea who she was.
That day, she was wearing a simple tracksuit and a backpack, with no jewelry in sight. She looked like any other college girl.
If there was anything that set her apart, it was how incredibly cute she was.
She had fair skin and big, round eyes, like an adorable, well-behaved kitten.
It was a Friday afternoon, and I was rushing out of the school gates right after my last class.
An hour earlier, during a lecture, I’d received a text from the mother of the student I was tutoring.
She informed me that I was fired and that I didn’t need to come back.
I didn’t understand why.
I had been tutoring her son for two months, and on his recent monthly exam, his math score had improved by over thirty points.
I could tell he was finally starting to get it.
His mom had been thrilled, even promising me a big bonus.
Why the sudden dismissal?
After class, I tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up.
I decided to go to their house and ask her in person.
As I was running, someone grabbed my arm.
I nearly stumbled, and I spun around, annoyed, only to be met with a pitiful-looking face.
The girl blinked her watery eyes, a look of guilt on her face.
A face like that, a look like that… it was enough to make all my anger evaporate.
Her voice was timid. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, but I’m really in a bind…”
Before I could even respond, tears started rolling down her cheeks like pearls.
“I lost my phone, and I can’t get in touch with our driver, and I can’t find my brother. I’ve been waiting here for so long.”
“But everyone else looks so intimidating, I was too scared to talk to them. You’re the only one who looks kind.”
“And you’re so pretty, you probably wouldn’t yell at me, right?”
Well, thank you for the glowing review of my appearance and temperament.
But she really did have an innocent look in her eyes.
She seemed like the shy, introverted type who barely spoke to anyone.
I softened my voice, afraid of scaring her.
“Do you need to use my phone?”
She nodded. “Yes!”
I unlocked my phone and handed it to her.
She pulled up the dial pad, then froze.
“Um, I don’t remember my brother’s number,” she said, on the verge of tears again.
“Why don’t you go back to your dorm? I have something urgent I need to do.”
If she didn’t know the number, there was nothing I could do.
As I turned to leave, she tugged on the corner of my shirt.
“I don’t live in the dorms, I go home every night. Could you… could you please take me home?” Her voice got quieter and quieter, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I’ll pay you! I’ll give you triple the cab fare! No, five times!”
Five times the fare?
I stopped in my tracks.

2
I could go to my student’s house tomorrow.
Or I could call his mom again later tonight.
But five times the cab fare? That was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
“Where do you live?” I asked.
“Lotus Gardens.”
My head snapped up.
Lotus Gardens?
The most exclusive, well-known gated community in the city?
As far as I knew, that was a long way from our campus.
I pulled up the map on my phone. The cab fare would be over eighty dollars.
Five times that would be over four hundred.
I could take the subway back and clear more than three hundred.
Deal.
Once we were in the cab, the girl shyly thanked me. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. Just make sure you keep your promise,” I reminded her.
But someone who lived in Lotus Gardens was bound to be rich. They wouldn’t stiff me.
The car fell silent.
“By the way, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Lily Archer.”
“I’m Chloe Reed.”
She really was a quiet girl. She only answered when I asked a question.
I decided to try and liven up the atmosphere.
With a little more probing, we learned about each other’s majors and years.
She was a freshman, a year below me, studying literature. I was in journalism.
Just as I was trying to think of another topic, I heard a strange noise.
I turned and saw that her face was bright red.
I stifled a laugh, trying to keep my voice gentle. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
“Hold on.” I dug into my bag and pulled out a small, sealed package. “This is a chestnut pastry, a specialty from my hometown. I made them myself. Want to try one?”
She took it, opened the package, and took a bite. Her eyes lit up.
“It’s delicious!”
She ate with such delicacy. Even though she was clearly starving, her movements were slow and graceful. You could tell she had been raised well.
After she finished, I asked, “Want another one?”
She nodded.
I handed her another.
I was about to enjoy watching her elegant eating again when my phone rang.
It was my student’s mother.
“Chloe Reed, I’m warning you, stay away from my son!” Her tone was harsh.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“And you have the nerve to ask me? I hired you to teach my son, not to seduce him! He’s only seventeen! Have you no shame?”
The baseless accusation made my blood boil.
I argued with her, defending myself.
It turned out she had read her son’s diary and discovered he had a crush on me.
In her eyes, her son was just a minor; he couldn’t possibly have any bad intentions. It had to be me, the adult, who was the predator.
At this point, it was clear I wasn’t getting that job back.
Thankfully, I had already been paid for the hours I’d worked.
Since there was no point in arguing, I just hung up.
When I looked up, Lily was staring at me curiously.
I coughed awkwardly and gave her a brief rundown of what had happened.
She was surprisingly empathetic. She looked even angrier than I was, her fists clenched.
“How could she say that about you? You’re such a nice person! It’s her son who’s the problem!”
“Instead of talking to her own son, she blames you!”
My anger dissipated. I teased her, “So you can say that many words at once.”
She blushed again.
The car finally reached our destination.
I gaped at the mansion in front of us.
The Archer family wasn’t just rich; they were loaded.

3
I had intended to just drop her off at the gate and leave.
But Lily insisted I come in for a cup of tea.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for her.
When she held my arm and pleaded in that soft, sweet way, I just couldn’t say no.
Lily was a gracious host, having the housekeeper bring out a table full of pastries for me.
She handed me five hundred dollars, as promised.
I happily accepted it.
When I was leaving, she insisted that her driver take me back.
At the door, she held my hand, reluctant to let me go.
I laughed and gently pinched her nose. “It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. Come find me at school tomorrow.”
“Okay!” she beamed. “Bye, Chloe!”
As I waved and stepped back, I bumped into something and stumbled.
I turned around to see a young, handsome man with a commanding presence standing behind me.
“Liam, you’re home!” Lily exclaimed, rushing over to link her arm with his.
On the way here, Lily had mentioned she had a brother who was six years older.
She spoke of him with immense pride, saying he was brilliant and had started taking over the family business while he was still in college.
Now, their parents lived abroad most of the time, and it was her brother who looked after her, acting as her guardian.
I stared at him, momentarily lost in thought.
Until his sharp gaze met mine.
I snapped back to reality, offered a polite greeting, and quickly scurried away.
What an intense aura!
That’s what years of navigating the cutthroat business world does to you.
Sitting in the car, my heart was still pounding from that one look.
We hadn’t even left the neighborhood when the driver received a call and immediately turned the car around.
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked nervously.
“Mr. Archer wants to see you.”
Mr. Archer?
Lily’s brother?
Why would he want to see me?
The driver pulled back up to the mansion and said curtly, “Follow me.”
I trailed behind him through several corridors until we entered a spacious living room.
In the lavishly decorated room, a set of sofas faced a massive floor-to-ceiling window.
In the center of the sofa sat a man.
He was dressed in a suit, a lit cigarette held between his fingers.
His face was calm, partially obscured by a cloud of smoke.
I waited, but he didn’t speak.
My patience was wearing thin. I cautiously broke the silence. “Mr. Archer, you wanted to see me?”
He lifted his eyelids and glanced at me.
“Tell me, how long have you been planning this?”
His voice was deep and magnetic, but I had no idea what he was talking about.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“Getting close to Lily, to get close to me.”

4
I was floored.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
He let out a soft, dismissive snort. “You’re smarter than you look. You actually managed to get into Lotus Gardens.”
What on earth was he talking about? My head was spinning. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“You think I have some ulterior motive for being with Lily? Let me explain. We met by chance today, and she was the one who asked for my help—”
“No need to explain,” he cut me off. “I called you back for one reason: to warn you to stay away from Lily.”
“She’s naive and kind. But I’m not so easy to fool.”
You really give me too much credit.
I wouldn’t dare try to fool a man like you, even if you gave me a hundred chances.
Do I look like I have a death wish?
Okay, I get it.
This is a world I don’t belong in.
I stopped trying to explain and simply nodded. “Okay, I understand.”
I made a mental note to stay as far away from this family as possible.
Not worth the trouble.
He gestured, and the driver reappeared.
“Take her back to her school. On the way, tell her what happens to people who get too clever for their own good.”
On the ride back, the driver stated, in a flat, emotionless tone, “Many women have tried to get close to Mr. Archer. None of them are in this city anymore.”
I thought for a moment, then asked, “Have people tried to use Lily to get to him before?”
“Mr. Archer despises that tactic more than anything. Those who use his sister suffer the most severe consequences.”
Perhaps under specific instructions from Mr. Archer to intimidate me, the driver became quite talkative.
It turned out that Lily, despite being a wealthy heiress, hadn’t had the fairytale life I’d imagined.
She had a congenital heart condition and had been in and out of hospitals since she was a child.
Her family, terrified of something happening to her at school, had homeschooled her since elementary school.
Having never attended school or made friends, she yearned for a normal social life.
In middle school, after much crying and pleading, her family finally relented and let her attend a regular school.
Having had little contact with the outside world, Lily was soft-hearted and desperate for friendship.
She would do almost anything anyone asked of her.
Her classmates quickly figured this out and, discovering her family’s wealth, began to take advantage of her financially.
It wasn’t until Liam received a notification for a twenty-thousand-dollar transaction that he realized something was wrong.
He hadn’t paid much attention to the smaller, few-thousand-dollar debits.
But recently, they had become more frequent and the amounts larger.
An investigation revealed that his sister had transferred over two hundred thousand dollars to her “friends” in a single semester.
And none of it was a loan; it was all given away freely.
One of her desk mates had managed to scam over eighty thousand dollars from her.
Liam realized that his sheltered sister was a little too naive.
But he couldn’t bring himself to scold her.
It was those other kids who were greedy and cruel.
What angered him most wasn't the money, but the way they had deceived and mocked his sister.
He secretly sent people to collect the money. Those who couldn’t pay it back were forced to sell their houses or borrow from relatives.
After that, those students never spoke to Lily again. In fact, they would tremble in fear whenever they saw her.
But Lily never knew why.

5
When Lily started high school, Liam attended a parent-teacher conference for her.
From that day on, she was constantly surrounded by women.
Not just girls from her school, but their older cousins, friends, and even adult women from outside the school.
All of them beautiful.
They all tried to get close to Lily, to be her friend.
But their real target was always her brother, Liam.
One girl convinced Lily to help her get Liam’s number, then proceeded to harass him with nude photos.
Another used Lily’s phone to call him, pretending Lily was in trouble. When Liam rushed over, he was met by a woman posing seductively.
Others coaxed information about his whereabouts from Lily and then “accidentally” ran into him.
For Lily’s birthday, one girl persuaded her to throw a party at their mansion.
A crowd of scheming women filled the house. When Liam opened his bedroom door, he found a woman lying in his bed.
He dealt with all of them harshly.
Lily knew none of this.
Liam didn’t want to tarnish his sister’s world with such ugliness.
He figured she was just naive, and he could teach her better over time.
When Lily started university, he gave her strict instructions not to reveal anything about their family.
He didn't let her live in the dorms, afraid of opportunistic people getting close to her.
He had a driver pick her up from school every evening.
To avoid drawing attention, he even bought a modest Volkswagen specifically for this purpose.
Lily was already introverted and had some social anxiety.
Not living on campus and not joining any clubs meant she had almost no interaction with her classmates.
And so, she had no friends.
But on the bright side, no one with ulterior motives had tried to get close to her either.
Well, except for me.
But that was just Liam’s baseless accusation.
As if I didn’t know my own intentions.
Before that day, I had never even heard of Lily Archer.
If I had known about her prominent family, I, being someone who hates trouble, would have steered clear.
I figured that with Liam’s cautious nature, I would never see Lily again.
And sure enough, the next day, Lily didn’t come to find me.
Good. That was exactly what I wanted.
Although, why did her face keep popping into my head?
Was it just because she was my type?
I thought about her during class, and again at lunch.
Ugh, this was annoying.
After my last class, I was scrolling through part-time job listings as I walked out.
Suddenly, an arm shot out, blocking my path.
“Ms. Reed, Mr. Archer would like to see you.”
I jumped, startled. “Who’s Mr. Archer?”
“Mr. Liam Archer, CEO of the Archer Corporation,” the bodyguard-like man explained.
“Why does he want to see me?”
“You’ll find out when you get there. Don’t worry, it’s on campus. You won’t be in any danger.”
I followed him around a corner to a sleek, understated luxury car parked by the curb.
The back door was open, and there sat Mr. Liam Archer, dressed in a suit.
When he saw me, he looked up, a cold smirk on his lips.
“Chloe Reed, I really underestimated you.”

6
“Mr. Archer, what is the meaning of this?” I disliked his tone and the way he was looking at me. “I will do as you asked yesterday. You don’t have to worry, I won’t go near your sister.”
“Hah.” He stared straight ahead, not even bothering to glance at me. “No wonder you agreed so readily. You knew she wouldn’t give up, didn’t you?”
“Give up?” I mulled over his words. “I don’t understand.”
“Stop pretending. This was all part of your plan, wasn’t it?”
My own temper flared. “Can you just say what you mean? Do all you powerful people have to talk in riddles?”
He finally shot me a look.
It was a fleeting glance, but I could sense a storm brewing in his eyes.
He was angry.
The bodyguard, who was always by his side, was much more attuned to his boss’s moods.
He was clearly skilled at reading people, and seeing Liam’s anger, he quickly stepped in to explain.
“Ms. Reed, our young miss didn’t go to school today. She’s been crying at home all day and has refused to eat anything. She said that if Mr. Archer forbids her from seeing you, she’ll go on a hunger strike and starve herself to death.”
“Mr. Archer told her she’s too naive and can’t just make friends with anyone, that she’ll get tricked.”
“So, she declared that she doesn’t need friends. She needs a calculus tutor, and since you’re good at math, you can tutor her.”
I was flabbergasted.
We had only met once. How could she have developed such a deep attachment to me?
Was it really worth all this drama?
“Quite the actress,” Liam sneered. “This is exactly what you wanted, isn’t it?”
This was so unfair!
Do these powerful people, who live in a world of constant scheming, think that all of us regular folks are the same?
We’re actually quite simple.
We might be a little greedy for small gains, but we’re also cowards.
If I found a hundred-dollar bill on the street, I’d be thrilled.
But if I found a million, I’d be terrified. I’d probably think I was being targeted by human traffickers.
How could I possibly dare to plot against someone like Liam Archer?
But clearly, we thought on different wavelengths.
He believed that people would do anything for money.
And in his eyes, there were also the hopelessly naive, the ones who were too stupid to know their place and dared to provoke him.
To be fair, I couldn’t entirely blame him for being suspicious.
Countless people had tried all sorts of schemes to get close to him.
In his eyes, I was just one of them.
Because he asked, “Lily has never revealed her identity at school. How did you find out?”
“I didn’t find out—”
“Was it because of how she was dressed?” he interrupted, not waiting for my answer. “None of her clothes are from high-end brands, but they are all custom-made. Are you an expert in that area?”
“I don’t know anything about luxury brands, let alone custom-made clothes,” I said honestly.
“It doesn’t matter if you admit it or not,” he said. “Since you’ve succeeded, you can keep up the act.”
“Huh?” I was completely lost. “Act like what?”
“Lily has never had a real friend in her life. She’s desperate for one. Since she’s convinced you’re a good person, then you will play that part until the very end.”
“From now on, you are her best friend.”
This is insane.
Is this how all rich people think?
You can just hire a friend?
I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away.
“Fifty thousand a month,” his voice came from behind me. “To stay by her side.”
My feet were glued to the ground.

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