"About what to wear.

The annual meeting is a grand event. The CEO and the general manager will both attend. Every female employee will put on their best dress to be stunning. It’s a golden opportunity to show off one's figure," Thelma Zhang, the woman from the sales department, said.

Alyssa nodded at that. But in her head she was thinking, I just want to wear sweats. Can I?

"And it has been fun in the past few years. The style and the way it goes varies every year. There will be prize drawings and a fancy dress ball. Last year, the grand prize was a BMW. Our CEO was so generous.

He also sang. He was so amazing,"

Thelma went on with a charmed look on her face. In the company, she was known for being gossipy. She knew the complicated connections among the employees very well.

It was Alyssa's first annual meeting in the company, but she wasn't too excited about it. She was there to work, not to find herself a moneybags. Prize drawings sounded interesting, though. Even the mere thought of owning a BMW felt good.

Before getting off work, Alyssa called Felicity to borrow a dress. She didn’t want to go shopping. As a second-rate celebrity, Felicity had plenty of dresses.

After work, Alyssa went to the hospital where her father worked, and drove off in his car, waving him goodbye.

She had even given him 50 bucks and asked him to take a cab home.

"What do you think of this dress?"

Felicity asked as they went through her wardrobe.

"Too garish."

It was a red strapless dress with a layered skirt. Alyssa thought it was too loud.

"How about this one?"

"Too simple, not my style."

It was a purely white sundress, which was indeed not Alyssa’s style.

"This one?"

"Too slutty."

"And this one?"

"Too ugly."

"And this one?"

"Too dark and old-fashioned."

Felicity slammed the door of the wardrobe shut. "Then go to a mall. There are a lot more choices and you can choose whatever you want.

You criticized my clothes ruthlessly. Get out!"

Sensing that Felicity was angry, Alyssa coaxed, "No.

I mean that they don’t look good on me. They are fabulous on you. Unlike me, you can wear all styles of clothes, I swear."

To make it look more serious, she put up three fingers.

Felicity wasn’t fooled. She slumped onto the edge of her bed, cross-legged. With her hand propped against her chin, she asked, "Since when did you become so picky?

You used to pick any clothes as long as they were not too slutty."

Alyssa reopened Felicity's wardrobe to pick a dress. "This is the first time I attend the annual meeting. I can’t skip it. But I don’t want to be too conspicuous either."

"Don't be silly. This is a perfect occasion for you to get close to your dream man. You should stand in front of him, ravishing. One sight of you and he can’t take his eyes off you anymore. He falls madly in love with you and starts to pursue you.

You’re moved by him and agrees to be his girlfriend.

The end."

Alyssa tossed a dress on her head and scolded, "You’ve watched too many TV series. The reality is not a fairytale. There are not so many happy endings."

Felicity removed the dress from her head. Alyssa grabbed it and said, "I’ll wear this one. I’m new. There aren't many people who know me, anyway."

It was a dress Felicity wore in daily life, knee-length and sleeveless.

"This is the birthday gift you gave me last year," Felicity said.

"No wonder I have a good feeling about it.

I have good eye. Haha,"

Alyssa teased. Her eye was caught by a clock on a bedside table. It said 423. "It will be over soon," she said.

Felicity glanced at the clock and responded, "Hmm."

In 423 days, she wouldn't have to be Reece Xi’s mistress anymore. She would be free from his control and the tormenting sense of guilt.

Alyssa and Felicity knew each other from junior high. Back then, Alyssa behaved like a juvenile delinquent, smoking, fighting, drinking. She would do everything that was forbidden in school.

Felicity was not as beautiful as she was now. She was plump, and she dressed like a rustic. Her timidity, weakness and low self-respect made her an easy target of the campus bullies.

Alyssa helped her out a lot. She also taught her how to be confident and better.

Felicity began to change bit by bit. When she was a sophomore in high school, her parents died in a car accident. She became an orphan. Alyssa had begged her parents to take her in.

However, afterwards, Felicity dropped out from school and entered the show business.

She signed with Horizon Entertainment Company, the CEO of which was Reece. Then one day, she told Alyssa calmly that she had become Reece's mistress.

They had signed a five-year contract. Reece would make Felicity a star, and she would do what a mistress should do.

She had never talked so calmly before. Alyssa’s heart ached for her. She didn’t know exactly what had happened to her, but Felicity must have felt devastated when she had made such a decision.

Luckily, she was not alone. Alyssa and her parents were with her. She had a family.