500 million
Yvonne sighed, placing her glass on the table. She gazed straight at Mia, asking, “how much do you want?”
Mia’s head snapped up in bewilderment. She was lost, struggling to grasp the woman’s words.
“Don’t play dumb,” Yvonne scoffed. “You might fool Shawn and Damien by feigning gullibility, but not me. Cut the act.”
With each word, Mia’s heart pounded.
“Feigni…” Her small voice trailed off. “I don’t quite un…”
Yvonne couldn’t believe the girl’s adept pretense. The urge to strike her across the face overwhelmed her, but she suppressed it.
“How much to keep away from Shawn?” She inquired calmly.
Mia blinked in disbelief, “Excuse me?”
“50 million?” Yvonne cut in sharply.
“What?!”
“150 million?”
Mia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Noticing the girl’s lack of response, Yvonne interpreted it as dissatisfaction with the offered amount. She scoffed.
“Fine. I’ll wire you a check of 500 million. You won’t find a better offer anywhere. Just vanish from sight,” she added, “it won’t be challenging, as a passport for leaving the country will be arranged. Choose any destination you prefer-far away from here.”
Throughout, Mia remained silent, a visage of horror etched on her face. Was she being perceived as a gold digger? Money thrown her way to part from Shawn…
“I believe I’m not the right person to discuss this with-”
“You have three days to decide,” Yvonne cut her off once again. “Here’s my business card. Reach out when you’ve made up your mind.” She slid the card across the table to Mia.
Without hesitation, she rose gracefully and left the cafe, exuding elegance.
Mia stayed seated, chewing on her lower lip, her gaze fixed on the business card.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
Swiftly, she stood, snatched the card, and hurried outside.
“Excuse me,” she called, rushing up to meet Yvonne.
As she reached the lady, Mia took a deep breath and began, “As I mentioned earlier, I’m not the right person for this conversation. Reach out to Shawn directly.” She paused briefly, “Besides, I’m not with Shawn for money-I’m no fortune hunter or bloodsucker. He’s not someone anyone can easily dupe, so, yeah, contact him directly.”
She placed the card in Yvonne’s hand. “Also, I’d appreciate it if you don’t approach me anymore. Thank you.” With that, she nodded and briskly walked away.
Yvonne was left stunned as she watched the girl’s retreating figure.
“How could she… I mean, who does she think she is?” She was left utterly speechless.
The girl’s arrogance just now infuriated her. Was she the one she had just spoken to so condescendingly, asking her to contact Shawn directly? Preposterous!
“You’ll pay dearly for this.”
The girl was expected to have gladly accepted the offer instead of playing hard to get. For that, Yvonne vowed to crush her, persisting until Mia was six feet under.
Good riddance!
As Mia stormed off, her hands clenched into fists, battling back the tears threatening to escape her eyes.
Yvonne’s words echoed in her mind as she rode the elevator to her office floor. “What does she take me for?”
Upon stepping in, she went directly to her chair and sat down, staring blankly into space.
Observing Mia’s downcast expression, a smug smile briefly crossed Martha’s face but vanished just as quickly. The girl must still be upset about the morning incident, Martha thought.
Rising to her feet, she walked over to Mia’s cubicle, hunched, and hugged her from behind. “Mia, are you still upset about this morning? Please, pay no attention to their words. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault,” she said, biting her lip and forcing tears to well up in her eyes.
“Oh, no. I’m not angry, sincerely,” Mia said, offering a smile.
“Are you sure?”
“Really. It’s not your fault.”
“Okay, then,” Martha muttered, straightening her back.
Considering the photos she had sent to P. A. Lucas the previous night, she eyed Mia skeptically.
Swallowing, she asked, “Last night, did you get home safely?”
“Huh-yeah, I did. You?” Mia responded.
“Oh, yeah too,” Martha chuckled.
Eyeing Mia again, she couldn’t help but ask, “And there was no issue…? When you got home…”
“Hmmm, not at all,” Mia added. “Why? Is there a problem?”
“Oh, no. Not at all. See you later, then.” Grinning, Martha walked away.
Her eyes narrowed as she settled back into her office chair. The way the girl spoke suggested there was no issue last night…
Did Lucas not see the images? Or did he see them and intentionally not show them to CEO Shawn? Martha felt confused.
If the latter was true, then she needed to find a way to get CEO Shawn’s contact directly. Contemplating this, Martha turned and glanced in Mia’s direction.
Her eyes trailed over to the girl’s phone, currently lying on her desk.
The phone number would undoubtedly be in there. Martha needed to find a way to get Mia’s phone into her hands-ASAP.
And that wasn’t a problem for her. At all.
Swiftly, she approached Mia’s desk again and hastily picked up the phone. “Mia, lend me your phone. Mine’s out of service, and I need to call someone. Thank you.” She hurried off before the girl could respond.
After exiting the office, Martha went straight to the restroom and locked herself in one of the cubicles.
She smoothly unlocked Mia’s phone-she knew the girl’s passcode-and began scrolling through the contact list.
However, as much as she searched, she couldn’t seem to find the man’s number. ‘Does she not have it?’
Nah. That was impossible. Martha shook her head.
The phone number was definitely in the phone.
Considering how Mia had been secretive about her union… She must have saved CEO Shawn’s contact with another name. Something like a nickname…
For the umpteenth time, Martha began scrolling through the list again. This time, she was more patient, focusing intently on each name.
Just then, one of them caught her attention.
“Arrogant…” Pushing away her thoughts, she swiftly clicked on the contact info, entered the phone number into her phone, and saved it.
That had to be it.
Grinning triumphantly, she exited the restroom and returned to the office. ‘It’s over for you, my dear friend.’