CEO’s Seduction Trap

Leila was stunned.

Mason smirked, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about a real marriage, but a fake one. Just think of it as doing me a favor. After the storm blows over, we can secretly divorce.”

Leila looked at him, unable to discern whether he was serious or not.

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before saying, “Sorry, I don’t think I can help you with that favor. As you know, I have a boyfriend.”

As their eyes met, Leila could clearly see the disappointment pass over Mason’s eyes. “Hmm.”

She couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but it was uncomfortable.

…

Mason stepped out of the elevator, he pulled out his phone and dialed Caleb’s number.

Caleb answered, “Mason, are you insane? Do you know what time it is?”

Mason asked, “Did you tell Shirley?”

“Do I have to do it tonight?”

“She’s going to Premier Construction tomorrow. When else are you going to tell her?”

Caleb glanced at the time on his phone, “2 in the morning, are you sure?”

“Don’t waste time.”

Caleb was about to hang up and call Shirley when he paused and asked, “Tonight… Did you ?”

Mason knew what he was asking, replied coldly, “No.”

“Don’t tell me you just chatted.”

“Making friends, just chatting.”

Caleb burst into laughter, “Making friends? Just chatting?”

After a while, Caleb finished laughing, sat up in bed, leaned against the headboard, and took a sip of water. “Mason, I won’t ask if you like Leila or not. Let me rephrase my question out of curiosity. If you had a woman you really liked, would you be with her?”

Mason didn’t hesitate to answer, “No.”

Curious, Caleb asked, “Why not?”

Mason replied in a deep voice, “To love someone is to shield them from storms, not to bring storms upon them.”

Though neither mentioned Leila explicitly, every word was about her.

Caleb blurted out, “What storms can you bring to Leila? If she were with you, she…”

Caleb suddenly realized something, sucked in a breath, and said, “Are you worried about The Ramirez Family?”

He wanted to ask more, but Mason hung up the phone..

Caleb cursed under his breath, then after a moment of distraction, he looked down and dialed Shirley’s number…

It took Caleb seven attempts to finally get through to her.

When Shirley answered, her voice sounded groggy, “Hello, who’s this?”

“It’s me.”

“Who?”

Caleb gritted his teeth, “Me.”

“Who are you?”

Caleb, frustrated, said, “It’s Caleb. The one whose car you splashed with paint, and the one you turned into a mummy and hospitalized!!”

At Caleb’s words, Shirley suddenly woke up, any remnants of sleepiness gone.

After about seven or eight seconds, Shirley’s voice turned to exceptionally polite, “Mr. Mitchell, may I ask what’s the matter for you to call me so late?”

“Do you know about Premier Construction?”

“Yes.”

“I had dinner with the CEO of Premier Construction tonight.”

“Is there something related to me?”

“I casually asked about their stalled project. He hinted at the possibility of selling it off, but he wants a hefty price…”

Shirley suspected she had gone mad. “Mr. Mitchell, is this… is this related to me?”

Caleb replied, “It’s not related to you. Can you help me analyze whether this project can be acquired?”

Shirley gently reminded him, “Mr. Mitchell, I’m a fashion magazine editor.”

After Shirley’s remark, Caleb sneered, “You can’t analyze it? Can’t you find someone else to help? You have to give me an answer by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Without waiting for Shirley’s response, he hung up.

Listening to the dial tone on her phone, Shirley pounded the bed in frustration. What was wrong with him? Calling her up in the middle of the night to help analyze an acquisition project? Not to mention she had no clue about it, even if she did, it wasn’t right to disturb her like this.

Shirley reluctantly sent a message to Leila: [Are you asleep?]

Sending the message, Shirley didn’t really expect a response. Who wouldn’t be asleep at this hour apart from freaks like Caleb?

As Shirley was about to lie back and sulk, she suddenly saw that Leila was typing in their conversation window.

Without hesitation, Shirley quickly made a voice call to Leila.

Leila picked up promptly, and from her tone, she didn’t sound any better than Shirley.

Both of them said in unison, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

There was a brief silence on the call.

Again, they said simultaneously, “I was just about to say…”

Another moment of silence ensued.

Finally, Leila laughed first and said, “You go first.”

Shirley laughed too, took a deep breath, “Let me tell you, I was already asleep, but then that lunatic called me in the middle of the night to analyze a project for him.”

Leila teased, “Samuel?”

Apart from Samuel, Leila couldn’t think of anyone else Shirley would call a lunatic.

“Not my brother, even crazier than him. Anyway, what do you think about that project from Premier Construction?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

As far as she knew, Shirley had never been interested in project-related matters.

Shirley replied honestly, “It’s not me asking, it’s that lunatic Caleb. He called me, asking me to analyze whether Premier Construction’s stalled project is worth acquiring.”

Leila was skeptical, “Why would he suddenly think about acquiring real estate projects?”

“I don’t know, probably gone mad.”

Upon hearing Shirley’s explanation, Leila thought for a moment before asking, “How did he bring it up to you?”

Shirley paused for a moment, then recounted Caleb’s words verbatim to Leila.

Leila paused for a few seconds before saying, “Technically, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but a few things you just told me could be useful to me. Tell Mr. Mitchell that the project isn’t out of reach for acquisition, but he needs to lower the price. I can’t reveal how much lower it should be, because The Ramirez Group is also planning to acquire this project.”

Shirley asked, “Will it cause you any trouble if I tell him these things?”

Leila smiled and replied, “No, I gave ambiguous information. When you tell him, just say you got the information from me. I extracted useful value from his words, so I’m providing him with useful information in return. Think of it as an exchange of information.”

“Are you sure nothing will happen? I’ve seen those business battles on TV…”

Shirley didn’t know how to describe that kind of excitement.

Leila smirked, “Business battles on TV: ignore the law and ruthless; business battles in reality: lacking in manners and shameless.”

Shirley didn’t quite understand, “Huh?”

After chatting about Premier Construction for a bit, Shirley asked Leila, “What’s up with you tonight? Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Leila’s smile froze, and she furrowed her brow, “Mason just came to see me tonight.”

“Oh?”

Leila said, “Don’t overthink it, he just came to mooch a meal.”

The more Leila told Shirley not to think too much, the more Shirley couldn’t help but speculate.

In a city as big as Neo City, with restaurants everywhere, did Mason really need to come all the way here just to mooch a meal? Was he really here for the food, or was he here for someone?

Leila couldn’t disclose the incident where Mason got beaten up, so she brought up another matter, “Mason wants to find someone for a fake marriage, asked if I knew anyone suitable.”

Shirley suddenly chuckled mischievously, “Isn’t this straight out of a CEO romance novel? Pretending to get married but actually…”

“So, did you agree?”

Leila replied, “What does it have to do with me? I’m currently in a relationship. He just asked if I knew anyone suitable, and I told him there’s no one suitable around me.”

Shirley curiously asked Leila, “You’re not even slightly tempted by Mason?”

Facing Shirley’s question, Leila didn’t hesitate for a moment and answered decisively.

“Not at all.”

“Not even a tiny bit?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.