The next morning, in the president's office of the Nicholson Corp., Dahlia was sipping a cup of coffee as she went through sheets of financial statements.Just then, someone knocked on her door. "Come in." Dahlia put her cup down. "You called for me, Ms. Nicholson?" Dustin pushed the door open and entered. As Chief Security Officer, he needed to check in at the company every day."Where were you last night? I couldn't reach you on the phone." Dahlia probed just as he stepped in."My friend got into some trouble, so I went to help out." Dustin grinned sheepishly. "Your friend? It isn't Natasha Harmon, is it?" Dahlia's brow rose in suspicion. "No wonder you were so enthusiastic, it turns out you were on a date with a chick."Dustin cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject before Dahlia became jealous. "You didn't call me over just to talk about this, did you, Ms. Nicholson?""As if I'm that bored." Dahlia retorted and rolled her eyes. "An important client is arriving later,
Ms. Larson's gaze was lustful as she peeked at Dustin, who met her eyes calmly. He was still racking his brain, trying to recall where he had seen her before. "Stop looking!" Dahlia quickly realized what was amiss and gave Dustin a warning kick. This was the second time. Dustin had grown bolder during the past few days since he was gone and didn't even bother being discreet anymore. "Ms. Nicholson, I don't understand these parts. Can you explain them to me?" Ms. Larson placed the document on the table and pointed at a section of the contract."Sure, let me explain." With a professional smile, Dahlia began explaining everything in detail to Ms. Lardon, who wasn't actually listening. Ms. Larson silently slipped off one of her heels and brushed her feet against Dustin's shoe lightly. "What?" Dustin raised an eyebrow, puzzled. When he lifted his head, he was met with Ms. Larson's teasing and flirty smile. He merely drew his eyes away and pretended to see nothing. Ms. Larson smirked a
"What are you doing, Dustin?" Dahlia's eyebrows arched above her wide eyes, and she had to restrain herself from biting Dustin directly. At first, she thought he was only admiring Ms. Larson's figure. Never did she imagine he would be daring enough to start messing around with someone he was meeting for the first time while completely ignoring her."This is a misunderstanding, Dahlia. She was the one who put her foot out." Dustin blushed. Although he was innocent, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "So what if Ms. Larson stretched her leg? It doesn't mean you have permission to touch her." Dahlia growled. "I—" Dustin didn't know how to explain himself."Hmph! I had a feeling you were up to no good when I saw you staring at Ms. Larson. Were you having dirty thoughts about her?" Dahlia's breathing quickened. Was she not pretty enough? Why was Dustin paying attention to someone else other than her? What a player!"It's not what you're thinking, Dahlia!" Dustin was exasperated.
"Are you trying to bribe me with just a villa? What do you take me for?" Dustin remained indifferent."Looks like it's time to get serious." Ms. Larson giggled. "How about this? I'll let you into some insider information. The abandoned buildings in Eastville are going to be redeveloped. Your investment will double tenfold if you can get ahold of them. Of course, how many buildings you can buy depends on your wealth. The more you buy, the more you'll earn. With enough capital, you'll easily earn anything between a billion dollars to eight billion. What do you think? Is the offer attractive enough?"Dustin narrowed his eyes. "Ms. Larson, you're very generous, but I still don't understand why you'd tell me about an opportunity that could rake in billions?"It was their first time meeting, yet Ms. Larson was being extremely generous, even going as far as to offer him a car, a house, and a chance to hit the jackpot. Although Dustin was quite a good-looking guy, it wasn't enough to charm eve
As soon as Dustin and Dahlia reached one of the wards of Ansdale South Hospital, they were greeted by the ghastly sight of Florence moaning in pain, her body wrapped in bloodstained bandages. "How do you feel, Mom?" Dahlia asked worriedly as she walked into the room."You're finally here, Dahlia!" Florence immediately burst into tears and wailed. "I'm so sorry. I made a mistake, and I don't deserve to live anymore." She slammed her head into the wall several times, tearing up from the pain."What are you doing, Mom?" Dahlia quickly pulled her mother in for a hug to stop her from hurting herself. "Can't we talk this out? Why are you trying to commit suicide?""I—I'm too embarrassed to tell you!" Florence thumped her chest sadly. "James, what in the world happened?" Dahlia looked at her brother, who was standing next to their mother. "Mom got scammed. Our savings are all gone now!" He cried. "Scammed? Elaborate further." Dahlia frowned."Do you remember Julie's boyfriend, Terrence St
James merely held out a finger."Ten million?" Dahlia took a deep breath and tried to suppress her anger. "It's quite a lot, but at least we can still pay it back. Treat it as the price of a lesson learned.""You've got it wrong, Sis. It's not just ten million dollars; it's a hundred million." James mumbled weakly. "A hundred million?!" Dahlia paled. "Are you serious? Where did you get so much money in the first place?""We had a few million in savings. Then, we used our two villas to take out loans. Mom stole the remaining tens of thousands from you." James shrank back and confessed softly. "What?" Dahlia's blood boiled. "A—are you guys crazy? Taking loans and stealing? Who said you could do that?"Who in their right mind would sell their house to invest in a business? What a fool!"It's all my fault, Dahlia. I'm so sorry. I should die instead!" Florence moaned and began banging her head on the wall again, acting so well that she deserved an Oscar. "Enough!" Dahlia yelled. "Rather
"What?" Dustin frowned when Florence's gaze swept toward him. "Why are you looking at me? Are you telling me to be the scapegoat? What the fuck?" he thought. "Dustin …" Florence forced a smile. She took an apple out of her fruit basket and handed it to Dustin. "Aren't you hungry? Here, have an apple.""What are you trying to do?" Dustin looked at her warily. It only raised suspicions more with Florence going out of her way to be kind to him."Well, you heard what we said, didn't you?" Florence forced out a sweet, kind smile. "You've always been a kind person. I'm sure you can't bear to see us lose our money like this, so I hope you can do us a favor.""What favor?" Dustin had his guard up. "Don't you know a few rich women? Why don't you help us sell off those abandoned buildings?""You're asking me to scam people for you?" Dustin raised an eyebrow. "How could you say that?" Florence feigned innocence. "We're not deceiving anyone; we're simply repurposing waste. Those wealthy people
Florence was sure that Dustin was merely refusing to help them.Just then, Julie thought of an idea and said, "Dustin, didn't you say that those buildings are worth a lot? We'll sell them to you right now so that you can make a lot of money. What do you think?""That's right!" Florence echoed. "You should buy them since you seem so interested. That'll benefit both of us.""This is your opportunity. How could I take it away from you?" Dustin refused politely. "It's alright. We're a family. We'll be happy if you make money too." Florence coaxed enthusiastically, gleeful to have found a scapegoat."She's right, Dustin. Don't worry about it. You shouldn't miss such a great opportunity.""Exactly. Just remember to treat us to a meal when you get rich." Everyone smiled so sweetly and acted extremely enthusiastically after finding such a dumb scapegoat. "Are you sure you want to sell them to me?" Dustin pressed."Of course! We won't take a single penny from you. We just want you to return