CEO’s Seduction Trap

Leila improvised, “My throat hasn’t been feeling well lately. I just took some medicine before you arrived, so I can’t drink.”

She didn’t believe Mason would be so cruel as to risk her health just to have a drink with him. As expected, after she said this, Mason didn’t insist further. “Forget it,” he said, then went to the dining table, picked up the decanter, and sat on the sofa in the living room.

As Mason drank and looked at his phone, his expression darkened. When he finished his glass, he asked Leila, “Do we have any fruit at home?”

Leila got up to cut some fruit in the kitchen.

Mason was texting Caleb. Caleb had news about tonight’s dinner with the Premier Construction CEO.

Caleb: [The old man is cunning as ever, never got to the point.]

Mason: [Just tell me the outcome.]

Mason: [Cut the crap.]

Caleb: [Why so aggressive? Unsatisfied?]

Seeing Caleb’s message, Mason didn’t reply immediately. Caleb quickly caught on to his mood and said, [Did I hit the nail on the head? Really unsatisfied?]

Mason’s long fingers hooked a cigarette from the table, but he didn’t light it. He rolled the end between his fingers.

Caleb’s next message came swiftly, [Where are you now?]

Mason: [At Leila’s.]

Caleb: [What’s that supposed to mean??]

Mason: [Just having a meal.]

Caleb scoffed, [Dinner, now? I look like a fool?]

Mason’s lips curved slightly as he typed, “Have some confidence, turn your questions into affirmations.”

Seeing Mason’s message, Caleb laughed on the other end, [Don’t want to know the outcome anymore?]

Caleb’s curiosity peaked, and he asked, “Tell me the truth. What are your intentions with Leila? Are you interested? Do you have feelings? ”

Caleb’s message struck a nerve with Mason. He shifted his posture, leaning back, his jaw tensing.

Caleb continued, [If you really like her, go for it. Love is unpredictable; don’t wait until it’s too late to regret.]

[Don’t tell me you don’t feel anything for her. If you had no feelings, the two of you wouldn’t have had that first encounter.]

]Mason, are you chickening out?]

The cigarette Mason held in his hand snapped in half.

Leila walked over with the fruit and happened to see the broken cigarette in Mason’s fingers. She said softly, “Having something sweet might lighten your mood.”

Mason looked up at her voice, meeting her clear eyes with a complex expression. Did he like her? In his reckless youth, he might have entertained such thoughts. But later on, he restrained himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her; it was that he couldn’t. If it weren’t for that night when she was drugged…

Mason’s thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of his phone in his hand. He looked down to see another message from Caleb: [Are you thinking about getting someone else drunk again?]

Mason: [Get lost.]

After a while, Caleb sent one final message.

Caleb: [Back to business, that old guy at Premier Construction does want to sell the project, but he won’t budge easily. He’s poured too much money into it already and wants to make a hefty profit.]

Mason: [Got it.]

Caleb: [Mason, I’m really curious. What are you afraid of?]

Seeing Caleb’s messages, Mason didn’t respond further. The affairs of the Ramirez Family were too intricate to delve into; they could go on for days.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Mason closed his phone and looked up to see Leila holding hers, focused on something. Mason pursed his lips, thinking about what Caleb had said earlier.

-Are you thinking about getting someone else drunk again?

Was he?

It seemed so.

Leila was checking her email on her phone, and she noticed Mason’s gaze, looking up.

“Still don’t want to drink?”

“Mr. Ramirez, I’ve taken medication.”

Mason broke the half-broken cigarette in his fingers again, chuckling wryly. “I know you’re keeping your guard up against me.”

Leila hesitated for a moment, then tightened her grip on her phone. She admitted, “Yes…”

Some things were understood between them, but being exposed was another matter. Just like now, when they could have remained silent and safe, but instead, the atmosphere turned awkward and tense.

After a while, Leila clenched her hand around the phone and spoke honestly, “Yes, I’m on my guard.”

Mason chuckled at her words, “If you’re so afraid of me, why did you let me come over for dinner? Pity me? Feel sorry for me? Or because I helped you find a kidney source?”

Each word from Mason was sharp, leaving Leila no choice but to respond, “Mr. Ramirez, we agreed back in Yort City that from now on, we’re just employer and employee.”

As Leila finished speaking, Mason’s voice turned solemn, “What if I said I regretted it? Leila, I want to be friends with you.”

Leila hesitated, “…”

Under Leila’s gaze, Mason forced a bitter smile, “Forget it, just pretend I didn’t say anything. I’m just not in the best mood tonight because of some things that happened…”

Mason stopped himself from saying more, his lowered eyes filled with loneliness.

Seeing this, Leila’s mind flashed back to the contents of their phone conversation tonight.

His grandfather forcing him into marriage, accusing him of being the one who deserved to die in the kidnapping case, even hitting him…

Thinking of all this, Leila’s mouth moved faster than her brain, “Friends are fine.”

Mason looked up, “Really?”

A pang of regret hit Leila as she realized what she had said, but it was too late to take it back. “Uh-huh.”

All of Leila’s reactions were noticed by Mason.

He reached for two glasses, pouring wine into them. He pushed one toward Leila. “This wine is from a friend’s own brand. Give it a try.”

Leila took the glass, “I’ll drink a little less tonight. I’m really not feeling well.”

Mason nodded faintly, “Sure.”

After a few drinks, Mason brought up the topic of their phone conversation tonight.

When he mentioned the marriage alliance, Leila couldn’t help but interject, “With the foundation of The Ramirez Group, do you really need a marriage alliance?”

Mason clinked his glass with hers, “Technically, no. But human desires are insatiable. Once you have bread, you want milk; once you have milk, you want fruit…”

“Understood. Greed knows no bounds, and old habits die hard.”

Mason nodded in agreement.

Leila asked, “So what will you do? Do you have to enter into a marriage alliance?”

Mason lowered his head to drink, finishing half a glass of wine in one gulp. Putting down the glass, he looked at Leila, who seemed slightly tipsy. “Have you had too much to drink?”

Leila shook her head, “No.”

Mason toyed with the wine glass, his emotions unreadable. “There is a way to avoid a marriage alliance.”

Leila inquired, “What?”

Mason looked up at her, a hint of seduction in his lazy demeanor. “For example, I could marry someone else right now.”

Marry someone else? With whom? Leila’s mind lagged for a moment.

In her understanding, two people who got married were supposed to love each other, willing to face all the ups and downs of the future together.

As Mason finished speaking, he saw Leila looking bewildered and reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you are not drunk?”

Leila instinctively leaned back, “I haven’t.”

Seeing her reaction, Mason’s hand hesitated in mid-air. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand to pick up the glass, his voice low, “Sorry.”

Leila remained silent. She hadn’t actually drunk much tonight. Though her reactions were slow, her mind was clear.

As the atmosphere became awkward again, Mason stood up and said, “It’s getting late, I’m gonna leave.”

“Is Daniel picking you up? Or are you taking a cab?”

“I’ll take a cab.”

“Okay.”

Leila sighed lightly as she watched him enter the elevator. When the elevator door opened, she gave him a faint smile, “Goodnight.”

Mason responded in a low voice, “Leila, do you know any suitable women?”

Leila looked puzzled, “What?”

“I need a marriage partner. I don’t have anyone suitable around me. Do you know anyone?”

“No.”

Mason’s eyes darkened, “What about you?”