CEO’s Seduction Trap

As they spoke, the door suddenly swung open. The man who just left came back, looking embarrassed, with Jennifer following behind.

Jennifer had entered smiling, but upon seeing Leila beside Mason, her expression immediately darkened.

The thing between Jennifer and Mason was known to everyone.

Today, most of the people in the room had grown up with them, so seeing Jennifer made everyone uncomfortable.

“Here with friends?” It was clear who Mason was addressing, and everyone at the table understood.

Jennifer took a deep breath and replied, “Uh, a friend’s birthday.”

Mason nodded. “Have fun.”

Jennifer stared at Mason, her eyes full of reluctance. After a long pause, she gathered the courage to say, “Come out, I need to talk to you.”

Mason met her gaze expressionlessly. “Say it here.”

Someone spoke up, “Mason, maybe Jennifer has something private to discuss with you, and you…”

Before the person could finish, Mason shot them a cold glance.

The person stiffened, refraining from saying anything further.

Jennifer clenched her fists, her face strained into a forced smile. “Then let’s talk about it another time, I’m not in a rush.”

With that, she turned and walked out. Back in the adjacent private room, she sat down and pushed all the utensils in front of her off the table…

As Jennifer left, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. They glanced at each other, unsure what to say in front of Leila, so they covertly observed Mason.

Leila could clearly sense the odd glances from everyone. She pretended nothing was wrong, but Mason leaned in to whisper in her ear, “You’re in trouble. Jennifer is particularly petty; she’ll definitely come after you.”

The half-eaten spaghetti stuck in Leila’s throat, and she coughed softly.

Mason’s long fingers twirled a strand of her hair near her ear. “How about marrying me? I’ll protect you.”

Leila didn’t flinch or dodge.

“Mr. Ramirez, I just helped you out this time. Why are you repaying me like this?”

Mason smirked, neither responding nor contradicting.

Leila lowered her voice, “If there’s nothing else, Shirley and I will be leaving.”

Caleb was about to speak up to persuade her when Mason subtly shook his head at him.

Caleb changed the subject, “Need me to call you a car?”

Leila smiled, “No need, I drove myself here.”

“Alright, just drive safely on your way back,” Caleb said.

Leila nodded and left with Shirley.

Watching them leave, Caleb sat in front of Mason. He propped one foot up on the chair’s crossbar behind him and joked, “What’s going on? Weren’t you afraid to mess with her before, worried about harming her?”

Mason leaned back in his chair, lighting a cigarette. “I suddenly realized something.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Curious, Caleb asked, “What’s that?”

Mason took a drag of his cigarette. “Since both of us are miserable, why not give being together a try?”

At Mason’s comment, Caleb teased, “Does Leila want to?”

Mason laughs softly, “How do you know she doesn’t want to?”

Caleb mocks, “At least so far I don’t see it.”

Mason, “Just because she’s avoiding it doesn’t mean she’s not wavering.”

Caleb, “That confident?”

Mason removes the cigarette from the corner of his mouth and taps his long fingertips on it, scattering the ashes to the floor, “Remember how she dealt with the sexual harassment before?”

Caleb suddenly realized.

Leila broke that guy’s head…

Leila was just about to start the car when her phone suddenly rang.

“Hello.”

The voice of the person on the other end has been processed by a voice changer, “Miss Patel, could you do me a favor?”

Upon hearing the husky voice, Leila hesitated for a moment.

The person on the phone, noticing her silence, chuckled softly, “Don’t worry, and I’ll compensate you accordingly.”

Leila gripped the phone, unmoving, and calmly replied, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“Don’t you want to know what it is?”

“Sorry, I have other things to attend to.”

After saying that, Leila hung up the phone. Catching Shirley’s inquisitive gaze, she shrugged and said, “Company business.”

Shirley blinked mischievously, “Buying secrets from your company at a hefty price?”

Leila gave a vague response, “Mm.”

“To be honest, Leila, I really admire this about you. Since The Patel Group went through that ordeal, you’ve had it tough, but you’ve never considered taking shortcuts.”

From university to entering the workforce, wealthy and influential men had tried to woo Leila, but she had never wavered.

And according to Shirley, since Leila joined the project department, there were also many people who paid a lot of money to buy the company secrets, but to date, Leila hadn’t made a single mistake.

Later, Leila dropped Shirley off and arrived home.

A message popped up on the screen: [Miss Patel, after being weighed down by debts for so many years, I refuse to believe you’re not tired. A woman as beautiful as you can live much better. Ten million, not anything illegal, consider it carefully.]

Like the call at noon, this message had also been technically altered. It was from an online number that couldn’t be replied to or called back.

Leila stared at the message for a while, her fingertips resting on the table, pondering who could be sending it.

Ten million. Among the people she knew, the only one who can afford this price is probably Mason.

Mason?

Thinking of Mason, Leila furrowed her brows lightly.

That the person who sent the message knew Mason. Or in other words, this person had a grudge against Mason.

Leila’s fingertips froze on the table, an inexplicable chill running down her spine.

She stood at the dining table for a moment, contemplating, then forwarded the message to Mason.

Mason responded with two question marks: [??]

Leila pulled out a chair and sat down, typing back to him: [I suspect it’s someone you know.]

Mason replied: [My enemy?]

Leila: [I can’t be sure.]

Mason: [Alright, I’ll have someone look into it.]

Upon seeing Mason’s response, Leila didn’t continue the conversation.

After about three or four seconds, another message came from Mason: [Watch out for Jennifer. I wasn’t joking with you. Contact me if anything happens.]

Leila: [Okay.]

In the bar, after exchanging messages with Leila, Mason reached for the iced drink, his deep eyes filled with coldness.

“Something up?”

Mason tossed his phone to Caleb, “Take a look.”

Caleb glanced at the message and a hint of mockery and disdain flashed in his eyes, “Is your uncle starting to act?”

Mason lowered his head to light a cigarette, “How long until Wendell gets out of prison?”

Caleb teased, “Miss him?”

Mason scoffed lightly, “If he doesn’t come out soon, I’m afraid his security company will go under.”

Caleb joked, “I don’t know. I’ll visit him tomorrow and ask.”

Mason grunted, “Remember to tell him I miss him.”

Wendell Miller, second son of The Miller Family, served in the military for a few years. After retiring, he unexpectedly founded a security company, going against his father’s wishes for him to return to manage the family business. However, with his inherent business acumen, in just a few years, his small security company flourished. Moreover, most of his security personnel were former soldiers, diligent and trustworthy, leading many prominent families to hire bodyguards from him.

As Caleb paused, he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Mason, “I still don’t get it. How did Wendell end up in prison?”

“You go ask him.”

“Someone like him, I don’t believe he’d make a mistake.”

Mason shook his head as he swirled his glass, the ice cubes clinking against the sides crisply, “Sometimes you can’t trust your own eyes.”

“Yeah?”

“You think he’s strict with himself, but he’s just going to jail. You think I’m unreliable, yet here I am sitting with you drinking.”

Mason poured more wine into Caleb’s glass, “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What favor?”

“Arrange for two people to cause some trouble for Leila tomorrow. Be mindful, don’t injure her.”

Caleb was stunned, “Are you out of your mind?”