He curled his lips into a casual, almost charming smile, as if there was nothing shaless about what he’d just done.
The mont he asked, the little receptionist imdiately sprang into action, eager to help, and promptly replied,
"Yes, we have it."
His smile deepened, and his starry eyes locked onto the irritated Lilian as he commanded the front desk loudly,
"I’ll take the room next to hers."
The girl behind the counter imdiately started processing his request, leaving Lilian to scurry off toward the elevator, under the weight of his piercing gaze.
Inside the elevator, Lilian tried to calm herself. It was just the room next door—nothing more. Not the sa room. Why was she even mad? Once the door was shut, they’d each have their own space.
Back in her room, she unpacked and called Tina to let her know she had arrived.
Tina’s voice on the other end was warm and welcoming. She quickly inford Lilian about the dinner arrangents for that evening—the ti, the place, and that soone would pick her up. "Dress nicely," she added cheerfully. Lilian agreed, smiling.
No sooner had she ended the call than a knock ca at her door. Lilian frowned.
"Who is it?" she asked cautiously.
A deep, pleasant voice ca from outside.
"It’s ."
Lilian didn’t even want to open the door. "What do you want?" she snapped.
"I just need to borrow your charger," he said. "I forgot mine."
She shot him down without hesitation.
"Our phones aren’t compatible. Mine won’t work for yours."
She had noticed his phone last ti they’d been to the U.S.—totally different brand.
But he persisted.
"I just got a new phone. It’s the sa brand as yours now. So it’ll work."
Lilian froze. "..."
She couldn’t help but admire his audacity. He’d even switched his phone just to get close to her.
Morrison had, in fact, just bought it last night—a brand-new phone identical to hers—so he’d have a reason to interact with her. And, before coming, he deliberately drained its battery to around five percent.
He knew that in this situation, she wouldn’t voluntarily engage with him. Every opportunity had to be created by him. Borrowing sothing was the perfect excuse.
He couldn’t very well ask to borrow a cigarette or fire—she’d never allow that. Borrowing other household items? Hotels already had those, or she’d make him buy them. But a charger—now that was different. Wrong model, couldn’t charge, buying a new one was inconvenient. Perfect.
Yet Lilian was not an easy target. She still refused to open the door.
"You know how important my phone is," Morrison said, forcing a hint of urgency in his tone. "I’ve got a crucial call with a client coming up—"
Lilian wasn’t an unthinking girl. She cared about the bigger picture. If he really had forgotten his charger, she couldn’t let him miss an important call. Reluctantly, she turned and grabbed her charger, then opened the door.
Morrison extended his phone toward her as soon as she opened the door.
"See? I’m not lying. I’m out of battery."
He held her phone right in front of her, leaving her no choice but to look.
She glanced at it casually—and froze.
On the screen was her photo. With all the modeling shoots she’d done over the past year, she couldn’t even rember when this one was taken, but one thing was certain: it was her.
"Where did you get my photo?" she demanded, reaching for his phone. It was irritating beyond words. The thought that he could see her every ti he unlocked his phone made her want to smash it.
She tried to snatch the phone, expecting him to pull away—but he didn’t.
Her hand touched his, warm and solid, and for a brief mont she trembled despite herself. She let go, frustrated, her heart betraying her irritation with a tiny, involuntary shiver.
He looked at her with that infuriatingly charming smile.
"If you want to touch my hand, just tell ," he said teasingly. "I’ll let you do it properly."
Lilian’s reaction was instinctive. She tossed the charger straight into his arms and imdiately tried to slam the door shut, desperate to shut him out.
But of course, he had already stretched a long leg into the doorway to block her.
"Any plans for the afternoon?" he asked casually, like nothing was wrong.
"Sleeping!" she snapped, irritation dripping from every word.
She had been planning to take a quick nap in the car earlier, but the driver had casually ntioned that he was following behind. That had ruined everything. Now her head was spinning, and with nothing urgent on her schedule, sleeping seed like the best idea.
Morrison nodded slowly, as if agreeing with her.
"I’ll sleep too," he said.
Then, leaning closer with that teasing lift of his lips, he murmured, "Together?"
That was the final straw. Lilian’s patience snapped. With every ounce of strength, she shoved him out of the doorway and slamd the door so hard it rattled in its fra.
Shaless!
Absolutely shaless!
Completely shaless!
From outside ca Morrison’s mock-exasperated voice.
"I was just joking. Why are you so angry?"
Lilian didn’t even respond. She turned and collapsed onto her bed, determined to steal a few hours of sleep.
Morrison, clutching her charger, retreated to his own room. Well, no touching, but at least he could enjoy this little victory in his mind.
Once in his room, he plugged in his phone, and shortly after, Jacob’s call ca through.
"Morrison," Jacob said, direct as ever, "regarding tonight’s dinner with your young lady, my wife has already arranged everything. She’ll send you the ti and location shortly. By the way, that electric heating project you just received a few days ago—can we allocate it to my team?"
Jacob’s tone left no room for small talk—straight to the point, straight to the business.
Of course, Morrison had asked Tina to arrange the dinner because he couldn’t get Lilian alone on his own. Tina, acting on her own initiative, invited Lilian in her na, making it possible for Morrison to join without raising suspicion.
What Morrison hadn’t anticipated, however, was Jacob’s cunning. The old fox imdiately used this dinner as leverage to strong-arm him for the project. That electric heating project, which he had barely gotten his hands on a few days ago, was already being pulled away.
He ground his teeth so hard it hurt.
"Jacob," he hissed through the phone, "are you even a man? Relying on your wife’s achievents to snatch projects? Eating off her hard work and acting like it’s completely justified—how can you live with yourself?"
On the other end, Jacob laughed openly, with no hint of sha.
"I think it’s great," Jacob said cheerfully. "I’m proud to rely on my wife."
Morrison slamd the phone down, seething. So people really had no sha at all. There was nothing he could do but swallow his pride and call sean, instructing him to hand over the electric heating project to the Jacob.
He felt like he was being slowly outmaneuvered to death by that old fox Jacob, yet he had no choice but to keep compromising. All this because he needed Tina to smooth things over with Lilian.
If this were ancient tis, he mused bitterly, he’d probably be considered one of those foolish rulers who sacrifices the kingdom for a beauty.
Reviews
All reviews (0)