Chapter 241 - Gained A Cousin

Her body felt weak from his kisses and all she could do was melt into him. She held onto his shoulders, parting her lips to give his tongue access to her mouth. She moaned lightly when their tongues collided.

"Liam," She whispered, breaking away from his lips.

He let go of her, rubbing her slightly swollen lips with his thumb. "Sorry. I didn't… I couldn't stop myself."

Even though that was what he said, he was definitely not sorry in the slightest.

She straightened her dress. "What can I do? I guess my lips are just too irresistible."

They shared a gentle laugh.

"Yeah. So you can't blame me for not being able to stop myself from kissing them, can you?" He was relieved that she was not offended.

"Fair point. I'll be on my way." She tucked her hair behind her ear.

He gazed down at her intently as she opened the car door and stepped in. "Don't forget to call me."

She responded with a smile and drove off, still in disbelief. What the hell just happened?

….

"Let me get this straight. You went to Liam's house with the intention of putting him in his place but ended up having snacks together and kissing passionately in the garage?" Zaria was one step away from grabbing a bucket of popcorn when Ximena told her what had happened.

"Don't look at me like that." Ximena rolled her eyes, gathering her legs up so sit comfortably On Zaria's bed. She looked away from her friend's probing gaze. "Who can blame me? He's just too handsome."

That, coming from a woman who saw men as nothing but punching bags, was a surprise. "I'm glad there is finally a man who can make you say that."

"Don't remind me. I just didn't think anyone was worth my time in the past." She grabbed Zaria's hand in excitement. "Hey, I have to thank you. If you didn't force me to pick him up, I wouldn't have found out how wrong I was about him."

Zaria was relieved too, knowing that her friend once again had a chance at happiness. She feigned contemplation for a while. "Should I put that on your tab?"

"Go right ahead. Whatever pleases you."

"That will be three favors to add on what you owed last time." She dramatically wrote it down in her phone notepad as though she would actually hunt Ximena down for the favors.

"That, right there, is swindling." Ximena pointed a finger at her phone screen. "You might as well rob a bank and it will be the same thing."

"Good idea." Zaria put down her phone and leaned in to whisper. "Hey, what bank should we rob?"

Shaking her head, Ximena climbed off the bed to tuck the other in. "That's enough lunacy for today. My godchild needs rest."

"You only care about your godchild these days. You don't even love me anymore." Zaria sulked dramatically.

Ximena was helpless. "Okay drama queen. You know that I love you more than anything, right? Goodnight."

"Aren't you sleeping over?" Zaria asked when she noticed that Ximena wasn't making a move to grab a nightgown but was instead putting her things together to leave.

"If you don't mind… never mind. It will probably be best if I'm at my own place for that kind of call." She was embarrassed thinking of what an innocent phone call could turn into if it was with Liam.

"Got ya." Zaria winked. "You can use the guest room tonight. You will have all the privacy you need for that kind of call. Also, don't forget to wear something sexy under that dress in advance. Though he might find you sexier wearing nothing."

"Zaria!" Ximena was flabbergasted by her friend's unfiltered mouth.

Zaria burst into laughter. "Go Julliet!"

___

The following day, at Preston and Fort Group.

Zaria studied Desmond closely as he scribbled his signature slowly.

"You really trust me that much? Aren't you scared I might sell off everything you own and make away with your wealth?" It was almost baffling that he would let her learn to write his signature.

"You are smarter than that." He chuckled. She was fast to learn and after just a few tries, she had managed to make a duplicate of his complex signature.

"If I knew this was so easy, I might have become an actual swindler." She giggled as she made another signature on the document she had brought, which was a fake contract that she had printed.

"Do you think everyone will let you?" He was amused by her way of thinking.

"No. But there's such a thing as bugs and secret cameras, isn't there?" She winked suggestively and he had to give it to her. She was Lucy's daughter in every sense of the word.

"Am I really doing this?" She held the contract to her chest with slightly trembling hands.

He pulled her to his lap, knowing what she was worried about. "She will not dare report anything to HR. Not when you are an executive employee and she knows at the back of her mind that she did something wrong." He assured her. "Remember, you can't always do the right thing in business."

"What a piece of advice to give your girlfriend, Mr. Fort." She teased.

His hand crawled up her back in light strokes. "Well, you can't exactly stick to being a goody two shoes. That will give you nothing but more problems to deal with."

"Fair enough." She had to agree with him. She slid off his lap. "I'll get it done right away."

She was reluctant for her to leave but work had to get done so he let her go.

"Erika!" Zaria called the intern through the intercom as soon as she was back to her office.

The young woman rushed into her office. "Yes Miss Williams?"

Zaria looked down into her files, remembering what she was about to do. "Do you care to remind me who this contract is addressed to?" She held the fake contract up.

"It's addressed to the CEO. Mr. Fort." Erika responded. She had fallen for Zaria's trap, mistaking the fake contract for one she had brought to Zaria earlier.

"I see. Once he reads it, if he finds the terms satisfactory, who is to sign it?" Zaria prompted.

"Uhm… Mr. Fort?"

"I thought so too." Zaria put it down and faced the young woman. "Since you know better than anyone who it was addressed to and whose signature should be at the end page, why did you sign it?"

Erika's eyes widened. "What? Miss Willaims, I didn't do any such thing."

In response, Zaria flipped the document to the end and tapped her finger against the signature. "Take a look. What's this?"

"This is Mr. Fort's signature." Erika was just as confused as Zaria intended her to be.

"Well?" Zaria looked at her quizzically. "This contract has only been in your hands. Which ghost of yours thought of herself as a good samaritan to save the CEO's time?"

"I didn't sign it." She insisted.

Zaria crossed her arms with a cynical glance. "So you are implying that I did it."

"That's not what I meant! Miss Williams, I really didn't…"

"You are fired." Zaria interrupted.

Erika was on the verge of tears. "Please give me a chance to investigate this and find out who really did it." She pleaded.

"In other words, you were not careful enough. You let someone else have access to a confidential file intended for the CEO?" She used Erika's words against her, rendering the young woman speechless.

"An intern's job in this company is to gain experience and learn everything that's required of them. It was not in your job description to make such huge matters into your own hands."

"Miss Williams, I can't afford to lose this. Please give me a chance." She fell onto her knees.

"Then you shouldn't have done something wrong. Get out of my sight." Zaria ordered. When the woman hesitated, she narrowed her eyes. "You are no longer an employee of Preston and Fort Group. Would you rather be escorted by the guards?"

At her words, Erika scurried out of the office.

A few minutes later, Desmond crept up behind her. "Done?"

Zaria nodded. "Time to follow her. Luckily I set this up."

She opened a window on her computer which displayed Erika's movements. She dashed out of the company in tears and when she was two streets away, she leaned against the wall in an alley and took out her phone to make a call.

"Who is she calling?" Zaria wondered aloud. She zoomed in but from the angle of the bug, she couldn't see the screen of Erika's phone.

"Grandfather, I got fired." Erika cried.

A knock resounded on the door and it opened faster than Zaria could switch windows. Luckily, it was Zeus. She didn't wait for him to speak before grabbing him over.

"Zeus, good timing. Check the following call, quick." She pushed him into her seat and gave him brief details. The call only lasted a few seconds and was over before Zeus completed his check.

His fingers froze at some point and he stared at the monitor in shock. Zaria peeked and couldn't make head or tail of the myriad of codes on the screen so she nudged him.

"Zeus?"

"We just gained a cousin." He ran a hand through his messy hazelnut hair.

She was horrified. "What the fuck are you saying? You don't mean…"

"Yes.. She was speaking to Nathaniel Su and she called him grandfather."