Chapter 5 - Shameless Jerk

"What have I done?!" Zaria cursed at herself as she flopped onto the bed in her room. When she realized that Ryan's plan couldn't be of help, she had hoped to meet Desmond and find a way to talk him into changing his mind. However, not only had she failed to do that, but she had angered him as well! How could she directly threaten to slit his throat?

Just as she thought about it, her phone rang with a call from Ryan. She carefully slid a finger across the broken screen.

"What happened? You simply disappeared from the club." Ryan asked worriedly.

At a loss, she went ahead to explain what had happened with Desmond, including how she had demanded compensation for her phone, whose repair cost was probably a laughable amount of money to a tycoon like him.

"What will you do now? I know someone…"

"You don't need to help me anymore, Ryan." She rejected him before he could come up with another bizarre plan. Before he could insist, she added, "I have figured out what to do."

"Oh? What will you do?" He sounded curious.

Zaria caressed her purse, mischief flashing through her eyes. "Pull out the big guns."

__

Monday morning—Preston and Fort Group.

In the CEO's office.

"What are you doing here?" Desmond glared at the incomer, Liam, as soon as he set foot into the office. He was so irritated by this guy's unreliability that he didn't want to see him for a single second—and the fact that they were co-owners of Preston and Fort Group and worked in the same building wasn't doing anything to help.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual." Liam sighed. "I mean, I am the COO here. Not only do I have to play my part, but I also have to run around and do errands for you." He complained grudgingly. Why was this guy so picky? It was simply hiring an executive assistant, but he had to nitpick every interviewee. Those who didn't know would think he was hiring a wife instead of an EA.

"Get lost if you have nothing to say." Said Desmond grumpily.

Liam could only get more serious. "Here are the portfolios of today's candidates. The interviews will begin at 11 am." He said the exact words he had been chanting like a mantra every day for the past six weeks.

As usual, he took the files from him and read through them even though they both knew that none of those candidates would be picked. "Anything else?"

"Yes. This is interesting." Liam wiggled his brows, curiously seeking gossip as he reported, "I received a call from a Zaria Williams a while ago."

"Oh? What does she want?" He asked indifferently.

"I have 'interesting' pictures of Mr. Fort. I'm sure he doesn't want them splattered across all the news forums of Imperium City, right?" He repeated Zaria's message word for word, even mimicking her threatening yet playful tone. "Since I'm sure he doesn't want the whole world—including Miss Natalie Sparks—to know what a playful jerk he has been. He will be a good boy and meet me at Royal Hotel, this afternoon at 3 pm. I will hit the send button if he is one second late."

Desmond's expression darkened. That little—! "You sure are gossipy." He condemned. The man had even memorized the whole message word for word.

"Of course, I'm gossipy." Liam didn't deny the accusation. "Which gets me to my question. Who is this Zaria? Which sly fox did you mess with this time, and why did her voice sound so familiar?"

Desmond was speechless. He had introduced the sly fox to him, and now he was asking who she was? "Clear my schedule this afternoon. I would like to see what tricks she has up her sleeves." His tone was full of mockery.

"You are meeting her. This is interesting!" Liam hopped out of the office when he was met with a murderous glare.

…

Royal Hotel, at 2.59 pm.

Sitting in a seat at the furthest corner from the door, Zaria had knots in her stomach. She had sent the threat so confidently this morning, but now that it was finally time to meet the devil, her heart was filled with tension. Would he really show up?

She was still wondering whether or not to wait when she heard footsteps. Looking up, the devil had arrived and was glaring down at her. He sat down just as the minute hand of the clock struck twelve.

She raised an eyebrow in amusement. "So you truly do care about Miss Sparks' opinion of you. Since this is the case, why do you still play around in her absence?"

Natalie Sparks was his fiancée. Although it was rumored to be a business engagement between the Fort and Sparks families, it still didn't justify his promiscuity. This was what she hated most about him; he liked fooling around with other women despite being engaged. What a shameless jerk...

"I'm not here to chit chat with you." That was the first thing he said.