She smiled at his annoyed tone. She must have hit the bullseye. "Why, then, are you here?"

"Give me the photos." He went straight to the point.

Placing her hands on the table, she smiled in disinterest. "What if I don't?"

When he frowned, she looked at him cunningly. "You see, it is no fun if I give you the pictures and everyone goes their way. On the other hand, if I attach them to an email and send them to Na…"

"You dare!" He growled before she could get the name out.

"You do care about her, don't you?" She didn't know why it bothered her more than the general spite she had for cheaters.

"What makes you think I would care about a woman's opinion of me?" He scoffed. "She can think whatever the hell she wants."

She raised an eyebrow at his claim. "You are quite fond of saying things you don't mean. Aren't you, Mr. Fort?"

"So are you." He threw the claim back at her. "You asked me to watch my back but threatened to slit my throat."

Just as she was about to call him out for bulshitting and faking nonchalance, he looked down at her condensingly. "I just don't want my pictures to be in the possession of someone like you. That would be such a dishonor to them."

Her teeth dug into her lower lip, her expression turning stern. "In that case, you have to get them out of my possession. And, before you even think about it, violence is not going to get you out of this."

"What do you want?" He reclined in his seat. He knew that the darned woman must have some idiotic plan in mind, or else she would not have used up her effort to get him to agree to this meeting.

Since it had already come to this point, she decided to cut the chase. "It's obvious, Mr. Fort. I want you to withdraw your lawsuit against F&P Media."

His lips curled into a cold smirk. As expected. "And for some reason, you think that your lowly threat would make that possible?"

She frowned and held back a curse. Did he think she didn't dare to do it? Just when she was wondering whether there was anything she could gain from sending those photos to Natalie Sparks other than a new enemy and the title of a mistress, he swiped the phone out of her hand. "Although I appreciate the fact that you cannot keep your distance from me and so badly want to seek my attention, you should know that there is a limit to my patience."

"Excuse me!" When did she seek his attention?! What a shameless narcissist!

She was on the verge of exploding when he stood up. "Sigh, I thought you would have something more sensible to use against me. I'm a little disappointed… but since we are at it anyway, how about I give you one?"

She had a bad feeling about whatever it was, so she grabbed her bag and stood to leave. She was desperate to get F&P Media out of the ditch but that didn't mean she would tolerate whatever nonsense he shoved her way. If worst came to worst, she would prepare to battle a tycoon in court.

"Work for me." He said after her.

Thinking her ears must have failed her, she turned with a smile of ridicule. "Why would I do that?"

"Surely, you don't need me to explain such a simple thing?" Desmond played with his watch as though taking note of how much of his precious time she had wasted. "You need me to do this huge favor and I need an executive assistant. I looked you up and I think although you wouldn't be the perfect fit, I can make-do for a while. Win-win, right?"

What did he mean he could make do? Putting her stellar academic qualifications aside, she had been her dad's executive assistant for four years and he had never had anything to complain about.

She snorted at his audacity. "Think about it, Desmond. Do you think there is anyone who is willing to work for an asshole like you?"

"With the tens of applications on Liam's desk every morning—some from the same people I have rejected a hundred times—probably yes. And by the way, you are the only one who thinks I'm an asshole. What's it gonna be?"

Knowing that she was about to give him a cold, resounding "no", he quickly added, "I will let you think about it. Don't be too long, Miss Williams, I never wait for anyone." And this is probably the first and last time that I don't feel too unwilling to call off the suit, he added mentally as he turned to leave.

"My phone!" She called after him.

He turned back then scanned the aged phone in his hand, whose screen looked like a web. 'Does this thing even function?' He wondered, but held back the nasty comment and gave the phone back to her.

…

Zaria went home to think about the offer. She did need a job right now, since she and her dad had both lost their jobs following F&P Media's scandals. However, all she wanted was to get the lawsuit revoked and to cut ties with Desmond after that. Being his employee was definitely not part of the deal.

But, if she didn't grab this chance, would she have any other choice?

She was still thinking when the doorbell rang. She was surprised to see a delivery girl outside, holding a small package with her name on it. "I didn't order anything."

"The gentleman who ordered it said it was a gift for you." Replied the delivery girl.

Could the said gentleman be Ryan? She wondered.

Confused, she signed for the package and wondered what the occasion was. She curiously opened it as soon as she got back into the house, then her jaw went slack. She was holding the latest model of the most admired phone in Olphire, which was more expensive than her annual salary. In fact, this was the first time she was seeing it in person and she wouldn't recognize it if she had not seen it online.

Her hand trembled as she picked up the note she found under the phone.

[You're welcome—D]

"Desmond…" She mumbled.

Was he crazy?!