Chapter 5

Within a huge, pristine white mansion, none other than Lucian sat in his home office, staring at the blank screen of his laptop. "Everything... is gone," he exclaimed under his breath, having mistakenly wiped out every single statement he had ever written for his company. "Are you kidding me?!!" He angrily slammed his fist on the table in frustration.

       His eyes twitched, and he raised his head to look at the door when he heard it push open.

His personal guard, Leon, walked in and bowed to him in respect.

       "Your M," he greeted, and Lucian acknowledged his presence.

       "What is it?" he asked.

       "Well, there is someone here to see you," Leon replied.

       "Who?"

       "Mr. . Ferguson. He is downstairs in the living room, and he requests to see you," he responded

       "What is that old man doing here now?" A bit curious, Lucian arched his brow, and Leon, who had no clue, shook his head. Lucian stood up from his chair and, with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants he proceeded towards the elevator. Leon followed behind him.

The elevator took them downstairs, and once the door was pushed open, they stepped out.

Lucian strolled into the living room and took a seat opposite Mr. Ferguson on the couch.

With a neutral look in his emerald eyes, he crossed his legs and stared at Mr. Ferguson.

       "May I ask what you are doing at my home?" he inquired.

       "I have something I need to discuss with you," Mr. Ferguson responded.

       "Hmmm. It must be important for you to come to my house. So spill it." Now even more interested, Lucian relaxed on the sofa.

       "Listen to this." Mr. Ferguson played the call with the stranger from yesterday and handed the phone to him. Lucian placed the phone near his ear, and immediately he heard the information it contained, a surprising glint flickered in his eyes.

       "Oh, it seems he recorded everything," he commented, and Mr. Ferguson nodded his head.

       "Yes, he did."

       "So... what does this have to do with me?" Lucian asked.

       "Oh, it has everything to do with you. After all, if you hadn’t slept with my daughter in the first place, none of this would have happened," Mr. Ferguson replied.

       "Mind your words, Ferguson. I don't give a fuck about your daughter. None of us were in our right mind, therefore, watch your mouth. Your daughter is not even half as beautiful as the women I have been with, so stop it!" He raised his brow at him.

       Mr. Ferguson gazed at him, and hate glinted in his eyes. "I don't care, Lucian. But you are now involved with my daughter. My reputation is at stake here, and you need to take responsibility for her,” he explained.

       "Responsibility what? Don't tell me she’s pregnant." A deep frown immediately settled in between Lucian's brows.

       "No, she is not. But if that recording is exposed, my reputation will be ruined. The image I built will be destroyed. Lucian, do I even need to explain this to you? You are in this business world as well. You should understand this more than anyone else!" Now getting agitated, Mr. Ferguson spoke aggressively.

       "It’s none of my business, Ferguson. I have no responsibility to take as long as she isn't pregnant." Lucian scowled and stood up from the sofa. "If you have nothing else meaningful to speak about, please see yourself out," he declared and proceeded to return upstairs, but Mr. Ferguson, however, stepped in front of him, preventing him from moving any further.

       "He wants each of the chips from us and a document from each of our companies. In return, he will delete the recording," he said it in a frustrated tone.

       Lucian looked down at him, as a result of the fact that he was quite taller than him, and let out a soft breath. "So what do you want me to do now? Because I honestly don’t care. It's not going to bother me," he inquired.

       "Oh, it will. I cannot afford to give out that chip, and I believe you can’t either. One of our companies, maybe, but definitely not that chip," Mr. Ferguson illustrated.

       "So what are you implying now?" Lucian tilted his head to one side.

       "You have to marry my daughter," he proposed. Lucian stood staring at him, and once it appeared that he had processed his words, his eyes blinked rapidly.

       "What?" he asked, just to be sure he heard right.

       "Yes, you have to marry my daughter. It’s the only way out of this," he clarified, and Lucian burst into laughter.

       "You are really funny." He patted Mr. Ferguson on the shoulder, and his face instantly switched to a deadly one. "Do not mention marriage again. That will never happen." He pushed Mr. Ferguson out of the way. He started walking away, but a sentence from Mr. Ferguson made him stop.

       "If you don’t marry her and that video is released, I will accuse you of raping her, and I have evidence to prove it. Then we will see who the world will believe."

       "What?!" In disbelief, Lucian turned around to look at Mr. Ferguson.

       "Yes. If you marry her and that video is released, both our reputations will be saved. After all, who would judge two couples who were simply having the time of their lives?"

       "The one who would be judged is the creep who records them to show the world."

       "So it’s up to you, Lucian. It will be a court marriage, where only the family members will be aware of it. So either marry her or face being accused of rape. I wonder how that will look on you. You should know I am not one to act recklessly, so if I am to accuse you, of course, I will always have false evidence, that you can’t counter," he threatened, and without saying anything else, he turned around and walked out of the mansion, leaving Lucian to stare at his disappearing back.