CH 4

Lia had just arrived at their 5th floor office when she was immediately swarmed by a number of ladies from her department giving her their congratulations.

“What is going on?” Lia asked, confused.

“Don't you dare act ignorant on us,” Vanessa, their PR specialist, said.

“Yeah, Boss,” Michelle, the publicist, chimed in. “How could you hide such an important secret from us?”

“I have no idea what you guys are saying. Can someone please explain first?”

It was Vanessa, being the eldest in their team at the age of 35, who stepped up. “Since when did you start dating Sage Wilson?”

“What are you talking about? Who?”

“Boss, don't deny it anymore. It's all over the news.” Michelle handed Lia her tablet. 

Lia pulled the tablet from her and quickly scrutinized what was on the screen. It was a picture of her and Sage from last night's dinner. Sage had his arm wrapped behind her, making the image seem intimate. 

She glanced at the caption; Mystery Woman is Playboy Billionaire's Newest Girlfriend. Scrolling further, she found another set of pictures. This time, it was when she was already in the car. The first photo showed her sitting in the driver's seat while the succeeding ones showed how Sage bent down and leaned inside. While the angle of the photos were only able to show Sage's back at the last shot, it was easy for anyone to imagine what could have happened inside. 

Lia felt her blood creeping up to her head.

“Ohmygodhe'shere...” one of the interns suddenly muttered under her breath as she pulled Vanessa's sleeve.

Lia turned to the direction of the door and saw the last person she wanted to see.

Sage was standing at the doorway, on his hand was a bouquet of flowers.

“You! What do you think you're doing here?” Lia demanded.

“Good morning, Ms. Ryan,” Sage greeted politely, which made Lia angier. 

“Don't you dare patronize me, Mr. Wilson,” she sneered as her eyes trailed down to the bouquet of flowers in his hand. “You think bringing flowers would be enough to appease me after using me?”

An audible gasp was heard behind them and Lia suddenly remembered that there were people watching them. Clicking her tongue, she quickly grabbed Sage's wrist and pulled him to her office, all the while ignoring everyone's curious gazes.

“You seem to have developed a habit of pulling my wrist,” Sage remarked when they were finally inside Lia's office.

“Sit,” Lia said, ignoring his previous statement. “We need to talk.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked as he took his seat on the black couch.

Lia clenched her fist and inhaled deeply. The man had an uncanny ability to set her teeth on edge. First, she needed to calm down if she wanted to win against the con man sitting in front of her.

Having gotten a hold of herself, she sat down at the opposite couch.

“Why are our pictures on the news, Mr. Wilson?”

“What are you talking about?”

She showed him the website on Michelle's tablet, which she has yet to return. 

Sage took the tablet and quickly scrolled through the page. “How do I know you weren't the one who set this up?” he asked, giving her a skeptical look.

She scoffed. “Why would I?”

“You seemed desperate enough to introduce me to your grandmother,” he shrugged, placing the tablet on the table.

“If I knew you'd turn out to be someone of importance, I wouldn't have pulled you inside in the first place.”

“So you're telling me it wasn't so you can trap an unsuspecting rich guy into marrying you?”

“Not all women are dying to get married to men like you, Mr. Wilson.”

He paused to give her a stare before replying, “Anyway, I didn't call the reporter.”

“Why should I believe you?” Lia glared at him.

The conversation was suddenly interrupted by the door opening and Lia was relieved to see her best friend enter the room.

“Lia -” Marissa stopped her tracks when she noticed that someone else was in the room. “What are you doing here?” she asked when she recognized the figure sitting on the couch.

“I was asking Mr. Wilson why our pictures are trending online,” Lia explained.

“And I was telling Lia that I was in no way involved in that,” Sage continued.

Lia shot him a glare. The exchange reminded her of last night's game and she couldn't help but feel irritated.

Marissa gave an exasperated sigh as she pressed her fingers to her temple. “So, you are both aware of that. I guess it's good that both of you are here now. It saves me the trouble of having to talk to you two separately.”

She walked up to the other end of the room, stopping in front of Lia's desk.

“Sage, about what you were asking me, I'm gonna have to refuse,” she began.

“I was hoping I could convince you with some flowers,” Sage said with a sardonic smile.

Lia made a quick glance at Sage before turning her head away. She couldn't believe that she had shamelessly assumed that the flowers were for her.

“And Lia, Sage couldn't have hired those reporters. In fact, we were supposed to have dinner together to talk about them when you suddenly pulled him into your scheme.”

“How was I to know he wasn't the one you hired? You told me you'd bring him with you and meet me at the restaurant.”

“Noah, the host we hired, arrived late. His taxi got involved in a car collision.”

“I misunderstood because you suddenly introduced him to me,” Lia insisted stubbornly.

“He's a potential client. Of course I plan to introduce him to you since I was thinking of referring him to your department.”

The two looked at Marissa in disbelief.

“I have a proposal that can solve both of your problems,” Marissa continued with a mischievous smile on her face.

Lia felt a wave of dread creep up her spine. She knew her best friend long enough to know that smile meant nothing good.