Chapter 2

The man's pained moans grew louder once he realized that someone was defending him. But when he heard the sirens coming from a distance, his expression changed immediately. He quickly got up to his feet and fled from the scene.

Meanwhile, Charlyn was still banging on my car window.

Soon, the police arrived at the scene. We were both escorted to the police station to have our statements taken. The police also collected the security footage from the scene.

Naturally, I was innocent. I even told a policeman, "She kept speaking up for that scammer earlier. I suspect they're working together to scam people."

Once I was done with my statement, I drove away from the police station. Charlyn, on the other hand, was kept back.

Before I left, I heard an officer muttering, "Young ladies nowadays are too eager to show off their so-called virtue in front of rich people. Heh!"

I had no idea what happened to Charlyn after that.

Thankfully, the next few weeks were delightful for me, as I never saw her during that period. According to my mom, Charlyn had taken leave for the past two days, which meant she had temporarily paused Luther's tutoring sessions.

My mom was still thinking whether or not she should change to another private tutor. I wanted to urge her to do so, but I was worried that she'd berate me.

"Why are you being petty? She's just a helpless woman!" she'd exclaim.

Just the thought scared me.

It was a long time since I last saw Charlyn, which explained why my guard was down. I just remembered her momentarily when my mom occasionally brought her up. After all, she was just an ordinary admirer of mine.

But then again, she was no ordinary woman—that was for sure.

After my business rival, Arthur Calvert, snatched a few business deals from my company, I finally had a feeling that he was specifically targeting me.

But I didn't think that he had a reason for doing so. After all, he and I tended to avoid trampling on each other's toes most of the time. Not to mention, our business fields were completely different.

When I first found out about Arthur stealing the deals from me, my first thought was that his company might be making a strategic pivot.

But then Arthur began really eyeing my business deals. Generally, both of our companies were on par with each other in terms of scale and wealth. Moreover, my company had the upper hand here. Then how did he manage to snatch those deals?

After all, the clients and I had already ironed out most—if not all—the details. We had been about to sign the contracts, too. But he still managed to steal them from me.

To think that a few of our business deals had gotten snatched away when we had been on the cusp of wrapping them up!

As I listened to Ms. Vale's report, I drummed my fingers on my desk repeatedly, revealing the frustration gnawing at me right then.

Honestly, it was really exasperating. I couldn't figure out why Arthur would target my company all of a sudden.

Then, I instructed Ms. Vale to make a dinner appointment with Arthur.

I needed to get rid of that pesky rival one way or another. Besides, I was pretty curious as to how he had managed to pull off such a feat. How on earth had he stolen those deals when I'd been so close to finalizing the contracts?

We agreed to meet up at the restaurant at 8:00 pm. However, Arthur only arrived at 8:20 pm. When I saw him forcefully dragging the furious Charlyn, who kept stumbling behind him, I finally connected the dots.

Of course, I knew that there was no need for me to proceed with dinner now. Still, I decided to stay. I wasn't the type who'd lose his manners over women, unlike Arthur.

"I've been waiting for you, Mr. Calvert."

I spun the ring on my finger while reclining against my chair. It was rare for me to look quite relaxed. After all, a man who allowed himself to be constantly manipulated by a woman hardly deserved to be treated seriously as an opponent.

Honestly speaking, I was quite dumbfounded to see Arthur dragging Charlyn into the restaurant. He didn't even sit down before addressing me.

Instead, he just dragged Charlyn to the table before eyeing me up and down disdainfully. A scoff escaped from his lips the next moment.

"At the end of the day, you're just an ordinary guy, Mr. Skyworth."

Then, Arthur began dragging Charlyn out of the restaurant. Charlyn turned her head to look at me while biting her bottom lip. She made sure to cast me a suggestive glance that made it seem like she was playing hard to get.

Wait a minute. Why on earth was she looking at me like that?

Fine. I could understand why she still wanted me despite having seduced Arthur. After all, I was a lot more handsome and refined than him.

What happened just now was a good example. People with basic manners would know they shouldn't show up at an appointment later than the agreed time. But Arthur was 20 minutes late.

I glanced at Charlyn's wrist, which Arthur was gripping at the moment. Her wrist was red, indicating he wasn't a gentleman at all.

As for his height, Arthur was only five feet and nine inches tall. Not to mention, he claimed he was this tall in front of others. But his actual height… Well, all men knew when to exaggerate their heights. But the thing was, I was six feet and two inches all.

On top of that, Arthur and I wore suits of the same brand and cut. I looked like a chivalrous and elegant gentleman in it. On the other hand, Arthur's suit made him look like a human-sized potato.

Alright, alright. I had to admit it wasn't gentlemanly of me to criticize others based on their appearances, but I was just that petty, okay?

Seriously, Arthur was a jerk! From the way I saw it, he'd probably end up losing the company his father had passed down to him one day!

And to think that he was trying to pretend to be a typical domineering CEO! The way he kept dragging Charlyn around so forcefully made him look like a total loser!

I was so mad that I ate three plates of food in one go. As such, I was so stuffed that I could barely walk.

After I secretly loosened up my belt, I tucked in my stomach and grabbed my briefcase before walking out of the restaurant as gracefully as I could.

Surprisingly enough, I spotted Charlyn hanging around my car. She was wearing a slight frown at the moment, though it dissipated as soon as she saw me walking out. A sparkle returned to her eyes for a moment, but she shot me a torn look before lowering her gaze.

At that moment, I wasn't sure whether I should continue moving forward or not. In the end, I could only force myself to head in Charlyn's direction. My car was there, after all.

I pretended not to see her. After opening my car door, I moved to get into my car.

"Mr Skyworth!"

Charlyn grabbed my hand, which was still holding on to the car door. The next thing I knew, she retracted her hand instantly, as though she were zapped. Then, she glanced at me bashfully.

I didn't do anything to her at all! She was the one who grabbed my hand before blushing furiously!

Hold on. Just why the hell was she blushing?

I pushed that thought aside. Since she had called out to me, I could only stop in my tracks out of courteousness.

"Ms. Emerson," I said.

Then, I looked at Charlyn quizzically. I swore that I didn't do anything, but her face still grew redder for no reason after that. I had a feeling that she was going to burn up at this point.

Charlyn shot me another glance, this time in a seductive manner. Okay, fine. I made that up. Maybe she thought she'd have that kind of effect on me by making bedroom eyes at me.

But to me, she looked exactly like Ms. Vale whenever she did something wrong. Right now, she was cowering in fear.

The thought of Ms. Vale made my heart soften. When I looked at Charlyn again, I wasn't that angry anymore.

At the end of the day, she was just a regular woman.

"Ms. Emerson?" I asked again, this time in a softer tone.

Charlyn looked like she'd finally made up her mind. "Mr. Skyworth, I'm so sorry that Mr. Calwert keeps targeting you. I had no idea he'd go this far for my sake."

As she spoke, tears began pooling up in her eyes. Still, she managed to finish her sentences while sounding like she was about to cry.

"Recently, he got his hands on some news regarding your company. You have to be careful."

After that, Charlyn stood where she was with her head hung low. Tears began dripping from her eyes silently.

Whenever I scolded Ms. Vale, she'd look like this as well. She'd keep crying as though I was being extremely mean to her.