CEO’s Seduction Trap

Under Leila’s questioning, Keith suppressed his anger. “That’s it. I was struggling to survive at the time. How could I care about someone else’s business? Besides, I always thought they just wanted to stash something away, never thought much beyond that.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Leila turned her head to look at Mason, hoping to glean something from his expression.

Sensing her gaze, Mason turned to meet her eyes and asked aloud, “Should we take him to the airport?”

She wanted to ask Mason if there was anything else he wanted to know, but the words didn’t come out. She took a deep breath and said, “Hmm.”

Hearing their conversation, Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

Two hours later, the car arrived at the airport.

Keith didn’t hesitate for a moment, pushing open the car door and heading straight for the airport.

Watching him almost flee, Leila asked, “Do you believe what he said?”

Mason reached out to squeeze her neck gently and spoke in a low, deep voice, “Not a single word.”

Family ties should be the warmest in the world, but at this moment, they felt like the most painful.

Mason said he didn’t believe.

Leila didn’t believe either.

On the way back to the hospital, Leila remained silent.

Mason stared at her directly. “Leila.”

“Yeah?”

“You still have me.”

Leila looked away from his gaze, lowering her head. “Mason, don’t bewitch me.”

The car pulled into the hospital.

While riding the elevator, Leila said to Mason, “Don’t mention my dad’s situation to my mom.”

“Do you think I’m that kind of person?”

“Just in case.”

As they spoke, the elevator doors opened, and they walked side by side out of the elevator.

Just a few steps ahead, they saw Stefania coming out of the hospital room wearing a school uniform.

Stefania seemed to have just washed her hair, and her wet hair draped over her shoulders, paired with her school uniform, giving her a very innocent look.

Seeing Stefania walking towards them, Mason frowned. “Here she comes again?”

Leila couldn’t help but suppress a smile. “Excited?”

“It’s quite disgusting.”

Leila patted his arm. “You’re quite lucky. Enjoy it.”

With that, she headed back to the hospital room first.

Mason prepared to follow, but Stefania hurried a few steps to block his path and handed him a bag. “Mr. Ramirez, this is a specialty from our hometown.”

Mason looked down at her with cold eyes.

Seeing that he didn’t take it, Stefania continued, “Mr. Ramirez, I know you have misunderstandings about me. You always suspect that women approaching you have ulterior motives, either for your money or to seduce you. But I don’t have such intentions. I really just want to apologize to you. I…”

Stefania was still speaking when Mason sidestepped her and walked past.

Stefania was taken aback. “…”

Watching him enter the hospital room, Stefania gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the bag.

In the hospital room, Leila saw him come in and smiled.

Dasha noticed her subtle expression and spoke to Mason, “Mason, did you just go to park?”

Mason grabbed a chair and sat down beside Dasha’s bed, absentmindedly picking up an apple to peel for her. “No, Auntie. I just came up with Leila.”

Curiously, Dasha asked, “Then why did it take you so long to come in?”

Mason lowered his eyes, his true emotions unreadable. “I ran into the girl from the next room outside. She kept trying to get close to me with ill intentions…”

Mason paused before he lifted his head and said to Dasha, “Then, Leila left me and ran away.”

Dasha, “…”

Leila stood by the windowsill, her back to the two of them, “…”

Mason finished speaking and cut a small piece of apple to hand to Dasha. “Auntie, didn’t you say she’s always faithful in love? How come she’s so heartless to me?”

Dasha reluctantly took the apple from Mason’s hand, but before she could eat it, she saw Tessa coming and she hurriedly said, “Tessa, take me out for a walk.”

Tessa looked puzzled, “Now?”

“I’ve been in for almost half a day. I want to go outside for some fresh air.”

“Okay, I’ll get the wheelchair.” Tessa said, helping Dasha into the wheelchair and out of the room.

Once they were gone, only Leila and Mason were left in the room.

Leila gripped the windowsill tightly, while Mason continued to peel the apple skin.

After finishing peeling the apple, Mason stood up and walked to Leila’s side. He handed her the apple and chuckled softly, “Leila, how could you be so heartless, huh?”

Leila looked up at him. “Why do you say everything? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

Mason teased, “Is it more embarrassing than a girlfriend leaving me to another woman?”

Leila, “…”

Mason leaned in closer, “Leila, what if in six months your mom is so pleased with me as a son-in-law that she won’t allow you to break up with me?”

Leila forced herself to stay calm. “That won’t happen.”

“Want to make a bet?”

Leila’s palms began to sweat. “What kind of bet?”

“If your mom doesn’t allow you to break up with me by then, you’ll listen to her.”

Leila’s ears turned red, and she instinctively moved back.

Sensing her intention, Mason hooked his arm around her waist and held her tightly, his voice low, “I suddenly envy Hunter. When he appeared, you didn’t have such defenses.”…

Dasha and Keith had divorced, and Dasha’s condition had stabilized. In the evening, Leila told her she was returning to Neo City. “There’s still a pile of work waiting for me at the company. I’ll come back when you’re ready for surgery.”

Dasha felt reluctant, but she didn’t show it on her face. “Okay, Tessa will take care of me. Don’t worry.”

Leila sat on the bed and reached out to hug Dasha. “Mom, I’ll take you to Neo City after your surgery.”

Dasha hugged Leila back. “Okay.”

“Mom, let’s sell our current house then.”

Dasha understood her thoughts and touched her hair with her hand. “Okay, let’s sell this house then. That way, your uncle won’t have it on his mind all the time.”

“Mom, will you feel sad?”

“No sadness at all. For me, wherever you are is my home.”

Leila was so touched by Dasha’s words that her eyes turned red, and she hugged her tightly.

After leaving the hospital, Leila stood on the steps and looked up at the night sky. She hadn’t taken the time to appreciate the night view like this in years because she had been so busy paying off debts.

Standing behind her, Mason with his hands in his pockets said, “If you can’t bear to leave her, stay for two more days.”

Leila didn’t turn around to face Mason. “Staying for two days or leaving tomorrow makes no difference.”

“In another month, she will be able to go to Neo City with you.”

“Yeah.”

A few minutes later, they got into the car.

That night, after getting home, Leila quickly tidied up and headed into the bathroom for a shower.

Mason stood by the window, listening to the sound of water from the bathroom as he dialed Caleb’s number.

Caleb, upon hearing that Omar had come to Yort City, scoffed, “Is he mad?”

Mason mocked, “Maybe?”

Caleb continued, “If he had even a fraction of his brother’s intelligence, he wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Mason chuckled lightly, “The most reckless ones are often the hardest to deal with.”

Caleb agreed, “True, they always think they’re clever, but who knows what stupid things he might do.”

Curious, Caleb asked, “Why did he go to Yort City? To investigate that old case?”

Mason explained truthfully, “Yeah, and then he kidnapped Keith to force me and demanded a position in the finance department.”

“Going through all that just to get into finance department?”

Mason joked, “He thinks getting into finance department means controlling The Ramirez Group.”

“Haha… He might as well join the project department…”

“If he’d demanded a spot in the projects department, I’d have just told him to kill Keith.”

Caleb laughed out loud, “That’s harsh.”

After chatting for a bit, Caleb’s tone turned serious. “I’ve finished investigating that thing you asked about. Turns out, the woman who was in the car accident with your dad was a bastard daughter of the Galang family. What comes next, you’d better not let Leila know. Leila’s grandfather, in his forties, fell for the family maid and that woman was born.”

A trace of disdain flashed in Mason’s eyes, “And then?”

“Old Mrs. Galang was a tough lady. When she found out, she quietly transferred all the family assets into her name and gave the maid two options: first, take a sum of money and leave with the child; second, let her be with old Mr. Galang, but only if he left without a penny.”

Mason anticipated the outcome, “The maid chose the first option.”

Caleb teased, “Right.”

“In the adult world, there’s no absolute right or wrong, just weighing pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons, they choose the pros. If the cons outweigh the pros, they avoid them.”

Mason inquired further, “So why did that woman later return to the Galang family? I saw a photo of her taken in the old Galang family estate.”