(Chapter 67) A New Plan Of Attack

"Get me the details of everyone who attended the party." Astrid ordered into her Bluetooth phone in the car.

"Yes Miss." Wu's stoic voice came through the phone and he hung up. Quickly sending over the documents they had prepared earlier...

Astrid saw how quickly she got a response and stopped by the roadside. She had a look at the document sent over in detail.

Her focus then gravitated to the same man that was talking to her during the auction. "Mr. Gorden, a clean businessman with a stellar reputation huh?" Astrid mumbled under her breath. As her thoughts subtly changed.

Astrid then continued to go through the document to look for a particular name. Not seeing who she was expecting, she was deep in thought.

"Sending a fake, sending someone lower in the ladder. Or wearing a face mask. I wonder what he did tonight." Astrid was intrigued, she couldn't identify the person who had outbid her for the Moisaik crown. She felt confident in her eyesight, but could neither identify the person during the afterparty or now.

Astrid tutted as she sent a message on her phone. She then started a call speaking in English...

.......

Mr. Gorden had stumbled inside his mansion after getting home. He couldn't get that woman's face out of his mind the entire night, and drank too much in deliberation.

"Miss Borjan? I had never heard of such a name before boss. I'm sure she must have been someone's date at the banquet." Those were his assistant's exact words to him when he asked for her details. He found a simple background, something very typical of a gold digger.

But no matter what, he couldn't get her out of his mind. She might be a gold digger, she might sap him of his money. But her face, her body, her curves, and her attitude... It made him have shivers up his spine thinking about it...

Mr. Gorden went into his study and did his own research on 'Miss Borjan' he couldn't find anything, but after seeing Mr. Bagna speak to her so amiably, he wanted to know the truth behind this woman.

A cold and gorgeous woman out of his reach... He might not be the most attractive man in the world, but he wasn't a slouch. He had no shortage of women offering themselves to him. He didn't sleep around much, but he had physical needs that he needed to fullfill, he had never married in his life because he couldn't help but feel disgusted with marriage, after knowing how gold diggers are the predators of businessmen. He refused to fall into a beauty trap.

But that cold woman... She didn't respond to him, he had a feeling of rage. And also wanted to see her under him, dominate her, make her submissive to him.

Before he knew it, he was already in all these thoughts. And couldn't help himself but go to a bathroom to 'relieve' himself...

While he did that, he didn't notice the door to his study open subtly, bringing in the scent of the damp wind, but also the smell of iron...

.......

"E-Excuse me?" Viviano's voice was like a fly, so quiet and his face was pale. As he looked at his boss with a strange look...

"How did you get your wife to fall in love with you?" Lewis once again asked the question, with such seriousness that it made Viviano shiver.

Viviano didn't say a word, how could he? He never expected his boss to ask him how he and his wife got married all of a sudden...

"Useless. You can rethink the week holiday you will be getting..." Lewis was frowning with annoyance.

"No, no, no wait. I-I was just surprised." Viviano stopped his boss immediately, that week's holiday was crucial, he required it for his relationship with his aggressive wife...

*Cough* "If you already tried to make Miss Tuhs jealous but it failed, then I can only deduce that she isn't in love with you." Viviano then shivered after his words.

"Hahaha, but you with undoubtedly make her fall in love with you. Who wouldn't want to be with you boss... Anyway, If that's the case, I recommend making appearances in her life when she least expects it. Give her your full support, she will notice your help. I also recommend treating her much differently from other females." Viviano started to blurt out after seeing the dark look on Lewis's face.

Lewis listened and quietly sighed. "I already treat her much differently, how could she not notice that?" Lewis muttered under his breath.

Viviano stopped talking and felt like digging a hole. Was this his boss that he dedicated himself to? The one who put the mafia under his feet in a mere couple of years. And had expanded his family by many times? He looked more like a lovesick woman trying to make her husband love her again!

"Miss Astrid is smart enough to have noticed that. I don't have much experience really... But to me it looks like she either doesn't like you in that way, or she has decided not to fall in love with you." And now Viviano was basically crying as he cursed his fat mouth...

Lewis was silent, very... Silent. Causing Viviano to gulp audibly. 'Boss won't kill me right?' He was afraid, he wasn't entirely sure what he was like around Astrid. But this was him all the time in his presence... So he suddenly felt quite awkward, he was pairing two monsters together...

"I see. You are excused." Lewis spoke after a few minutes, as he sat in silence in his office.

Viviano escaped from the impending roar of the dragon. As he inwardly wished that his words wouldn't land him in a grave...

'Decided not to fall in love with me? No, that can't be it.' Lewis then phoned his most trusted information broker...

After the third ring it was answered. "What is it bro?" Leone seemed to have expected this call and was waiting...

"What does Astrid like?" Lewis very much knew Astrid's history in school. The best grades in history, full marks everywhere. He also knew that her teachers couldn't get her to accept anything pubically and tried multiple times to get her to interact in classes but quickly gave up knowing her grades and medical history.

Hence he also knew she had never dated anyone. Not even a crush, from Leone he had learned that Astrid wasn't interested in love like most girls her age. Francesca would talk about the topic with Winoa, and Astrid would never join in.

"Uhhh? I don't really know bro. I always thought she enjoyed studying since she's so smart. But she didn't go further with her education. All I know is that when she is at home she often spends her time in her garden and room. She doesn't do much else." Leone answered the best he could... But his strained voice indicated that he really didn't know.

But Lewis heard an opportunity in his words. "In the garden? I see." Lewis then hung up. Causing his younger cousin to cry out in unequal treatment.

"A garden... So flowers? No... Nature? The wind?" Lewis decided to ask another trustworthy information broker of his...

But this one was a little temperamental, he didn't want to call him now... But it was crucial.

"What do you want?" Mr. Tuhs answered his phone after a minute, his tone wasn't very friendly...

"What does Astrid like?" Lewis asked directly.

On the other side Mr. Tuhs almost smashed the cup in his hands. "Huh!? What does my daughter like? Shouldn't you try to figure that out on you own? I bet you already asked that cousin of yours the same question right?" Mr. Tuhs was quite spiteful, he didn't want to give away his daughter now...

Lewis's silence. Was Mr. Tuhs answer. Just as he was about to erupt. A smooth voice talked to him, and took the phone away from him.

"Master Guilliano?" Mrs. Tuhs voice then came through the phone.

Lewis blinked. "Lewis is fine." Lewis now didn't know how to communicate, he could battle with Mr. Tuhs and piss him off. But he didn't want to insult Astrid's mother...

"Lewis then, I know that you don't see us as stupid. The care you took in hiding Astrid wasn't unnoticed from us. Even from her. So for that, I'll thank you." Lewis was quite surprised. He didn't expect Astrid's mother to have known... Or rather any of them to have known.

"Since you are hiding us, then I guess you had worked something out. Maybe more than Astrid has done. So I wanted to ask. If marrying Astrid would cause a great danger for you and your family. How would you react?" Mrs. Tuhs was extremely direct speaking to Lewis.

"Hey! What do you mean marry Astrid? He won't be touching our daughter!" Mr. Tuhs' was blurting his anger toward Lewis on the phone.

"I will fight side by side with her. I don't care about the danger. I don't know how to explain it. But every movement she makes has been ingrained into my head. During the years she was gone I was going mad trying to look for her. Now she will be staying in my sights. I will pursue her." Lewis didn't flinch in his words.

The other end of the phone then became silent. As they processed Lewis's words.

"She doesn't want to fight side by side with you though boy. Can't you tell?" Mr. Tuhs's words, then brought a snap of light into Lewis's head.

"W-What do you mean?" Lewis stuttered, what did those words mean? How could he not understand basic Italian now?

*Sigh* "What my husband means is that our daughter doesn't even accept help from us. In the time she was gone, she hadn't changed a lot. But Winoa is a clear guideline to go off what happened. You may be involved with the dark side of the world. And you say you want to fight side by side with my daughter, but are you ready to accept the darkness within her?" Mrs. Tuhs cracked a tear at her own words. She knew the reason why Astrid was doing what she was doing, and she could only feel guilt from it.

Lewis felt his breathing stop. As he then stood up with his phone in hand. "I don't care about the darkness in her. Humans are all two-faced. Dark and light, white and black. But there is no such thing as 'good or evil' every person falls in the grey area of life. If there were such a saint, they wouldn't live long." Lewis responded seriously.

"Honestly, the reason I first became interested in Astrid was because of the darkness within her. The cold and calculative gaze I first saw from her. I guess you could say I fell in love with that." Lewis spoke with a softer tone than before.

As lewis finished his grand speech. The other side was silent. So silent Lewis looked to see if the call was still connected or not.

"Uh. I mean." Lewis then realized what he had just said to Astrid's parents. Did he just confess?

He then heard Mrs. Tuhs giggling, and Mr. Tuhs snorting. Making him realize he had been played. "I don't appreciate hearing that myself. Make sure my daughter hears that, not me. Learning her likes and disliked will take time and more interaction." Mr. Tuhs's tone was considerably lighter than previously. It seemed like he had gained respect for Lewis?

Then the phone hung up. Leaving a rather flustered Lewis to stare at his phone in bewilderment.

But then he cracked a smile. "I see, Making her flustered, make her like me..." Lewis then chuckled to himself. As he understood his plan of attack from now on.