Chapter 6: A Business Proposal

Eve left the office in the evening feeling defeated. After a long discussion with her lawyer, she found out that this would become a very difficult case, mostly because no crime had been committed yet. 

On top of that, Pierre became the manager, according to her order. He wasn't just a random trespasser in her office. 

'Unless Pierre finally does something worse—let's say, sending these confidential documents to the rival companies, then we cannot do anything just yet. It's better to wait and see what he will do,' the lawyer told her. 'He is too dangerous, especially with his family as his backing. Roger Dust has too many good lawyers. They might overturn the verdict if we sue them first.'

Eve didn't like this.

She didn't like the feeling of losing control over her own life, especially when she had been working so hard to maintain order after her messy breakup with Alex two years ago. 

Now that she thought about Alex, she was reminded of how serious he looked in the office as if he truly wanted to help her. 

But the idea of him disappearing for two years after their bad breakup, only for him to act all heroic and loving the moment they met again was so ridiculous in Eve's eyes.

"Come on now, did he think I am still the same stupid girl he dated long ago?" Eve sneered as she parked her car in the basement of her apartment. She didn't leave the car immediately, but her sneer slowly disappeared when she finally saw a man leaning on his car right at the corner of the parking lot. He was watching over her car the whole time. Standing in the empty parking lot, he looked flashy and stood out. It was none other than Alexander Langford. 

"Oh god, that goddamn big bug." Eve cursed under her breath. 

She clenched the steering wheel. Rather than fear of getting stalked and hurt, she was just annoyed by this bastard who suddenly barged into her life again after leaving on such a sour note.

Eve knew that Alex wouldn't hurt her, because when they had a breakup, it was she who became hysterical as she felt like her entire life crumbled in front of her eyes. 

Meanwhile, Alex simply stood still in silence after realizing that he fucked up badly.

Eve opened the car door, and Alex quickly moved to tail her as she paid him no attention and strutted to the elevator.

"Eve, wait!"

"Go away. I told you I could handle this by myself," Eve shooed him away in a hostile tone as she entered the elevator. "Why are you stalking me anyway? Do you not have anything better to do?"

"Trying to talk to you is the better thing to do right now," Alex replied as he followed her into the elevator. "I want to help. No—I need to help you, Eve. This problem with Pierre is not light, especially when my uncle gets involved later."

"Did Andrea tell you everything?" Eve asked.

"That—" Alex was caught off guard by her question. "That's not important."

Ding!

"It is important, but no matter, I know that you must've charmed her with your oh-so-handsome face. She's a big fan of your movies anyway," Eve rolled her eyes and walked out of the elevator towards her apartment unit. "Don't worry, I won't fire her just because of this. I know she means well."

Alex was relieved when he heard that. He knew Eve fairly well, especially after their bad breakup. She cleaned the office, making sure to fire everyone who had been in contact with or was affiliated with him in some way. 

She was ruthless, and unfortunately, Alex had to admit that was one quality that he liked about her. 

She chuckled as if she had read Alex's mind, "I fired those people affiliated with you not because I hate them, but because I hate YOU. There's a difference. I don't want my agency to be filled with a bunch of moles."

Alex pretty much understood that. 

He also had to admit that he planted those moles because he didn't want to let go of her.

When she fired all of them, he realized that she really didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Not that he'd give up, but he had accepted the truth that Eve truly had no good feelings for him anymore. 

They stopped in front of her apartment door, and she used her fingerprint to unlock it, "You should leave. Pierre must've left the apartment destroyed after the stunt he did today. It's not fair for you to see me in shambles again, Alex."

"No, we need to talk about this, Eve. This problem that Pierre created is serious."

"It's still none of your business. I can handle it myself."

Eve entered her apartment. She was about to close the door, but Alex grabbed her door handle and prevented her from closing it.

Eve turned her head and saw Alex staring at her with a solemn gaze, which was very uncommon for him, who always looked cold to many people when he wasn't acting. 

"Both you and I know that you're not okay with this problem. At least let me in so we can talk about this. Treat it as a business meeting between us to tackle a serious problem, because I don't want the company that you built from the ground up to get destroyed so easily," Alex said. "Mark my words, Eve. This is nothing more than a business deal between us. I promise."

Eve was about to reject him again, but the moment Alex mentioned it was nothing more than just a 'business deal', she reconsidered her decision. 

What he said was true.

Rather than getting herself a head-splitting headache to solve the mess that Pierre made, wouldn't it be better to solve it by using this man who was ten times more powerful than Pierre's family would ever be? She could save so much time by getting help from Alex. 

After weighing the pros and cons from a business perspective, she finally opened the door for him and said, "Come in. We have a business proposal to discuss."