The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

“Someone send this to you?” Lily asked as she met up with Mark for dinner after she met with Avon and Celina.

She placed the menu on the table and focused her attention on Mark, after which she immediately noticed the eye bags and his tired eyes.

“You need to sleep.” She blurted out, her voice filled with worry, making Mark’s eyes widen in shock as he let out a small laugh.

“I don’t think I’ll be getting it anytime soon,” he replied.

“Because of this?” She asked and raised the second note in the dessert box. Mark sighed, poured himself a drink, and relaxed into the chair.

“My grandfather is finally ready to announce his successor, and things are getting more complicated than normal,” he explained. “I’m not only going against Frederick this time; I’ll also be going against rivals and even some of the shareholders,” he added with a groan.

“Is that why I got the job to dig dirt on the group? Someone inside the group is trying to threaten you to step down.” Lily asked with a frown, and Mark shook his head.

“That’s probably another case,” he replied, hesitating whether or not to continue. “I had a sister. She died in a car accident ten years ago; she was twelve at the time,” he explained, his expression grim and his eyes unfocused. “They said it was a simple drunk driving incident.”

“And you don’t think it is?”

“Yes,” Mark replied firmly. “I felt something was amiss during that accident; first I was supposed to be in the car that night, not my mom and sister, and then the driver died in the prison; immediately I started looking into the case; coincidentally, his family also relocated,” he explained.

“Someone paid the driver to take the fall,” Lily pointed out with a frown, and Mark gave a nod.

She could understand his frustration and the general situation of things. Even though she was shielded by her mother while growing up, there were lots of things she had experienced. Mostly the competitiveness between those big shots that control the economy. They are people who would do anything to achieve their goals.

Soon, the waitress brought their orders, and they ate in silence, both lost in thoughts about the things in their lives.

“The code you want me to crack?”

“Celina told me Frederick is bothering you.” The two spoke up at the same time.

Realising what they had done, they burst out laughing, the tensions in their shoulders momentarily disappearing.

“You go first,” Mark urged.

“The nut you want me to crack, what is it about?” she asked.

“It’s not a nut, nor is it a difficult case; my grandfather wants me to start managing another part of the group starting next month, and I could feel trapped all around, but I’ve looked into everything and I couldn’t find anything,” he explained, and Lily frowned.

“Not finding anything is even more suspicious and probably more dangerous; you think your grandfather is laying a trap for you?” Lily asked worriedly.

“No, he isn’t the one,” Mark replied and gave a new designer bag to Lily. However, inside the bags were several documents about the case he wanted her to work on.

“The bag is for you.” He winked with a cheeky smile, and Lily blushed just in time for a camera shutter to go off close by. “The trap is either laid by Frederick or his father since they were the ones originally managing the sector,” he continued as he took a sip of his drink.

“Given the situation, they are more desperate to make me fail after the continuous success in recent months. I was set up by Frederick a few days ago when he sent one of his girls to me,” he added.

“How did you manage to escape then?” Lily asked curiously, somehow feeling amused by the thought of Mark being unable to shake off a lady.

“I was informed beforehand, so I was prepared,” Mark replied with a shrug. “Now my turn. Heard he’s been disturbing you; are you okay?”

“I’ve never been better,” Lily replied with a smile. “I need a favour from you, though.” She continued, and Mark urged her forward. “I want to buy shares in Hamilton Group; do you have a way in?”

“Why Hamilton?” he mused

“They’ve got good names, and their shares are cheaper than Watson’s,” Lily replied playfully, making Mark smirk.

“You are dating the heir to the Watson’s group; buying shares shouldn’t be a problem,” he replied cheekily. “I could give you some as a gift this instant,” Lily laughed and rested her hands on the table with a cheeky smile of her own.

“I don’t mind; it would be a plus,” she replied with a shake of her head. “However, I have my reasons to want to buy theirs.”

“You must be aware of their decline then?” Mark asked, and Lily hummed softly. “Are you planning to make them a partner?” He probed further.

“Not exactly; I’ll let you know about my plans later.” Seeing she wasn’t going to explain further, Mark dropped the questioning and sighed.

“Since you are asking for a way to buy their share, you don’t want to buy directly from them, do you?” He asked. “How many do you intend to buy?”

“Well, I intend to buy as many as I can get,” Lily replied and sat back up.

“I’ll look into it for you. Do you want them in your name?”

“Yes please”

Mark nodded, wanting to say something more but decided against it. He called over the waitress and paid for their dinner as he led Lily to his car.

Seeing them getting up to leave, the journalist immediately paid for his food and followed them. As she got out, she noticed the two standing close to each other with their faces inches away from one another. Without hesitating, she picked up the camera and took the picture from an angle that made it look like they were kissing.

She examined the picture and grinned before sending a message to her client. “Done. What should I do with these pictures?”

Soon after, she received a reply. “Do what you can to destroy her image. I want it unwashable.”

Meanwhile, Mark, who was oblivious to what had happened, leaned closer to Lily’s ears and whispered, “You look gorgeous, by the way; I’ve never seen you this dressed up.” He leaned back just to see Lily’s face turn a shade of red in embarrassment. She smiled shyly, feeling her heart flutter at how close and sexy his voice sounded.

Clearing her throat, she gave him a once-over, followed by a satisfied nod. “Thank you; I did put in more effort than normal, and I’m glad you noticed.” She grinned, making him smile.

“Then would you like another dinner with me?… Just me this time, no Celina,” he asked calmly, despite how anxious he felt.

“Of course, I would like another dinner with you… No business talk?” She asked, and he nodded.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“None, it will be us getting to know each other better.”

“Well, then you’ve got yourself a date.”