"I bet this 'special guest' or company as you call him, is the showstopper, huh?" She did not bother to hide the ridicule in her tone as she taunted. She enjoyed seeing her parents so riled up, especially because there wasn't much they could do about it because they were trying to curry her favor.

As if on cue, the guest arrived. It was just as she predicted. A man whose first reaction was to glance in her direction. She would forgive him if all he did was look at her but he had to go and ruin it by letting his eyes trail down her chest.

​​

She knew that she was wearing a blouse that was a little low cut but so what? It was not for him to look at as though he couldn't wait to burn her clothes off her body. Her stomach churned in disgust.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was a bit caught up trying to get my niece off me." He apologized as she looked at them, explaining what must be the tale he came up with on the spot.

"She sounds like a cute clingy one. You should have brought her along." Mrs. Morel laughed slightly. "We wouldn't mind an adorable guest and Mena likes kids."

"Is that so?" The man looked pleased, which was probably what her mother wanted to achieve.

"Mena, this is Raynold Mark. You must have heard about him." Her mother introduced him sweetly. She was probably the only woman who would smile at the man who just eye-f*cked her daughter. How unique.

"I haven't." She said coldly. "And I don't like kids. You don't know me well enough if you think I do."

Her mother was awkward for a moment but she did not take the cue to let it drop. She went ahead to introduce the man in detail while ignoring the second part of her outburst. "Raynold works for Twilight. His father is one of the major shareholders of Twilight and owns several hotel chains in Europe."

Ximena wanted to roll her eyes. What did she have to do with Twilight? Were they going to sell her off because they wanted some business deal with Twilight?

She sucked in a breath to stop herself from hurling curses at them. "I still have something to do. Why don't you guys enjoy your dinner as you catch up on baby clothing brands and all that?"

"You cannot walk out on us." Her father warned. They had spent a lot of effort on this and they were not going to let her ruin it.

As though reading their minds, she deliberately let her cutlery clash onto her plate to make an ear-piercing noise. "Hell yes, I can."

"It's okay. Ximena must be busy. I looked her up and her company is at the rising phase. It's also the most delicate phase and needs a lot of concentration." Raynold spoke up in an attempt to get on her good side. He had something else coming for him.

"I'm glad you understand. Do you think you can give her a hand?" Her mother grabbed the chance to toss her onto Raynold's path.

"Of course." He generously agreed, but it was obviously because he didn't mind spending a little more time with her to check her out and probably try more perverse acts on her. Yet, they were directly giving her to him.

Disgust filled her eyes as she stood. "Excuse me."

"Let Raynold drop you off." Her father spoke.

"I drove here." She rejected the offer, not that she would have agreed if she had taken a cab here. She would rather run back to her apartment than be in the same enclosed space as him. If they pushed it, the next thing they would find would be his body floating on the river near their neighborhood.

"I'll walk you out." The pervert followed her before she had a chance to say no. She snickered under her breath and let him walk to his death.

"What do you want?" She asked him as soon as they got to the doorstep.

He pretended to be a gentleman. "I'm sorry that my presence made you uncomfortable. I only wanted to befriend you. If you dislike it, I will not appear before you."

She smiled at his fake promise. "Good. Keep your word later." After walking two steps, she turned and looked him over her shoulder to let him get close. "What do they want in exchange?"

"What?"

"They are trying to push me to you. What's in it for them?" She asked more directly.

"Their business is going downhill. They need my family's help." He explained and thought she would start sobbing and beg him to help them. His fantasy of controlling her shattered along with his balls when she kneed them. He groaned in pain as he clutched his crotch.

"That's to thank you for letting me know." She smiled and walked off. She would 'thank' him later for looking at her the way he did.

….

Arriving at her apartment, she did nothing but lay in her bed with no desire to do anything. She couldn't fall asleep either so she ended up tossing and turning, and hugging a pillow. Just when she was about to resort to taking some wine to make her drowsy, her phone rang. It was only then that she realized it was 11pm. She didn't even realize that she had been waiting for Liam's call until she saw his name flash on the screen.

"Hey, are you still alive?" He made fun of her situation as soon as she answered the call.

"My parents tried to sell me off. Can you believe it?" She was pissed off now that she talked about it.

"No. Who would dare to sell a devil? She could kill you right there and then." He was still joking and teasing her.

"Ha-ha. So funny." She wanted to beat him up.

He had the audacity to laugh. "But for real. If I were them, I would be paying someone to take you and not accepting anything in return."

"Am I that bad?" She exaggerated, trying to sound pitiful but only ended up sounding funny.

"In their eyes, yes." He said. "Because they are fools. You can't expect a fool to see jewels the same way a wise person sees them. The former will find it worthless but the latter will treasure it."

A smile snuck onto her face. "That's the best thing I've ever heard from you."

"It's true." He emphasized.

"Even though you think I'm a devil?" She asked tauntingly.

"Yes. A devil with a charming side." He chuckled on the other end.

She imagined the smile on his handsome face as she asked, "So, did I charm your socks off? Or is it your pants?"

"My boxers, actually." He sounded like he was joking but she could not be so sure.

Her eyes widened. "You mean…"

"What are you wearing?" His deep voice cut her off.

"Hell no!" Her voice pitched before she caught her senses back. "Wait." Did he just ask her that? It wasn't something she would expect of him but she didn't feel repulsed either. She thought for a moment and glanced down at her tank top and shorts. "Nothing. I'm wearing nothing."

He muttered a curse under his breath and ended the call, then he called again but it was a video call this time.

"Why did you switch to video call?" She asked before she remembered that she was not wearing nothing. It was too late as she had already answered it.

"To call you out on lying. I knew you had your clothes on." With the angle of his gaze, she knew what he was looking at. While she felt repulsed by Raynold looking at her boobs, it was the opposite when Liam did the same.

She held the front of her tank top with a teasing smile." I can correct that."

"It's much safer not to." He warned.

Her hand pressed her chest slightly as she teased the top. "Your eyes say otherwise."

"Stop doing that."

"May I know why exactly I should stop?" She asked the obvious.

He looked speechless. "Do you want me to lower the phone? I'm not wearing anything. Do you want to see?"

Her face heated up. "On second thought, we should go to sleep."

"Probably." He watched as she rolled to her side to hug her pillow. He wished he could replace it.

"Ximena," He called before she could end the call.

"Yeah?"

"Do think of me when you get your BOB down there." He instructed.

"BOB?" She looked onto the screen, puzzled by his words.

"Battery operated boyfriend, Ximena. Also known as vibrator."