I was suspicious of his motives for inviting me to dinner. I might be slow to grasp things but I knew when something was wrong.

He was right, I was starving that my stomach gurgled and my mouth watered when I saw the glossy pictures of the temptingly delicious dishes in the menu. My heart sang with joy when I saw my favorite dishes.

I had been dieting for weeks for the bikini photo shoot, finally it was over and tomorrow, the photographer would focus on head shots for their makeup products.

"I want a nasi goreng, baby back ribs, lamb satay, naan, humus, chicken curry and beef broccoli." I said to Dilton when he took our order.

"Yes màam."

"Oops, don't forget a cup of plain rice." I said and that made Dilton's eyes grew bigger.

"Sure maam. Anything else?"

"An Okinawa pearl milk tea, do yo have that?"

"Umm... we'll do our best to get it for you maam."

"Thanks, Dilton."

"Are you sure you can finish all the food you ordered?" Carter said and put down his menu.

"Of course!"

He ordered his food and Dilton left us alone in the private room again.

"I hate it when people waste their food, Athena." Carter said, shaking his head.

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a bitchy look.

"That doesn't bother me, you hate me already." I sipped my wine and leaned closer to him on the table. "So what do you want to talk about the museum? Did you get that International Social Security of Art Appraisers?

"International Society." He corrected and that made me flush. I hated myself sometimes for not being careful in saying things. It made me appear dumber in front of this asshole.

"Whatever." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Actually, I met them this morning that's why I have to talk to you asap. It's a good thing that you're here in the hotel. You made my life easier, thank you."

Jerk! The corner of my lips twisted in a nasty smile and I answered sarcastically. "You're welcome."

"By the way, nice hair. It suits you."

I wanted to slap him senseless to remove that grin off his face! I had to control myself from murdering this barbaric personality animal. I clenched my fist, Lord God help me. This asshole really knew how to make me angry.

"Leave my hair alone, Carter!" I gritted my teeth and looked at him with murderous eyes. "Get down into business, tell me what you've discuss with the appraisers."

"Chill!" He chuckled and that made me hate him more. His eyes grew bigger looking at me like I was the most stupid girl who could not answer one plus one. "That's supposed to be a compliment."

"A compliment from you? No thanks. Nothing changed Carter, you're still a jerk."

"Ha! You're right, nothing changed, you always see me as a jerk."

"It's because you are!"

"I'm not! I wouldn't have graduated Suma Cum laude in Engineering if I'm a jerk. I wouldn't have accomplished building the biggest and grandest seven star hotel in California if I'm a jerk!"

That made me speechless. He's a smart guy, probably the smartest guy I came to know. And I hate him for that.

Still I did not want to be intimated. I would not let him see me weak and inferior because of his educational attainment and achievements.

"You're very arrogant. You think you're a genius!"

"Actually Athena, I'm a genius. Haven't Emerald mentioned to you that I have a 160 plus IQ the same as Albert Einstein?"

I felt like my blood drained off my body because of humiliation. Emerald mentioned about him having 160 plus IQ, but I did not know about the range of a genius. I did not even know who Einstein was, I forgot.

I did not want to be defeated by this guy. I held my head up, lifting my chin and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You may be a genius, but your personality sucks like rotten tomatoes."

That stopped him from talking and gave me a vicious stare. I stared back at him with reproachful eyes. Okay... let the staring game begin.

We stopped when Dilton arrived together with four waiters. The waiters set up another table. I ordered too many food that they would not fit on the table that Carter and I occupied. After they served all the food in front of us, they left us immediately.

The moment the door closed, I dug my nasi goreng immediately. The spoon barely touched my mouth when Carter stopped me.

"You don't pray before you eat?"

"What?" I asked him.

"You should pray before you eat."

The jerk was attacking me again. Making me believe that I was a selfish bitch with no values and ungrateful of God's bountiful blessings.

"I... Of course I pray. I'm so hungry... I'll pray later."

"Why later when you can do it now."

My face flushed as I made a sign of the cross and clasped my hands together. But Carter said the prayers and I listened to him for about two minutes thanking God for the food, the gift of life, creation, friendship and many more. I irked when he mentioned in his prayers to give me a calm mind and to make me behave in a peaceful manner during dinner.

What do he think of me? A chaotic violent wild woman? My goodness, why is it that he wouldn't stop provoking me?

The moment he said amen, I dug on my food eating all of it heartily.

"Slow down."

I looked up and saw Carter haven't touched anything. He seemed enjoying seeing me eat.

"I'm starving. I haven't eaten well for days."

"You asked for it. Why work as a model when you can run your own company."

"I can't."

"You can't or you won't?" Carter took a spoonful of his bird's nest soup and put it inside his mouth.

"Both." I answered honestly. "It's not my thing."

"So modelling is your thing."

"Yeah. I prefer it, it's not too complicated."

"Why? Are you scared of complications? You can hire someone to run a business for you. I'm sure there's a lot of loyal and trusted employees in your dad's company that you can lend to work for you just for a start."

"It's not that easy."

He heaved a sigh and looked at me intently. "I don't understand. Why you always like easy things? Life is not easy Athena, it's full of struggles. You have to work hard, harder to reach to the top. The more struggles you experience, the more you would achieve your dreams."

"Stop it Carter, you're giving me a headache. We're here to talk about the museum, remember? Not to give me lectures about what to do with my life."

"Yeah, I know it's not my business. But I could not help it, you'll be marrying my cousin soon. You'll be part of our clan."

I heaved a long sigh and put down my fork. "What is really your problem Carter? Do you have a problem of me marrying Zion?"

He glared at me and pressed his lips together. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Asshole!" I muttered under my breath.

"Look at you, you're flaunting you naked body to the whole world! Everyone in this whole damn planet knew about that mole in your inner thigh, that chicken pox mark on your left breast and that... that... little dimple on your butt. Why the hell did you sign up for that kind of modelling ads! For heaven's sake, they made you look like a porn star!

I was so shocked hearing what he said. I was caught off guard. My temper flared up and my brain was in turmoil-- furious, confused and really bothered. I could not let him humiliate me... not anymore. I was thinking of a good comeback, but I guessed this time I did it so wrong.

My knife and fork clattered as I put it down abruptly on table with a bang. My eyes directed at him, like a mad killer.

"Do you think I enjoyed being fantasised by perverts? Everytime I posed almost naked, I loathed myself. I wanted it to stop--- but I can't. I was stubborn, wanting to experiment being independent and craving for my freedom. I signed that damned contract without reading it's content. But God knows I tried, but everytime... I get so dizzy, the letters and numbers turned like ripples... " I bit my lips, shaking my head. I was holding my tears because I did not want him to see me cry. Never. I would never ever cry in front of this beast. "I have dyslexia, Carter. The worse dyslexia ever. I hope you're happy now that you know."