Midnight Bride The CEO’s Temptation

Crystal stood up, nodded to her father, and said, "Alright then, I should get going."

"Wait!" Todd exclaimed, practically shouting. "I have something to tell you..."

Crystal sighed impatiently and said, "Go ahead."

Todd: "Crystal, after your mother committed suicide, I went to see her psychologist."

Crystal froze. "You did?"

"I did," Todd replied. "And he said that guilt was the cause of her depression.. She was cheating on her investments."

Crystal: "Wait a minute. Are you saying that she got depressed because she was cheating on her investments?"

"That's what I'm saying," Todd replied. "She was cheating on her investments. She sent the money to the same account. I can't find out who the account belongs to. I wanted to tell you earlier, but a lot has happened lately."

"I don't believe you," Crystal said belligerently.

"Don't you?" Todd asked. "Don't you think it's suspicious that your mother gave your inheritance to Mr. Davis?"

Crystal began to panic. Suddenly, the room felt narrow, and the air seemed very thin. "I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said. "I already told you that I had to leave." She was calm on the surface, but the thoughts in her head were raging like a storm. She had always wondered why her mother had chosen to give her inheritance to Nathan, and when Todd pointed out her concerns, it made her feel like she was going crazy.

***

Crystal looked calm on the outside, but on the inside, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. Ever since her mother's death, she had wanted to know why Nathan had received her inheritance, and the questions that often came to her mind caused her a lot of stress. Thus, when her father brought the topic up, she began to panic.

Walking out of the hospital, Crystal felt as if her feet had been dipped in the lead, and every step seemed harder to take than the last had. She trusted her father not to lie to her, but something didn't seem right with what he'd said. She thought that he might be using her to try and kill his rivals, and that didn't sit well with her.

Crystal walked aimlessly down the street, taking random turns here and there, and was surprised to discover that her feet took her to the front steps of the Brilliant Group's HQ. She stopped for a second, and then she went inside. Since she was there anyway, she had something she needed to talk to her husband about.

Andy was just getting out of the elevator, and when he saw her, he rushed over to welcome her. Crystal smiled, but his eager behavior put her off. It felt false somehow.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for President Davis," Crystal replied. She gave the man a quick lookover, and it occurred to her that he had changed a lot since they'd last seen each other.

Andy: "President Davis is in the office. I will open the door for you."

Crystal: "Don't bother. I'll do it by myself." Crystal took the elevator up to Nathan's office. She went in without knocking, and when she saw the way he was bent over at his desk, she frowned. He had his right index finger and thumb pressed against his temples, his eyes were slightly closed, and she could tell that he was in pain - so much so that he wasn't even aware of her presence.

Nathan's thin lips were slightly closed, and his eyebrows were twisted together. Through the haze of pain, though, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It was a familiar sweet orange flowery fragrance. He looked up and asked, "When do you get here? Does your stomach still hurt?"

Crystal walked over to him, climbed into his lap, and nodded. Nathan frowned at her. "Then what are you doing here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I want to stop the acquisition of Henry Group," she replied.

Nathan pulled Crystal's hair. He seemed to have known Crystal's decision in advance. "I think that's a bad idea," he said. "This is a good opportunity. You will regret it if you let it go."

Crystal squealed in pain, and when he let her go, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Why is that? Why will I regret it?"

"You will see," he replied ominously.

Crystal shook her head and said, "I don't believe you."

Nathan smirked and said, "You have to believe me. You have no choice."

"At least give me a reason," Crystal said. "If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, then I want you to stop the acquisition of The Henry Group. I swear I will not regret it. And besides, you said that the choice was mine!"

Nathan shrugged and said, "Fine. Have it your way, but don't say that I didn't warn you. I will call off the acquisition. Are you satisfied?"

Crystal forced herself to smile and said, "Thank you." She climbed off of Nathan's lap and walked to the door. When she turned to say goodbye, though, she saw that he was scowling at her. "What is it?" she asked unhappily.

Nathan: "Is that it?"

Crystal: "What do you mean?"

Nathan was about to speak, but before he could get a word in, Andy hurried in and said, "President Davis, something important has come up!"

Nathan looked at Crystal and said, "I will have my driver take you back. We'll talk later."

Crystal nodded and left the room. After she was gone, Andy handed over some documents to Nathan, saying, "I just found the account that the money was transferred from. Mary received 100,000 dollars from a man named Hans."

"What do you know about this guy?" Nathan asked.

Andy: "Only that Ms. Smith's mother, Elsa, once remitted a large amount of money into his account. This suggests that he and Jessica have had an improper relationship."

Nathan tapped his finger on the table, meditated for a moment, and muttered, "So, Jessica was the cause of Elsa's depression."

Andy: "It would seem so..."

***

After leaving Brilliant Group's HQ, instead of asking Nathan's driver to take her home, Crystal decided to walk to a nearby bookstore so that she could buy some books. She wanted to learn more about the Host position that she'd applied for. She'd heard that there would be a written test, and she was anxious to begin her studies.

The sun was hot, so there were not many pedestrians, and Crystal found herself enjoying the leisurely stroll. She kicked at a stone and stopped to watch it bounce into the street.

Suddenly, Crystal began to feel as if she were being followed. When she looked around her, though, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just to be sure, she hid behind a bonsai tree that had been planted in front of a bakery.