CEO’s Seduction Trap

At that moment, the first thing Leila did after returning home was to call Dasha.

It was late, and Dasha sounded a bit bewildered when she answered, “Leila, is there something wrong calling at this hour?”

“Mom, did anyone contact you today?”

“What? Who contacted me?”

Leila paused for a few seconds, then said firmly, “Since I left Yort City, has anyone given you money or anything else?”

“No.” Despite Dasha’s slow reaction, she began to sense that something was wrong.

“Is something happening?”

Leila didn’t want Dasha to know about the situation in Neo City, but it was hard to avoid it now.

Leila decided to be straightforward, “Mom, I’m going to tell you a few things. Just listen, don’t worry, and don’t feel burdened.”

Upon hearing Leila’s words, Dasha tightened her grip on the phone, “Just tell me directly. I’ve seen enough storms in my life. Don’t worry.”

“Mom, it’s not about me. It’s about Mason. There’s internal strife in his family, and someone is trying to pressure him through me.”

Dasha was taken aback, “…”

Leila continued, “I’ve received numerous calls and messages before, where they offered me money to do things for them.”

“You must never do such things.”

“I haven’t.”

“Are you afraid they’ll try to buy me with money?”

“They’ve already done it, but not to buy you. They must have bought someone else.”

Leila paused for a moment, then truthfully told Dasha about the strange message she received tonight.

After hearing Leila’s account, Dasha was furious, “Who could they have bought?”

Leila had her suspicions by now, but she didn’t want to tell Dasha.

However, Dasha wasn’t naive. Seeing Leila silent, she continued, “Is it your father?”

“I don’t know.”

“If it is him, what will you do?”

Dasha’s tone was full of worry. Leila regretted calling her for a moment.

After a while, Leila took a shallow breath and said, “Mom, as long as you didn’t take that money, I won’t interfere with anyone else.”

After Leila finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the phone.

After about half a minute, Dasha spoke again, “Leila, there are things I want to say. Mason has been good to you. I don’t know what feelings you have for him, but remember this: you don’t have to love him, but you must not betray him.”

“I know.”

Leila held her phone, lost in thought on the couch.

Mason approached, leaning over her, hands braced on the sofa armrests, enveloping her in his embrace. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

Leila looked up. “I was thinking, how did you manage to win over my mom?”

Mason lowered his gaze, appearing thoughtful. After a few seconds, he replied, “Probably with my sincerity?”

Before bed, still concerned about Dasha, she messaged her: [Mom, please don’t worry. Once your surgery is over, I’ll bring you here.]

Dasha didn’t sleep yet, [Hmm, you need to take good care of yourself.].

Leila: [I will.]

Dasha: [Leila, I just want you to be safe and happy.]

Leila: [Mom, don’t worry. I won’t do anything that compromises my principles.]

Dasha hadn’t explicitly mentioned it on the phone earlier, but now her message was clear: [Relationships should be pure. Any impurities spell trouble.]

Looking at the message, Leila was lost in thought for a moment. She simply replied, [I know.]

…

Early in the morning, as Leila slept, her phone on the nightstand suddenly rang.

Tired, she opened her eyes and answered, “Hello.”

An anxious female voice came through the line, “Miss Patel, it’s Lily.”

Lily? She remembered, her assistant at Nova Group.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Leila asked.

Lily sounded on the verge of tears, “Miss Patel, there’s an issue with the project you were managing before. The one with the Ramirez Group.”

“What kind of issue?” Leila frowned.

“There’s been an accident,” Lily sniffled, “Last night, there was a collapse at the construction site. It… it killed two workers.”

Leila was stunned into silence.

Technically, as a former project manager who had already left, she shouldn’t be involved in any way. But somehow, this call came to her.

As she pondered the implications of the call, she asked, “Do I need to cooperate with the investigation?”

Lily responded, “Yes, that’s right.”

Leila asked calmly, “So should I come to the office or go to the site?”

Lily replied, “Come to the office. Mr. Lee said all previous management involved in that project should attend a meeting here.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in an hour,” Leila confirmed.

Initially frantic, Lily had been crying earlier, but now she hesitantly apologized to Leila, “Miss Patel, are you still asleep? Did I disturb your rest?”

Leila understood her predicament and reassured her, “It’s okay.”

After hanging up, Leila got up, washed up, and during a lull in her makeup routine, she sent Mason a voice message: [There’s been an issue with the project that The Ramirez Group and Nova Group collaborated on. Do you know anything about it?]This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Shortly after, as Leila was finishing applying eyeliner, Mason walked in.

“I heard there was a collapse?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure of the details. Did anyone update you?” Leila inquired.

Mason rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows. “Daniel just called me. He mentioned Nova Group reported issues with the construction materials.”

Upon hearing this, Leila turned to him, “Issues with construction materials?”

“Yeah, didn’t anyone inform you?” Mason asked.

Leila replied honestly, “No.”

The two exchanged a few more words, and Leila gleaned some information from Mason that Lily hadn’t mentioned. For instance, the collapse was primarily due to substandard construction materials, and someone had taken hefty kickbacks on the project.

As they drove away, Mason offered to help.

“I’m not as fragile as you might think.”

“Indeed,” Mason nodded.

Forty minutes later, Leila arrived at Nova Group.

It had been some time, but Nova Group seemed unchanged from before.

The receptionist recognized Leila and greeted her warmly, “Miss Patel.”

Leila smiled back, “Good morning.”

A few minutes later, Leila took the elevator straight to Mr. Lee’s office.

Seeing her, Mr. Lee managed a forced smile, “You’re here.”

Leila nodded, “Mr. Lee.”

In Mr. Lee’s office were several people who had been involved in the project’s management.

From project team leaders to vice presidents and directors, everyone appeared serious and cautious, fearing being implicated in the controversy.

Mr. Lee glanced around, took a sip of tea, and said with a serious face, “This is an internal investigation for now. When higher-ups send their people, it won’t be as simple.”

Leila wasn’t sure what Mr. Lee had discussed with these people before. Based on his vague statement and the circumstances, she inferred that he was asking anyone who had taken kickbacks to come forward.

After Mr. Lee finished, the office fell silent, everyone holding their breath.

Mr. Lee, furious, slammed his tea cup onto the desk. “No one’s talking, huh? If no one steps up, I’ll have to ask HQ to send in investigators.”

Someone finally spoke. “Mr. Lee, wasn’t it Miss Patel who drove this project? And I believe she had a good rapport with Enrico, the site supervisor.”

The speaker, Ritchie Coster, a department manager.

Leila knew him-they had clashed once during the election for site supervisor, when he supported his nephew, Enrico, while she voted for Enrico.

All eyes were on Leila to see how she’d react.

“Leila, anything to say?”

She smiled. “Not really.”

Mr. Lee frowned. “No defense?”

“I won’t waste time defending myself against something I didn’t do,” Leila replied calmly.

Mr. Lee coughed but said no more.

Mr. Coster spoke again, “Miss Patel, taking kickbacks isn’t uncommon in our industry. Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but now that it’s out, you need to admit it. Don’t drag us all down.”

Leila had thought he was just suspicious, but it seemed he was accusing her outright.

She glanced at him and mocked lightly, “So you saw me taking kickbacks? Can’t provide any solid evidence, just baseless accusations?”

Mr. Coster said angrily. “Who’s accusing you?”

Leila turned to Mr. Lee. “Mr. Lee, the site collapse and fatalities-it’s beyond our control now.”

Mr. Lee asked carefully, “What do you suggest?”

“We should involve the police.”

“…”

The other managers stayed silent.

Leila understood Mr. Lee was trying to fix things for HQ. Regardless of anyone speaking up today, police and HQ would investigate.

The office door suddenly knocked from outside.

“Come in.”

Lily walked in with a file folder, glancing nervously at the management team in the office.

Mr. Lee tapped his desk impatiently. “Just get to the point.”

Upon hearing Mr. Lee’s words, Lily hurriedly approached, “Mr. Lee, we found something.”

Mr. Lee gestured for Lily to hand over the file.

As he opened the file, the entire management team present held their breath.

After a quick glance, Mr. Lee looked up at Lily. “Are you sure?”

Lily stuttered, “Th-the investigation… it’s conclusive.”

Mr. Lee turned to Leila and asked, “Miss Patel, on the day you resigned from Nova Group, a bank account ending in digits 975 under your name received a transfer of $700, 000. Care to explain what that transaction was for?”