301 An Ill-Fated Love Affair 2

"You would do what?" Gale asked, his voice betraying his surprise. Had she went mad?

"You'll get to keep them if I betray you, but if I don't, you'll have to return them to me after everything is solved."

"You have went mad… What will prevent me from keeping them once I do have them? You'll have no power to reclaim what's yours."

Elise smiled at him then, but it was a cold expression, something that didn't fit on her face. "I'll make your life hell in the company. Don't forget that Mark is still the major shareholder."

Her expression softened then, returning to normal. "Besides, my action could hide your deals with Mark. We could sell the sudden friendly relations between our companies as me having fallen for you instead of you and Mark conspiring something together. Horten is growing wary of us, and that's dangerous for everyone."

"You've thought this through," Gale murmured.

Even with his mind almost dead he could see her point. Their pretend relationship would certainly be bought by the media and the masses. They had history, and it would spark hundreds of speculations. The upper echelons wouldn't believe them at first, but if they played their cards right, even those people could be deceived.

After all, everyone knew that Gale was the womanizer of the century and power hungry to his last bone. It would surprise no one if he chose to expand his reach by marrying someone. It was something they actually expected of him.

"Even if I did agree to this charade, and I don't say I will, I still don't understand your motivation. You've got no stakes in this."

It was hard focusing when his mind was frayed to the last nerve, but he couldn't just let her get her way. Despite her words that such an offer would prove her sincerity, he found it even more dubious. What was she getting at?

Elise placed her hands on the table and watched him. "Is it that hard to believe that I just want to help all of you?"

"Impossible," Gale said without a moment's hesitation and stood up. He went to pay for the food and left the shop. Elise was still following him, however.

She walked after him, clearly thinking of new ways to convince him. It was almost admirable how stubborn she was in her pursuit, but Gale had no plans to let her in just because of that. There were many people in the world worth admiration.

"Why wouldn't you agree to the pretense?" Elise asked in the end, hurrying up to walk by his side. Gale didn't know where he was going, but he felt like he shouldn't get a taxi or she'd follow him straight home.

"Because I don't like it. Do you know about my girlfriend?"

"You have a girlfriend?" Elise asked in surprise, her eyes going wide. "I thought you've never been serious with anyone."

Gale smiled. "Exactly. I haven't, and I don't plan to start. Even if it's fake."

There was silence for a moment, then Elise caught his arm. When he glanced back, she gave him a level stare.

"Even if that's bad for your sister? Do you know anything about young girls?"

"What's that to you?" Gale felt his hackles rising. He wrenched his hand free and glared at the woman before him. She might be pretty, but a venomous creature hid within her.

He knew his problems, but that didn't mean he could allow others to exploit them. Anyone who tried deserved to be vaporized on the spot.

"So Iris was right…" Elise murmured to herself, a slight smile on her lips. But the moment she saw his reaction, her amusement disappeared. "I didn't mean anything by that comment."

"Oh really?"

"Well, no. What I was trying to say was that giving her a home isn't enough; you should think about her feelings as well. How often do you bring her out and let her interact with other people? Aren't you just stunting her social growth?"

"What's that to you?"

Gale knew he was repeating himself, but he had a splitting headache, and the last cup of coffee had long lost its power. He could barely remain awake, yet here he was being called upon about abusing his sister, just in a different way than his parents.

Elise threw her hands up in what he guessed was disbelief and frustration. She placed her fingers against her temples as if SHE was the one with a headache and let out a shuddering breath.

"How do I get it through your thick skull that I just want to help all of you? I admire what you and Kyro have achieved and the friendship you share that goes beyond mere business. I think Iris is a great person, trying to help others even if she doesn't always know the best way to do it.

"I watched all of you from afar when you were Mark's rivals, but now we're on the same side, partners even! Why is it so crazy then that I want to help you? If your brain can only see business goals, then see it as me investing in your group's emotional health!"

The crazy woman's cheeks went red from the effort of shouting, but she didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by the couple looks they received from other passers-by. She simply glared at him like he was infuriating beyond belief.

Gale closed his eyes, trying to rearrange his thoughts. It was absolutely inappropriate to consider what it would be like to kiss her at that moment—they were in an argument. It had been started by him admittedly, but he wasn't going to give up on his point just because he found her attractive.

At least not too easily.

Once he thought he could speak normally, he looked back at her. His gaze immediately went to her lips, and he almost face-palmed himself. Turning on his heel, he started walking away.

"Find me when I'm not on the verge of falling asleep, then we can talk."

"Then you won't even see me," Elise retorted. "Don't think I've forgotten how you've been ignoring me for the last couple days. Did you think it was an accident that I came to you at 5 am?

Gale laughed, unable to resist it. Her action was manipulative, but he would have certainly done the same in her position. "If I promise to have a dinner with you two days from now, will you let me go?"

"Today," Eilse said without missing a beat. "And you'll have to seriously consider my offer instead of just refusing it on the basis that you don't want to act serious even for a moment."

She was pushing it, but he inclined his head anyway. "Three o'clock, Mark's place."

"Aren't six hours after an all-nighter a bit too little?"

"It's already a luxury," Gale answered and called a taxi. If he slept anymore than five hours, it was already more than expected. There were just too many things that needed his attention after the love struck fool had ran away.

When taxi came, Elise entered it as well, but Gale didn't care for it. He would leave first and then she can take it to her place.

In the meantime, he tried to remember if he'd forgotten anything. Horten thing was already set up, so as long as no one got wind of it, everything would go without a hitch. Greensten wasn't doing any moves so far and he had gotten some people inside it, but the going was slow.

The main problem thus lay with Homeland. They knew more than they were sharing, and he was having trouble finding their sources. It could have been Greensten, but what about what was happening in Bristol. There had to be some kind of connection there.

As he thought about all that, his mind that had been pushed to its limit gave up on him. It shut down without a warning, and he fell asleep, his head sliding to rest on Elise's shoulder.