CHAPTER 4: A DEAL WITH MY FATHER-IN-LAW

ETHAN

My eyes searched his.

An offer?

Could it be money?

I shook my head.

My father-in-law was rich enough to rival my father's consortium and still be victorious. Why then would he need money from me, an heir who hadn't truly taken over?

Looking into those hypnotic blue eyes, numerous ideas flashed through my head, but none of them were worthy of the man before me.

To make him my sharpest weapon against my enemies, to make him willingly stay with me... No.

Leander wouldn't have to fight my battle. Instead, I would make those scummy couples regret everything with my own hands.

But to live after that, I needed Leander.

I needed a place around him—a reason to make him stay with me.

What then would it be?

Right then, my phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts.

I gently pulled back from Leander and picked up my phone from my pocket to check.

Vesper...

The name peered back at me through the phone's screen, and my eyes darkened.

My hold on the phone tightened.

With a long sigh, I ended the call and pushed the phone back to my pocket.

I hadn't even removed my hand from it when it vibrated with a message.

The frown on my face deepened. I glanced at Leander, who shrugged lightly and picked up his drink.

My thoughts swirled.

I brought out the phone to check the message. A bitter smile formed on my lips as I read the seemingly worried message from my best friend, Nick.

Mr Vesper was worried about me. He called Nick to ask about me.

I read the message repeatedly, and my smile widened.

How had I never noticed this before?

Thinking about the past, I realized the two had shown me many signs, but it seemed I was too blind to the truth.

Many days, I would meet Nick at my house when I returned from outside.

Nick would be the first to tell me things about Vesper. Things I should have been the first to know as his partner.

Nick knew a lot more about him. Too much.

Yet, I never for once doubted them.

Perhaps I was too silly. Perhaps it was my silliness that cost me my child.

My breath became shaky.

My fingers turned sweaty as I forcefully slammed the phone on the table before me while my other hand clenched tightly.

But this lifetime would be different.

Even if I had only three years left... it would be enough to drag them to hell.

Raising my head, my lips trembled when I saw my father-in-law staring back at me.

His cool gaze held mine, flashing with words I couldn't comprehend.

But then it dawned on me___

What my father-in-law needed wasn't money, nor was it properties.

I pressed back the discomfort and sadness in my heart. My eyes grew confident as I kept my eyes on him, ignoring the fast beating of my chest.

"How about offering you what you need the most, father-in-law?" I rested my elbow on the table before me and shifted closer to him.

My face was inches away from his.

His long eyelashes fanned down, hiding any change that might have occurred in his eyes.

But I wasn't much different.

My hand on the table trembled coldly with each second that passed.

My thoughts bordered on messy, and so did my head.

But I pressed back.

I had to make him stay.

"Father-in-law," I called softly, staring at his long nose. "I will give you what you need the most," I murmured.

Leander's eyes parted, looking into mine intensely. "And what is it?"

Close. It was too close.

My blood ran hot.

"You want control," I said calmly.

"I’ll give you something better—an heir that belongs only to you."

The air stilled.

Leander's eyes flickered, and he abruptly moved back, creating a distance between us. "You are drunk." He said deeply.

He grabbed the cup on the table and drank it all at once.

My brows creased.

Drunk?

I didn't think so.

"I'm not." I sat upright and crossed my legs.

"This is a deal, father-in-law. It's nothing complicated."

"You give me what I need, and I will give you an heir." I smiled at him. "Isn't that what you need the most?"

Leander threw away the almost burnt tobacco and brought out another.

He gracefully lit it up and brought it to his lips.

My eyes followed his movement, stopping at his thin and dry lips.

"What do you say?"

Leander breathed out. With it was the silver color of a true tobacco. "I don't need an heir." He tapped the table lightly. "I already have one."

"He's adopted." I interrupted. "Also, he might not live long enough to survive you."

Leander's eyes flashed. His brows raised.

"Don't you think you need a real one. Your flesh and blood, who wouldn't betray you in your old age?"

He paused.

Vesper would.

I hadn't seen him do it or show it, but from his words in my last life, I could tell he would betray Leander sooner or later.

Vesper was greedy. Greedy enough not to even spare his first child.

Leander puffed out the smoke in his mouth. He sipped his drink and stood up. "I don't do forbidden." He held the tobacco with his lips as he meticulously arranged his suit.

I reached out. But he grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

His fingers tightened briefly around my wrist before letting go___ firm, controlled.

“Don’t test me, Ethan.”

"You belong to my son." He said and turned around to leave.

I stood up, blocking him.

He was taller. Tall enough for his figure to loom over me even when I was the one blocking his way.

He lowered his head to look at me. "What?" His voice was cold.

"I do not belong to your son," I said word by word.

The thought of belonging to Vesper again in this life made me so disgusted that my stomach twisted.

But Leander's expression remained the same. He didn't believe me.

I tilted my head to the side as a small smile surfaced on my face. "Father-in-law, do you believe me?"

"No."

My chest tightened with anger. Even my face twitched. But I held back.

"Your son had never touched me." My eyes were firm. "Not once."

"He should have... tonight."

I closed my eyes briefly. "But we didn't."

His gaze remained sharp.

"If you investigate, you'll know I'm telling the truth."

I looked into his dark eyes, and my expression tightened. "Help me ruin him, Leander," I murmured.

"And I will give you something your son never could."