Semua Bab The CEO’s Obsession: Layla, You’re Not Allowed to Die: Bab 701 - Bab 710

Just as Layla hung up the phone, William’s name popped up on the screen.She raised the phone to her ear again. “Mr. Lucas, what brings you calling at this hour?”“And Miss Xander, what brings you free enough to pick up?”Their polite exchange hinted at the same thing—they were both busy with work.Layla smiled. “I just got off a call with Hannah. I was about to head out for work.”“Was it about her resignation?” William asked.“Yeah,” Layla exhaled lightly. “At first, I was worried her family pressured her into it, but turns out it was her own decision.“She actually sounded okay on the phone. Pretty upbeat, really.”After saying that, Layla added smoothly, “So, did you need something?”“No.”William stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing out at the skyline. His reflection in the glass was faint and blurred, but what he saw in his mind was the bright, smiling face of Layla.He had just wrapped up a conversation with Xavier. For no reason at all, he found himself thin

In the distance, the bonfire suddenly flared up, drawing cheers from the crowd.Gwen snapped out of her daze, shaken by Layla’s presence. By then, Layla had already stepped up beside her.“If you’re all that concerned about the future of Perry Corporation,” Layla said calmly, “then wait until the final round of internal interviews is over. Once the new executive takes over, go interview them.“Instead of latching onto me like this, ask yourself—are you really interested in Perry Corporation, or are you just chasing the controversy surrounding me?“You call yourself a professional financial journalist, but this is what you’ve chosen to dig into? Maybe I overestimated you, Miss Harris. I thought you were different.”Her voice, carried by the evening breeze, poured into Gwen’s ears like a bucket of ice water. She stood there frozen, stunned in place.By the time Layla walked away, Olivia had come over and called her name several times before Gwen finally turned her dazed eyes toward

“Get in touch with my assistant.”That was all William said before hanging up. Gwen didn’t even get the chance to say “thank you.”She slowly lowered her phone. She should have felt relieved but all she felt was hollow.Had things between them really grown so distant?*Later that afternoon, her plane landed in North City.Without stopping to rest, Gwen rushed to the newsroom. On the way, she got a text from William’s assistant confirming the interview time and location.As soon as she stepped into the office, a colleague pulled her aside.“Well?” he asked nervously. “Did you get the Layla Xander interview?”“No,” Gwen replied honestly.The colleague threw his hands up like it was the end of the world. “We’re doomed. If even you couldn’t land that interview, then there’s no hope for a front-page story this week.“You have no idea. While you were gone, the editor’s been like a walking firecracker. Nothing makes her happy. She’s been ripping into everyone, one by one. We were

“Chris, we have a guest,” Xena said sweetly, her voice soft and saccharine.“I’m not blind!” Chris snapped, his frustration boiling over. “Answer my question first!”Back when Xena had come to the hospital and asked him to return to the company to help stabilize things, he had only agreed for the sake of their father. Privately, he had made a deal with her. He would step in to help, but in return, she had to keep a low profile and avoid upsetting their dad.He had lied to their father, and in doing so, trusted Xena to hold up her end of the bargain—at least until their father was well enough to leave the hospital.But now, while their father was still recovering, she had gone behind his back and contacted a financial journalist. Once that interview went public, the truth would come out and the lie he told would fall apart on its own.“I never meant to upset Dad,” Xena said with an innocent shrug. “I just want to make things easier for business meetings. I’ve taken over the compa

Three days later, Gwen arrived at YT Corporation’s headquarters right on schedule. Following the assistant’s lead, she was escorted into the reception room to wait for William.She sat on the sofa with her interview notes clutched tightly in her hand. Without realizing it, her palms were beginning to sweat.“You okay?” the accompanying cameraman asked with concern. “You don’t look so good.”“I’m fine,” Gwen replied, shaking her head. “Probably just didn’t get enough sleep.”Since her last meeting with Chris, she had been buried in research, digging into cases of hostile takeovers from recent years. She had pulled two all-nighters in a row.And on top of that, her formal interview with Xena was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. That meant as soon as today’s interview wrapped, she would have to rush back and finish writing up William’s feature.The thought of another sleepless night made her temples throb.Just then, the door opened.Gwen instinctively looked up and met Willi