CHAPTER 20: CHAPTER 20: VASTREACH HEIRESS

"I need to see your payment within three days, or I’ll take the contract to your parents."

The young men wore faces of anguish.

This wicked woman!

Before leaving, Paige Sterling patted Miles Morgan on the shoulder, "You won’t regret this, young man."

Miles Morgan, "..."

I totally regret it now.

Paige Sterling, "Alright, cheer up, don’t look so unwilling, or people might think I’m forcing you."

Everyone, "..."

Isn’t this coercion?

Julian Hawthorne kept watching the booth.

You could tell just by looking that those young men were no good, and he knew Paige Sterling had nothing to do with them.

He thought there might have been some kind of incident when Paige went inside.

But nothing happened; those people looked like they’d seen a ghost when they saw Paige, and within ten minutes, Paige came out.

It was clear Paige was in a good mood and even greeted him as she walked over.

"Mr. Hawthorne, do you want to play a little longer?"

Without waiting for Julian to answer, she said to herself, "I’m heading off then."

Julian’s voice was indifferent, "Let’s go together."

Paige was about to say something when Julian mentioned, "I placed that stone in my garden, makes for a nice display."

Paige looked at Julian like he’d lost his mind.

Shouldn’t Julian have taken the stone somewhere to study it? He really put it in the garden as decor?!

"Want to take a look?"

Paige nodded, nodded intensely.

If Julian was really squandering such a treasure, she’d consider buying it back from him.

Paige, who was often simple-minded about social matters, didn’t realize Julian had set a trap for her and just went along with him.

When she arrived at Julian’s house, she realized it was quite close to where she lived, within walking distance.

As soon as she entered Julian’s villa, she spotted the stone.

Fifteen million spent on this thing, and Julian actually used it like a doorkeeper, too casual.

Paige sighed and was about to ask if Julian would consider selling the stone, when he said, "I can give you the stone."

Paige, "!?"

Julian looked at her with his eyes, "Miss Sterling, you should take things less lightly."

"What?"

"You should fulfill promises you make to others, we signed a contract, after all, in black and white, don’t you think?"

Julian then brought out the treatment contract that Paige had signed.

It finally dawned on Paige that she had promised Julian to have lunch with him every day, something she had completely forgotten in the past few days.

Once she got busy, she entered this kind of state.

So was Julian reminding her on purpose?

Seeing her clueless expression, Julian’s voice had a warmth Paige couldn’t quite discern.

"Consider that stone my investment."

Paige’s eyes lit up, "Really? Then I’ll count you in for a ten percent share."

Seeing Julian not speaking, she thought he found ten percent too little, "I give others only zero point five percent."

Julian still said nothing, so Paige gritted her teeth, "Twenty percent at most, not a penny more."

Julian murmured an agreement, twenty percent was indeed more than others would get.

As Paige left Julian’s house, still thinking about the stone, Julian said, "I’ll have it delivered to you tomorrow."

Paige thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe keep it here for now, I don’t have space for it yet."

"Alright."

As Paige walked out, she noticed Julian was following behind; he casually said, "I’ll walk you home."

"No need, it’s quite close."

Julian said nothing more, but insisted on his decision to see Paige home with his actions.

Finally, he watched her go upstairs and only left when the light in her apartment turned on.

His villa had a fantastic location, from the second floor, he could see the lights from Paige’s place.

Whenever he saw the lights come on, he’d know Paige was home; when they went off, he’d know she’d gone to bed.

He’d done this for years, never daring to take a step closer, because in his eyes, Paige was just a pampered girl; if she saw him as a monster, would she be scared?

Yet now, everything seemed different.

Paige wasn’t soft at all; she wasn’t afraid of him.

Even when he and she touched, there was no unusual reaction.

When he thought fate had completely blocked his path, a window opened, showing him he had the right to love, the chance to be by her side.

He realized he couldn’t let Paige go.

No way, not even if he were to die!

...

Rich second-generation kids grouped together in cliques; the ones taken care of today were just one of those. Paige decided to keep at it and go after the next group.

So the very next day, Paige went back to the club.

Those who had seen her yesterday quickly avoided her today, keeping far away.

Who knew what kind of scary weapon this woman carried?

Paige scanned the booth area and headed directly for the VIP rooms upstairs.

Even the staff didn’t dare to stop her.

Paige opened one of the VIP suite doors.

Inside sat a group of men and women; Paige recognized a few familiar faces, confirmed their identities, then walked in.

The people inside were puzzled.

"Who are you?"

"Seems like that celebrity who announced their retirement from the entertainment industry a while ago."

One of them stroked his chin, revealing a knowing smile, "Probably here looking for a sponsor, quite carefree, eh?"

The young guys laughed, "Superstar, here to hang out with us? We like you, come over."

Paige walked over, and one of the young men reached out to pull her.

Paige kindly warned,

"Don’t touch me casually, I’m an electrifying woman."

"Oh, interesting, I like that," the young man thought Paige was flirting, didn’t pay it any mind, and reached out to grab her again.

But the moment his hand touched Paige, his entire body convulsed, and his fingers seemed glued to her, unable to shake free.

After a moment, he was flung off, although his mouth, eyes, and nose were all electrically distorted.

He looked at Paige in horror.

The others exchanged glances; one, disbelieving, also tried to touch Paige, and ended up with an equally twisted expression.

Paige, "I told you not to touch me, why don’t you listen?"

Paige sat down, and the others immediately backed away in fear.

One swallowed hard and asked, "What do you want...?"

"Why so tense? I just wanted to have a chat since we’re all in the same circle."

Everyone, "..."

But we don’t know you... and definitely don’t want to know someone as freaky as you...

"Oh, let me introduce myself; I’m Paige Sterling, the daughter of Jared Sullivan, CEO of VastReach Group."

"You’re VastReach’s heiress?!"