"No, thanks. I have a meeting to attend. I'll take my leave now."

As soon as the Last word left his Lips, Adrian scampered to the door, a knot of worry churning in his gut that Theodore might take his jest seriously.

* After the interview, Ariana returned to the Anderson family's mansion. The whole place was quiet. In the garden, Judy was the only soul watering the plants.

Ariana paced around the house and realized Theodore was yet to come back. She slumped on the couch in the Living room, feeling a tinge of boredom. Fumbling through her pockets, her fingers brushed against Adrian's business card. Her mind wandered off to him, and she began to fret.

Was Adrian's interest in her merely an attempt to trade her body for the job?

If it were, and she passed the interview, should she accept the offer or not?

If she didn't, she would be letting go of an excellent opportunity to prove herself. If she did, she would be a puppet in his hands.

These thoughts troubled Ariana, and she let out a sigh.

Living in this society was a daunting task, full of snares and pitfalls lurking around every corner.

With a despondent expression, Ariana took out her phone and searched for Adrian's information on the Internet.

Bored and uninterested, she skimmed through his resume and pictures before turning her attention to Holden Fredrick-the current CEO of the BRD Group, who Ariana suspected to be the same man as Theodore earlier.

Holden was a man shrouded in mystery, an enigma that left Ariana intrigued. Despite her best efforts, she found no substantial information about him on the Internet-no past experience, no identity, and no photos.

But Ariana refused to give up. She scoured the depths of the web, determined to uncover even a sliver of information about the enigmatic CEO. And after a Long and arduous search, she finally stumbled upon a grainy photo taken in secret by a paparazzo. Despite the poor quality, Ariana could tell that Holden was tall and had a strong, chiseled jawline.

As she studied the photo intently, Ariana felt a strange sense of deja vu wash over her. It was as if she had seen this man before.

“What are you doing?" Without warning, Theodore's voice echoed through the living room, causing Ariana to jump and almost drop her phone.

She scrambled to put it away as he appeared behind her Like a ghost. Trying to hide her unease, she rose from the sofa and chided him, "Why must you sneak up on people like that? It's beyond frightening.”

Theodore's frown deepened as he sneered at her.

“If you didn't do anything wrong, you wouldn't feel guilty," he stated coldly, making Ariana roll her eyes inwardly.

As she prepared to leave, Theodore wheeled himself over to her with a casual air, his handsome features indifferent. He sized her up as though choosing an inconsequential item.

Despite Ariana's composure, she couldn't shake the feeling of unease his gaze brought upon her.