Chapter 8 A Valuable Ring

"What trick are you trying to play?"

Maurice bent over and whispered in Eliana's ear. The feeling of his hot breath on her skin made her tremble.

"Don't touch me." Eliana struggled uncomfortably. "I saved you from the hands of a rich woman's husband. Are you going to repay my kindness with ingratitude?"

'A rich woman's husband?'

Maurice didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

She still thought that he was a male prostitute...

Was she pretending or was she truly confused?

He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

While he was distracted, Eliana pulled herself free of his grasp. She raised her eyebrows. "You're still young, so you'd better find a decent job," she said fiercely. "Prostitution isn't a permanent solution."

Maurice was speechless.

The silence was broken by Eliana's phone ringing.

Eliana gave him a warning glare and stepped aside to answer the call.

"Eliana! How dare you?! How dare you hit Mr. Blake?" Gabrielle roared.

Eliana placed a hand on her forehead and explained, "It wasn't me..."

Strictly speaking, she hadn't done anything to Antwan.

"I was going to ask for a settlement, but you screwed it up completely!" Gabrielle interrupted in a sharp voice. "As for the cost of losing this project and paying Mr. Blake's medical fees, you will be responsible for both!"

Gabrielle hung up the phone abruptly.

Eliana felt her heart sink as the dial tone rang in her ear.

"Who scolded you?" Maurice looked at her calmly.

Eliana glared at him. "It's all your fault!" she snapped. "I messed up my job because I saved you. Don't try to stay out of this. Give me your phone number."

She took out her phone and held it out to him.

Maurice looked down at the phone. "That's a poor reason to get my phone number."

'Damn you!'

"Don't try to run away!" Eliana shoved her phone towards him and growled, "Hurry up! Give me your number!"

'She is kind of cute,' Maurice remarked inwardly.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly before taking the phone and typing in his number. Then he heaved a falsely sad sigh and stated, "You know, I haven't had any business in a long time. I finally made a deal today, but then your ruined it."

"I did that to save you! Why can't you distinguish right from wrong? Which is more important, business or life?"

"Fine. How about I repay you with my body and have sex with you for one night?"

"What? Have sex with me? Absolutely not!"

Eliana glared at him again.

He handed her the phone, then raised her chin and gave her an intense stare. "If you want compensation, I have a valuable ring which has been in my family for generations. But after we slept with each other five years ago, I couldn't find it. I suspect..."

'A ring?'

A hazy picture flashed through Eliana's mind.

Yes... She seemed to remember a ring...

The incident had been so sudden and her memory of it was blurred.

"It wasn't me! Don't blame me."

She was nervous. Surely a famous male prostitute's ring would be extremely expensive. Did he want her to compensate for it?

Maurice squinted as if peering through her disguise. "Really?"

"Yes, yes!"

'She is lying. It's bold of such a little thing to play tricks on me. Let's see if she's still smiling tomorrow!'

Maurice shot a cold glance at her while he removed his hand. He dialed a number. "Drive the car here."

The lack of emotion in his voice made Eliana shiver. "Wait, what did the ring look like?"

Maurice acted like he hadn't heard her question.

Soon an Aston Martin sped over and came to a stop in front of them.

Maurice stepped forward and opened the car door.

Eliana's mouth fell open. 'This is his car?'

Maurice disappeared into the back seat. Eliana wanted to follow, but the door slammed shut in her face.

The engine roared and the Aston Martin drove away, leaving her alone on a remote street.

Eliana clenched her teeth and took out her phone to call a taxi. Then she saw the new number in her phone.

"Preston Archer!"