Filed to story: Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel >>
“Anastasia, do you hear me?” Felicia raised her voice.
Abruptly, Anastasia came back to her senses and realized that she was being called. She quickly— nodded. “Oh! Please proceed, Director Evans.”
“We just received a private custom order. The client has expressly asked for you to design her a set of jewelry. You should be fine with that, shouldn’t you?”
Since Anastasia lacked money at the moment, she didn’t hesitate to nod. “Of course.”
Meanwhile, seated opposite Anastasia was Alice, who kept lowering the collar of her blouse in such a manner that her blouse was becoming out of shape. With intent, she directed her cleavage toward Elliot.
Naturally being able to see what the woman was doing, Anastasia propped her chin up with a hand and sneered at Alice. “You better stop tugging or your blouse will tear.”
A furiously blushing Alice glanced at Elliot before glaring at Anastasia.
Even Felicia coughed lightly with embarrassment. “Behave yourselves.”
Since what Alice had been doing was only meant for Elliot’s eyes, she hadn’t expected Anastasia to expose her so directly.
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“Is there anything you’d like to add?” Felicia now looked at Elliot.
“Anastasia Tillman, stay behind. Everyone else, leave,” Elliot ordered quietly.
Once again, Anastasia received a wave of envious, resentful glances, yet she had no choice but to remain in her seat as Felicia dismissed everyone else and closed the door after them.
“Please stop interfering with my dad’s business in the future. That said, I’m glad for the help you’ve offered him in the past.” She looked earnestly up at Elliot. No matter what, she had to thank him.
“I’m only doing what I should have done, Anastasia. You don’t need to feel guilty.” He stared at her deeply.
“No, my father owes you, and I’ll pay you back on his behalf from now on.” Since she still didn’t want her father to know about this, she would have to pay Elliot back on his behalf.
Narrowing his eyes, Elliot asked in a clear, curious voice, “How do you intend to pay me back?” In a lower voice, he continued with hope, “Will you agree to marry me so that my helping your father will be nothing more than assisting my future father-in-law?”
It was enough to cause Anastasia to suck in a breath of air. What a ridiculous idea! “I can’t marry you. Please give me another request!” She turned her chair away and began doodling in her notebook
His expression sank at that. Did she find him so unlikeable?
“Give me something I can fulfill,” she reminded him since she had no way of promising him something she couldn’t fulfill.
As Elliot stared at her delicate side profile, he suddenly relaxed. Sometimes, the process was more enjoyable than the result. “Alright, then. From today onward, I’ll eat over at your place.” It was something that he believed she could do.
Anastasia’s eyebrows drew together. While this request wasn’t necessarily over the line, it still made things difficult for her.
Dinner at her place? She supposed that it was quite a good method of repayment since she had no money to repay him with and he also didn’t need any money.
“If you’re not willing, that’s fine since I’m helping your father as a repayment to your mother, anyway.” Seeing that she wasn’t saying anything, Elliot stood up and made to leave.
Instantly, Anastasia whipped her head around to agree. “Alright, you can eat at my place, but you must promise that you’ll behave yourself and not make any moves on me.”
“I have no interest in women,” he lied with a straight face.
Struck dumb by his boldness, she gaped at him. No interest in women? Had he forgotten the time he forced his kisses on her?
Nevertheless, if she could repay him for the help he gave her father by doing this, she would feel better.
“Fine, consider it a measure of trust,” she finally said before getting up and pushing open the conference room door to leave.
“From tonight onward,” he spoke up softly behind her.
Without turning back, she answered, “Okay.”
After returning to her office, Anastasia rested her head on her hands. What a headache! Did that mean she would have to greet him with a table full of food from now on whenever he wanted to eat at her place?
Yet, in comparison to the help he offered her father, this was a relatively light repayment.
Well, she would have to put up with it. Really, it was no different from cooking for one more person.
Right then, Grace knocked on the door and entered with a document folder. “This is the client information that Director Evans has sent over, Miss Tillman. Have a look!”
Anastasia obliged by reaching out to accept the document folder. As she flipped it open to the first page, her eyes widened. How could it be her?
Her client was none other than Leah Hart, as detailed in the information folder. It listed Leah’s family background, educational background, and even the fact that she was the daughter of the first domestic catering giant.
To Anastasia, it was obvious that Leah was here to cause trouble. Their previous unhappy ending had no doubt resulted in Leah looking for other ways to make things difficult for her.
Right then, Felicia called to urge Anastasia. “Get in contact with the client as soon as possible, Anastasia. She must have chosen us because she believed in your ability, so we can’t let her down.”
Anastasia laughed bitterly in her heart. No matter how warmly she had received Leah, she might not necessarily be able to see the order through.
Nevertheless, she still answered, “Alright, I’ll immediately contact her.”
Then, Anastasia picked up her cell phone, found the correct number, and dialed it.
“Who is this?” a lazy voice asked at the other end of the line.
“Good morning. I’m Anastasia Tillman, a designer from Bourgeois Jewelry Atelier. I’d like to ask when you would like to meet to discuss the design direction of your jewelry, Miss Hart.”
“Oh! How about tomorrow morning? You must get ready for everything you need and not let me down!” Leah’s final sentence had a smug undertone.
“Of course. Shall I choose the meeting place?”
“No, I’ll contact you. You can come over when the time comes!” With that, Leah hung up.
And just like that, Anastasia was left with no choice but to follow the protocol. Tomorrow, she would meet Leah and see what on earth the other woman was up to.
As the end of the workday finally approached, Anastasia’s office phone rang and she reached out to answer the call. “Good evening.”
“Meet me at the parking lot in 10 minutes,” Elliot instructed her concisely before hanging up.
She stared at the phone in speechlessness. Never did she think she would be heading home in his car!
Nevertheless, given that her only other option was to take a cab, she might as well save her money by carpooling with him instead.
And so, 10 minutes later, Anastasia picked up her purse and sprinted to the car park where the black sedan was already waiting for her.