Elspeth got out of the car with her bag in hand. She walked forward while faking that she was about to make a phone call. Then, she suddenly bumped into Zain by accident due to her negligence. The momentum caused her to lose her balance and sprawl to the ground. To make matters worse, the screen of her phone shattered upon impact.
“Hiss…” She pretended to be in great pain as she looked up with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was looking at my phone just now, so I wasn’t looking at the road.”
Zain initially planned to fly into a great rage, but his anger dissipated completely when he realized that the person who bumped into him was a beautiful and delicate woman.
“It’s nothing. Are you alright? Here, let me help you up.”
He stretched out his hand to help her up. However, she stood up on her own with an apologetic look. She patted the dust from her body and began blabbering in embarrassment. “How can I trouble you? It’s my fault that I fell down in the first place. But my phone…”
She glanced at her phone on the ground, feeling a dull pang in her chest.
The lecherous man had been trying to come up with a reason to ask her out. So, when he saw the phone lying on the ground, his heart leaped with joy. “It’s fine. I’ll buy you a new one to replace this. But, Miss, how should I address you?”
She laughed softly. “I am Abigail Joneson. What about you?”
He found her smile absolutely breathtaking. “I am Zain Black, the financial director of the Alphascape Group.”
A plan had already formed in his heart as he deliberately exposed his high-ranked status in a big company. He figured that if he revealed his identity to her, she would definitely behave like all the other women and fawn over him.
“It’s getting late, and I have something going on. Please excuse me. I have to go.” Elspeth lifted a hand to look at her watch with an anxious expression. “If it’s about my phone… I dropped it myself, so I’ll just buy a new one later. Don’t worry about it.”
It was his first time meeting a woman like her who was neither greedy for money nor vain. Not to mention, she was an absolute beauty. A mixture of complicated feelings washed over him for a moment.
If only I could make her mine… The moment I do, I will immediately divorce my plain-looking hag of a housewife and marry her instead!
“No. Half of the blame lies with me. At least let me pay for half of the costs. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease!”
She hesitated for a moment before she answered, “Um… Why don’t we exchange phone numbers for now? Then, you can transfer the money to me once I buy a new phone.”
Although he was not happy with the arrangement, he reluctantly nodded in agreement. It was not good to be too forceful during their first meeting. After all, courtship was a gradual and progressive process.
Elspeth gave him her phone number to make this incident more believable. However, it was a spare number. Even if he tried to investigate the personal information behind this number, he would not be able to figure out her true identity.
Once they finished exchanging contact information, she smiled and waved at him before walking away.
Zain remained extremely distracted after Elspeth left. Although he constantly checked his phone, it wasn’t until late evening that he finally received the friend verification message on Facebook.
Elspeth stared at the messages that she received from the other party. Despite feeling annoyed, she was forced to adopt a gentle tone.
‘The new phone cost 6,000. You can just transfer 3,000 to me.’
‘Ding dong. You have received 30,000 in your PayPal account.’
She slowly sent him a message that contained only a single question mark.
“Miss Joneson, I added an extra zero by mistake earlier. I’m very sorry for my blunder. But I don’t lack this small amount of money. So, you can go ahead and keep the change.”
“Uh… Okay, then. In that case, why don’t I treat you to dinner tomorrow? If I treat you to dinner a few times, then we can consider the debt paid off.”
Things had played out exactly as he wanted. Thus, he replied to her message with two smiley emojis as though he was delighted with the arrangement.
The next day happened to be the weekend. Elspeth arrived at the agreed meeting place early in the morning and waited for Zain to make his appearance.
Callum was worried and decided to follow her, so he could be there if something went wrong. “I will be sitting right behind you later.”
She rolled her eyes in frustration. “Do I look like a feeble woman? Do you think I won’t be able to defeat that wretched man myself?”
“It’s not a worry but a concern. Any man other than myself is not a good person.”
His response left her feeling speechless.
When Elspeth noticed Zain approaching from a distance, she quickly moved away from Callum and greeted Zain with a bright grin. “You’re here, Mr. Black.”
She wore a short white dress and a matching pair of high heels, showing off her gorgeous figure.
Zain practically drooled at the sight. The woman in front of him was far more attractive than those unrefined women caked in a thick layer of makeup.
“Yeah. What are we having today?”
“I don’t know your preference, so I randomly chose an Asian restaurant. I hope the food is to your liking.”
He glanced at the menu and saw that every single dish offered was not cheap. Hence, he silently praised her for being sensible. “I’m sure it won’t.”
They randomly ordered several dishes and began making small talk with each other.
“Mr. Black, don’t you need to work today?” After she said that, Elspeth abruptly realized that she had made a slip of the tongue and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry. I forgot that it’s the weekend.”
Who wouldn’t like a dumb and easily deceived beauty? Unfortunately, Zain was no exception to that rule.
“It’s nothing. As long as it’s an invitation from you, I will gladly accompany you even if it were a weekday.”
Elspeth frowned slightly. “Are you not busy with work during the weekdays?”
“Not really. I just need to check and balance some accounts. So, it’s quite leisurely.”
She broke out into a smile. “Wow! You should be super knowledgeable about the Alphascape Group’s accounts.”
“Of course. I made the ledger myself, so it’s only natural for me to know these things.”
After she heard that, she placed her chin on her hand. A hint of anticipation and vague admiration appeared on her face. “How amazing. I also studied accounting but kept making mistakes when preparing the accounts. As a result, I’m always getting scolded by my boss.”
When Zain noticed the aggrieved and distressed expression on her face, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. “Don’t worry. If there’s something you don’t know, I can teach you.”
A light flashed through her eyes before she quickly fluttered her lashes. “Really?” However, the light in her eyes soon dimmed. “But I’m very stupid. Can you show me Alphascape’s accounts and teach me the procedures step-by-step?”
He felt slightly doubtful and hesitant when he heard that she wanted to see Alphascape’s accounts. Then, he heard her asking him to teach her the procedures step-by-step. His heart immediately began to flutter in anticipation.
There was no way he would let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers. Hence, he immediately agreed to bring the account statements tomorrow to discuss them with her.
When she noticed that he had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker, she slowly curled her lips into a smile.
The next day, they agreed to meet at the same restaurant. Zain truly did bring the account statements with him.
Elspeth flipped through the account statements in her hand, studying the records from top to bottom. Finally, a look of amazement appeared on her face. “How amazing. The account statements are so detailed.”
“That’s nothing. The most important point is that you are too careful. I believe your boss is constantly reprimanding you because you are too honest in your accounting.”
She tilted her head to the side and looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
He looked around and lowered his voice. “You just need to learn how to falsify the accounts!”
“Do you mean to say that Alphascape falsified their accounts?” While she made sure to look surprised on the surface, she secretly turned on the recording function on her phone.
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