Chapter 551 Are You Making a Deal with Me
Daniel was fuming. Having another hunter steal his prey was something he couldn't tolerate.
Lyric sat at her desk, barely glancing up as she continued typing away on her keyboard, responding to a message.
"What do you want for dinner tonight?" he asked.
She finally looked up at him.
He locked eyes with her. "Weren't you planning to treat me to dinner? I'm free tonight."
He was giving her an easy out, a chance to say yes without any fuss. Normally, having dinner with someone she liked should have made her happy to agree.
But she thought about his hot-and-cold behavior. What was he doing? He was using her as a backup, playing hard to get?
One moment he claimed he didn't like her, the next he was inviting her to dinner.
She wanted a relationship based on mutual respect, not these tiresome games of push and pull.
"I'm busy tonight."
"Got plans?"
"Yeah," she replied casually.
"Having dinner with Gerald again?"
"What's it to you?" In reality, she had no plans with Gerald; he was just her excuse.
He bit down harder on his cigarette, his expression growing colder. He was clearly irritated that she wasn't giving him any face.
During lunch, she went downstairs to dine.
In the elevator on her way back, she overheard some gossip. Gerald had been dropped by The Taylor Group, and his shooting schedule was on hold.
Feeling guilty, Lyric called him from the break room. He initially pretended everything was fine, but when she pressed the issue, he reassured her, "Ms. Vaughn, it's no big deal. In our industry, contracts get signed and canceled all the time. I'm used to it. Don't feel bad. I don't blame you."
"I'll find a way to help you," Lyric said, holding her phone and a steaming cup of coffee.
"Really, there's no need. If you feel that bad, just treat me to dinner sometime, haha."
"Of course. I'll definitely treat you to dinner, Gerald." She spoke softly, suddenly feeling selfish for using Gerald as a shield to get closer to Daniel, causing all the harm to fall on Gerald.
Just as she was about to tell him he didn't need to pretend to be her suitor anymore, a cold laugh came from the doorway.
"Ms. Vaughn, you seem to have a lot of free time. We have a meeting soon, and you're not preparing the materials? Instead, you're on the phone with someone irrelevant?"
Her body stiffened.
Lyric turned around to see Daniel, impeccably dressed in a suit, standing at the door with a cup in his hand. He walked in with his long strides.
"Got to go," Lyric said quickly, not wanting the fire to spread to Gerald, and hung up.
Daniel saw through her little act, clearly noting her concern for that actor.
His expression grew even colder as he grabbed his coffee and started to leave.
Lyric stepped in front of him. "Daniel, I can have dinner with you tonight. But you can't make things difficult for Gerald. You can't sabotage his shoots."
Her words only made things worse. Daniel's eyes turned icy.
"Ms. Vaughn, are you trying to make a deal with me?"
"Gerald is one of the fastest-rising stars in the industry right now. He even lowered his fee to be our spokesperson. It's a great deal for The Taylor Group." She took a deep breath, trying to reason with him.
He smirked. "He lowered his fee to be our spokesperson? More like he did it to get close to you. Should I thank you for saving us some money?"
"I—"
"I don't have time for dinner with you tonight, Ms. Vaughn. During work hours, I don't want to hear about anything unrelated to work."
He left with his coffee, as cold as ever.
During the meeting, Daniel didn't even glance at her, not once.
The atmosphere was tense.
Every employee presenting their work was on edge, terrified of making a mistake and facing Daniel's wrath.
He rejected every proposal.
After the meeting, all the executives were summoned to his office for performance reviews. Without exception, he found fault with everyone.
Lyric knew he was taking out his frustration.
It was the first time she had seen Daniel lose his temper at work. He had always been warm and gentlemanly in her memory.
Near the end of the day, she sent him a WhatsApp message, hoping to smooth things over: [Mr. Taylor, calm down. How about I treat you to dinner tonight?]
Daniel: [You're not my type. Go home.]
She stared at the message for a long time.
Her nose tingled, her eyes reddened, and her heart ached.
It was unbearable, suffocating.
Why did Daniel have to speak like that, constantly reminding her that he didn't like her?
Lyric had her pride. She couldn't be the kind of girl who grovels. She quietly packed her things, shut down her computer, and left with her handbag.
He lit a cigarette, watching her leave with a cold smile. She wouldn't listen when he told her to stay away from Gerald, but she was quick to leave when he told her to go home.
He felt annoyed to see Della, who had once tried so hard to get his attention, now slipping further out of his control. Who wouldn't want to be adored unconditionally by a young, vibrant girl?
He did too.
Besides, she reminded him so much of Margaret. He couldn't keep Margaret, but he wouldn't lose Della.
He used to not understand why Raymond worked so obsessively, becoming a work machine. Now he got it—it was a way to distract himself.
At ten o'clock at night, Daniel finally finished his work, feeling a bit hungry.
He stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and put it on over his white shirt.
In The Taylor Group's underground garage, he saw a familiar figure.
Della was wearing a dress that looked a lot like Margaret's.
She was waiting for him.
It was as if Margaret was waiting for him.
"Mr. Taylor, I'm hungry," Lyric said, rubbing her stomach and pouting. She still didn't want to give up, wanting to help Gerald get his job back.
Her friends had told her that a girl's secret weapon was showing vulnerability.
So, she rarely acted coy, but now she was doing it.
Her words made Daniel momentarily dazed.
A half-second later, his expression softened. He pressed the car key, opening the passenger door, and looked at her.
She was surprised that Daniel let her sit in the front seat. Did this mean she was important to him?
Lyric obediently got into the passenger seat.
He closed the door.
Returning to the driver's seat, she was about to fasten her seatbelt when he leaned over, pulling the seatbelt across her and fastening it. "I'll do it."
Lyric's face blushed instantly. The sudden closeness made her heart race, as if it would leap out of her throat. All her discontent towards him vanished in an instant.
She was glad she had waited for him, just to enjoy these moments.
At this moment, the sweetness Lyric felt would soon turn into shards of glass that would cut her deeply. By the time she realized her heart was shredded by these sugar-coated shards, it would be too late to turn back.
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