Seeing that Jace Lennox hadn't noticed her, Phoebe let out a sigh of relief. She tried to sneak out of the suffocating and terrifying room, but just as she reached the door, before she could even open it, a cold, deep, and raspy male voice sounded from behind her. "You have two days. Scrape the money together, bring it here, and pay me back."
Phoebe was speechless.
'This is blatant extortion!'
'Judging by his clothes and this presidential suite, he doesn't seem like someone who's short on cash. So why is he trying to extort ten million from me?'
Phoebe was fuming, but the memory of the man's recent actions made her bite her tongue. If he really decided to imprison her here, no one would ever know.
'Once I'm out of here, I'll be safe. And whether or not I come back will be my decision.'
Hmph.
"Don't think you can just leave and not come back."
The thought had barely crossed Phoebe's mind when the man, his back still to her, spoke up. "If I want to drag you back here, I have plenty of ways. You'd best not make things difficult for yourself."
Phoebe was speechless again.
Phoebe walked out dejectedly. First, she'd been set up by her cousin and lost her virginity, and now she'd somehow gotten entangled with this unfathomable man who was forcing her to come up with ten million. What kind of rotten luck was this?
Just then, outside the presidential suite, a man in a white suit was chewing gum and curiously peering in through the doorway. He had a pair of charming, flirtatious eyes, and a single rose was pinned to his breast pocket.
When he saw Phoebe walk out of the room, the man's eyes instantly lit up. He shoved his hands in his pockets, still chewing his gum, and sauntered over to Phoebe with a teasing, suggestive look on his face.
"Well now, do you know Jace? You're the first person I've ever seen make him change his mind. And you're also the first 'item' he's ever spent a billion on. So last night, you two...?"
Phoebe, who was in a terrible mood and had no desire to speak to anyone, snapped her head up in astonishment at the man's words. "What did you say? A billion?"
"You heard me. You seriously didn't know? At the auction last night, Jace didn't even blink. He opened his mouth and said 'one billion,' and just like that, he bought you." The man spat out his gum and looked Phoebe up and down. "You're certainly pretty, but spending a billion on a girl like you is still..."
"Excuse me, I have to go."
Without waiting for the man to finish, Phoebe practically fled from the spot.
'A billion to buy me.'
'Is that man insane?'
'I know I'm not worth that much, so what's his motive? What's he after?'
'But he just told me to give him ten million and then get lost, right?'
Just a moment ago, she was agonizing over the ten million, but now all she wanted was to rush home, scrape the money together, pay him back, and cut all ties with him for good. She could only hope that he would keep his word and not look for her again, or use this as an excuse to harass her endlessly.
'No matter who he is or what he's after, I want nothing more to do with him.'
Her parents had disappeared when she was very young, and in recent years, both of her older brothers had died in a series of bizarre accidents. She was the only one left in her immediate family. When her grandfather was still alive, she could at least rely on him.
But two months ago, her grandfather had died suddenly, and ever since, countless hungry wolves had emerged, all of them coveting the thirty percent of company shares and the vast inheritance he had left to her.