Chapter 50

For a moment, Jonathan Reed thought the connection had dropped.

“...Chairman?”

Richard ignored the voice in his ear.

The instant Elena’s knee brushed against him, every muscle in his body went taut.

Even his breathing stopped.

The restraint he had been clinging to shattered almost instantly.

His dark eyes locked onto the girl beneath him.

The look in them made Elena’s scalp prickle.

All the courage she had gathered to tease him vanished at once.

She instinctively tried to pull her leg back.

Too late.

Richard caught her thigh and held it firmly against his side.

Elena tried to move, but his grip didn’t loosen.

He leaned closer.

“...Lock down the additional clauses.”

His voice had gone noticeably hoarse.

Richard lowered his head into the curve of her neck, his hot, uneven breath brushing across her collarbone.

Then he gave the side of her neck a light bite.

Elena immediately tensed.

She pressed her lips together, suddenly very aware that Richard was still on a business call.

The last thing she wanted was to make any suspicious sound with Jonathan listening on the other end.

Richard went still.

He drew in one long, deep breath and slowly let it out.

“...I’ll be there at eight-thirty.”

He ended the call, pulled the earbud from his ear, switched it off, and slipped it into his pocket.

But he didn’t get up immediately.

Instead, he pushed himself up just enough to look down at Elena.

The dark intensity in his eyes had not entirely disappeared.

Richard raised one hand and ran his thumb firmly across her flushed lips.

“You got lucky.”

His voice was still rough.

“We’ll settle this later.”

Elena finally took a proper breath.

She was still slightly shaken, but the frustrated look on his face was far too satisfying.

A hint of smug amusement crept into her expression.

“...Have a productive day at work, Chairman.”

Then she simply relaxed back onto the mat as though she had done nothing wrong.

Richard gave her a look before rising easily to his feet.

A second later, he reached down and pulled her up from the mat in one smooth motion.

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“Hey—”

Elena’s legs were still a little unsteady.

“I was just wishing you well!”

“I know.”

Richard looked down at her.

“That’s why I’m only helping you up.”

Elena glanced pointedly at the powerful arm still wrapped around her waist.

“...I thought you were in a hurry to get to work.”

Richard gave a quiet scoff.

“Not that much of a hurry.”

He paused, his gaze lingering on her.

“But if we kept going, I wouldn’t have enough time.”

Elena glanced at his phone.

It was only seven.

Then the meaning behind his words caught up with her.

Heat immediately rushed back into her face.

No way.

Would it really take that long?

Richard didn’t linger.

With one arm still around her waist, he guided her all the way out of the gym.

The instant they passed through the glass doors, Elena slipped free like a rabbit suddenly released from a trap.

Face burning, she hurried up the spiral staircase toward her bedroom without looking back.

Richard remained where he was, watching her flee.

The corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

He rubbed a hand over his brow, took a moment to collect himself, then headed toward the bathroom in the master suite.

Forty minutes later, Elena was soaking in the bathtub.

She had splashed cool water over her face several times before finally managing to bring the burning heat in her cheeks under control.

Afterward, she changed into a clean, comfortable set of loungewear and stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing her half-dry hair with a towel.

Just remembering what had happened downstairs made her feel strangely weak all over again.

At that moment, there was a gentle knock at the door.

“Miss Hayes, are you resting?”

It was Alfred.

Elena walked over and opened the door.

“No—”

She stopped.

Alfred stood outside in his usual immaculate three-piece suit, wearing his perfectly composed smile.

Behind him were four attendants in white gloves.

Each of them was carrying velvet jewelry boxes.

Elena blinked.

“These are...?”

“Mr. Sterling has already left for the Consortium headquarters.”

Alfred stepped politely aside, signaling for the attendants to enter.

“Before he left, he instructed me to have these brought to your room.”

The attendants filed inside and arranged more than a dozen velvet boxes neatly across the table before quietly withdrawing.

Elena walked over.

Still puzzled, she reached for the largest dark-blue velvet box in the center.

She opened it.

Inside lay an extraordinarily clean, minimalist platinum necklace.

A delicate platinum chain held a single pear-shaped flawless pink diamond.

There was no halo of smaller stones.

No elaborate setting.

Just one extraordinary center stone.

And it was enormous.

The diamond was an intense, vivid pink, throwing brilliant flashes of color beneath the room’s lights like a frozen drop of luminous cherry blossom.

Elena wasn’t a jewelry expert.

But she had watched enough auction videos to recognize something outrageous when she saw it.

With a stone of that color and clarity, even in such a simple setting, this was the kind of piece that could easily become a headline lot at Sotheby’s.

She drew in a sharp breath and opened several more boxes.

None of the pieces had the heavy, overly formal look she associated with traditional high jewelry.

The designs were youthful, light, and easy to wear.

The stones, however, were another matter entirely.

Elena picked up a pair of solitaire diamond studs.

There was nothing elaborate about them—just classic six-prong settings.

But the two white diamonds were absurdly large, dazzlingly bright, and so clear they seemed almost unreal.

Next, she lifted a delicate diamond line bracelet.

Its design was understated enough for a young woman to wear casually.

Except the entire bracelet was set with a row of rare Argyle blue diamonds.

Cold blue fire moved across the stones against the velvet beneath them, restrained in design yet breathtakingly luxurious.

Several of the boxes also contained grading reports from internationally recognized institutions such as GIA and Gübelin, documenting the major stones.

Everything was brand-new.

Nothing showed the slightest sign of ever having been worn.

Alfred watched her with a polite smile.

“Mr. Sterling specifically said he didn’t want anything overly elaborate. The pieces were selected and adjusted according to his instructions, with clean cuts, simple settings, and lighter designs that would work with your everyday clothes.”

Elena: “...”

Right.

Very everyday.

Compared with all of this, the diamond earrings Richard had given her before suddenly seemed almost modest.

But then again, this was Richard Sterling.

She really should have expected something like this by now.

Still—

If all of these had been selected and prepared specifically for her, then Richard must have given the instructions days ago.

And they hadn’t even known each other for a full week.

Before Elena could finish processing that thought, Alfred inclined his head slightly.

There was more.

“Of course, Mr. Sterling also said that if you don’t like any of the finished pieces, or if none of them are quite to your taste...”

Elena looked at him.

Alfred continued with the same impeccable smile.

“There is also a collection of high-quality loose stones in the underground vault here at the Westwood estate, acquired by Mr. Sterling at auction over the years.”

“You may tell me whenever you wish. I’ll have the designers come directly to the estate and prepare the designs here.”

“Whatever cut or setting you prefer can be made to order until you’re completely satisfied.”

Elena: “............”