Chapter 642: She Hung Up on Me

Marcus was speechless. The CEO was clearly playing dirty, using one perfectly legitimate reason after another to make him come into the office every single day.

To be fair, her reasoning wasn’t wrong. A proper advertising campaign required a solid understanding of the product, the market, current trends, customer needs, and all sorts of other information. It wasn’t something he could simply throw together without knowing what he was selling. Back when he’d worked at Mellory, that was exactly how things had been done. Research came first, then the strategy, then the campaign.

The reasons were legitimate.

The problem was that they didn’t really apply to him anymore.

Dominion had exploded in popularity, and Marcus had a platform within the game that gave him an advantage most advertisers could only dream of. As long as Mellory could provide quality products, he had plenty of ways to make them sell without spending days buried in market reports and traditional advertising research. If that hadn’t been the case, he never would have agreed to that unusual contract with the

CEO in he first place.

Yet now, watching her look at him with the quiet confidence of someone who had already cornered her prey, Marcus could only keep arguing. "Beautiful, this doesn’t exactly..."

He barely got the words out.

The CEO was far too sharp. She had already caught the direction his argument was taking. He’d only just opened his mouth to say that her demands didn’t match the terms of their contract when she cut him off before he could finish.

"Marcus, I’ll say it again. Stop calling me beautiful."

She paused for half a second before continuing, her tone perfectly composed. "And another thing. You’re an employee of Mellory now, and not just an ordinary employee. You’re a highly paid, key member of this company. The new product line needs your advertising plan and your promotion strategy. Everyone is waiting for you."

Marcus fell silent again.

’Terrifying.’

He could only marvel inwardly at how effortlessly she kept producing these "legitimate" reasons. Every single one sounded perfectly reasonable on its own, yet somehow they all led to exactly the same conclusion: he had to go back to the office.

Key employee this, promotion strategy that. Everyone waiting for his advertising plan.

’Unbelievable.’

At this rate, he was beginning to wonder if he was actually more important to Mellory than the CEO herself.

And the woman really knew how to talk. Coming from someone as beautiful and elegant as Vivian, he suspected there weren’t many men in the world who could keep arguing with her for long. She had the kind of presence that made people instinctively want to give her what she wanted.

She really was something.

Unfortunately for her, Marcus wasn’t planning to make things easy.

If logic wasn’t going to work against a CEO who could twist every argument into another reason for him to report to work, and if she was so determined that he stop calling her beautiful...

"Big..."

He deliberately dragged the word out.

A mischievous grin crept across his face. Internally, he was already laughing. If she wanted to play dirty, then fine. He could play dirty too.

With absolutely no shame, Marcus went straight into full troublemaker mode.

"Big sis, we signed the contract ten days ago, and we haven’t even seen each other in more than ten days. Why are you suddenly so eager to drag me back to the office? I’m pretty sure the contract says I don’t have to come in, so there shouldn’t be any problem. Unless..." He let the pause linger just long enough to make it irritating. "Big sis missed me? Wanted to see me? Maybe you just wanted someone to talk to?"

"You..."

Sure enough, Marcus’s shamelessness pushed the CEO straight past irritation and into fury.

"Marcus, you’re despicable! You..."

She stopped.

Because when she thought about the actual terms of their contract, she genuinely couldn’t find a counterargument.

That realization only made things worse. Vivian Sterling’s heart began to pound.

A strange, unfamiliar feeling quietly settled over her. They had agreed that Marcus didn’t need to come into the office, so why had going more than ten days without seeing him made her feel so strange? Why had she become restless? Why had she found herself thinking about him at all?

And especially just now, She had wanted to call him. She had wanted to hear his voice.

She had wanted him to come to the office. Vivian had never experienced anything quite like it before.

Could it be...

Had she actually missed that shameless scoundrel who had stolen her teacup and, even worse, somehow ended up stealing her first kiss?

"No."

Vivian immediately shook her head, firmly rejecting the thought.

It had to be stress.

The new clothing line was about to launch, and the pressure surrounding the upcoming release was enormous. That had to be why she’d suddenly thought of contacting that shameless rogue. There was nothing strange about it. After all, the success or failure of this collection would have a major impact on her future.

That was all.

But then another question slipped into her mind.

Why him?

Why had she felt like talking to him would somehow make her feel better?

Why had she believed that hearing his voice would calm her down?

The CEO became increasingly flustered as she realized she was running out of arguments, and without even noticing it, her normally calm and commanding demeanor began to crumble.

For perhaps the first time in a long while, Vivian was acting less like the powerful CEO of Mellory Apparel and more like a stubborn young woman who had decided she wanted something and didn’t care whether her reason for wanting it made sense.

And when a little girl didn’t get her way, there was always one weapon she could rely on.

Unreasonableness.

Vivian puffed out her cheeks, her beautiful lips pursed in frustration, and practically shouted into the phone, "Marcus, I don’t care! You’re my highly paid employee, the new clothing line’s press conference is in seven days, and you’re going to come up with an advertising and promotion campaign that puts Mellory Apparel on the map!"

Marcus felt his head start to spin. She wasn’t merely angry anymore, she’d become completely unreasonable.

And yet, strangely enough, this was exactly the opening he’d been waiting for.

Since she’d abandoned logic, Marcus saw no reason why he should cling to it either.

So he doubled down.

"Auntie, if you’re inviting me to dinner tonight, or maybe asking me to go for a walk with you, I’d be honored. I’d even make the time. But if you’re talking about work and advertising..." He deliberately sighed. "I’m afraid I’m a very busy man."

"Auntie?!"

Vivian stared at the phone in disbelief.

Auntie? Of all the things he could have called her, he’d actually chosen that?

She was Vivian Sterling, the CEO of Mellory Apparel. She was young, accomplished, and proud, and she had never tolerated being treated so casually. She was already furious with him, and now he’d gone and poured an entire barrel of oil onto the fire.

"Marcus, you bastard!"

She glared at the phone as though she could somehow see him through it. The sheer smugness in his voice made her want to reach through the call and kick him herself.

Then, unable to stand another second of his nonsense, Vivian slammed the phone down.

The call ended and silence returned to the office.

"Well then."

Marcus looked at the phone in his hand and shook his head with a faint smile.

"Peace and quiet at last. Beautiful, don’t blame me. You’re the one who hung up."

He chuckled, but the smile didn’t last very long.

The moment he thought about Vivian’s face, his mind inevitably conjured up that stunning appearance of hers, her flawless figure, and the cool, dignified bearing she carried as the CEO of Mellory. He could easily imagine her sitting alone in that enormous office, still fuming because of him.

For some reason, the thought made him feel a little guilty.

"Ugh."

He rubbed his forehead. So he was a softie after all. What a painful realization.

He’d spent all that effort teasing her, yet the moment she actually became angry, he couldn’t bring himself to feel particularly pleased about it. In the end, he still couldn’t stand the thought of her being genuinely upset with him.

And since the new clothing line’s press conference was only seven days away, his mind soon began turning over ideas despite himself.

If he was going to help her, then he might as well do it properly. After all, he had already agreed to work with Mellory.

He just didn’t particularly enjoy being ordered around.

"Scoundrel!"

"Shameless, utterly shameless scoundrel!"

Meanwhile, in the spacious and luxurious CEO’s office, Vivian Sterling was still sitting on the sofa, silently fuming over the phone call.

He had actually ignored her like that!

Vivian Sterling was proud, beautiful, intelligent, and accustomed to being surrounded by people who treated her with respect. She couldn’t even remember how many accomplished men had pursued her, men who would have gone out of their way to help her if she’d merely asked.

She had rejected every one of them without hesitation.

Yet this man...

This shameless man had the nerve to treat her like this!

"Marcus, you horrible man! Scoundrel! Absolute scoundrel!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

It was just like the last time, when she’d discovered that her "first kiss" had somehow been stolen by that rogue. She had been so embarrassed and furious then that she’d ended up cursing him aloud in her own office.

And apparently, some things hadn’t changed.

Outside the office, Ms. Lindsey couldn’t help but glance toward the CEO’s room again when she heard the familiar string of angry curses. Curiosity got the better of her, and she cautiously peeked inside.

But before she could see much, the office door opened..A woman stepped inside wearing a form-fitting crimson dress.

She moved with effortless grace, every step poised and confident. The dress accentuated her elegant figure without making her look vulgar, while her long legs and perfectly balanced proportions gave her an almost unreal presence.

Her features were flawless, her bearing refined, and there was an unmistakable air of confidence around her.

At a glance, there was only one thought that came to mind.

She was a beauty beyond compare.