Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 45: THE HEIRS' REJECTED MATES*

"Does Leiya have a boyfriend now?"

Of course, that had to be the first question to come out of his mouth.

"Can you believe I was asked out by a handsome FBI agent? I don't think anything could top that very interesting lunch date I just had."

I don't think my attempt to provoke him would work but it was worth a try.

"Hmm," was all I heard, followed by silence.

"He wants to see me again, so I might just take him up on that offer."

If it doesn't work this time, I'll stop, since it's even harder to gauge his reactions over the phone.

"You just might, huh?"

Did I actually succeed in provoking him?

"To think you would become the kind of person to do something like date multiple guys, the very thing Daniel accused you of, which caused you to breakdown on a certain Saturday evening."

"Please don't casually bring that up anymore!"

"Technically, Leiya and Melissa are two different people, so it's okay if they each date different people. Is that what you thought as you proceeded to two-time me?"

I had that exact thought but I wasn't actually serious about it.

"I'm not two-timing anyone!"

Ugh, I lost it. He got me flustered and I gave myself away.

At the other end of the line, I heard him chuckling at my naivety.

"So, you aren't then. I appreciate your continued faithfulness," he said haughtily.

I clutched tightly at the steering wheel, irritated at myself for being drawn out so easily.

"Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll see you later. We have another long night ahead."

My ears bled from his insincere laughter as he hung up the phone.

I was not looking forward to spending more hours on the module, but I had been enjoying the acting lessons so far. I can't wait till that bears fruit and I can finally get the better of him at his own mind games.

I got home around 3am after my extended extra-curricular activities. Instead of the usual two hours of acting lessons, today it was four hours. Then, I spent two hours at the gym and the rest of the night I spent at the safehouse.

Before heading back here, I stopped at the other apartment to pack a small bag for tomorrow. Shelli had planned a different training menu after my acting lessons in the morning. I'm grateful to the girls for accompanying me, but I had to wonder, how are their schedules so flexible?

In the morning, I went to acting classes early. I had first-rate teachers from the CIA. They taught Jayelle and Shelli everything they knew about performing on undercover missions. In the first half of the session, they pounded the basics of acting - facial expressions, body language, expressing emotions, how to utilize your surroundings - nothing was overlooked.

In the second half, we did mostly situational training, which was definitely more important for me. They laughed when I asked to do mock conversations based on situations involving Andrei, but they have no idea how badly I wanted to break loose of his puppet strings once and for all.

The morning lessons went a little overtime, but that was fine. We stopped for brunch on our way to the new location that Shelli left as a surprise. Every time she laughed, I knew she was thinking about my reaction to the place where we were going.

We drove to the nearby subway station and ditched the car. The ride to Los Angeles was only twenty minutes via the subway compared to sitting in traffic for three hours. Sadly, even the subway system couldn't resolve the traffic situation to get into that city.

On arrival, we were picked up at the station by black cars and men in black suits. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have worn something more deserving of all the eyes that stared in my direction as I entered a car that looked like it was reserved for celebrities. I quickly made myself small in the middle seat to avoid the prying eyes that were trying to check out the next luxury designer sportswear of the VIP they thought they were looking at.

After the little pretend-celeb game in which Shelli and Jayelle looked quite comfortable playing, we escaped from the nerve-wracking crowd of paparazzi-wannabes. We drove for another forty minutes to the surprise location.

She was right to have laughed before. And she was right to continue laughing as we drove onto the compound of today's adventure.

Shelli's uncontrollable laughter spread to Jayelle, and even to the driver as he looked at me in the backseat through the rear-view mirror. Even the escort in the passenger seat turned around, curious about the source of the joke, and snorted loudly as he looked at my wide-eyed face distorting in all sorts of ways as we pulled up to the Los Angeles branch of the FBI.

What were we doing here?

Sure, I was quite surprised that a plain civilian could just walk onto the base for personal reasons, but if we had to come to the FBI, who knows what kind of lesson I would be having here.

However, they didn't know the real reason for my confused expressions and anxious rumblings in the pit of my stomach. Just yesterday, I met a certain man, an FBI agent, who led me to believe he was also an Undercode agent (as usual, I couldn't get definitive proof). That man, who subsequently showed romantic interest in me, who he knew beforehand, was affirmatively shot down by a certain girl, again me, who was now showing up to an FBI base.

His FBI base.

Surely, he was here. The reason he initiated contact with me yesterday was because Shelli had organized this meeting some time ago and he knew I would be coming here today. I found it strange that such an accomplished and confident man would accept a hard-line rejection, but that must be why he didn't come after me when I left the restaurant.

We drove further onto the compound and pulled up at a small building near a field, where people were running. The driver and the escort exited the car first, then they opened the backseat doors to let us out. The door was closed behind me and I followed the men-in-black to the building, where a man was leaning against the door with his hands folded and legs crossed.

I peeped from behind the black jacket in front of me to see none other than Agent Halri Johnson, the man I had just rejected yesterday and thought I had permanently cut loose from my life. Do you blame me for hiding like a mouse now? Who would think they would run into the same FBI agent who 'randomly' asks you on a lunch date, two days in a row?

I only hope he doesn't bring up yesterday's conversation again. Or anything about romantic interests.

He thanked the men in black for their service as he greeted us by the door, then showed us inside the building. We passed by a common area on the first floor, then went upstairs to a large office. I was asked to wait inside the office while Agent Johnson stood by the door talking to Shelli and Jayelle.

Much to my dismay, he said to them, "Agent Granger said that he wanted you to stop by his office as soon as you get here. We can resume today's activities when you get back."

'Why, Agent Granger?!' I thought as I watched him slowly pull up the door and shut it softly. After a short pause, he only turned his head to look at me sitting behind him and I saw the corner of his mouth form a cheeky smile.

"Hello again, Leiya," he said as he walked over to the seat in front of me.

Wouldn't it be more professional for you to sit at the desk over there?

"I wouldn't really call this a professional setting," he replied as he swung one arm over the top of the sofa.

Not this pattern again.

"You glanced for one second at my desk so you were wondering why I wasn't sitting over there, right?"

I could feel my brows knit together in frustration.

"Those kinds of unconscious habits aren't easy to break. Usually, it's not a big deal, but I've heard about the lessons you're taking, so I thought pointing it out might help you."

Oh, so he was trying to help me. Just how much did he know about my situation? I suppose I was right to think he was a high-ranking agent, since it seemed he was the one who got us inside this base.

Regarding his connection to Shelli and Jayelle, there was one possibility that I had only just thought of.

So far, I have met two of the three family heirs that were connected to the government. If he was the third one, everything would make perfect sense, which meant his name, Halri Johnson, was just a cover. I wondered if he would tell me his real name.

"Agent Johnson, what kind of relationship do you have with Shelli and Jayelle?"

"Didn't they tell you who you were meeting today?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Oh," he said, leaning back, "I'm Tristan Holkin, heir of the Holkin family, and still interested in having you be my partner, Leiya."

You didn't need to tack that last bit on.

"I've sent you my number, so you can message me whenever you want."

Even after rejecting him once, he's still full of himself.

"Like I said before-"

"It's a pity you met Andrei first," he said, cutting me off, "but, if you gave us a chance, I'm sure you'll see we're a much better match."

He's still not giving up.

"Even if I met Andrei first-"

"I'm a little jealous of him, actually." He cut me off, again. "Most Undercode carriers are usually partnered early and most partners end up getting married. No one really complains if regular Undercode carriers choose to marry someone different when they grow up, but it's almost unheard of for an heir to the family to reject the marriage partner their family chose for them."

"Really?" Then, what about Michelle? I only thought of myself as a victim of her contemptuousness, but I had never considered her family's circumstances before.

"For an heir, the family chooses a specific partner that provides the highest possible merit to the family, whether in regards to the quality of Undercode that could potentially be passed down to the progeny, improving the relationships among the families or gaining prosperity and influence in the economy. Out of everyone, for Andrei to reject his fiancée for a common girl, he has nothing but my respect for that."

"So, I'm just the common girl that stole their prince."

He laughed.

"Shelli might think of this as a cute fairy tale romance, but you should take this more seriously for your own sake. If you end up being the main force behind Paladin's demise, for instance, then no one would complain about your marriage to any heir,..."

He leaned forward as he looked at me earnestly and clasped his hands as he rested his elbows on his thighs, "...me included."

He had to mindlessly tack that on at the end.