Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 44: DATE WITH A SWINDLER*

You would think that we were being escorted through the hall of a grand palace, but it was just a restaurant.

It was an extremely classy restaurant that, on checking my phone just now, had no appointments available for the next 24 months. Yet, I just happened to run into someone who just happened to have an appointment the moment I walked past it.

Very suspicious.

We were escorted to the third floor and coveted the glare of patrons as we walked past them to be seated at one of the rare window tables. There were already very few tables on this floor which were widely spaced, so you could hardly overhear any conversations.

The man's face radiated delight as he greeted the waiter, who presented us with menus encased in a leather folder. He told me that he would cover the meal and to order anything i wanted from the menu. As much as I loved free things, I felt like I was forgetting how to manage my own finances as I continued to watch the wealthy flaunt their money.

As for this man sitting before me, he was either a very generous rich guy, who was bored and wanted to show off his money to women, or he was a scam artist, pretending to be rich, and I happened to be the target nearest to the restaurant when he had his appointment.

"Once again, it is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for joining me for a meal. By the way, I'm Agent Halri Johnson. I'm with the FBI."

…or he's with the FBI.

'Wait, what did he say?!' My mind couldn't process his introduction and read the menu at the same time. Is he saying that I'm under investigation? I tried to discretely check for the location of the stairs so that I could make a quick exit if necessary. If I left, would I still be arrested for obstruction of justice? Besides, there might be other agents waiting to catch me if I tried to run.

My overthinking med student brain went into overdrive thinking about escape routes, scanning the room to figure out who else was here undercover and wondering why I was under investigation in the first place.

The timing was too convenient. Just last night my bank and investment accounts were duplicated, so I could be charged for committing fraud. My record is going to be tainted now. This is crazy. Never in my life did I think I would end up on the FBI's radar, much less have them crash into my life.

I tried to clear my head. What would Andrei do now? I thought about it for a minute and realized that my accounts had been modified using Undercode, so it wouldn't have shown up on the FBI's radar.

That was probably flawed reasoning, but that thought relaxed me.

I mean, can the FBI hack the Undercode? I doubt it. We are talking about the most obscure and unhackable coding language.

So, why is he really here? Revisiting my earlier preconceptions, I settled on the thought that he was a scam artist with a great cover story. Telling someone you're an FBI agent would not only frighten the victim so that they can't think clearly, but also make them trust you as a person upholding the law.

However, I was ready. This guy had given me too much time to think and recollect myself. In fact, my mind rambled for so long that the hunger pangs were tearing a hole in my stomach.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked with perfect timing.

"Yes, I am." He then signalled for a waiter and we placed our orders.

After returning the menu to him, I started on a glass of an original blend of a Caribbean fruit punch cocktail that the waiter had brought in the interim. My peaceful drink was then interrupted by the swindler.

"You don't seem to believe that I am a real agent."

I looked up abruptly in surprise. Would a real agent need to convince someone that he is a real agent? He just had me doubting him even more. I really need to stop getting myself into these situations.

Then, he reached inside his jacket and took something out. He placed it on the table and slid it over to my side by the window. It was an FBI badge. Wow, I had never seen a real badge before. If this was real, that is. I was impressed the swindler was able to forge such a convincing replica, or maybe he just stole one.

"It's my first time seeing an FBI badge, Agent Johnson." I don't want to say anything I'd regret if there was the slightest chance he really was an agent.

The swindler before me laughed. "You are pretty interesting, but you don't hide your thoughts very well."

I almost spat out the drink at his statement, which reminded me of Andrei's enigmatic ability to converse with my thoughts.

"Reading body language is a fundamental skill for an agent," he continued. "Anyway, there's no need for you to feel uncomfortable with me. It is true that I'm here on an investigation, but you're not a suspect. So, don't worry."

I sat in astounded silence while he withdrew his badge from the table as he smiled at me.

"The real tricksters are actually in that building over there," he said while looking across the street. The location of the suspected criminals was, of course, an inconspicuous white building that looked like a normal business establishment.

It was confirmed. He was an Andrei-type of species.

"Why are they under investigation?" I asked before I realized I shouldn't be prying into top-secret affairs.

"The usual. Smuggling drugs."

'Uh, why did he answer?'

"Should you be telling me this? Isn't that confidential information?"

"The truth is, I asked you to come with me since it would be more natural to have company rather than eat alone on a stakeout, so I figured I would take the opportunity to impress a girl while I'm here."

He definitely looked a tad too young to be in a position of authority, but his tone, actions and mannerisms suggested otherwise.

"Besides, you know how to keep a secret, right?"

And I definitely didn't miss the change of tone in the middle of that sentence. What was he implying by that?

"We can just have a normal conversation, then?" I decided it was best to change the subject.

"Of course, I'd love to know more about you."

The three-course meal arrived just in time as I finished the lovely fruit punch. We partook in eye-catching appetizers and mouth-watering entrees as I dodged questions about my romantic interests and availability. I would have much preferred to deal with a pitch for a scam than questions in that category.

The conversation may not have been pleasant, but the food was incredible. I made sure to savour the taste of this once-in-a-lifetime experience at one of the priciest restaurants in the city, that I may never return to.

Then, the moment I had been waiting for- dessert had arrived. I admired the delectable rose gold chocolate cake with a tower of sundae toppings bathed in parmesan caramel cream.

My dessert was served with a premium window-seat view of the raid conducted on the building of drug smugglers by the FBI agents on the ground. With four words spoken by this man into the transceiver, the streets erupted into a scramble as black cars and police vehicles surrounded the building and bystanders panicked as they ran for fear of getting caught in a crossfire.

I had also never seen a raid before; it was definitely interesting but not entertaining to watch. I had my dessert very slowly so that there was still some left to enjoy after the raid was over. Unlike mine, the man's eyes were affixed to the scene, scoping out everything and everyone under his bird's eye view. He occasionally issued instructions to the men on the ground, such as to check a particular room or to firmly hold down a couple of guys who looked like they might try to run away.

It took ten minutes total to clear the suspects from the building and another twenty minutes to finish a preliminary search. After thirty minutes, the raid was officially over, and I, too, had reached my limit. There was hardly any dessert left but I still savoured the last bit peacefully.

"Well, with that my official business here is over," he said as he watched me finish my dessert.

"Thank you for the treat." Regardless of the initial reason, I got to experience a restaurant that I could never have gotten an appointment for.

"It's my pleasure. As I said before, I'm single and on the lookout for a partner. So, I'd like to ask you again. Would you be interested in going out with me…"

I would not.

…Leiya?"

Huh. I accepted his invitation to lunch, scoured the dishes of a delicious three-course meal, sat through a raid on a drug house and ignored his advances, but never did I once tell him my name.

I placed the fork down after finishing the last of the chocolate cake.

It was time to get out of here.

He might not let me leave easily, but I don't intend to stay and find out why he knows who I am or why he waited all this time to reveal that he did. But, before I could stand up, he made a certain comment.

"I wonder if we'll run into Andrei outside," he said, forcefully halting my ascent.

"Agent Johnson…"

"Yes?"

"When did you make this appointment for lunch today?"

He smiled before answering. "As soon as I saw you walk out of the garage while I was in my car. Lucky for us that a slot just happened to be available."

So, you hacked your way in here.

"I see. You are quite fortunate."

Well, that pretty much confirms it. He's also an Undercode user, but what's his relationship with Andrei?

"Why do you say we might run into someone outside?" His stalking was bad, but it can't be that bad.

"Don't you wonder why he shows up everywhere you are so easily?"

I do. I really do.

"Is there a special reason for your question? A tracker could allow someone to follow others."

We are talking about Andrei, but I can't confirm that I'm talking about Andrei. Oh, how very tiring this is. Shelli said that the most important thing was a physical reboot, but I have to disagree. Those acting classes have been the most useful to date.

"That person grew up playing with highly advanced tech gadgets instead of toy cars. He's probably walking around with a facial recognition system that tracks everywhere you go."

What a petty use for such a program!

"Even a facial recognition system is just a simple phone app to him. I heard the one he created for his phone just to keep you in sight is better than the one the FBI uses to track world-class criminals, which we have to house on two mainframe supercomputers."

What a blatant waste of resources!

"I thought I would use the opportunity to ask him for that program if he were to come here after you. I don't get many chances to see him after all."

I would have preferred it if you said that was the real reason you came instead of an additional one. It wouldn't have bothered me at all if you said you were only using me just to get to see Andrei today.

"But my main reason,-"

He's still not giving up on that?

"-naturally is to ask you-"

"I'm sorry. I can't see you in a romantic way. I won't be able to continue meeting you like this."

I finally cut him off.

"Thank you again for today and goodbye."

I finally cut him loose.

I stood and left the table quickly after the bill was paid. He stared at my back as I walked towards the stairs. I left the restaurant and, as the door closed, left behind the sour memories associated with that man, and retained only the good memories, the savoury ones.

I got inside my car, glad to have finally returned to a safe zone, but the very second I drove out of the garage, my phone rang.

The black phone rang.

Andrei was calling.