Chapter 26 Who had sponsored Leila
Mason lowered his head to drink his milk, a hint of a smile flashing. “Hmm.”
Esther was familiar with Leila. The whole incident with Mason sponsoring Leila had caused quite a stir in The Ramirez Family, and everyone knew about it. The old Mr. Ramirez had thoroughly investigated Leila’s background, and there were photos of her. Esther had seen her a couple of times.
At first, they thought Mason, being young, wanted to keep her as his mistress, but later, it seemed he had no such intentions.
After finishing his glass of milk, Mason headed towards the door.
It was midsummer, and the weather is scorching hot in the early morning.
As Mason opened the front passenger door, Leila glanced at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
“A seat reserved for boyfriend?”
Leila smiled. “No, I thought Mr. Ramirez would sit in the back.” After all, bosses usually chose to sit in the back of the car.
As Mason got into the car, he tossed his suit jacket onto the back seat and adjusted the seat space before fastening his seatbelt. Just as he was about to buckle up, his phone, tucked in his pocket, rang.
Upon seeing the message on the screen, Mason turned to Leila. “Do you know where Hunter lives? The person who threatened you has been identified. It’s Hunter.”
Mason saw her silence and sneered, “Are you still thinking about him?”
“No… Mr. Ramirez, are you sure this investigation result is accurate?”
Mason’s expression turned stern. “Do you think I would keep incompetents around me?”
“Thank you for helping me.”
Mason’s expression softened slightly as he asked in a low voice, “What are you going to do next?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I can help you.”
“You’ve already helped me a lot.” Leila’s refusal was firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
“Okay.” Mason’s tone turned cold.
Following their previously agreed plan, they went to Nova Group to retrieve the contract and then to The Ramirez Group to sign it.
As the car arrived at The Ramirez Group, Leila followed behind Mason. She couldn’t see his expression as she followed him, but judging from the cautious attitude of his subordinates, his mood wasn’t great.
The two of them walked into the CEO’s office, one after the other.
After signing the contract, Mason pushed it toward Leila. “Why did you choose to come to this city in the first place? Was it because of Hunter?”
Leila picked up the contract to check if Mason had missed signing any parts. While looking at the contract, she replied, “No.”
Mason asked, “Then why?”
As Leila checked the contract for any errors, she glanced up at Mason and replied, “For money. Nova Group offered a high price.”
Mason chuckled lightly. “Just for that?”
Leila finished checking the contract and met Mason’s gaze. “Mr. Ramirez, I believe in love, but I’m not someone driven by romantic feelings.”
“If The Ramirez Group offered you a higher price than Nova Group, would you come?”
Leila replied earnestly, “If what you said is true, I would consider it carefully.”
Leila was sincere, and her sincerity tugged at Mason’s heartstrings. He looked at her, feeling strangely uncomfortable. In a low voice, he asked, “What’s your current annual salary?”
Leila answered, “Six hundred thousand.”
Mason remained impassive. “I’ll offer you one million two hundred thousand. Finish up your work and report to The Ramirez Group.”
Leila had always known that The Ramirez Group offered top-tier salaries in the industry. However, she also knew that Mason’s offer didn’t match her actual value. “Mr. Ramirez, I’m not worth that price at the moment.”
“Is there anyone who complains about earning too much?”
“No one complains about earning too much, but compensation should be proportional to effort and labor. If ability and salary don’t match, money becomes a death knell.”
Mason wasn’t sure where Leila got all these theories from. It seemed like she had her own set of principles since he first met her.
As the two locked eyes, Mason was about to respond when Leila’s phone suddenly rang.
“Sorry, Mr. Ramirez, I need to take this call.”
Mason nodded, indicating it was fine.
Leila thought it might be something urgent from the company, but when she checked her phone, it was Shirley.
“Hey, Shirley.”
As Leila spoke, Shirley’s voice sounded pitiful on the other end of the line. “Leila, do you have time right now? Can you come to the police station? I’ve been arrested.”
Leila couldn’t fathom why Shirley would be arrested and didn’t want to ask in front of Mason. She simply replied, “Okay,” and quickly ended the call.
After hanging up, Leila put her phone away and looked at Mason. “Mr. Ramirez, do you have any other matters to attend to? Something has come up, and I need to deal with it.”
Mason had heard every word of Leila’s conversation just now, though he didn’t know what the person on the other end of the line had said. However, he knew who Shirley was.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Ramirez.”
“Leila, are you really not considering joining The Ramirez Group?”
Leila replied with a serious expression, “I am considering it, provided that the salary you offer matches my abilities, and also…”
She hesitated, and Mason finished her sentence, “… and that I don’t harass you.”
The term “harass” was well chosen, but Leila didn’t dare to respond.
Seeing her silence, he suddenly smiled, “Go ahead and attend to your business.”
“Goodbye.” With that, Leila didn’t dare linger and turned to leave.
An hour later, the car arrived at the police station.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
Shirley was sitting in the lobby, on the verge of tears when she saw Leila.
Leila quickly approached her, bending down to ask, “What’s going on?”
Shirley looked up, tears welling in her eyes. “I tracked the wrong person.”
“What??” Leila exclaimed.
“My colleague told me it was Aiden, but I thought it was his brother Caleb.”
Leila furrowed her brow. “Then why are you at the police station? What did you do?”
Facing Leila’s questioning, Shirley cried, “I splashed paint on his car.”
“What car?” Leila asked.
Shirley replied, “Purosangue.”
Leila sighed inwardly. A Ferrari model, worth over five million…
Just then, a teasing voice came from not far away, “I just picked up this car yesterday, and all the paperwork is in order. Since she’s a young girl, I’ll give her a discount. Four million, and the car is hers.”
Leila turned to see the man’s back, unable to see his face.
The police officer sitting across from Caleb looked uneasy. “Mr. Mitchell, four million, she’s just a fashion magazine editor…”
Caleb teased, “Officer, are you trying to make me take the loss?”
“Well, I just mean, is there any other way, like repairing…”
Suddenly, a shadow fell beside Caleb.
Turning his head, Caleb saw Leila and called out in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Leila didn’t recognize Caleb at all, her expression puzzled. “Do you know me?”
Seeing Leila’s puzzled expression, Caleb pinched his thigh hard. He had let slip…
Under Leila’s gaze, Caleb pretended to be calm. “You don’t know me? Hawke, does that ring a bell?”
Leila’s expression changed from confusion to pleasant surprise. “Is it you?”
Hawke. The alias used by the person who had sponsored Leila in the past.
Only she knew this name, not even her mom.
So when Caleb mentioned these two words, she believed without a doubt.
Caleb was just testing, but he didn’t expect Leila to believe him.