Chapter 342: Shaper Than Expected

"Mrs. Michael, I apologize for my poorly received joke." Mayor Grant tilted his head slightly. "Of course, I was going to introduce you to the buyer. It’s just that it’s an international company, so it might take a while."

Emily didn’t respond. She wasn’t convinced by his sudden change in attitude.

"I’ll arrange an appointment for us to sit down with their lawyer—"

"I never said we would be interested in selling," she cut in.

The ever-steady grin on the Mayor’s face, the one that looked like he’d been practicing it throughout his political career, finally wavered.

"Sixty million is a lot of money..." he said with unsettling calm.

"For you, maybe," Emily replied sharply.

"Even if I were going to sell, why would I accept the first offer? We’d have to sit down at a table and negotiate. I’m not going through that process if I don’t even know who’s sitting on the other side of the table." there was firmness in her words.

"I understand, and I’ll make sure to inform the buyer of everything we’ve discussed. In the meantime, why don’t you two go back and think it over? Maybe even decide on what you would—I mean, what could be considered a fair price."

Yohan and Emily left the office a short while later, but by then, Emily was already convinced that the Mayor was up to no good.

"I suspect he has some sort of connection with the buyer," Emily said as they headed toward the stairs.

"You think so too?" Yohan asked.

He was almost certain of it himself. In fact, that was precisely why he’d requested for their information. Still, he hadn’t expected Emily to reach the same conclusion after such a brief encounter.

’I guess her business instincts are as sharp as ever’

’In that case, I don’t have to worry too much about getting scammed by the Mayor with Emily around’

He continued walking with both hands in his pockets when he spotted a familiar face stepping into one of the offices.

The woman made sure he noticed her before entering, deliberately leaving the door open behind her.

"Emily, can you go on ahead? There’s something else I have to do..."

"What is it? Maybe I can be of assistance," she offered with genuine concern.

Yohan’s hand brushed against the bag hanging at his side, the one containing the fifty thousand dollars. He considered telling Emily about his current shakedown situation, but he couldn’t see how she could possibly help.

"Have you ever been in a situation where someone threatened to take away something you care about unless you bent to their wishes?"

"You mean like blackmail?" She caught on almost immediately.

"Yeah, exactly like that..."

"Well, the police always say you shouldn’t cooperate with a blackmailer, but I find that advice hardly applies in business because of how fragile a company’s reputation can be. A single bad rumor could tank your sales, so it’s important to manage the situation carefully."

She explained everything rather calmly, as though it were something she’d encountered a couple of times in her life.

"So that means I should just give in to their demands?" Yohan sighed in defeat.

"No." She shook her head slowly. "That would also end in disaster because they’d only want more, especially once they realized how much power they had over you. That’s why the key is to control how much leverage you give them until you find something substantial to use against them. Something like counter-blackmail."

"What if I don’t find anything?"

"Then you create one," she replied without missing a beat.

Her naturally warm and caring demeanor almost made the advice sound less cruel, but Yohan could was spooked.

"Create one?" he whispered.

"In my experience, that always seems to do the trick." Her expression remained perfectly natural as she spoke.

Yohan stared at her in disbelief. He hadn’t even known Emily had this side to her.

’Does she feel comfortable talking to me like this because we’ve had sex?’

It was hard to wrap his head around, but Emily was certainly acting differently. Even the way she looked at him had changed, as though her eyes were smiling.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked, her brows lifting slightly.

"N-no, I’m just... thinking about what you said." Yohan scratched the back of his head, hoping she couldn’t tell what was going on inside it.

Instead of stepping away, she slipped one arm through his and leaned against him. He could feel her soft breasts pressing against his side as she looked up at him with dreamy eyes.

"I can handle everything if you’d like," she whispered, her sweet voice barely audible.

"What...?" Yohan almost missed her words. His mind was too distracted by what was happening physically. He couldn’t believe she was getting this close to him in public. Worst of all, she was going to give him an erection.

She pulled him even closer and whispered in his ear, "You can just tell me who’s causing you problems, and I’ll take care of it."

He considered it for only a second.

"T-there’s no need." He forced a chuckle and found a casual way to pull away from her. "I can handle everything myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He nodded frantically. "I’m serious. It’s nothing major."

"Okay, then..." A red hue crept onto her cheeks. "I guess I should be heading out."

Emily had thought that acting this way would easily convince him to accompany her back to her hotel, but she hadn’t expected him to turn her down.

She was too ashamed to ask for what she really wanted outright, but the sensations she’d experienced that day simply wouldn’t leave her mind.

’Throwing myself at him would mean I’m a disgraceful woman’

As a wife and mother, giving in to such desires was especially difficult. But in the end, she couldn’t help herself.

"Yohan, if you’re not too busy..." She hesitated. "Could you drop by my hotel and give me a massage?"

A massage.

The words had barely left her mouth, and even though she didn’t want to admit it, she was asking for something else entirely.