"What? You are going to give me away to this man? What kind of a sick joke is this?" Susan Brown scoffed sarcastically; her slender finger pointed towards Ryker sitting with elegance, sipping on his coffee. "Give me up to him? Only over my dead body."
Following the direction pointed by Susan, a man in a suit and leather shoes was holding a cup of coffee with his well-defined fingers, emanating an inherent noble aura. However, surprisingly, his face was crisscrossed with numerous scars, some deep, some superficial - a sight hard to look at.
Susan shivered as she caught Richard's ambiguous gaze, involuntarily taking a step backward. She mustered up her courage and yelled, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman?"
"Indeed, this is my first time seeing a woman as beautiful as Miss Susan." Unexpectedly, Richard didn't get angry. Instead, a faint smile crept up on his lips - his tone was genuine and sincere.
Despite the sincerity in Richard's tone, Susan couldn’t help but sense a hint of sarcasm. She stood on the side, her complexion turning extremely unsightly.
Did she not know her own beauty? She knew she was cute, but if one considered the term beautiful, she wasn't in the slightest touch with it.
"Hem, hem." At this moment, a middle-aged, potbellied man around his fifties, sitting on another sofa, coughed softly. He shot an indiscernible glance at Susan, his eyes filled with anger and disappointment but not a trace of consideration.
Susan naturally received the disappointed gaze of the middle-aged man. Her heart ached, and she bit her lip, holding back her tears. She averted her gaze, her slender fists clenched tight, her eyes filled with despair and rage.
This middle-aged man was none other but Susan's father, Ryker Brown.
"Mr. Richard, don't take this to heart. She is young and doesn't know any better. Please don't lower yourself to her level." Ryker looked at his daughter's actions, feeling deeply embarrassed. A surge of anger welled up inside him. However, remembering the presence of someone, he suppressed his anger in respect to the formidable aura of Richard, sending an apologetic look his way.
"No problem, I don't mind." Richard Eli responded indifferently, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "Chairman Brown, since your daughter is here, let's proceed with the formalities."
"Okay, okay, okay." Ryker immediately stood up, repeating his affirmation thrice. Richard's words gradually dispelled his anger. He took out a contract from the drawer of his coffee table. His eyes were filled with greed.
As long as this contract was signed, the Brown family would climb up another rung in the city A. Even though this decision violated his ex-wife's instructions, sending his no-good daughter to the renowned Eli family in city A was at least a way of keeping his promise to his ex-wife.
Ryker didn't notice. As he took out the contract, a streak of coldness flashed in Richard's eyes. Although it was subtle enough not to be noticed, it instantly dropped the room's atmosphere unknowingly to the giddy Ryker.
Susan, who was naturally sensitive, perceived a significant drop in the temperature. She rubbed her arms and glanced around but didn't spot anything unusual. Therefore, she didn't pay much attention to it, instead focusing on the contract in Ryker's hand.
Richard took the contract from Ryker and casually flipped through a few pages, a chilling and emotionless smile spread across his face. "Director Brown, you really do have a big appetite."
The smile on Ryker's face froze for a moment before he recovered. He sighed in frustration, "Mr. Eli, you may not know. Don't be deceived by her delicate and weak appearance. In reality, she can do anything. Ten billion dollars is a very small amount."
"Director Brown, you seem to forget. I'm not asking for your daughter to be a servant in my house, but to become the legitimate young miss of the Eli Family." Richard dropped the contract on the table, his gaze ice-cold and dangerous as he stared at Ryker.
Ryker's face paled. He had not anticipated that Mr. Eli would regard Susan so highly. He raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. "Mr. Eli, I apologize for my slip of the tongue. It was a mistake!"
"I hope there won't be a next time."
"Of course," replied Ryker without arguing. He quickly nodded and picked up the trembling contract that was dropped on the table. "Mr. Eli, as I'm already agreeing to give my daughter to you, what about this contract?"