My Baby's Daddy

Beneath the Facade

“Miss Tillman, I’m here to customize jewelry for my mother’s birthday next month, and I was thinking of ordering a set of jewelry for her.” John wasn’t in need of money, and he wanted more excitement, so he didn’t mind forking money out for Anastasia.

Anastasia naturally wouldn’t reject a business opportunity given to her, so she instructed, “Grace, please get us coffee and a fruit platter.”

After Grace left, John’s gaze quickly landed on Anastasia again.

“President Curtis, may I know if your mother has any particular interest in the shape or color of the jewelry? Does she prefer jade or crystal other than a diamond?”

“Diamonds will do. It’s better if it’s bigger and more expensive,” John answered in a straightforward manner while Anastasia pursed her lips and smiled. “Sure. I’ll come up with a draft for your design and send it over to your mother’s house three days later. What do you think about that?”

“Since this is a present from me for my mother, it’s better to keep things secretive. Why don’t you come to me after you’re done with the draft?” A cunning look flashed past John’s eyes while Anastasia was checking a document with her head lowered. “Sure, President Curtis. I’ll contact you once I’m done.”

“Sure. I’m fine with that. Are you free later at noon? Why don’t we go have lunch together?”

Nevertheless, Anastasia wasn’t a fool and knew that John was trying to hit on her. Still, there was no way that she’d reject a business opportunity, so she nodded and uttered, “Sure. I know a nice restaurant just in front of my company. I shall make a reservation for two.”

John nodded in satisfaction. “Miss Tillman, I’ll be waiting for your break, then!”

“Why don’t you wait in the lounge? It’s much quieter there.” Anastasia gave the man a suggestion before sending him off.

After dealing with John, she made a report to Felicia while Felicia made sure to tell Anastasia to secure the deal with John, seeing how they’d profit a lot from the set of

When Anastasia went to get lunch with John during the afternoon, John took the opportunity to brag about his finance and assets as well as his company, while

Anastasia acted as if she was shocked and awed.

After the meal, she made an excuse, saying that she had a meeting and wanted to leave, cutting John short and leaving him with no choice but to send her back to Bourgeois.

When Anastasia went back, she sighed in relief before returning to her office to continue working

On the other hand, Elliot took his phone and contacted someone in his president’s office.

“Hey, Elliot! Why are you contacting me?” A man’s chirpy voice rang out.

“Do you know Anastasia Tillman?” Elliot went straight to the point.

“How do you know?” Nigel asked in a surprised manner.

“She’s an employee at my company. I ran into her yesterday at the jewelry exhibition and noticed that she came in using your name.”

“Oh! Looks like you’ve really acquired QR Jewelry Group! Anyway, it’s true that Anastasia and I are close friends with each other.” Nigel admitted truthfully before he chuckled and asked, “How was she? She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

“Are you trying to pursue her?”

“She’s not an easy one to pursue, though. I’ve been trying to go after her for three years already, but I still haven’t succeeded, so I can only remain as her close friend!” Nigel answered helplessly.

Despite that, Elliot’s facial expression was still dark. “How did you get to know her?”

“Remember the accident when my car flipped three years ago? She was the person who saved me. If she hadn’t dragged me out of my car, I would have died along with the car explosion.”

Of course, Elliot could still remember the terrifying car accident that Nigel had back then. Nigel had brushed path with the grim reaper briefly as the car that he was in exploded right after he left.

Nevertheless, Elliot didn’t expect Anastasia to be the person that saved Nigel back then. Is this fated? This would mean that the Presgraves owe the Tillmans a favor.

“Elliot, I’ll be returning soon. By that time, I’ll work at Bourgeois as well so that I can accompany her.”

“Stop messing around. You’re coming back to inherit your family’s business, not to pursue after girls,” Elliot reprimanded.

“Well, you’ll have to help me out to take care of her in the company, then.” Nigel could only reply to him this way.

When Elliot placed his phone down, he had a conflicted look on his handsome face. Looks like Nigel, Grandma’s favorite grandson, is pursuing Anastasia too.

Three days later, Anastasia’s draft was given the green light by Felicia, and it was ready to be given to John.

“Good day, President Curtis. I’ve come out with a draft already. May I know when you’ll be free so that I can deliver them to you?” Anastasia asked John.

“Hey! I’m sorry, but I’m still rushing back from my business trip right now, and I’ll only reach around 7.00PM. What about this? Why don’t you send the draft over to my place around 8.00PM at night?”

“Um … At night?” Anastasia immediately got alerted.

What’s wrong? Are you wary of me? Don’t worry. Miss Tillman, I’m not an evil person. It’s just that I’m usually really busy during the day, and I can only make time at night.”

Upon hearing that, Anastasia had no choice but to agree. “Alright. I’ll send the draft to your place at 8.00PM tonight.”

“By the way, I don’t like strangers coming into my house, so it’s better if you come over on your own, Miss Tillman,” John added on while Anastasia tensed up. Is he trying to get me to go over to his place alone?

Nevertheless, she could only nod and go along with John’s requests because he was her customer. “Sure. I’ll be there at 8.00PM sharp.”

“I’ll send you the address now.” Then, John hung up.

After the call, Anastasia headed to Felicia’s office and told her about the call before Felicia pondered for a moment. “From what I know, John Curtis is a well-known CEO without any bad rumors, so he probably won’t do anything that would cross the line.”

Anastasia could only hope that things go smoothly tonight.

During the afternoon meeting, Elliot, who hadn’t shown up for three days, finally came. He looked even younger with his hair styled and his dark gray suit, while his facial features were cold as usual.

Anastasia had her head lowered as she read the document while Alice, seated facing Anastasia, kept fidgeting around and hoping that it would attract Elliot’s attraction.

“Anastasia Tillman, focus on the meeting and stop doodling,” Felicia suddenly called out.

As Anastasia was indeed doodling in her notebook without paying attention to the meeting, she quickly straightened her posture and nodded with a flushed face. “Alright.”

After placing her pencil down obediently, her gaze met an upset pair of eyes, as if they were trying to tell her how disappointed they were by her actions.

To Elliot, Anastasia was behaving like a stubborn kid who wouldn’t listen in class right now.

“Anastasia, I hope that you’ll be able to learn how to respect other people in my company,” he suddenly demanded out of nowhere.

Immediately, a few snickers could be heard in the meeting room, as some of them were pleased that Anastasia got lectured by the boss.

However, Anastasia blinked before she propped her chin on her hand and smiled at Elliot. “Thanks for teaching me the right way to act, but I just want to be myself. President Presgrave, you can always fire me if you don’t like me.”

Right then, only the sound of people gasping could be heard in the meeting room. Isn’t Anastasia being a bit too courageous? How dare she speak to President Presgrave in that manner?

Elliot wasn’t just the president of QR Jewelry Group. In fact, he was also supported by Presgrave Corporation, making him a rich and powerful man. Hence, it would be dumb for anyone to try to cross Elliot.

Has Anastasia gone mad?!

Felicia got anxious as well. Then, she turned to Anastasia and exclaimed, “Anastasia, how could you speak to President Presgrave like that?!”

Nevertheless, a playful glint flashed past Anastasia’s gaze as she stared at Elliot intently. “President Presgrave, would you like me to hand in my letter of resignation?”

“Anastasia, you can’t just resign when you still have to meet President Curtis tonight!” Immediately, Felicia tried to stop Anastasia from angering Elliot any further.

Still, Elliot’s face darkened as he frowned before he turned to Felicia. “Why is she meeting clients at night?”

Yet, the fact that Elliot asked her that question instead of getting angry made her confused before she quickly cleared her throat and replied, “One of our clients customized a set of jewelry, but he’s very busy and can only meet up at night, so Anastasia will have to go over to the client’s place on her own tonight.”

“Tell that client that none of our employees work overtime. There won’t be any business dealings outside of working hours,” Elliot instructed coldly. From what he heard, President Curtis was definitely a man, and an ill-intentioned one at that.

“Umm… Well, we have already set the timing to meet up with the client,” Felicia tried to explain again.

On the other hand, although Anastasia could tell that Elliot was trying to help her out, she was still feeling rebellious and refused to listen to him.

“Don’t worry, Felicia. I’ll surely meet up with President Curtis tonight without any delay.” She assured Felicia about her outlook on this matter.

“I forbid you to go, Anastasia,” Elliot suddenly instructed sternly.