Chapter 299

Her fingers dug into his sleeve, her eyes welling with tears. She stared into his emotionless gaze and closed her eyes, shaking her head one last time.

"Is that so?" Clifford's eyes bored into her.

Latisha nodded, and then her legs buckled completely, sending her tumbling into his arms.

"Latisha, your body and your face are two completely different things, aren't they?"

A deep blush crept up her cheeks. She gripped the collar of his shirt, her entire weight pressing against him, though to him, she felt as light as a feather.

"N-no..."

"No what?"

"Don't..."

"You want me to, or you don't?" His tone was laced with dark amusement.

Latisha buried her face in his chest and shook her head. Clifford glanced down and saw that the exposed skin of her neck and the tips of her ears were flushed a deep crimson.

Just then, a sharp knock came from the office door.

Latisha's head shot up in panic. She looked at the door, then back at Clifford, her eyes pleading. But he remained completely unruffled. He pulled his hand back, and just as she thought he was going to let her go, he spun her around to face the bookshelf. She threw her hands out just in time to keep her face from slamming into the hard wood.

Latisha glanced back nervously, her eyes meeting a predatory gleam in his. He gripped her waist and called out to the person outside, "Wait!"

On the other side of the door, the hand that had been raised to knock again froze as

if electrocuted. Ziven had been about to push the door open, but thankfully, he'd hesitated. He let out a shaky breath, but as he turned to leave, he heard a faint, almost imperceptible sound from within.

He frowned, and curiosity got the better of him. He leaned closer, trying to make out what was happening inside. But after a long moment, the sound didn't come again.

Ziven was puzzled. That sounded

like a woman, didn't it? But he hadn't seen any women come up to this floor except for Latisha, and she was mute. Could it be Mr Lambert was hiding a lover in his office?

Ziven's imagination ran wild. He rubbed his nose, and to confirm his suspicion, he pressed his ear flat against the door. But it was no use; he couldn't hear a thing.

With a sigh, he took a step back and decided to wait quietly. He ended up waiting for more than half an hour. Finally giving up, Ziven took his files and left.

Downstairs, he entered the conference room, which was already filled with senior executives. The moment he walked in, all eyes turned to him.

"Ziven, where's the Chairman?" Greyson asked.

Ziven looked uncomfortable. “Ah, the Chairman is a bit busy right now. Perhaps we should postpone the meeting until this afternoon."

Greyson's brow furrowed slightly, but he said nothing. The other executives didn't dare speak, their gazes shifting to Greyson.

After a few seconds of silence, Greyson pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose, stood, and began gathering his documents. "Since the Chairman is so busy, we'll wait for his summons."

With that, he picked up his files and walked out. The others quickly followed suit.

Ziven watched Greyson's retreating back and sighed.

Clifford had arranged this meeting himself, only to leave everyone waiting for ages while he was.. entertaining himself in his office. It was a clear power play, a way to put the new CEO in his place.

Greyson's composure was impressive; he hadn't shown a hint of anger.

Back in the office, Latisha was sitting in Clifford's chair, her head bowed as she straightened her rumpled clothes.

Clifford, meanwhile, had returned to the bookshelf as if nothing had happened, calmly flipping through his files. After everything that had transpired-from the bookshelf to the chair, to the desk-he remained utterly composed, without so much as a single wrinkle on his suit.

Latisha watched his back for a long moment before she finished tidying herself and

pushed herself up from the chair.