The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 126

"My girlfriend." Damon took his hand and she was glad he did, because it stopped her from saying something mean. "Vivi, meet Cassandra. Cassandra, Vivi." He reintroduced them.

The brunette’s smile widened but it was still fake. "It’s nice to meet you, Vivian. Are you the girlfriend Damon has always talked about?"

"Maybe." Avery rolled her eyes at the woman’s attempt to paint Damon as a playboy. "And it’s Avery. Damon likes to call me Vivi for heaven knows what reason."

"Oh, sorry. Vivi." Cassandra was trying hard not to grit her teeth, probably having expected Avery to be uncomfortable.

"You can’t call me that. Only the people close to me." Avery exaggerated a smile and looped her arm around the shocked Damon. "Didn’t you mention a meeting, babe?"

"Right." Did she just call him that? It was a pleasant surprise but it made him feel awkward at the same time. Why did it feel like the women had decided to hate each other on instinct as soon as they met?

"This way, handsome." Cassandra led the way and they followed, with Damon wondering whether it was a good idea to be in the same room with the two of them at the same time. What if they tore everything down in whatever hate they were feeling for each other?

"If you are tired, I can take you to our suite first." He suggested, and she shook her head before the words were completely out of his mouth.

"Resorts are quite interesting. I would like to know what Imperial resort, in particular, has to offer that got you so interested in it. "

Cassandra had heard her question but ignored it, and as soon as they sat by the ornate swimming pool to discuss, she acted on it. "Resorts may sound quite boring to you, Avery. You are in telecommunications after all and the two don’t cross paths."

"You think they don’t? Damon would be glad to disapprove you. He has major investments in telecommunications and is now looking into resorts." She studied the cunning woman. "How did you know what field my company is in?"

"Everyone close to Damon has heard about Avery Vaillant at least ten times. I just didn’t know if it was you. I’d hate to ruin a romantic date, you know." She smiled.

Damon facepalmed while Avery glanced over at him.

"Let’s just discuss the takeover, shall we?" Damon tried to drag the discussion back to the only thing that mattered.

"Of course." Cassandra took out her Ipad and Avery was relieved, but she soon realized it was too early. The woman showed her notes to Damon with a pleading gaze. "I know your mind is set on taking over Imperial Resort but do you think you can reconsider? You can invest in the resort for mutual benefit instead. I have an idea that would interest you."

"This is not what we talked about." Damon frowned.

"I know. It’s just...we want you here." She insisted.

Avery was nauseated by her, but that was nothing in comparison to Cassandra’s next stunts. She brought them drinks as a distorted form of welcome and deliberately spilled Damon’s on him, then frantically took out her handkerchief to wipe down his chest.

"I’m so sorry! I wanted to personally serve you but I’m such a klutz. You’re not mad at me, are you?" She pouted her lips as she apologized.

"Excuse me." Avery left the table, trying not to show the anger blazing inside her. She was relieved to meet a man she had seen with Cassandra earlier, who was probably her assistant. "Hey, do you mind pointing me to our suite?"

"Sure. Right this way." He led the way and she didn’t want to look back for a second.

...

It took ages for Damon to finally finish his meeting and when she heard him enter the suite, she set aside the magazine she had picked up to read in his absence.

"What a date, right?" She remarked. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"About that," He sat on the couch opposite her. "What was that?"

She uncrossed her legs. "What was that? It sounded almost as if you are blaming me."

"Maybe that’s because I am. Have you considered that?" He inched closer to her. "Vivi, this resort means a lot to me. It was not easy getting its owners to agree to me taking it over and I do not appreciate you ruining my chances with an unreasonable jealous outburst."

"Unreasonable?" She couldn’t believe her ears. "What’s reasonable, then? A woman seducing you right before my eyes? Am I supposed to rejoice at that?"

"She was not seducing me."

"Yes she was! And trying to push me away at the same time. Are you blind or pretending to be?"

"Cassandra is a little too friendly but that doesn’t mean a thing. Besides, she is married."

She rolled her eyes. "Then it seems like her husband isn’t doing enough." She stood and left the living room with a huff. "Some weekend date this was supposed to be."

"Avery?" He followed her, only to be locked out of the bedroom sooner than he could get in. "Come on!"

_____

He thought she was going to be mad at him for only a few hours but before he realized it, it was already evening and she was yet to leave the bedroom. He knocked on the door again. "Vivi, can I use the restroom? The spare one’s not functioning." He used something he knew she couldn’t reject.

He held his breath as he heard her feet shuffle softly, and soon the door opened. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

"You only wanted me to open the door, didn’t you?" She tried to pull away in vain. "What do you want?"

"Do we have to fight?" He kissed the top of her head. "Let’s talk about it, okay?"

"We do have a lot to discuss." She pulled away from him and this time, he let her. She returned to the bed and placed her laptop in front of him as soon as he sat down.

"What’s this?" He swept a glance at the profile she had opened.

"Read it." She urged.

When he did, he was stumped. "You did a search on Cassandra’s husband? Why?"

"She is suspicious." She briefly stated.

"I don’t understand what her husband has to do with anything." He pushed her laptop back to her and she noticed his accusatory gaze. He was seconds away from asking if she had looked into the woman out of jealousy.

"I admit, I loathed the woman for what she was trying to do. Call it charming you into accepting her deal or whatever, but I heard what her assistant called her. Mrs. Schuster."

"And?"

"And this is not a surname I hear everyday. Schuster, Imperial resort, it all sounded familiar and when I looked into her, I realized why. Her husband is Walter Schuster." She explained.

"What’s this about?" He was visibly losing his patience.

"It’s not about me. Walter Schuster is a scam on legs. His surname is not even Schuster and he parades himself around as the owner of several big-name resorts. Somehow, each of these resorts has some deep secret going on." She shut her laptop. "In other words, you need to be careful. Maybe taking over Imperial Resort isn’t such a good idea after all."

He was silent for way too long for her liking so she shrugged and slid off the bed. "Okay. Go ahead and do what you planned to do. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"When did you encounter him?" He asked, but she knew he was only trying to find credibility in her words.

"Why don’t you ask Mina? She sets up most of my meetings." She turned away to ignore him.

"Are you going to ignore me?" He asked, to which she nodded with a shrug. He chuckled at her stubbornness. "Look, if all we wanted was to fight, we could have done it at home. We didn’t have to come all the way here. Maybe we should go somewhere else and forget about this?"

"You booked the resort for the weekend." She wanted nothing but to leave, but she didn’t want to waste his effort either.

"Actually, I didn’t. Cassandra booked it as a way to please...well, as part of her effort in trying to convince me to invest in the resort instead of taking it over." He explained, glad he had dropped the ’please’ part. "If you want to leave, you don’t have to feel bad about it."

She looked relieved as though she had been denied of her freedom by being asked to stay here. "Do you have anywhere else in mind?"

"That depends. Are you still scared of deer?" He teased.

"Deer?" She raised her brows. "Promise me you are not going to hurt any."

"Don’t worry. I’m extremely careful since the previous encounters." He promised and took her hand, relieved they were no longer fighting.

"You may want to wear some shorts or pants for this." He glanced down at her dress meaningfully. It wouldn’t make sense if they were going on another helicopter ride but she didn’t ask.

Once she was changed into denim shorts and a t-shirt, he led her to the parking lot, where she was awed at the sight of his black super bike.

"Hey, beautiful. Do you want a ride?" He winked in an attempt to charm her.

"Cheesy." She scoffed but when he hopped on, she did the same and settled behind him, holding his waist. He slid on a helmet and gave her a spare one.

"Are you ready for some excitement?"

She wore the helmet and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. "Never been readier."