The best way to get someone to trust you is not to do them a favor but to make them do something for you.

By giving Marissa the power to decide a price for his silence, she is now more likely to subconsciously trust him, because what’s better than having one Coronant behind his back? It’s two Coronants.

If he can have Danny’s friendship and his mother’s favor, the Coronants will be very useful backers for him in the future.

Marissa is currently in a vulnerable position because of her own actions, and it would be stupid for Adam not to take advantage of it.

Just like Adam expected, Marissa is surprised by his proposal.

In all her life, she has never come across such a situation.

People usually went to great lengths to get things out of her, but here Adam is giving it all away.

He could ask for anything; instead, he is letting her decide. She begins to wonder what his end goal is.

Now with the ball in her court, Marissa begins to wonder, what could she offer to keep Adam’s mouth shut?

Money? From the looks of it, he has enough not to care for it much, influence? She doubts it; young men like Adam really don’t care for connections in her view.

As multiple possible options go through her head, she realizes that Adam might be right about her not being able to provide anything of value to him, and this makes her feel worse than before.

Having no control over her situation made her uncomfortable. No matter how genuine Adam sounds about keeping her secret for Danny’s sake, she couldn’t believe it, no matter how much she wanted to; it’s her nature.

The only way she can ever trust someone is when she has something against them to bind them to her words. But when it comes to Adam, she has none.

He is a completely new personality in her life who knows about her more than most, and it gives Adam power over her, which she doesn’t like.

As she sits in silence, contemplating what she can offer Adam to bind him, an idea crosses her mind, simple and very effective. Something that would force Adam into silence while also getting something out of it that she wants.

A smile creeps up on her face, which Adam notices immediately. Seeing that relaxed smile appear on her face while her shoulders drop a level, he realizes that the woman sitting before him has thought of something, which makes him curious.

What could she possibly have on her mind that would immediately ease the tension?

Luckily, he doesn’t have to guess or wait for long, as Marissa immediately starts speaking.

"I think I know what I can give you," She says, her smile thinning as it gets wider.

"Oh, what is it?" Adam asks.

"Something you wanted the moment we saw each other.... Me," She says.

Adam, who was about to go for another sip of his tea, pauses.

"I will let you do whatever you want with me," She says in a teasing tone that carried a certainty, as if there is no way he is going to reject her proposal.

He looks at her with a flicker in his eyes. This time, it’s his turn to be surprised.

Of all the things Marissa could have offered, this was the last thing on his mind.

And on a surface level, it didn’t make sense at all. Why would Marissa offer such a thing when it’s the same thing that put her in this situation?

She has been cheating on her husband for a while now and doesn’t want to be caught, but then she goes and offers herself to Adam to cheat on her husband with another man.

At first it seemed stupid and desperate, like Marissa is a woman who has no control over he desire and just wants to get fucked by young handsome looking men, but as Adam takes his time thinking over her proposal, it clicks in his head.

A smile forms on his face, one of genuine acknowledgement as it’s an amazing proposition that’s going to significantly benefit her.

Because what’s the best way to make sure one doesn’t rat out someone? It’s simple, it’s to make the other party as accountable as they are for the crime they commit.

By offering herself, Marissa wants to make Adam equally guilty for her infidelity. If Adam takes the deal as he has his way with Marissa, he wouldn’t just be fucking a cheating wife who has a thing for young handsome men, no, he would be fucking the wife of William Coronant, a billionaire, a man you don’t fuck with.

Adam would be forced to keep his mouth shut about Marissa’s infidelities because he, too, would fall under the sword that William Coronant would swing when he finds out that his wife has been fucking other men behind his back.

Marissa would get punished for what she did, but so would Adam. A man like William Coronant would go to any lengths to make sure that every second of Adam’s life would be as miserable as it could be, just to get his revenge on Adam fucking his wife.

As Adam understands this, he begins to see Marissa in a new light. She is no longer just a cheating slut, she is a wicked cheating slut who knows how to keep herself safe.

No wonder she walks around with confidence as if the world revolves around her, because she knows how to make it revolve around her.

"You are one wicked woman," Adam says, returning a smile.

Marissa sees that Adam saw through her offer, but doesn’t seem to care about it, and is still very confident in her success.

"That I am," Marissa says.

"You know that I know what your intentions are with that offer of yours, so why would you think I would ever accept such a deal?" Adam asks.

"It’s simple," Marissa says, taking a sip while Adam waits for her answer. "It’s your nature," Marissa continues.

Adam didn’t expect this answer.

"Care to elaborate?" Adam asks as he wants to know what she means by that.

"I know men like you. Ambitions of grandeur, power seeking, hungry, always need to be in control, the world is a playground and it’s rules are just for your entertainment. You need to have what you want, no matter if it belongs to others," Marissa says as Adam listens in silence.

She is not wrong. Everything Marissa pointed out, Adam is.

"When Mark told me about the thing you were doing in the elevator the night before we met, I got very curious about you. You see, it’s rare to come across a young man like you, I wanted to know more, so I dug a little into your life.

I saw what others couldn’t. You are a predator, someone to likes to take what’s not yours. Especially women. You get off to it.

You like the thrill of knowing you are better than the man you stole them from; it’s a twisted way of deriving pleasure, but I am not against it.

In fact, I loved it. You are exactly the type of man I like. A man who takes what he wants.

So imagine the disappointment I felt when you didn’t call me. After all, I am a prime target for you, because what’s better than fucking the wife of a billionaire, knowing you are so much better than my husband, who’s in fact one of the most powerful men in this country.

Of course, I never thought you and my son were close, and that was the reason why you didn’t come for me..." Marissa says, pausing after her long explanation, meeting Adam’s gaze with a flirtatious, teasing look.

"I understand now why you didn’t reach out, but here I am giving you a second chance. To have what you want.

You get to have your way with me and prove to yourself that you are better than my husband ever could be, isn’t that what you desire the most? To be superior to others.

What’s better than being better than William Coronant, my billionaire husband?" Marissa asks.

Her words successfully managed to stir Adam’s emotions because everything she said was spot on.

Adam is what she says he is. A notorious man who likes to steal other men’s wives to derive a sense of superiority from it.

Her proposal indeed gives him that opportunity to fuck her into a mess and derive heart pleasure out of it, knowing that William Coronant can never do what Adam did to his wife.

To have that achievement over a powerful man like William Coronant would definitely make him feel amazing.

Adam takes a deep breath as Marissa watches with a victorious smile, knowing she has managed to get through to Adam to a certain extent.

There is a flicker in his eyes, temptation. As Marissa sits before him in the elegant but sexy dress she has on, he can’t help but think of things he would do to her.

His shoulder tenses up a little while his fingers wrap around the cup a little tighter. He takes a sip of his tea and thinks it over.

’Marissa sees me for what I am, and I can’t deny it. Being better than William Coronant...’ Adam thinks and pauses.

But there is something Marissa has not taken into consideration.

For as accurate as she has been when it comes to understanding Adam, she doesn’t know that there are some things that Adam is never willing to sacrifice, even if it goes against his nature.

Control. Adam can’t sacrifice control.

By taking this offer, Adam will be losing control over this situation, and he can’t have that.

So he opens his mouth to speak.