The alcohol was already working through her system, making her more emotional, more reckless, but the sheer desperation in her voice kept her momentarily grounded.
The special blend of dry martini was indeed effective. Perhaps he should consider giving her a raise next month.
With a measured movement, he reached out and took her small hands in his, feeling the warmth of her skin against his own. Riley was so focused on his words that she didn’t even notice the gesture.
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"You said your grandmother’s illness is late-stage liver cancer," he said smoothly. "With something that advanced, Western medicine is practically useless. Not only would it fail to cure her, but it would also prolong her suffering and drain your finances."
Riley’s breath hitched. The fear of losing everything, her grandmother, her money, her last shred of hope, gripped her all over again.
"Then… then what should I do?" Her voice quivered, teetering on the edge of another breakdown.
Alex’s grip on her hands tightened ever so slightly. "I have a friend," he said, his tone casual yet deliberate. "He comes from a long line of traditional medicine practitioners. Some say he has the power to heal the incurable, to bring the patient who is in cureable back from the brink of death. If he were to take action, there might still be a chance for your grandmother."
For a second, Riley forgot how to breathe. Her eyes widened in disbelief, the sadness in them instantly replaced by hope.
"Really?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she was afraid that speaking too loudly would shatter this fragile moment of salvation. "Sir, could you—"
She stopped herself mid-sentence, realization slamming into her like a wave of cold water.
’What am I saying?’ She was just a lowly employee, a nobody. ’How could I possibly have the right to ask a Sir for help?’ Continue your journey with freewebnovel
Her throat tightened, and she quickly withdrew her hands, lowering her gaze in shame. "I—I’m sorry, Sir," she stammered, her voice barely holding steady. "That was rude of me… I shouldn’t have asked."
Alex leaned back slightly, studying her reaction with mild amusement. "It’s fine," he said simply.
Alex let out a long sigh, his expression unreadable. "To be honest, I wouldn’t really call him a friend," he admitted, his voice laced with a hint of frustration. "Our relationship is… complicated, to say the least. There was a time when we nearly came to blows over some disagreements. And to make things worse, he has a terrible temper and a personality that’s hard to deal with."
Riley’s hopeful gaze dimmed, and she lowered her head in disappointment. "Sir, maybe… maybe we should just forget about it. My issue isn’t worth troubling you over."
She spoke the words softly, as if giving up, but deep down, she knew she wanted this more than anything.
She hated how calculating she sounded in her own head. Pretending not to want something when you desperately did… wasn’t this exactly what a manipulative woman would do?
Alex, watching her closely, found himself amused by the innocence in her act. Naive girls really are the easiest to manipulate.
A playful smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he lifted a hand, his fingers gently tilting her chin upward. He forced her to meet his gaze once more.
Riley knelt before him, her delicate hands still resting on his lap, trapped in his firm grasp. Her large, teary eyes blinked twice, shimmering under the dim lights. And despite the obvious intimacy of his gesture, she did not resist.
Alex’s voice dropped to a slow, deliberate drawl. "Getting him to help won’t be easy. Aside from his ridiculously high consultation fee, I’d also have to… apologize to that annoying bastard." His tone darkened slightly, as if the very thought disgusted him.
He sighed again, shaking his head as if resigning himself to fate. "But since you’re my most promising employee… I suppose I have no choice. If apologizing is what it takes, then so be it."
Riley froze. Her breath hitched, her chest rising and falling in uneven waves as she processed what he had just said. Slowly, she lifted her head, staring at him in complete disbelief.
At that moment, Alex’s face was burned into her memory. Her heart pounded, her emotions a chaotic mess of gratitude she hasn’t felt like this gratitude in her twenty years of life, relief, and something she couldn’t quite name.
Without realizing it, her entire body shifted forward, her delicate frame collapsing onto his lap.
"Thank… thank you, Sir," she whispered, her voice trembling with overwhelming emotion.
Alex let out a quiet chuckle, his expression utterly relaxed. Honestly, I’d rather you call me by name… but it’s still too soon for that.
Still, he had played his part perfectly.
He ran a hand through his hair before continuing, "That being said, he’s not in the country right now. I’ll contact him as soon as possible and try to convince him to come back. But I can’t guarantee when that’ll be." He paused for a moment, as if weighing his words. "I’ll do my best to get in touch with him. And if money is the problem, I’ll pay whatever it takes to bring him back as soon as possible."
Helping someone always needed to look like an impossible task, even when it wasn’t. The more difficult it seemed, the greater the debt the other person would owe in return.
If Alex had done this as a mere fluke, her gratitude would have been limited, believing that, for him, it was neither a significant effort nor worth much trouble. However, if he made it seem as though even he would struggle with it, her gratitude would surge and broke through that gratitude limiter
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