Dumbfounded, Stephanie Ruan touched the part of her cheek that he had planted a kiss on. "You..."
Does this man not know how to take jokes at all?!
How could he just...!!
Argh!!
His thoughtless action has undoubtedly killed her mood for the entire day.
And when Stephanie Ruan tried to push herself up from his lap, she is shocked to find that she is instantly pushed back down and forced to remain in the same position!
"??!!..."
This man is unbelievable!!
"What are you doing?? Let go!" She struggled to get up again but to no avail. Her strength is simply incomparable to Javier Zhong's.
"You sat here first. It isn't my fault." He innocently explained himself to her.
Well yes, she has to admit that she took the initiative to sit on his lap first, but what's with him keeping her in the same position even after the show is already over??
What does he mean by this?!
If only she knew that he would be this ungrateful, she would not even have bothered to help him out of that situation!
Although Javier Zhong is undeniably stronger than her in terms of physical strength, it does not mean that she is someone to be easily bullied too.
"Urghhhh!!!..." Javier Zhong's expression instantly changed in a split second after his toes have been mercilessly 'crushed' beneath the sharp part of Stephanie Ruan's high heel.
"This is a payback for being a rogue!" She spoke to him with a smirk.
The opportunity then naturally came for her to stand up. Without turning back, she casually reminded him while walking toward her desk. "This is for the ice-cream truck incident. It's more than enough."
Nobody works for free!
Since she has already sacrificed so much just to save this ungrateful man from the 'deep well', she might as well use this to her advantage too.
To be honest, this incident could have already helped her to wipe up the two favours that she owes him.
After all, the uninvited kiss and abnormally long skin-ship had definitely put her on the losing end of the stick.
But Stephanie Ruan decided to be generous with him today and only deduct a favour for this.
Well, who asks him to be her 'business partner'?...
Since there is still no progress from the investigation, she is forced to maintain a good working relationship with him.
After all, this is part and parcel of doing business. It is about the 'give and take' policy.
Hearing what Stephanie Ruan has said, Javier Zhong is also quick to respond to her.
"Since you are so anxious to clear the favours that you owe me, I'll give you an opportunity to clear your last favour now."
"..."
"What is it?" Not only did her footsteps pause abruptly, but his words also made Stephanie Ruan turn around and fix her eyes on him.
"Marry me."
Though it is just two simple words, they did not hide the sincerity in Javier Zhong's facial expression and tone of voice.
Upon hearing that, Stephanie Ruan decided to return to his side and sat elegantly on his desk.
Marry her??...
With a curious smile, she probed further. "What is the total number of carats in the engagement ring? I'll tell you first, I won't accept anything cheap."
"I'll bring you to the store and you can customise the ring that you want."
Money is not an issue for him. In fact, Javier Zhong strongly believes that he should be giving her the best ring that he could get his hands on!
After all, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event and she deserves nothing but the very best!
Seemingly satisfied with his response, Stephanie Ruan nodded her head lightly while checking on her newly polished nails.
"Then, how much money are you giving me every month? I'm not an easy woman to care for." She kindly warned him in advance.
"You can have full access to all of my bank accounts. Spend it however you like to. I won't stop you."
With a more impressed look, she looked at him. "How about the expensive cars and luxury homes that you own all around the world?"
"If you want them, I'll transfer all of it over to your name."
"Wow! So generous... Basically, whatever that I want, you will give it to me?" She re-confirmed with him again.
He nodded his head with certainty.
Javier Zhong is not afraid to spoil her with everything that he has. As long as she is happy, he would be happy!
"..."
Unexpectedly, Stephanie Ruan shook her head lightly and sighed, "Such an impressive package! Any woman will definitely be tempted to take it."
She then tilted her head to look at him seriously in the eyes, "At this rate, you sound like you will be broke and homeless soon. Why not save up your last favour for something else?"
"Who knows, you might need to use it to get money from me next time when your future wife runs away from you."
"Though I'm not super-rich like you right now and will never be in the future, I can at least afford to get you a decent house and a small car. How about that?"
Despite all that she has said, she still has praises for him, "To be honest, I've gotten many marriage proposals before but yours is really... the best!"
"I'm excited for you. Win-win situation I guess? You get cheated by someone else happily and I get to clear my last favour with you."
"Contact me again next time. I won't change my number." With a wink, she came down from his table and returned to her seat.
"???..."
However, in no time, Javier Zhong appeared right in front of her and immediately put away the document that she has just opened.
"I'm only willing to be cheated by you."
He held on to her hands and made her stand up again. "I mean it, if you agree to marry me, I will make plans to propose to you properly."
"You're the first woman that I've set my eyes on and the minute I've decided to make you my wife, I'll never let you go. I've never made a single wrong decision in my life. I'm certain that you are the one for me and I will only marry you. I promise I'll treat you well."
"..."
Not knowing how to react to his sudden heartfelt confession to her, Stephanie Ruan paused and thought about it for a few seconds.
"Thank you for sharing this with me. But I'm sorry, I cannot marry you and I won't marry you."
"We are not suitable for each other." She stated as a matter of fact.
"Why? Can you tell me why we are not suitable? I'm sure we can work on it. If you want me to change, I'll change for you."
Stephanie Ruan struggled to remove his hands from hers, "You missed the point. I don't want to change anyone. I want to love my future husband for who he is. But Javier, you are just not the one that I'm looking for."
"I don't see myself having a future with you, I'm sorry." Though her words were relatively harsh, she managed to send a clear message across to him.
Looking at his broken expression, Stephanie Ruan slowly added, "There are many better girls out there. With your capability, I'm sure you won't have any issues finding..."
Unwilling to accept her response, Javier Zhong hugged her tightly from the back and did not want to let go.
"I don't want anyone else, I just want you. Can you give me a chance? Just one chance to prove myself to you."