Chris’ face darkened.
After receiving no response from Chris, Davin chimed in, “Evan’s right. It’s not a manly thing to hide behind a woman. You are the kind of sissy whom I despise the most!”
“Uncle Davin, please watch your mouth!” Unable to stand the rude remarks her Daddy and Uncle Davin hurled at Chris, Nina intervened.
“Nina, can’t you see that I’m actually helping you here? Why are you still saying things in his defense? You must be under some spell of his to be this stubborn! It won’t be long before you get to see his true colors!” Davin retorted.
Nicole, too, went livid with rage. “Chris Sanders, are you keeping silent because you want us to do the talking on your behalf? We’ve found out basically everything about you, including your true identity, the problems you are facing now, and the reason why you offered to become Nina’s tutor right from the beginning! Don’t you think it’s unscrupulous of you to make use of someone else’s feelings to achieve your personal gains?”
Finally, Chris strode forward and stared at the rest of them straight in their eyes. “I can tell her the truth, but you guys must promise to release me after that. Keeping me here won’t do you guys any good either, and I’m sure you guys are well aware of that. I don’t think I need to elaborate on how influential and powerful K Enterprise is, do I?”
Davin snorted icily, “Kid, that threat of yours isn’t going to work on me because I’m so used to receiving them all the time that I’m totally numb. Now, just cut your crap and spill everything out so that Nina can see your true colors!”
Listening to their accusations on Chris, seeds of doubt started germinating in Nina’s mind too. What could Chris’ true colors and his ulterior motive be? She spun around and regarded Chris with curiosity written all over her face.
“Nina, they’re right – I offered to become your tutor with an ulterior motive. It’s because your superb cosmetic skills are going to be very helpful to me.”
“How am I going to be helpful to you?” Nina stared at him with confusion in her eyes.
“Well, since there’s no reason for me to hide anything from you now, let me offer you a more detailed explanation. Look, I’m in fact the successor to the owner of K Enterprise, but I’m an illegitimate son. My father’s wife gave birth to two daughters, who are my half-sisters. They have been trying hard to dilute my power in the company because they don’t think I deserve to be the successor.”
“The skincare and cosmetic department contribute the most to our company’s profits. So, they planned to start their usurpation by seizing the control of the department. Not only did they do that, but they also even colluded with the board members, who went on to propose that the department would fall into the hands of whoever managed to prove that they had more profound knowledge in skincare and cosmetic products. My two half-sisters obviously have the upper hand in this because they basically grew up learning them. As for me, I only started researching skin care products a few years back, and I don’t really know much about cosmetic products. If I don’t seek help from others, I’ll surely be beaten by my half-sisters!”
“At some point in time, I found out about you by chance. I thought you would be the perfect candidate to help me in my battle with my half-sisters, so I started coming up with a plan to get to know you.” “I couldn’t believe my luck when I found out you were looking for a tutor who could teach you the knowledge of skincare products. That was the perfect chance for me to get near you because I fit the criteria of the job perfectly. Thus, I pulled some strings and got one of my friends to recommend me to Mr. Lindt. After passing several tests, I was finally hired to be your tutor. I guess that’s about everything I’ve been hiding from you so far.”
Nina fell silent.
She stood rooted to the spot, finding it difficult to process the plethora of information that was jamming her head all at one time. After some time, she looked up at Chris and questioned him, “So, are you saying that you only approached me for your own personal gains? You don’t have feelings for me at all, do you?”
Chris did not answer her right away.
His face hardened before he broke into a faint smile.
“Nina, you’re only fourteen while I’m already twenty-three. There’s no way I will fall in love with an underage girl like you. So, you really shouldn’t waste your time dwelling on that anymore!”
Nina was left wordless.
He didn’t hesitate at all when he answered me.
Is it true that he has no feelings for me at all?
“A-Are you speaking the truth? Y-You really have no feelings for me at all?” In a quivering voice, she stubbornly demanded further confirmation from Chris.
It was unsure whether Nina was deluding herself or she really did not think Chris was being truthful. Her voice quivered as she pressed on her queries.
