Date The CEO.com

Chapter 186: We Meet at Last

Eve unhinged her jaw. Little by little, the tension left her ground teeth. The scowl in her brows struggled to stay constricted. His words slowly sank in her mind. The two events—then and now—connected like puzzle pieces. 

But her hazel eyes remained sharp.

"Surprised?" Elias smirked. He peeled her fingers off his shirt. "But is it really? If you think about how much I've done so far, getting your number is a piece of cake."

He took a step inside the restroom.

Eve's arm shot up to block his path, her nails digging into the doorframe. She nudged his ribs with her elbow. "If you want answers, you won't get inside of this bathroom."josei

"Oh?" He mocked. His eyebrow arched up. Their faces were only five fingers apart. "Will you tell me out in the hall where there could be eavesdroppers?"

"Will I let you inside where security cameras are around?"

She wasn't dumb. After the incident with Mikael, misunderstandings could surface with a single photo. This whole conversation had to be recorded. She made a mental note to have Nanzie and her team investigate possible copies like an insider in the school's security.

Avery should also know about it.

"So you are sharper than I thought." Elias retreated until his back hit the other side of the hallway. He had one foot against the wall while he tucked his hands inside his pant pockets. He glanced towards the left then towards the right. "Everyone is eating right now. I don't think any of them would show up out of the blue."

Eve stayed where she was. She prayed that Nanzie would be back soon. That fake Elias scheme couldn't last long. Still, she heightened her hearing and sneaked a peek at both ends of the hallway.

Then, she faced him once more. "My business with Ambryan has nothing to do with you." 

"Business?" Elias blinked, fluttering his lashes. "I thought it was a 'relationship'?" 

"Is that what you plan to tell everyone?" Eve maneuvered. Her response neither confirmed nor denied his implication. The only thing she could keep now was to not give him an admission/disclosure. 

Her words shouldn't be used against her.

"If I was, I wouldn't have joined this charade." He snorted. It was easy to find evidence on her lies. Her education? Just look up a yearbook and she wouldn't be in it. Her hometown? Her name wouldn't be in the records.

But that was too easy.

As tempting as it was, he wanted something better than that.

"What makes you think this is fake?" Eve countered again. She leaned her shoulder against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. "Try as you will, this might just backfire on you."

"I think I made that clear in my message." Elias gave her a skeptical look, the corner of his lip curled up. He stalked towards her until they were a meter away. His tall frame towered her. She cursed his long legs. "Who are you exactly, Ms. Evangeline Reed? No one really knows you before you became the CEO's girlfriend. In fact, it was like you didn't exist at all."

He rubbed his thumb against his chin and titled his head sidewards. "Were you paid to do this? An aspiring actress perhaps who saw it as a gig? Must be a pretty big amount of money."

Eve gritted her teeth. "Is that what you want? Find out the hidden identity that you claim?"

Elias grinned. "Well played, Ms. Reed, but no." 

He caught on quickly on her intentions. It was admirable but evading to answer was a step closer to confirming his statements—at least, implicating that there is some truth behind them.

"Although I am tempted to know how long you'd keep this up…" he began to say, shrugging his shoulders, "If it wasn't fake, you really would be Evangeline Reed until you're old? Please."

Eve pressed her lips together. There should be a way around this. It shouldn't be a big deal like he wanted her to believe. The little information behind Evangeline Reed was hers. The only thing that changed was the name. 

This might be the time to create a backup plan if he did decide to expose her.

"Again, what do you want?" She tried for the nth time. He had denied her suspicions so far. It was about time they got to the bottom of this. They could only move forward if he admitted his objectives. 

Elias dropped his guard. His entire demeanor turned back to his carefree attitude. It astonished Eve at how agreeable he looked this way. "For you to buy my silence."

'What did they call this again? Blackmail?' She thought to herself, biting her inner cheek. If she agreed then that was basically a confession. It could be used as an act of her admitting that he had something to be silent about.

He really wasn't about to let her escape.

"What silence? You're the one who claimed that you are a part of my past," Eve feigned innocence. He may have known about her methods but she wasn't backing down either.

Elias raised his hands in surrender. His eyes widened at the floor. "Hey, if I came out as a liar, it would only be a matter of time before you would be found out."

Then, he directed a wink in her direction. "I'm not really against you. I'd actually want to be closer. Haven't I expressed that since the billboard was up?"

"I think you have expressed ill intentions on Ms. Evangeline," a voice responded behind him. Two strong hands grabbed his wrists and yanked them behind his back. The hold only missed a pair of handcuffs. 

Nanzie shifted her feet until Eve could see her face. Her cyan eyes darkened like an untamed ocean. "As a threat to her safety, I have to take rightful measures."

Eve stepped towards the conference room. Nanzie could take it from here. She took one last look of Elias. Indifference painted over his face. "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Walker. I'd appreciate it if you stopped spreading lies about our affiliation. Thank you."

Then, she left the scene.

It was at the moment she realized that she hadn't been breathing properly. Her hands shook as she approached the door. A part of her thanked anyone above that Elias hadn't done anything worse. He could have threatened her with her life. She felt grateful that he didn't have a weapon.

But that had to be reserved for something in exchange.

Her hand twisted the knob and let the door open by a fraction. Delighted laughter flowed out from the other side, entering her ears. The day was supposed to be about the school's expansion project. Her presence was meant for a good cause.

She shouldn't let this incident ruin it.

Meanwhile, back at the restroom entrance, Nanzie didn't loosen her grip. She waited patiently for him to make a move. The moment he would try to break free, she would knock him down. 

"I could actually be good for her, you know?" Elias chuckled. He craned his neck from one side to another as if he had all the time in the world for this. 

"You're trying to blackmail her with things you claim. That's never good," Nanzie snapped back. The rest of her team stood on standby, reporting to Avery's assigned personnel. They would wait for her instructions on how to proceed.

"And what? Will you report me to the police? Are her lies legal then? If everyone had to be lawfully punished for every lie they spit out of their mouths, prison bars would be extended to every house." 

Elias yawned. This was all unnecessary. The best they could do was prove he was lying. It would be too easy to redirect the attention on them with some evidence. To stop him from that, they would need to buy his silence. 

And he had already offered it on a platter. 

This game was only going in circles.

"Not all lies are life-threatening. Only trust-breaking," Elias heard behind him. "Move inside the restroom. You'll be detained until further notice."

"Touché." He heaved a sigh. No one else had dropped by the corridor. They must have closed it until they could get him out of sight. Nanzie shoved him towards the door. He resisted with his feet just to humor her. 

"I don't suppose you'd be providing me answers in Evangeline's place? Like who is the real person behind this façade?" He asked once his wrists were free. Nanzie set to work to see if anything could be used as a weapon against her and hid them.

"Ms. Evangeline is who she is" was all she said. 

"And who is this she?" Elias tried again. It was starting to get annoying. "Why even bother to avoid it? I already know Evangeline is a fake. What sort of identity does she have that is classified? It's not like I'd judge her if she was a terminated waitress with nowhere else to go."

Nanzie ignored him. 

She had a feeling this would keep up for a while. 

The toilet plunger was starting to give her ideas on how to silence another person.