Chapter 415
“Take your clothes off,” Alice ordered.
Alice forced herself to stay composed. She wasn’t that naive, carefree girl anymore. She knew exactly how to get Kyler to listen to her, and she wasn’t about to waste any time.
Self-interest was always the first rule when it came to dealing with people.
Kyler froze, clearly not expecting her to come out with that right off the bat. “Take everything off?”
Alice caught the way his ears turned red and felt a little delight, though she kept her face perfectly serious. “Of course. You’ve been an actor and done some commercials. I need to see exactly what I’m working with so I can design something that fits you perfectly.”
Is that really what this is about? Kyler thought to himself.
Fingering his collar, Kyler hesitated for a long moment. After thinking it over several times, he bowed slightly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Diamonde, but I really can’t do that. If you just need a model, can’t I just put on the clothes once they’re finished and model them at the show?”
“Sorry, but I don’t think we can work together.”
Just as he was about to leave, Alice dropped the pretense. The moment she laid eyes on him, she knew she wasn’t going to let him walk away. She’d wanted to play it subtle, but Kyler was just as stubborn as Xander.
He wouldn’t give in unless he was truly cornered.
Alice grabbed his wrist, radiating a commanding aura. “You seem smart, so let me be blunt. Right now, you’ve got nothing. From what I’ve found out, you’re desperate for cash. Your family needs it, and so do you. Be with me, and I’ll pay you 1.5 million dollars a month. What do you say?”
Kyler’s eyes flew wide, his pupils shrinking. It wasn’t the 1.5 million dollars that got to him, but the sheer insult of it.
“Sorry, Ms. Diamonde, but I’m not the guy for this job,” he said, his voice tight with barely concealed anger.
After storming out of Cloud Design, Kyler finally let a trace of pain show on his face. 1.5 million dollars! Alice’s looks and figure could easily put her at the top of the sugar mama rankings in showbiz, he thought.
If someone had offered to be his sugar mama back in the day, he would have agreed in a heartbeat.
But now, he just curled his lip. Too bad. Ms. Miller’s offer is even better, he thought.
Kyler quickly collected himself and sent an email to Aubree, giving her a full rundown of what had just transpired.
To make sure Alice never suspected he was sent by Aubree, the two of them had no direct contact, not even any phone numbers. They communicated only through emails, and each message was deleted right after it was sent.
Aubree replied: [You don’t have to do anything for now. Just let Alice back you into a corner. Soon, the sick mother and gambling-addict father I’ve arranged for you will show up, so be ready.]
Kyler’s lips twitched. He did have a gambling father and a sick mother, but the difference was, they genuinely cared about him and never gave him any grief.
However, they would trouble his older sister, who’d been sent to live with relatives when he was a kid.
Everything after that played out exactly as Aubree had planned.
After Kyler’s parents showed up, Kyler, who had been resisting Alice all this time, ended up giving her exactly the leverage she needed over him.
With his mother seriously ill and his father drowning in gambling debts, the weight of it all crushed Kyler. In the end, he caved and reached out to Alice himself.
Alice got exactly what she wanted. Kyler, molded just for her by months of training, was the very image of Xander she’d always dreamed of. He had her utterly obsessed.
She was so taken with him that Carmen, usually the apple of her eye, was all but forgotten, tossed to the back of her mind.
After being brushed off by Alice yet again, Carmen couldn’t help but ask, “What has Mom been so busy with lately?” She frowned. “Could it be that guy from last time?”