CHAPTER 90: NAUGHTY KID

Everyone in the venue who knew who Daniel Macros was froze in their place when they heard her words.

Andrew stepped forward to tell Elara not to talk to Daniel like that because that man was perilous, and if he got angry, he might hurt her, which was the last thing he wanted to happen.

However, he suddenly remembered their last encounter and how Elara always got on Daniel’s nerves, but despite that, the man never took a serious action against her.

But just because he didn’t take any action once didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it again.

"Elara—" Andrew started, but before he could even continue, Daniel cut him off, raising his finger to silence everyone.

This was between him and his wife, and he didn’t want any unnecessary interruptions, especially from a disloyal dog.

"Why?" He asked.

Elara held his hand, her fingers tightening around his cufflinks as she pulled him to the side, or at least tried to.

"Don’t you know? This show is being live-streamed. You are the owner of the Macros’ company, the rude, dangerous, cold, unapproachable someone one shouldn’t trifle with, one who murders without blinking his eyes, and...*ahem*, I mean an important personality. Do you really want to participate in this?"

Elara’s cheeks turned red when she realized what she was saying, and though she was whispering, because of the cameras and microphones, her voice was loud for everyone to hear.

Daniel’s eyes darkened at Elara’s words, his intense gaze holding her in place.

In this moment, he looked nothing less than that mafia boss straight from the romance books, and the thought alone made Elara swallow hard.

"You were awfully descriptive, Miss Elara." Daniel raised his hand and pinched her chin between his index finger and thumb, raising her face to look straight into her eyes.

"I... I didn’t mean—"

"Did you really think those kinds of things really bother me?" He asked, the slight tilt of his head making Elara’s heart pound hard against her chest.

A shiver ran down her spine when he stepped forward. They were still at a respectful distance, but his cologne and intoxicating smell had started to calm her these days... she could smell it all.

And she finally understood what they meant in those books that said, ’I lost the sense of what was right and wrong the moment his scent wafted through my nostrils.’

"I told you, I owe you one. When my assistant told me about this contest and how you probably didn’t have a partner, I couldn’t help but think I should use this opportunity to pay you back," Daniel said, loud enough for everyone to hear so that no one would make scandalous comments about her.

The director looked at Elara’s back with raised brows.

Just what the hell did this girl do to help a man like Daniel Macros, who was ready to come here and become her partner in a measly phase, stopping all his important work for her?

"You took a bullet for me. This is the least I can do for you," Daniel added, making everyone gasp at the words.

Carla immediately remembered how Elara had mentioned she had a bullet wound in her shoulder when she had pushed her down to make it worse.

Was this why Daniel helped Elara? The thought made Carla clench her fists.

"Now let’s not waste any more time. We have important things to handle, like this stream," Daniel said before he removed his hand from her chin and held her hand, pulling her to where she was standing earlier.

"Mr. Daniel Macros, it’s our pleasure that an esteemed personality such as you has arrived at our set. We didn’t know that Miss Elara knew someone so influential. If we had—"

The director started, and Daniel, who clearly remembered how the man had treated Elara in the previous round and hadn’t objected when that scum Sean was tainting her reputation, cut him off mid-sentence.

"I don’t have so much time to waste. I am here to help my friend. Let’s begin," Daniel said.

Before he turned to look at his bodyguards.

"They would become a hindrance for the stream, no?" Daniel asked.

"No, sir. Of course not." The director, eager to please the man and hoping he would bag another prominent investor if his behaviour impressed him, immediately chimed in.

"In that case," Daniel nodded at Alen and his team, who immediately stood in the corners of the terrace.

The director smiled forcefully. He hadn’t expected the man to ask the men to stay, but there wasn’t much he could do. After all, everyone knew about Daniel’s relationship with the mafia world and how his life was always in danger.

"Let’s begin," the director said, urging one person from each team to come forward and pick a chit from the glass bowl.

"I’ll go," Andrew said as soon as he noticed Elara stepping forward to grab the chit.

Beatrice, who had noticed this, was about to object, but the man had already left.

She smiled bitterly. She didn’t need to act or participate in any of the phases, but she thought she could use this chance to show Elara how much she had Andrew wrapped around her fingers.

This was an excellent opportunity for Beatrice to hint to the world that something was going on between her and Andrew, and once the divorce was over, she would subtly pressure him to marry her, but that was just an excuse. Her main motive was to hurt Elara.

It was okay. It was just the beginning. She will have many opportunities to get close to him by accident. Beatrice smiled.

At the same time, Andrew, who reached near the bowl, looked at Elara.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What am I doing?" Elara asked, confused.

"You are playing with fire, Elara. I understand that you hate me now and want a divorce, but must you try to make me jealous by using him? Do you even know what kind of man he is? How many murders has he committed?" Andrew whispered.

Elara suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and grabbed a chit.

She was about to leave when Andrew held her hand.

Elara turned annoyed and was about to snap when the man bent and picked up the handkerchief.

"You dropped this," he said.

Elara took the handkerchief from his hand, not wanting to create a scene. But this didn’t belong to her.

She walked to her position and was about to open the handkerchief when, to her surprise, Daniel swiftly took it from her hand, turned the stove on, and placed the handkerchief on it.

The flames immediately consumed it, and the man smirked.

"There’s no fun without a little fire, no?" He asked.

He looked at Elara to see if she was angry, but she smiled at him instead.

"What?" He asked.

"You are like a kid," she mused.

"You forgot to add something," he said with narrowed eyes.

She arched her brows.

"What?" She asked.

"Naughty. I am a very naughty kid, my little ifrit," Daniel leaned in to whisper in her ears, and Elara’s face turned red when his lips almost touched her ears, making her fingers tremble as she placed her hand on the counter to support herself.

The man smirked. This was exactly the kind of reaction he liked from her. Scratch that. He loved her flustered expression. Daniel sighed to control his emotions.