In the luxurious private room, Ella scrutinized Eden intently before asking, "Are you afraid?"

Eden's eyes narrowed.

"You think I'll lie to you?" Ella framed it as a question, but her tone conveyed certainty.

Eden was dismissive. "You think really highly of yourself."

"Why don't you trust me?"

"What makes you think I should?" Eden fired back, raising an eyebrow.

He had a point. She hadn't done anything to earn his trust yet.

She thought for a moment, then said, "You know what kind of man Lucien really is."

Eden purses his lips, obviously sizing up Ella at the moment as well.

Eden was well aware that Lucien was not a good man. Lucien was his most powerful rival, and so Eden paid extra close attention to him, uncovering many of his dirty secrets himself.

But for Ella… Didn't she adore Lucien?

Eden assumed that Lucien would only display his best self to his fiancée, but remarkably, Ella still managed to see through Lucien's facade, recognizing him for the scum he truly was.

"I also know what kind of man he is," Ella continued. "I've seen all of his hypocrisy–all of his false pretenses–so why would I want to sign the rest of my life over to him?!"

Eden remained motionless, captivated as he listened to her explanation.

"Not only will I not marry him, but I'll make him endure double the suffering he put me through…!" Ella clenched her teeth, her voice resounding through the private room like a sudden gust of wind.

A brief moment of silence followed her declaration, then…

"How do you want me to help exactly?" Eden asked suddenly, clearly indicating his agreement.

Ella felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't expect to get through to him so quickly.

Although his quick answer surprised her, she didn't dwell on it too much. She knew he'd say yes eventually. A win-win cooperation was something that Eden was too smart to turn down.

She said bluntly, "Half a month from now, for my mom's 50th birthday, I'll have my dad prepare a big birthday banquet, and I'll invite all of Seattle's dignitaries to attend, including you."

"And then what?"

"Hedy, my cousin, has always been incredibly jealous of me. She can't stand the thought of me having a better life than her. She thinks that by marrying Lucien, I'm claiming the best man in Seattle, so she wants to sabotage my wedding. And the way she wants to do it is by sleeping with him," Ella spoke plainly.

Eden listened attentively.

"Lucien isn't a loyal man by any means. He might refrain from actively seeking out other women during the month of the wedding to keep up appearances, but that doesn't mean he can't be seduced. At my mom's party, Hedy is going to dress her best and do everything she can to get into his bed. Then she'll use that little tryst to blackmail him into marrying her instead."

"Lucien won't be threatened by her," Eden responded with certainty.

"Of course not. A man with Lucien's connections can easily handle a woman like Hedy. He probably has countless ways to make her disappear, but he'll never expect that I would be the one to use their affair against him! He's so convinced he has me under his control that he doesn't bother monitoring me closely."

"You want me to record Lucien and Hedy while they're going at it."

"Yes," Ella nodded.

She knew Eden was smart. The man was a jack of all trades.

"I also know who you are, Jonas," Ella said, turning her head to the man next to her, who maintained a calm expression.

Upon catching Ella's gaze, Jonas responded with a nonchalant smile, "What can I do for you, Miss Ford?"

"Your family boasts an incredible network of connections, both legal and otherwise, so finding a random person to secretly film an indecent video should be a piece of cake," Ella suggested.

Jonas shrugged his shoulders, unsure whether to say yes or no at that moment.

"He can do that," Eden answered on his behalf, and Jonas simply nodded in agreement. Then he suddenly added, "But Miss Ford…"

"Hmm?"

"You sure you're prepared to do this?"

"What? Why wouldn't I be?"

Eden's demeanor was seldom serious, but he warned, "Tearing off Lucien's picture-perfect mask might be more than you can handle."

"I've seen him in all his disgusting cruelty," Ella spat. "So go ahead and tear it off, the uglier the better."

A flicker of surprise briefly crossed Eden's eyes, likely still taken aback by Ella's change of heart. Nevertheless, he was used to feigning indifference, so it was easy to keep his shock hidden.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Ella turned around, intending to leave as she still felt quite uneasy in the situation. However, just as she was about to exit, a sudden thought struck her. She turned back and called out, "Eden."

He looked at her expectantly.

As Ella turned her head and met his eyes, she felt her heart flutter under his gaze. Indeed, women couldn't resist men who were too good-looking, and Eden had that captivating charm that made all women swoon over him.

Eden waited wordlessly for a moment, even though he thought there was no need for any further words or actions.

No man could resist a woman's advances. Lucien couldn't, and neither could Eden.

"Do you have something to say?" Eden finally asked, furrowing his brow.

Whatever it was Ella wanted to say, she had clearly changed her mind.

"Try not to catch any diseases," she said instead. "I don't need you buckling while we're still working together."

Eden narrowed his eyes, watching her as she left the private room.

Beside him, Jonas was struggling to contain himself until finally, unable to hold it in any longer, he burst into laughter. His cackling came out awfully exaggerated, and Eden shot him a glare.

Jonas tried his best to compose himself, struggling to stifle his laughter. He joked, "Want me to tell her all the ladies here get screened regularly?"

Of course Jonas knew that. His family owned the Imperial after all.

"No, no, no," Jonas corrected himself, shaking his head. "I should tell her none of the girls have touched a hair on your precious little head."

Eden didn't seem to care about Jonas's teasing and left the private room as well. As he stepped out of the front doorway, a woman appeared to be waiting for him, but he didn't even spare her a glance.

"Master Eden," the woman called out to him daintily. That alone took most of her courage.

Originally, she didn't dare to approach him either, but seeing as how the woman just now could jump right into his arms, maybe she could too.

Plus, Eden did call her 'darling' earlier… Just thinking about it made her thrum with excitement.

Eden's footsteps did stop.

He turned around.

The woman's heartbeat accelerated with a look of anticipation.

"You called me 'babe' earlier," Eden's voice was chilling. "Don't ever make that mistake again."

The woman's face turned pale with fear. She stood there, stunned, and watched Eden as he walked away. She remained rooted to the spot for a long time, unable to shake off the sense of unease and disappointment.

Earlier, she did call him that. It was while he was on the phone with someone–he told her to scream into the microphone for him.

Was he warning her that she didn’t have the right to call him “babe”?!