The mysterious CEO's endless pampering

Xie Tingrui saw that Elsa didn't seem to be lying, but Li Zhanting's reaction made it seem like he didn't remember the incident at all.

If he didn't know Li Zhanting so well, he might really think he was the kind of scumbag who plays with women. And since they'd been brothers for so long, he'd never heard him mention it, which just didn't seem right.

"Elsa, is there some misunderstanding? Perhaps you've misunderstood?" Xie Tingrui advised tactfully.

He vaguely remembered that when he celebrated Elsa's birthday, Li Zhanting was on the phone the whole time and didn't have time to help Elsa blow out the candles. Afterwards, he also hurriedly gave her a gift and left.

Elsa, however, firmly believed in what she had seen. Grabbing Xie Tingrui's arm, she tried her best to explain herself: "No, I'm very sure, Zhan, he heard what I said. Otherwise, why would he willingly spend so much money to buy that diamond necklace for my mother after I disappeared for so long? Isn't that the best proof that he loves me?"

Xie Tingrui didn't think that Li Zhanting's action was out of love for her; at most, it was just a small favor, since in the end, he would have to donate to charity anyway.

He donated $50 million last night.

Elsa was too emotionally agitated, and he didn't want to upset her further. After all, she was now the youngest daughter of the Wilson family, and he didn't want to complicate things too much.

"Alright, Elsa, calm down. Let's not talk about this anymore. I'll take you home." Out of consideration for their past friendship, Xie Tingrui decided to take Elsa home first, and then go find Li Zhanting to find out if that thing really happened.

Now that things have come to this, Elsa has nowhere else to go but home. Fortunately, her father isn't home today, otherwise, seeing her like this would definitely arouse suspicion.

Xie Tingrui took Elsa home, offered her a few words of comfort, and then left to find Li Zhanting.

When Li Zhanting saw Xie Tingrui arrive, he knew that Xie had made arrangements for Elsa.

Seeing that Li Zhanting didn't ask a single question about Elsa's situation, Xie Tingrui became even more certain that his feelings for Elsa were nothing more than those of classmates.

But he still felt it necessary to clarify the agreement, otherwise Elsa would definitely continue to pester him.

Sigh... Sometimes being too popular isn't necessarily a good thing, especially for married men.

Xie Tingrui walked up to Li Zhanting and tentatively asked, "Zhanting, do you really have no recollection of the agreement Elsa mentioned today?"

Li Zhanting said in a low voice, "No."

Xie Tingrui stroked his chin as he pondered, "But judging from Elsa's reaction, she doesn't seem to be lying. Besides, she was interested in you back then, so it's quite possible that she confessed to you on her birthday. Could it be that you forgot that she said it was something you two said when you were alone together, and you even nodded in agreement? You should think carefully about whether this is true or not, otherwise, if this gets back to China and your wife finds out, it will be a real problem."

Xie Tingrui was not exaggerating. In America, there are too many people who don't want them to have an easy time, especially the American aristocracy, who are most disgusted with these Asians.

What they talked about most was the extramarital affair. Even though Li Zhanting really hadn't done anything, some people still used it to spread rumors, defame his image, and force the company's stock to fall.

Xie Tingrui's mention of Shen Yanran forced Li Zhanting to take the matter seriously, as he didn't want Shen Yanran to suffer any harm, especially in matters of the heart.

He had absolutely no recollection of Elsa's so-called promise. Even if she had actually said it, he would never have agreed to it because he didn't love her at all.

Unless she assumed he had agreed...

Li Zhanting recalled thoughtfully, "Now that you mention it, I do remember. On Elsa's birthday that year, I made a phone call, and when I turned around, I saw Elsa standing behind me with a flushed face. I thought she had drunk too much, so I didn't think much of it, gave her her birthday present, and went home. After that, she disappeared."

Suddenly, Xie Tingrui seemed to realize something. "Wait, if I remember correctly, you were using a new type of invisible Bluetooth headset to make the call, right? So when Elsa came to find you, she had no idea you were on the phone. She just kept saying some things that sounded like a confession behind your back. When she saw you nod, she assumed you agreed. So as soon as she met you, she couldn't wait for you to keep your promise..."

If that's the case, then it's a huge misunderstanding. He said that with Li Zhanting's personality, if he really liked Elsa, he wouldn't have reacted so calmly after she disappeared.

If this happened now, and someone suddenly told him that Shen Yanran had disappeared, he would definitely go crazy and go out to search for her.

Li Zhanting felt that Xie Tingrui's guess made some sense; Elsa had indeed misunderstood.

But no matter what Elsa thinks, he would never have any entanglement with her, especially since she is no longer a simple college student, but the third young lady of the Wilson family.

The Wilson family was the largest arms dealer in the United States, and the design blueprints that were lost from their arms factory were sent to Wilson John by an insider.

This was also the news that Li Zhanting had just received from his father.

Li Zhanting narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Arui, have you ever considered that Elsa's approach to me is not just about that so-called agreement, but may very well have another purpose?"

Xie Tingrui immediately understood and said, "She has another purpose... You mean, she wants to use being with you as an opportunity to steal the secrets of the military factory?"

Li Zhanting thought a little deeper and said, "I think it's more than that. Imagine Elsa disappearing for five whole years without a trace, but after the military factory design blueprints were lost, she approached me as the daughter of the Wilson family, and even wanted to use a strange agreement to make me marry her. Once such news gets out, whether it's true or false, it's very likely that the person in the country will misunderstand that I'm colluding with the enemy and betraying the country."

Collaboration with the enemy and treason!

If such a charge is proven true, the entire Li family will be doomed!

Wilson John, that old fox, is truly despicable. Unable to suppress the Li family economically, he wanted to use political means to completely eliminate them, and then seize the opportunity to recover all of the Li family's assets, enrich his own family, and become the world's richest man.

The more Xie Tingrui thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. "If things really develop as you say, the consequences are unimaginable. But I don't believe that a kind girl like Elsa would do something so heinous. After all, we've been classmates for so many years and have a good relationship. Even if you can't be with her, you still have friendship!"

Li Zhanting raised his hand and patted Xie Tingrui on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "Arui, the kind Elsa you mentioned is the Elsa from five years ago, not the current one. We lost contact for five years. Only she knows what happened to her during those five years. We shouldn't have the heart to harm others, but we must be wary of others, especially when it comes to matters of national importance..."

Back then, Xie Tingrui had the best relationship with Elsa and was the one who doted on her the most.

When Elsa disappeared, he asked many people to investigate, but in the end, the US government was alerted, and he had to give up.

Xie Tingrui understood the reasoning behind Li Zhanting's words, but he was unwilling to believe that the innocent and kind Elsa could really become so scheming.

Xie Tingrui looked out the window, his expression somber, and said softly, "Ah Zhan, I understand what you mean. Once this is over, I'll go and talk to Elsa for you, so she can give up on that idea and stop bothering you."

With their entanglement over, the possibility of them colluding with the enemy and betraying their country was eliminated.

Meanwhile, inside the Wilson family's castle.

While Elsa was grieving in her room because of Li Zhanting's indifference, the housekeeper suddenly knocked on the door and asked her to go to her father's study.

Elsa trembled at the mere mention of the word "study," yet dared not disobey.

When she reached the study door, Elsa knocked with trembling hands. Only after hearing a deep voice say "Come in" from inside did she dare to enter.

Facing her imposing father, Elsa kept her head down. "Father, is there something you wanted to ask me to do?"

Wilson John was a typical white American, tall and burly, with a full beard and a rough voice, appearing to be a wild and unruly person, but in reality, he was extremely sinister and ruthless.

Upon seeing his delicate illegitimate daughter, who was as fragile as a rose, he asked in a somber voice, "I heard from your sister that you were quite the star at last night's charity auction."

Elsa knew that her two arrogant and domineering sisters were no pushovers; they not only made things difficult for her at every turn, but also constantly tattled on her behind her back.

Elsa slightly raised her pitiful little face, blinked her beautiful blue eyes, and explained in a soft voice: "No, Father, my sister misunderstood. I didn't do anything at the banquet last night."

Elsa was terrified. She thought that Wilson John was unhappy because she had bought Ali back the diamond necklace that he had put up for auction, and wanted to teach her a lesson.

Unexpectedly, Wilson John suddenly burst into laughter, “You did nothing, but that Eastern man surnamed Li did it for you. Eighty million US dollars is no small sum, Elsa, my dear daughter, it seems you really haven’t disappointed me.”

Elsa breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed she wouldn't have to worry about getting beaten up tonight.

Yes, to outsiders, she was the glamorous third daughter of the Wilson family, but only she knew in her heart that this wealthy family, which everyone envied, had no family affection whatsoever, only a terrifying life in the darkness.

She has been in this family for five years. Besides being the living bone marrow donor for that man's most beloved youngest son, she is also a toy that he can abuse at will whenever he is in a bad mood. She has no dignity whatsoever.

If she were to find an opportunity to negotiate with Wilson John, saying that she could marry Li Zhanting, help him expand his family business, and even take over China's military factories in one fell swoop, he probably wouldn't even give her a smile.

Looking at Elsa's stunningly beautiful mixed-race face, Wilson John naturally didn't have too many doubts about her. However, he didn't want to drag things out for too long. "You told me that Li Zhanting would marry you when you turned thirty. So when do you plan to go public with your relationship?"