Leo couldn't contain his excitement. He kept sniffing Lilian Asienwegher, who laughed uncontrollably, tickled by his playful affection. Her laughter rang out, bright and carefree. Derek, however, struggled to suppress his jealousy. He regretted not appearing in his wolf form, wishing he could share the same closeness with their mate. Still, he forced his envy into check.
Determined not to be left out, Derek squatted beside Lilian, resting one hand lightly on her shoulder. His captivating, sexy eyes gazed at her dotingly, his pink, plump lips twisting into a sideways smile. He felt giddy when she didn't push him away.
Lilian, enthralled by the wolf's antics, had half‑forgotten about her camera and the man behind her. Derek, feeling dejected at being ignored, cleared his throat. The sound drew her attention. Lilian quickly shrugged her shoulder, brushing off his hand, and stood up awkwardly. She forced a smile to mask her embarrassment.
Derek rose as well, his cold eyes fixed on her. He glanced at the recorded video in the camera, then handed it to her. "What do you intend to do with that?" he asked.
Lilian hesitated, seeing that he hadn't deleted the footage. "I… actually, I want to expose Professor Bert and Perry Jerome's devious, criminal acts." Her voice grew firm as she looked up at him seriously. "Edmund Bert is holding this so‑called seminar to lure beautiful young girls into human trafficking."
Derek squinted, his expression unreadable, as though the revelation was nothing new to him. He looked at Lilian intently. "You can't expose that. Delete it."
Lilian's eyes widened in shock. "Why?" A thought flashed through her mind. She shook her head in disbelief. "Don't tell me… you're one of them?"
Derek calmly shook his head, taking a deep breath. He spoke slowly, word by word. "If you let that out, it will damage our club's reputation. Besides, Perry is not someone you can fight. He has a powerful backbone. He's shielded from rain and sun by a massive tree. To strip away his shade, you must first hew down the branches and uproot the tree."
Lilian's curiosity soared. She leaned forward, her eyes fixed on him, eager to hear more. "So how do you suggest I do that?"
Derek's gaze softened slightly. "Leave that to me."
He closed his eyes briefly as Cayden mind‑linked him. To us, man, Cayden insisted.
Derek snapped back sharply. Shut up! She doesn't even know yet that you're a werewolf. Spare me the stress of explaining the word 'us' to her.
Opening his eyes again, Derek continued aloud, "I will help you have your revenge." He thought to himself that he needed to play the hero, to make her trust and rely on him completely.
Lilian's beautiful eyes searched his face. "How?" she asked softly.
Derek shrugged nonchalantly. "Now that I've established a foothold in Avaldos City and our company is ranking first, it won't be too difficult. All we need is a strong candidate who can compete for the office of president. Then Jerome will be impeached."
Lilian's mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. Her curiosity and shock left her speechless.
Derek chuckled at her expression. "Let's go. I'll take you inside for a look. Then we'll sit and talk more about it."
Lilian sighed and nodded, trailing behind him as Leo followed close to her side.
---
They walked through the club, passing the VIP passage, and entered Derek's private room. Lilian sat down, her eyes expectant, waiting for him to continue.
"Derek!" she called suddenly.
He snapped out of his mind link with his Beta, humming softly, his brow raised. "Hmm?"
Lilian stiffened at his gaze. Though it wasn't as lustful as Perry's, it was filled with yearning and doting. She wanted to dismiss it as her imagination, but she noticed his eyes never left her, except when he closed them briefly.
Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she asked in a low voice, almost hesitant.
Derek chuckled, amused. Goddess, she's such a cute little one, he thought.
Lilian, believing he hadn't heard her, gathered her courage to speak again. But before she could, Derek replied dotingly, "Okay. Call her over, and I'll have my assistant pick her up."
Relieved, Lilian quickly dialed Elsie's number.
---
Elsie, who had dozed off inside the white Ferrari 250 GTO parked outside, jolted awake at the sound of her ringing phone. Seeing Lilian's name, she answered immediately, surprised to hear that Lilian was inside the club and had invited her over.
Elsie's heart soared. She was on cloud nine. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined entering the Exclusive Tycoons' Club. But tonight, for Lilian's sake, she was going in. She silently blessed her good fortune and her decision to swallow her pride and approach Lilian Asienwegher.
From her short time with Lilian, Elsie understood that Lilian rarely took the initiative to approach anyone.
Checking herself quickly, Elsie added a touch of makeup to her palm‑sized face. She drove to the club, where she spotted a tall, handsome man waiting. She guessed he was the one Lilian had mentioned would pick her up at the gate.
She explained the situation to the security guards, who had already received instructions to admit one Miss Clinton.
As soon as the gate closed behind her, the tall man waved his hand up and down in front of her car. She stepped on the brake, rolled down the window, and scrutinized him.
"Please, are you…" he began.
Elsie completed his question with a sweet smile. "Elsie Clinton."
The man sighed in relief and nodded. He opened the car door for her like a gentleman. "Hello, Miss Clinton. I'm Xander Campbell."
As she stepped out, a bouncer took her car keys and parked the vehicle.
Elsie nodded politely. "Hello, Mr. Campbell."
Xander gestured courteously. "This way, please."