Overbearing CEO's Contract Love
Chapter 132: Using Your Sister to Settle a Debt

Chapter 132: Using Your Sister to Settle a Debt

In the Sterling Group villa, Emma Hart sat on the sofa, scrolling through her sparse contacts.

Her classmates, freshly graduated like her, certainly couldn’t muster the hefty sum she needed.

Friends who were close before quickly vanished at the mention of borrowing money, leaving her with a paltry two thousand dollars—a mere drop in the bucket compared to the five hundred thousand dollars required.

Remembering something, Emma rushed upstairs to retrieve a card from the back of her drawer.

She recalled Damien Sterling nonchalantly tossing it into the drawer, indicating she could use it freely.

To him, fifty thousand, even five hundred thousand dollars, was trivial.

But Emma hesitated to use it, locking the card away again.

Perhaps she could broach the subject with him tonight, she thought, even if the idea of borrowing money felt humiliating.

Maintaining her pride had always been crucial to Emma, and asking Damien for money felt akin to an insurmountable task.

Yet, it seemed the only option left.

As evening approached without Damien’s return, Emma hesitated before dialing his number—a call she wouldn’t normally initiate.

Her heart pounded as the phone rang, an uneasy feeling bubbling within her.

Finally connecting, Damien’s deep, magnetic voice asked, "What is it?"

"Um... will you be coming home tonight?" Emma inquired.

"Why wouldn’t I?" he retorted.

Emma didn’t know. For all she knew, Damien could easily afford to splurge on numerous villas without a second thought.

"I have a social engagement tonight," he added after a pause.

"Oh," Emma replied, her tone laced with disappointment.

A sly smile crept across Damien’s face on the other end, "Why? Missing me?"

"Of course not! Bye!" Emma hastily ended the call.

Deep down, she wanted to discuss her financial dilemma with Damien, but the thought of directly asking for money was too daunting.

Emma waited up late for him, but eventually fell asleep, only to be half-awake as someone lifted her into their arms.

She instinctively inhaled a comforting, familiar scent and drifted back to sleep.

Emma Hart nearly leaped out of bed in the morning, blurting out, "Is Damien Sterling back?"

A brief pause ensued as she took in the opulent room around her—the white walls, the European chandelier, the luxurious furniture.

She shifted slightly on the soft, yielding surface beneath her... Was she in bed? Hadn’t she fallen asleep on the couch last night?

Turning, she saw Damien Sterling staring at her with a puzzled look, as if observing a circus performer.

"You... you’re back."

Damien rolled over to pin her back down to the bed, studying her with a furrowed brow as if burdened by some troubling thought.

Why did she look so startled? Surely, his recent demeanor hadn’t given her cause to fear him still.

At that moment, Emma avoided Damien’s penetrating gaze, knowing well his ability to see through everything.

"Is something the matter?" he asked indifferently.

Emma gazed at him, aware of the formidable presence he commanded, knowing full well his capacity to effortlessly deal with the troublemakers threatening her brother, much like crushing an ant.

"I..." She hesitated, still unsure of how to begin.

After a long look, Damien sensed an odd tension beneath him, a reminder that he dared not linger on her gaze any longer.

He rolled off her, muttering, "Pregnancy is such a hassle!"

"Hey, that’s thanks to you!" Emma retorted, her annoyance flaring up.

Yet, Damien, despite his complaints, went about his routine as usual, fetching a robe and heading to another room.

Emma had come to recognize this pattern, often a sign of his unspoken desires.

Breakfast time became Emma’s reckoned moment to come clean to Damien.

However, throughout the meal, despite his occasional curious glances, she remained silent until he left.

Sighing in resignation, Emma faced the daunting task ahead—negotiating with those people without having gathered the necessary funds.

At the bar’s entrance stood Emma Hart.

Despite the fear coursing through her veins, she knew she had to mask it with a facade of courage.

As Emma entered, the bald man, already steeped in alcohol from the early hours, approached her swaggeringly, swirling a bottle in his hand.

"Sweetheart, you’ve arrived," he sneered, circling Emma and tugging at her bag. "Brought the money?"

Emma responded with a cold laugh, adopting a tough persona, feigning calm, "Who carries cash these days?"

"And what are you suggesting?" he growled, clearly annoyed. "You trying to play games with me?"

The tension rose as his cronies, unable to hold back their eagerness, suggested, "Boss, why even bother with the money? Just sell her straight to those upscale clubs. She’d fetch more than the half-million you’re owed!"

Their lecherous gazes made Emma’s skin crawl, their vulgar comments piercing her ears like daggers.

"Before you sell her, boss, let us have a bit of fun," one man said, practically salivating at the idea of having Emma to themselves.

They were used to cheap entertainment; encountering someone like Emma, with her innate purity and beauty, was rare.

They fantasized about how much she would be worth in an upscale club, perhaps with a fabricated backstory to increase her value—this was a level of luxury they hardly dared dream of.

Hearing their crude plans, Emma instinctively stepped back.

The realization hit her hard; she stood no chance against these men, her attempt to escape futile.

"I haven’t finished speaking. I came here specifically with the money to pay off the debt, and I’ve prepared twenty thousand dollars as interest. All we need to do is go out and transfer the funds. I’m not short of cash. Here’s twenty thousand, take it first," Emma Hart said, pulling out twenty thousand dollars from her bag and tossing it onto the table with a flourish.

"This interest rate is much higher than what you would normally ask for, isn’t it?" At that moment, Emma deliberately baited the man, her bag secretly equipped with a recording pen.

The man picked up the money, his greed apparent, giving Emma another evaluative look, "Are you serious?"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.