Overbearing CEO's Contract Love
Chapter 415: It’s Her

Chapter 415: It’s Her

Dappled sunlight filtered through the sycamore leaves, casting a soft glow on the couple as they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes. Two staff members watched in excitement, taking half a minute to regain their composure before hastily capturing the moment with their cameras. After calling "Cut," Damien Sterling gave Emma Hart a quick peck on the lips, making her blush with shyness.

The staff members, satisfied with the scene, handed them a clue card for the second location. It was another white card with a large arch depicted on it.

"This is way too obvious," Emma Hart said awkwardly. "Anyone with a bit of knowledge about Paris would know this is the Arc de Triomphe."

The staff wished Emma and Damien good luck in French and then sat down to welcome the next contestants.

Since there were no rules dictating how they should travel, Damien called for a driver to head straight to the destination. He didn’t like wasting time.

The driver Damien chose was highly skilled, driving swiftly and smoothly. They arrived at the Arc de Triomphe in no time.

Under the arch, they found a treasure hunt station similar to the one on the Champs-Élysées. This time, a particularly cute French girl was the staff member there. She congratulated them on reaching the second station and explained the task requirements.

They had to wait for another team to arrive before proceeding. The task involved blindfolding two of the four participants, who would then have to identify their partners by touch and feel alone. Emma felt a bit uneasy, thinking it might be challenging if the other team was also a couple.

After about ten minutes, the second team arrived. They were greeted by a strikingly attractive couple. The man was around 6 feet tall, and the woman was at least 5’7". They both had fair skin and looked quite good from a distance. Their accents revealed they were French, and the sexy woman was the flight attendant who had served them on the plane.

Emma’s pupils contracted suddenly, and her heartbeat quickened. "Isn’t that..." she murmured to herself.

The flight attendant cheerfully waved at Damien and Emma. Damien responded with a fleeting smile. The man beside the flight attendant looked at them curiously.

Upon learning that Damien and Emma were also contestants, the flight attendant excitedly hugged Emma, chatting in rapid French about how amazing it was that they met again. The handsome man beside her appeared slightly bewildered.

The staff interrupted their conversation and signaled that it was time to start the task. The cute French girl and the flight attendant explained the task details to the other team. They eagerly took out four fluffy panda blindfolds from a drawer, put them on the four participants, arranged them in a square, and announced the start of the game. Then, they hurriedly grabbed their cameras, standing to the side, and began snapping photos continuously.

### Emma’s Fear of Darkness

Emma Hart had always been particularly afraid of the dark, and now, with her eyes covered, she was even more apprehensive. Her hands were outstretched, flailing in the air, and her legs trembled as she moved slowly, as if stepping forward would send her tumbling into a chasm.

She vaguely felt something approaching her, something warm and solid. She kept moving forward, hands extending cautiously until, suddenly, she grasped someone’s fingers. A pair of warm, strong hands immediately clasped her cold, delicate ones.

She recognized the warmth and touch instantly; it was Damien Sterling’s hand. Smiling slightly, Emma held onto Damien’s hand tightly. But after a few seconds, she felt the hands holding hers shift slightly to the side, causing her some confusion.

"Alright, let me take off your blindfolds now," the soft, cute voice of the French girl beside them announced. With a quick motion, she removed the blindfolds from all four contestants. The scene that unfolded before them was startling.

Emma and Damien stood face to face, holding hands, indicating their success. But what Emma saw next filled her with anger. The flight attendant was half-bent, hugging Damien’s waist, her chest pressed against him, and her long legs bent, showing off her curves. The flight attendant’s partner looked at the three of them in bewilderment.

"Oh my God, what’s going on?" the flight attendant suddenly exclaimed, releasing Damien and stepping back, drawing the attention of passersby.

Damien’s face was also dark with displeasure. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the woman off.

"I’m sorry, ma’am, but your team has failed," the French girl announced with a helpless smile. This was not an outcome she had anticipated. As for the photos taken, she decided it was best to delete them.

"I’m really sorry, I thought he was my boyfriend," the flight attendant said, sticking out her tongue and then, almost unnoticed, winking flirtatiously at Damien. Her boyfriend, however, seemed completely indifferent.

"It’s fine, no worries," Emma said, though her face betrayed her dissatisfaction. It was supposed to be a simple identification task; how did it turn into this? This woman must have ulterior motives.

The French girl handed them the clue card for the third station, while the flight attendant and her partner had to wait for the next team to arrive to retry the game.

"Sorry about that. We’ll see you later!" the flight attendant said to Emma and Damien as they left. Watching them walk away, the flight attendant felt a deep sense of unwillingness.

In terms of both figure and looks, she could outshine Emma by miles. Why was this man so indifferent to her advances? On the plane, after adding him on social media, he had immediately deleted her, which hurt her deeply. Just now, when no one was looking, she had secretly slipped her business card into Damien’s pocket.

"I want a donut!" Emma Hart exclaimed excitedly, tugging on Damien Sterling’s sleeve as they made their way to the third station.

"How many sweets have you eaten since we got here? Aren’t you worried about gaining weight?" Damien Sterling responded dismissively.

Emma Hart pouted unhappily and remained silent.

Damien Sterling sighed and smiled wryly. He gently pinched Emma Hart’s increasingly chubby cheeks and then walked towards the dessert shop to buy her a donut.

As he pulled out his wallet to pay, a white card slipped out of his pocket and fell to the ground. Instinctively, Damien picked it up and saw that it was the business card of the flight attendant they had met.

"What’s wrong?" Emma Hart asked curiously.

"Nothing," Damien Sterling said casually, tossing the card into a nearby trash can.

The long street began to buzz with excitement as a parade passed by. Various musical instruments merged into an exhilarating tune, and gorgeous French women at the front of the parade blew kisses to the onlookers.

"It looks like fun! Let’s go check it out!" Emma Hart pulled Damien Sterling towards the street.

She held her phone high above her head to take pictures of the parade.

Standing in front of Damien Sterling, Emma Hart got caught up in the crowd’s movement as the parade progressed. Her phone slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.

Bending down, she frantically searched for her phone. "Finally found it!" she exclaimed with relief when she spotted her phone a short distance away. However, it was being kicked and stepped on by numerous feet, finally coming to a stop about a meter away from the crowd.

A spotted kitten picked up Emma Hart’s phone in its mouth and darted into a dark alley.

"Hey, drop my phone!" Emma Hart shouted as she chased after the kitten.

Meanwhile, Damien Sterling was still trapped in the crowd and couldn’t break free to help Emma Hart.

Emma Hart chased the kitten through the dark alley and down a street lined with French sycamore trees.

After a while, she started to feel exhausted. She stopped, nearly at her limit. The kitten, thinking it had lost Emma, turned to look back.

Emma Hart stood a few meters away, hands on her hips, slightly bent over. The kitten prepared to run again but was blocked by a man walking by.

Emma immediately recognized the man and shouted, "Mr. Taylor, help me stop that kitten!"

Matthew Taylor, initially confused, followed Emma Hart’s instructions and reached out to grab the spotted kitten.

Noticing the phone in the kitten’s mouth, Matthew Taylor guessed why Emma Hart wanted him to catch it. He pulled a fragrant coconut bun from his shopping bag and waved it in front of the kitten.

The tempting food caught the kitten’s attention. Without hesitation, it dropped the phone and pounced on the bun.

Matthew Taylor handed the bun to the kitten, which happily began to eat it on the asphalt road.

"Thank you, Mr. Taylor!" Emma Hart picked up her phone from the ground and said to Matthew Taylor.

"Every time we meet, it’s always so dramatic!" Matthew Taylor laughed cheerfully.

He was just out for a walk and to pick up some items, never expecting to encounter such an interesting event.

"I was watching the parade on the street, and my phone accidentally slipped out of my hand. This cat just took off with it," Emma Hart explained, feeling embarrassed.

Suddenly, she remembered something important and quickly tried to use her phone. She realized she needed to contact Damien Sterling right away, or he would be furious.

"Strange!" Emma Hart muttered as she tapped and poked at her phone. The screen was frozen and wouldn’t respond.

"What’s wrong?" Matthew Taylor asked.

"My phone seems to have crashed," Emma Hart said, worried.

"Why don’t you use mine?" Matthew Taylor offered, handing his phone to Emma.

Emma hesitated briefly. She needed to contact Damien Sterling immediately, but she was also concerned about how he would react if he knew she was with another man.

"Don’t let him worry too much about you," Matthew Taylor said, noticing her concern.

Emma reluctantly took Matthew’s phone, preparing herself for Damien’s anger. As soon as the call connected, Damien started scolding her.

"You really know how to push my buttons, Emma Hart! Stay where you are and don’t move. I’m coming to get you!" Damien’s voice was icy and commanding.

After the call ended, Emma and Matthew sat on a bench in the park. Emma sighed in frustration, wondering why she always seemed to anger Damien unintentionally.

Matthew noticed her unhappiness and asked, "What’s wrong? You don’t seem very happy."

"No, it’s nothing, Mr. Taylor. You must be overthinking it," Emma forced a smile.

"Then why do I always find you looking so troubled whenever we meet?" Matthew asked.

Emma remained silent, realizing she couldn’t deny it. Being with Damien Sterling brought her more pain than joy, yet she felt she couldn’t leave him.

"Maybe it’s just fate, destined that I’ll be with him," Emma said helplessly.

With Damien, she had security and wealth, but she felt like a bird in a cage, chained and unable to fly freely.

"You know, your fate is in your own hands. It can be changed if you want to," Matthew said sincerely.

Emma seemed thoughtful.

"I’ve worked with Mr. Sterling for some time. He’s a good person, but maybe you both need a new way of getting along," Matthew continued.

"Maybe. Thank you, Mr. Taylor," Emma smiled awkwardly.

"By the way, we’ve known each other for a while and are good friends. How about we add each other on social media? If you ever need someone to talk to, especially about relationship issues, I can give you some advice from Mr. Sterling’s perspective!" Matthew suggested, pulling out his phone.