The Billionaire's Promise
Chapter 186: Her Worthy Opponents

Chapter 186: Her Worthy Opponents

"And what made you so stressed today Mr. President? Is it your Grandpa and that pretty lady?" Aryana looked at Erik with hooded eyes. She was teasing him.

Erik looked at her with a sullen expression.

"Come here." He beckoned to her.

Aryana obediently stood from her chair and stepped toward Erik. When he was near enough, he pulled her and sat her on his lap. He then reached out and slid his hand on her chest.

"What are doing? Control yourself, Mr. President. Others would think that you are a pervert." Aryana swatted his hand away.

"What are you thinking about? You are dirty-minded. I just want to look at your necklace." Erik took out the golden chain and fiddled with the pendant.

Aryana blushed. She wrongly accused him. She thought that he would do something to her.

"Bend a little bit."

Aryana felt Erik fumble with the lock on her necklace, then it the chain was removed from her neck. She frowned when Erik put back the necklace.

’What is he doing?’

Erik took her left hand and slid the wedding ring onto her finger. Aryana looked at him in surprise.

He removed his wedding ring from his necklace and passed it to Aryana. "How about you slip it in mine?"

Aryana took the ring and slipped it into his finger. He rotated the ring such that the diamond studs were hidden and only the plain part of the wedding band is visible.

"We don’t have to keep these hidden anymore. On our first wedding anniversary, let’s get married again with a proper wedding." Erik nibbled at the back of her nape.

Aryana shivered when she felt a tingling sensation from her back. She moved away from Erik and went back to her chair when she saw two waiters approaching the gazebo with their dessert and wine.

"There is so much food. Can we finish all of this?" Aryna looked at the sumptuous spread before her. The serving was actually small, just enough for two people but there were eight dishes in all not including the desserts.

She started with the seaweed salad and miso soup. She paused when Erik opted for the kani salad instead.

"Why don’t you try this seaweed salad with green mangoes? It is delicious." Aryana used the chopsticks to put a small portion of the salad in Erik’s place. She chuckled when she saw Erik’s expression. "This restaurant is your choice, so you should eat their specialty."

"I haven’t eaten this kind of food before. They looked slimy." Erik used the spoon to scoop all the seaweed from his plate then he closed his eyes and bring the spoon to his mouth. He swallowed the salad without chewing them.

Aryana laughed loudly. "You seemed like a child. How can you taste it if you swallow it like that?"

Erik ignored her. He got a grilled salmon from the platter and took a few rice rolls. "Try the salmon. It tastes really good." He took a portion of the salmon and placed it on her plate.

"This is delicious." Aryana’s eyes sparkled with contentment. They haven’t had a fulfilling and relaxed dinner for a long time.

Unbeknownst to them, a paparazzi happened to be having dinner inside the restaurant. He secretly took photos of Erik and Aryana. Aryana’s back was on the camera, while Erik’s face was clearly captured. He was smiling while holding a piece of tempura with chopsticks.

He posted the photo and captioned it "CEO of Gaeya Corporation on a date with a mysterious lady."

Soon his post was flooded with comments.

"Isn’t that the same woman in the afternoon? He was spotted in The Alps having lunch with a woman together with his grandpa"

Someone posted a photo taken during lunch. In the photo, only the woman’s back was visible. Erik’s face looked serious.

"They are not the same person. Look at the color of the hair and look at the CEO. He looked very happy. I think his date in the evening is his girlfriend while the one during lunch is just a business partner."

Erik and Aryana were oblivious to what was happening on the internet. They were immersed in each other’s company. Erik enjoyed Aryana’s happy blabbering. It looked like Elaine influenced her in that aspect.

Aryana on the other hand was enjoying the rare moment when Erik was in a good mood. If he was not laughing heartily, then he was smiling like a silly fool. He doesn’t look like the domineering CEO that the directors of the Gaeya Corporation feared.

But there were two people who were more than upset when they saw the photo and read about the comments.

Cassie and her lackeys were having dinner in The Alps when Marianne saw the post of Erik having lunch at the same restaurant earlier.

"Cassie, do you know who this woman is?" She placed her cell phone in front of Cassie.

Cassie shook her head. She took the cell phone from Marianne’s hand and looked at the photo of the woman leaving the restaurant.

"Her name is Katherine Lustre, the only daughter of tycoon Lucio Lustre." Rhia shared the information she was reading. "Is this true Cassie? The Lustre’s are now the second biggest shareholder of the Lee Holdings."

"That can’t be. My grandpa and George Lee are business partners for a long time. How can there be another family that is holding a big share? That is just a baseless rumor."

"But this article mentioned that an insider said that George Lee wants Katherine Lustre to be his daughter-in-law."

Cassie grabbed Marianne’s cell phone. She zoomed out on the photo of the woman exiting the restaurant. She was very beautiful and elegant. Cassie felt threatened. She was having difficulty dealing with Aryana and now there was another love rival who looked more beautiful than her.

"She grew up in the US and came back recently because her grandfather wanted her to get married." Karla paused, then she looked at Cassie with pity in her eyes. "She will be working at Gaeya Corporation."

"How did you get hold of this information?" Cassie was anxious. She did not consider Aryana a worthy opponent because she was just a driver’s daughter. Katherine however was different. If she was indeed the daughter of the second biggest investor of Gaeya Corporation, then setting her up will be very difficult.

Cassie thought for a moment and then she grinned slyly. ’I should befriend her and we can team up to eliminate Aryana. After Aryana, I can eliminate her.’

...

At the Lustre mansion, Katherine was lying lazily on the lounge beside the pool. She was holding her cell phone in her right hand and a glass of wine in her left.

She was studying the photos of the women sent to him by the detective that she hired.

"So there are many women who are after my groom-to-be." She looked at the photos one by one. Those whom she thought were not worthy, she deleted their photos right away. She was down to the last two photos.

"Cassie Lopez, an illegitimate daughter who was recently recognized by her grandparents, is a successful model and the CEO of Timeless Beauty. She is Erik’s, first love but she abandoned him three years ago."

Katherine’s right eyebrow arched up. ’This is interesting.’

Next, she read through Aryana’s profile but was surprised at what she learned.

"Aryana Jones, an orphan who graduated cum laude. She is working as an assistant at Gaeya Corporation and at the same time she is doing part-time modeling. She is a product endorser of an international designer and the local brand CoChie. She is close to Erik Lee and she is rumored to be his girlfriend."

Katherine looked at Erik’s smiling photo. He looked very gentle and happy. She remembered how coldly and distant he looked at her during their lunch. His date tonight must be his girlfriend. Was it Cassie or Aryana?

Katherine opened her social media account and searched for Aryana. Her lips first into a straight line when she saw Eriks’ commercial for Bay Gardens Residences. His bride in the photo was Aryana Jones. She skimmed through the other photos. She also read through the comments and found out that the netizens are shipping the two of them together. They were a match made in heaven.

"What match?" she muttered under her breath. "Only me can be worthy of becoming Mrs. Lee."

She searched for Cassie and photos of the banquet where she was formally introduced as the granddaughter of the Lopezes appeared on Katherine’s search results. She browsed through the photos and her right eyebrow went up again when she learned that Erik was Cassie’s escort at that time. They have a lot of photos together. There was also a video of them when they opened the dance floor.

However, she also stumbled upon a photo of Erik and Aryana dancing together and the photo of the three of them standing together.

Katherine’s lips quivered. These two are indeed her worthy opponents.

"Be ready Aryana Jones and Cassie Lopez. I am all set to wage war!"