"Why would you do that?" she asked curiously.
George had the urge to knock his knuckles on her head. 'Dumb.'
Yet, he could not call her that; otherwise, he could imagine her erupting like a volcano. 'Of course, she doesn't know why I wanted to go shopping and buy toys. It is absolutely for our son!'
"Ahem. I don't know what your son would like. So you have to accompany me."
Krishna was at a loss for words. The crazy guy behaved like he was a completely different person.
"Are you serious?" Her crystal-clear eyes blinked innocently.
"Hummed…" George nodded and smiled. Then he pulled away and got out. He walked around the car and opened the door on her side.
Krishna wasn't sure how she must react to his unexpected gesture. It surprised her with the change. Isn't he almost murdering her because of his wrong assumption?
"Are you sure about that? You are my boss, so you don't need to do that." Krishna has now gotten out of the car with George's help. When he offered his hand for her to hold, her body subconsciously reacted, reaching for his hand and letting him pull her out of the car.
"Exactly!" said George with glee. He must convince her he was genuine for shopping for his employee's kid. "I am your boss, the reason I am doing this."
Krishna wanted to doubt the guy but after she heard him stating this, she indeed had heard that some bosses were nice to their employees.
'Well… Maybe it was normal.'
"Okay. But we have an appointment with Anna…."
"You have nothing to worry about. I am a major investor in her company, and you are her new endorser, who is in demand for famous brands. It does not matter if we move our fittings later," said George calmly. When she attempts to reason out, he immediately interrupts her.
"Am I really that famous now? I doubt it. I just started the other day."
Scrutinizing the woman who only thinks simple things, George racked his head on how to enlighten her. Most of the starlets he met had lofty dreams of becoming famous overnight after they debuted to the media.
But Krishna acts so innocently.
'What would happen to this woman if she fell into a different handler who doesn't care about their talents, as long as they could use her?'
'Like you weren't once thinking ill about her.' A part of him suddenly spoke on top of his head. Even his conscience tormented him. 'I've already regretted that, so shut up.'
He's crazy to speak to himself. He buried this unnecessary drama within him but persuaded Krishna to accompany him shopping today.
Krishna wished to object, but why would she refuse since she was with the boss then?
"Alright… But we don't need to buy a lot. A few things are fine." She told George. Then something dawned on her. "How about the media? What if they were able to capture you buying toys when you don't have a son? Is it not a good image for you if a malicious post appears out of the blue?"
George made eye contact with her. At that moment, he wasn't sure whether to be happy that she reminded him of this. 'Is she concerned? Or was she afraid of something?'
If it were another girl, she would be thrilled to be in the headline tomorrow and have her name linked to him.
'This woman…' George frowned. 'Why is she too cautious around me? Is it because of my insults in the past few days? Isn't that I am trying to make up with her now?'
However, his attempts would be unknown to Krishna after he despises and threatens her. All that was in her head was George helping her groom her career for him to push her down once she was at the top.
"Don't worry about it. It is still early morning, so there are fewer shoppers yet. Also, I'll call Benny to arrange something for us."
Upon saying this, George took out his phone and dialed Benny's contact. The conversation only took a few minutes, and the former ended the call.
"Let's go." George put away his phone, slipping back into his coat pocket. He then led Krishna toward the enclosed flyover, and together, they crossed the parking lot building and the mall.
Krishna just let George usher her around. Soon, they arrive on the fifth floor at the West Promenade of the vast mall.
"Welcome, Mr. Graham! Please come in!"
A store manager in his late thirties greeted them at the door and escorted them inside. Once they entered the store, the door was locked, and three burly men were guarded outside.
The store was still closed. Or what George meant a while ago that he would arrange something?
'So… He specifically requested to close the store while we were shopping?' If that's the case, then she had nothing to worry about that the paparazzo would take a picture of them and then post it on social media with malicious captions.
George has only shown kindness toward her. How dare she cause him another dilemma?
"Mr. Graham, as you requested, we instructed our store employees not to come in until you've finished shopping."
"Good." George nodded in satisfaction, which delighted the manager.
"I will be your attendant today. If you want to query or need any advice regarding our toys, please don't hesitate to call me."
"Alright… But we wanted to do it ourselves," said George without looking at the manager but at the entire store.
"Understood, sir. I'll be at the Front Desk if you need anything. Ah! I'll go prepare some refreshments for you!"
Before George could answer, the manager had already disappeared. The former had just shrugged a shoulder, got the pushcart he found at the entrance, and began to stroll around.
It was the first time he would buy something for his son personally; thus, he was thrilled to pick up everything he found on the racks.
"My son is just six months old. He could not play with it yet." Krishna could no longer stand to stay quiet on the side. The moment they enter the toy store, George seems to forget that he has company.
Realizing that he specifically requested her to accompany him, the latter was embarrassed when he couldn't hide his joy at the thought that he had finally bought something for his son personally. Honestly, he was jealous when someone else did that for his son even though they were the little prince's godmothers and Krishna's friends.
"I'm sorry. But maybe it is not a bad idea if we purchase them now. Then you can keep them inside their boxes until your son can play with them."
Krishna found it amusing, but she suppressed not laughing. She fakes a cough to hide her amusement, and then inspects the toy boxes, reading some instructions and warnings written in them.
"I think all the toys here were safe for children's health. But we need to check if the toys are suitable for my son. What we should buy first are toys he could play with at his age. He started having teeth and would love to bite things right now."
"Ah… Right." George nodded in agreement. From there on, he let Krishna check the toy's description before he put it on the pushcart.
Since the store displayed all kinds of toys, they ended up pushing two carts into the lounge.
Krishna dropped her bottom onto the soft cushion. She was wearing two and a half inches of pumps; thus, her legs started feeling fatigued.
On the other hand, George was still over the moon, watching the two pushcarts heaping with countless toys they picked out.
"This is too much. We should return the other cart. The toys in one cart are enough." Krishna wasn't worried if she would buy several toys for her son. However, the prices of each of these toys were unbelievable.
"No. These are actually just a little. Maybe we should look for the other side…."
"No! You can't spoil my son." Krishna refused that instant. She thought George would stop now, but to her surprise, the crazy guy argued.
"I'm the one paying for it. Why worry?"
Krishna was stupefied. 'Is he serious? I need to correct this crazy guy!'
"You can't buy too much stuff for my son. I am just a poor single mother. I can't afford these expensive toys for him, which I actually wanted to avoid spoiling him with such luxury."
'He is my son! He deserves all the things in the world!' However, he could not yell this at the woman. Thus, George calmed down and said,
"What are you worried about? You have a career now. If you work hard, you can make a name in the modeling industry."
Krishna wasn't sure if George was serious when he made that remark. 'Is he encouraging me?'
However, she had another plan.
"Err… Once I finish my contract, I will return home to care for my son. I don't want to be separated from him for a longer time." She could feed and clothe her son as long as her bakeshop and ranch were doing well. Maybe it is not extravagant, but she will do everything to give him a happy life, even though he will grow without a father, nor meet him.
"No."
"Huh?" She thought everything would end there. But George firmly opposes her plan. "What are you saying?"
"Your contract lasted for a whole year. So you will continue working for me for twelve months more."
"How possible is that when the contract I signed is only for three months?" With round eyes widened all of a sudden, Krishna was in great shock.
"The agreement I signed with Anna allowed me to hire you for a year. You haven't reviewed your contract?"
"Huh?" she probably turned dumb now, a scene playing in slow motion before her as she listened further. "Is it stated in the contract I signed?"
She was confident when she signed the contract as Lawrence Company was managed by Anna's husband, who is a lawyer.
Unbeknownst to her, she signed a trapped contract!
In short, she was schemed by this man!
It felt like a bomb dropped in her lap all of a sudden. Instead, she would be happy to learn that more jobs awaited her, but she felt quite the opposite.
Why would she feel trill when she was schemed on by this man?
It was purely absorbing!
"Let's go."
"Huh? Where to?" Because of the news she just learned, Krishna was not with herself but lost at the moment.
"Let's do the fitting; then I will take you to the Seaside Resort. You can order anything you would like to eat."
Hearing this, she felt like the door to heaven had opened.
"You are seriously saying that, no?"
"I am a businessman. Telling jokes is not my habit." He pretended to be irritated when she doubted him.
Seeing him losing patience, Krishna beamed and said, "You would not take back your words. I can try as many dishes as I want?"
"Yeah." He shrugged his right shoulder coolly. She was concealing his amusement when the woman had forgotten her issues regarding her contract.
Actually, he was mulling over how he could lift her mood. Treating her to his Michelin-star restaurant is a gamble if the woman would bite it.
He was glad that she was easy to please. He wanted to distract her from his scheme. True that her contract was supposed to be three months only. But with Mike Lawrence's cooperation, Dillion changed the contract without Krishna noticing anything.
"How about these toys, by the way?" She almost forgot that the root of their argument is because of these toys.
"Don't worry. The store will pack them, and Benny will take care of the delivery, so your son will receive them by tomorrow."
"Huh? That fast?"
"You… Have you forgotten my family owned a giant aviation company?"
"Oh… Right! Well… It is not my habit to count someone's wealth." Krishna mouthed this nonchalantly, which stupefied George.
He had mixed feelings knowing this side of her. He is uncertain whether she is genuinely innocent or whether wealth does not impress her. It seemed both.
After informing the manager, Krishna followed George exiting the store while the store manager carefully inspected their purchased toys.
As they entered Anna's VIP lounge, a woman in a black dress rushed toward Krishna.
"Krishna! I missed you! Where did you stay overnight? I rang your suite, but you were not there!"
"Umm… Stella…"