Chapter 4 A proposal

Sandra had been at the wedding hall just a few minutes ago, and now she found herself seated in the backseat of a black Mercedes-Benz SUV, with an unbelievably beautiful yet unfamiliar man seated right next to her.

She would have focused on how crazily attractive he was if she wasn't so scared of getting kidnapped at this moment.

"You better have a very good explanation for bringing me here, or else, I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities for dragging me against my will and forcefully making me sit in your car," she hissed, reminding herself that he was a stranger and that she might be getting kidnapped right now. "In case you don't know what that means, it means that I'll have you arrested for kidnapping," she snapped, watching him with curious eyes.

The car was parked in a space with dim

lighting, so she couldn't make out his features as clearly as she wanted to. She could only pick up on the fact that he had short black hair and pretty green eyes, which she noticed when he dragged her from the hall earlier.

'Snap out of it, Sandra! He's a kidnapper,' she reminded herself, still wondering why she was in this car with this strange man and why in the world he had brought her here.

He had a small smile tugging on his lips, and she didn't need anyone to tell her what that smile meant; it couldn't be anything else but confidence and top-notch cockiness.

"I sincerely apologize if I startled you, but please - relax and be rest assured that I'm not kidnapping you. I just wanted to have a private conversation with you, and that is why I escorted you out myself so we could speak privately without any sort of interruptions," he explained, leaving her confused.

"What exactly do we need to talk about in private? Do you even know who I am? Have we ever met before, because I don't remember ever meeting someone like you, and I'm certainly not interested in having a private conversation with somebody that I don't know?" she retorted, folding her arms across her chest instinctively.

She could tell that he wasn't someone ordinary, which made it all the more surprising that he wanted to have a conversation with her. She was also quite surprised that he even recognized who she was.

"I just want to speak to you for a short while. I promise that I won't take up too much of your time," he responded, and she scoffed.

"If you wanted to speak to me, you should have used the right means instead of kidnapping me and forcing me here. You didn't make a good impression, so I'm not interested in speaking to you," she told him sternly.

She was carefully watching the expression on his face, waiting to see if he would look in any way aggressive at any point, just in case he was a dangerous person. Surprisingly, the expression on his face remained the same, and she suddenly started to feel a sense of superiority from him.

"Once again, I'm deeply apologetic for bringing you here without your permission and leaving a bad first impression. The truth is, I've wanted to speak to you for a while now, and I was planning to visit you much later, but after seeing you here, I decided it would be best to just speak to you now that I have the chance," he explained, worsening her confusion.

"You know who I am?" she asked.

"Yes. Sandra Taylor, isn't it?" he replied, and she was startled.

"How did you recognize me? Was it that obvious that I was the one behind the scarf?" she asked, horrified at the thought that everyone else had recognized her, and she was only fooling herself by thinking she was slick enough.

"Don't worry, Miss Taylor, you weren't obvious at all. The only reason I recognized you was because I had seen you earlier without the scarf when you arrived," he answered, and she let out a relieved sigh.

Her dignity was already so fragile, and it would have been completely shattered if it turned out that everybody in there knew who she was and that they were only watching her try to hide while mocking how much she'd hit rock bottom.

"So, if you know who I am, what do you want with me? I would have assumed you were a reporter looking to exploit my sad story for an interesting exclusive. But considering how expensive this car is and how you look, I'm pretty sure you're not a reporter, am I wrong?" she asked, sizing him up.

He didn't look like a reporter to her because he had this classy and expensive aura around him that just screamed that he was a rich individual.

He chuckled. "Your story is sad, isn't it?" he responded, taking her aback with his remark.

"I know that I mentioned that my story was sad, but I certainly didn't need you to repeat it to me," she hissed sharply, feeling slightly embarrassed by his remark.

She had never really spoken to anyone, except Isabella, about what happened with Emily and Henry because it was an embarrassing story for her. The fact that he just threw it back in her face that her story was sad made her feel embarrassed and annoyed.

"I apologize if how I said it offended you, miss, but well, your story is one of the reasons I'm here today. But before I explain anything else, allow me to introduce myself. You may or may not have heard of me, but my name's Leonard Mancini and I am the CEO of Mancini Construction," he introduced himself, leaving her momentarily speechless.

For the first few seconds after he introduced himself, she couldn't say anything because she was in complete shock. She may not have recognized the face, but there wasn't anybody in the country who wouldn't recognize that name.

Leonard Mancini of Mancini Construction was a very famous man, known for his anonymous nature and his business ethics.

She had formerly worked as a project manager for an advertising company, and that was when she was first introduced to the name. She was later introduced to the name again after she married Henry because Mancini Construction was like the powerhouse construction company in the country, putting Henry's company in second place, and Leonard Mancini was Henry's worst nightmare.

"If you're really Leonard Mancini, that's all the more reason for me not to want to talk to you. I mean, why would you, of all people, want to have a conversation with me? What business do we have with each other?" she asked, genuinely confused.

He chuckled. "I know you don't think we have anything to say to each other, but contrary to what you're thinking, we do have something in common currently, and I have a proposal for you that you might be genuinely interested in," he answered.

"A proposal? What do you mean?" she questioned, not sure if it was a good idea to keep asking questions. She should be refusing to say anything else to him instead of questioning him, but for some reason, she couldn't help her curiosity.

"It's simple, Sandra. I want us to use each other. I'll use you for my plans, and you'll use me for your revenge. How does that sound?" he responded, leaving her even more bewildered.