Predestined Fate: CEO's Substitute Lover And His Daughter

A woman in her twenties walked into a top-class restaurant wearing expensive designer clothes and heavy makeup. She was tall and had attractive features that caught people's attention naturally.

Eyeing around the restaurant, she spotted the person she was looking for. An average-looking middle-aged man was sitting at a table.

The woman went straight to him and sat down on the opposite side. The man's eyes lit up. "Are you Miss Leyla Gao?"

"Are you Mr. Peyton Liu?" She responded with another question.

"Yes, I am."

Peyton Liu nodded with satisfaction. He had thought his blind date would look ugly. He didn't expect the rich lady sitting before him to be extremely beautiful.

Peyton handed the menu to Leyla and said, "Miss Gao, what would you like to eat? You can order whatever you want."

Leyla took the menu from him and ordered the most expensive dishes. At last, she ordered a bottle of wine priced at fifty thousand dollars.

A while later, the waiter served their food. Peyton was closely watching her every move and noticed how elegant she looked while eating. Peyton himself did not eat anything, because at that moment, there was only one thought going through his mind. He just wanted to marry this beauty as soon as possible.

After they finished eating, he paid the bill. High expenses weren't a big deal for him. If he could marry this beauty, it didn't matter at all.

Peyton even wanted to take Leyla to buy clothes and jewelry. But when he offered that, she refused and took her leave politely.

As she came back to her two-bedroom apartment with only a few pieces of furniture, she went straight to the mirror and began removing her make up.

Shortly, her delicate face was revealed. She stared at her image in the mirror. Wearing a light blue dress with no make-up, she looked so pure, as if a fairy from the heaven, sacred and inviolable. It was hard to believe she was the same woman with heavy makeup who entered the apartment just a few minutes ago.

"Eliana, I could tell that man became a fool at the very first glance. He was fascinated by you, wasn't he? Why didn't you diddle him more?" Sally Su asked just after Eliana Mo removed her make-up.

Sally was a good friend of Eliana. She worked as a waitress in the restaurant.

Eliana turned around and playfully knocked on Sally's forehead with a smile. "Don't be too greedy. If I had diddled him too much, the police would have found out. I don't want to get in trouble."

Although she needed a lot of money, Eliana didn't want to get imprisoned because of it.

"You are always so careful. The amount of money he spent on you today was far less than one of his expensive clothes. He wouldn't have cared if it was a little more."

Sally took out five thousand dollars from her bag and gave the money to Eliana.

"Here you are. This is your commission for today."

With her mouth gaping, Eliana asked in disbelief, "Five thousand?"

"I'll have two thousand and you five thousand."

"No, I can't take this much. Didn't we decide to split the profit fifty-fifty?"

But Sally forcefully put the money in Eliana's hands and said, "Just take it. You need money for Abby's treatment."

Eliana heart warmed at Sally's generosity. "Thank you." Indeed, she was in urgent need of money to cure Abby. That was why she took the risk of going to deceitful blind dates and earn money.

Her phone rang as she put the money in her purse. She took it out and answered. A woman's voice came from the other end of the line.

Eliana listened to her and then said, "I'll be there on time."

As soon as she hung up, Sally couldn't wait to ask, "Eliana, have you got another deal?"

"Yes, it's the son of MH Club's owner. His name is Marcus Sun. She asked me to meet him in the club."

However, Sally wasn't happy hearing Marcus' name. "Eliana, you can't go. Marcus Sun is an infamous playboy. You might suffer if you take this deal."

"Playboys or gentlemen, they'll easily spend money on me. Don't worry, Sally. I will protect myself."

Sally couldn't change Eliana's mind. With heavy makeup, and wearing the expensive clothes and shoes that she had rented, Eliana went out.

Before she left, Eliana asked Sally to pick up Abby from the kindergarten.

Eliana had many fake IDs to go to these blind dates. Just like Leyla Gao, the daughter of a rich man, there were many others. She changed her identity every time she went on a blind date.

A gleaming black car approached. It was a limited edition Rolls-Royce, and it came to a stop in front of the gate of the QL Group building.

The four bodyguards who had been driving the sports cars immediately left their vehicles and went to the Rolls-Royce. One of them opened the door while the others stood in position to welcome the passenger of the car.

A tall, slender man emerged from the Rolls-Royce. Everyone turned to look at him. He was wearing an expensive, tailored black suit and dark leather shoes.

Women stared at his handsome face, but men noticed the coldness in his eyes. He wore a calm expression, but there was something in the way he stared at the people around him that made everyone shrink at the idea of going up to speak with him.

His name was Darren Leng. His age was thirty-two, he was already one of the legends of the business world. Under his leadership, the QL Group had expanded and became one of the wealthiest, largest, and most powerful business consortiums in Asia. They had branches all over the world. Many competitors had sought to undercut the QL Group at one time or another, but under Darren's leadership, no one ever succeeded.

"He is just gorgeous," whispered one of the women to a friend.

"That's the CEO of the QL Group. I would risk my life to become his girlfriend, I swear."

"Well, I would risk my life to spend just one day with him, or even one hour."

All around them, women were smiling and murmuring to each other, trying to catch the eye of the handsome young businessman.

From the moment Darren showed up, almost all the women in the vicinity became infatuated with him.

Darren had only taken a few steps forward, however, when someone rushed over to him. A middle-aged man in shabby clothes faced him, blocking his way.

"Mr. Leng, please don't buy out my company. I'm begging you, please don't do it. It's my life's work. It's all I have." The man knelt on the ground.

Darren's expression was harsh and unmoved. Coolly, he said, "Only the strong survive. It's the law of the jungle."

A look of anger appeared on the man's face. Suddenly, he pulled out a knife from his cloak. The onlookers gasped and one woman even screamed. Darren did not move. He gazed calmly at the man, who waved the knife frantically in his direction and shouted, "Since you won't change your mind, I have no choice but to kill you!"

The man hesitated, then lunged forward. Darren stepped aside, easily dodging the attack. Within seconds, his bodyguards had overwhelmed the bedraggled man, who struggled against them fiercely.

"You are heartless! I may have failed, but someday, someone will make you pay for the things you've done!"

One of the bodyguards said, "Mr. Leng, should we get rid of him?"

"Let him go," said Darren flatly. His answer shocked everyone.

"Mr. Leng, this man just tried to hurt you."

Darren sneered. "He's going to be bankrupted and his family will be ruined."

When Darren mentioned his family, the man increased his struggles and shouted, "Don't hurt my family, you monster!"

But Darren was already walking away.

When Darren was gone, the bodyguards released him, but they took his knife. As he stood alone, panting, he felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have come here in the first place.

But there was nothing he could do about it now.

Meanwhile, Eliana was in a taxi, on her way to the MH Club. When she arrived, her eyes widened with amazement at the spacious, luxurious establishment, with its high ceilings and glittering lights and thick carpeted floors. No wonder it was the favorite club of the upper class in T City.

Many of the men and women in the club were skimpily dressed. They looked gorgeous. A DJ was in the hall, playing loud, booming music. Eliana felt a bit self-conscious, but she kept her head high, determined not to let anyone notice that she didn't belong in a place like this. She hid her wince as the DJ turned up the volume even further, wondering if her eardrums would ever recover.

As she headed for the bar, a couple of men waylaid her, asking if she wanted to dance, but she shook her head, pasting a friendly smile on her face. As soon as she reached the bartender, she said, "Hi. I'm looking for Marcus, is he here?"

The bartender glanced at her. She was a very beautiful woman, and he wondered how Marcus had attracted the attention of someone like her. He nodded and said, "Please wait a moment."

After several minutes, Marcus joined Eliana at the bar. He was a handsome man in his twenties, wearing fashionable clothes, and he dyed his hair blonde, giving him the rakish air of a playboy.

"Hello, Miss Gao. I'm Marcus," he said, speaking loudly so he could be heard over the music.

"Hello," she replied.

Marcus held out his hand, and Eliana shook it. She tried to pull away but he didn't let go.

She felt a wave of disgust wash over her, but she had no choice but to endure his advances.

"May I have the honor of dancing with you?" he said flirtatiously.

Without waiting for her answer, he pulled her towards the dance floor, and took her into his arms.

Eliana hated how closely Marcus was holding her, but after all, she had come here on her own, and she needed to make some money. She forced herself to smile at him.

The people on the dance floor made room for Eliana and Marcus, who began dancing with their backs to each other. Eliana was a great dancer, and many of the people around them slowed down to watch her. Eliana, however, was trying to move her body to avoid Marcus' groping hands. Every time she felt him grab some part of her body, she felt angry enough to slap him.

It was difficult to keep her composure and keep dancing, but she did her best.

When the song ended, the people on the dance floor cheered and applauded. Marcus gave them a mock bow, then led Eliana to a table.

"I didn't expect you to dance so well. Most of the rich women here are gorgeous but they rarely know how to dance," Marcus said, grinning.

"I'm flattered," Eliana lied, smiling sweetly back at him.

A waiter arrived and served them two cocktails. Eliana suddenly blanched as she realized that she had forgotten to take her allergy medicine before coming here.

She had been allergic to alcohol since childhood. Whenever she drank, unless she had taken her medication, a red, itchy rash appeared on her chest and neck.

"Miss Gao, this is our signature cocktail. Give it a try."

She kept smiling, but inside, she was panicking. Under the table she clenched her fists, wondering what to do.

In fact, as she stared at the cocktail, she thought that she wouldn't put it past Marcus to have slipped something into her drink. He was certainly powerful and influential enough to get away with it.

Marcus seemed to read her mind. "Miss Gao, are you worried that I added something to your drink?"

"Of course not," she blurted out. To herself she thought, 'Of course I'm worried, you swine!'

"Then I'll drink first, to ease your mind," he said, grinning. He picked up the glass in front of Eliana and took a sip.

He hadn't put anything into her drink, but that didn't solve her allergy problem. Eliana continued to hesitate.

Marcus was still grinning, but his eyes were growing cold. He said, "Miss Gao, you won't refuse to have a drink with me, will you?"

Taking a deep breath, Eliana lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip. She hoped it wouldn't be enough to trigger her allergy. She decided to take her medicine as soon as she got home.

"Okay, but I'm afraid I have to leave early. We should just meet..." She trailed off, feeling dizzy, before she could finish her sentence.

Then she saw the triumphant look on Marcus' face as he stood and began walking over to her side of the table.

She felt horrified and angry. "What did you put in it?" she demanded, as the world began to spin around her. She hadn't been cautious enough!

Marcus placed an arm around Eliana and helped her to her feet. She had no energy to fight him. She began to lose consciousness as he guided her to a private room.

Meanwhile, in a VIP room of the MH Club, Darren sat surrounded by empty wine bottles. He was incredibly drunk. In this state, he was completely different from his usual cold and serious self.

His assistant, Saul Gao, stood outside the door. Darren had a heart disease. The assistant was afraid that Darren could harm his health by drinking like this, but he knew better than to try to stop Darren from doing exactly as he wanted. No one could persuade him except Alena.