His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 168

His tone was flat, yet it carried an unmistakable underlying warning.

Virginia stiffened, instinctively trying to pull away.

But his hand stayed locked in place. Though his grip wasn't bruising, it offered zero room for escape.

Lars blinked, then offered a regretful chuckle. "What a pity."

With that, he turned his attention back to Virginia. "Ms. Caldwell, I greatly admire your talent. I'm hosting dinner tonight. Please do me the honor of attending, both of you."

Torn, Virginia looked at Archer, silently begging him to decline, but he effortlessly agreed to the plans.

Dinner was set at a high-end restaurant in the historic district.

The moment they sat down, Lars flagged down a waiter for the menus.

Playing the gracious host, he politely offered the menu to Virginia first.

Before Virginia could take it, Archer stepped in and rattled off two of the restaurant's signature dishes.

Lars looked between Archer and Virginia, highly amused, before picking up his wine glass and swirling it.

"Archer, it's rare to see you act so ungentlemanly." Smirking, he turned to Virginia with an inviting gesture. "Ms. Caldwell, please."

Snapping back to reality, Virginia replied smoothly, "There's no need. Those two happen to be my favorites."

Lars was rendered speechless. "..."

As the food arrived, Archer spent the entire meal discussing business deals with Lars. Virginia couldn't follow the corporate jargon, so she reached for some food, only for the man—who seemingly hadn't paid her an ounce of attention—to swiftly beat her to it, placing a perfect bite onto her plate.

Virginia stared in shock, then lowered her eyes and quietly ate her food.

She had to admit, Lars had excellent taste. The restaurant's ambiance and mood were stellar, and the food was incredible...

Her face was a mask of perfect calm, but her heart was pounding faster than if she had run a marathon.

...

Later that night, Virginia had just finished washing up and opened her laptop to organize her files as usual, when a knock came at her door.

She opened it to find someone entirely unexpected.

It wasn't Archer; it was Katya.

Katya was wearing a cream-colored cropped Chanel puffer jacket over a slip dress. Stripped of her usual heavy makeup, her delicate, stunning features were fully on display.

"Do you have a moment, Ms. Caldwell? Care to join me at the café downstairs?"

"?"

Virginia leaned back against her chair, her right thumb absentmindedly tracing the rim of her cup. "How much money would you be willing to pay to make Archer actually want to be with me?"

Katya froze.

She clearly hadn't anticipated that kind of response.

Her blue eyes blinked rapidly, her brow furrowing tightly.

"Wait... isn't he with you? The other day at the library, you literally kissed him."

Virginia kept her eyes on the swirling coffee, saying nothing.

Katya stared at her for a long minute, then scoffed and slowly sat up straight.

"Fine, keep your secrets. I'll give you five million dollars—" She said, already dragging her designer bag over to rummage inside.

"I don't need it."

"Excuse me?"