The more Olivia thought about Jason’s warning, the more panicked she became.

She quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed her phone, and rushed out the door.

Her steps were frantic. She nearly tripped over a trash can on her way down the hall.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Did Jason find out about me and Malcolm?

No. That couldn’t be right.

She had been extremely careful. How could he possibly have found out?

Besides, she was still confident she could talk her way out of anything.

He’s just a simp. What kind of trouble could he possibly cause?

She tried to reassure herself, but her pace only quickened.

---

Back Garden

Olivia finally reached the back garden, breathing hard.

Jason was standing there with his phone pressed to his ear.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Jason raised one hand, signaling her to wait.

Then Olivia met his eyes.

The coldness in his gaze made her freeze.

She had never seen him look at her like that before.

A chill ran down her spine.

For the first time, Olivia realized that things might actually be slipping out of her control.

---

"Hello, is this Mr. Carter?"

Jason heard a sweet female voice through the phone and frowned slightly.

"Yeah. Who’s this?"

"Hello, Mr. Carter. My name is Roxxy Swift, but you can just call me Roxxy."

Her voice was clear and melodic, almost musical.

"Hi, Roxxy. Is there something I can help you with?"

Jason frowned, trying to place her.

The name didn’t ring any bells.

He was already wondering if scam calls had really gotten this sophisticated.

He was about to hang up when Roxxy continued.

"Mr. Carter, it’s actually about a domain name. I’m a senior at Westbridge University, and my group has been assigned a project where we have to build a personal website."

"When I was looking for a domain name, I discovered that you own the Meituan domain."

"We really like the name, so we wanted to ask if you’d be willing to sell it to us. Of course, we’d pay you for it."

Roxxy spoke carefully, clearly afraid that Jason might refuse.

Jason immediately understood.

So they were trying to buy his domain.

A female college student calling out of nowhere?

Maybe she was connected to Vantage Group.

Pretending to be ordinary students in order to negotiate down a domain price was a common tactic. Once the seller realized how badly the buyer needed the domain, the seller could name practically any price.

Jason remembered how things had worked in his previous life.

Some companies had paid enormous amounts for valuable domain names.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

So the fish finally took the bait.

"How much are you offering?"

Roxxy sounded relieved that he hadn’t rejected the idea outright.

"Mr. Carter, we’re just students, so our budget is pretty limited. We can offer $5,000."

Jason almost laughed.

"Five thousand?"

He glanced at Olivia.

"I just spent $20,000 on personal training sessions at a gym. You really think I’d sell this domain for five thousand?"

Olivia’s ears immediately perked up.

She’d been listening closely.

He spent twenty thousand on personal training?

Olivia rolled her eyes.

She regularly worked out at Pulse Fitness to maintain her figure. Her personal trainer, Madison Blake, charged as much as $200 per session.

Even Olivia only occasionally bought a few sessions to make sure she was using the equipment correctly.

If Jason really had enough money to buy a hundred sessions, why would he still be begging me for money?

Men really will say anything just to brag.

She looked at Jason with even more contempt.

Meanwhile, Roxxy tried another approach.

"Mr. Carter, we’re only students, and you obviously have plenty of money. Could you please be a little generous?"

Her voice became softer and sweeter.

Jason immediately saw through the tactic.

"As long as I have no morals, you can’t guilt-trip me."

Roxxy went silent for a moment.

Jason continued.

"I’m a college student too. I’m only a freshman, and I’m not trying to squeeze every dollar out of you. I need money for school supplies, so let’s say $3,000 and call it even."

"Mr. Carter, please..."

Roxxy’s tone became increasingly sweet and playful.

"You sound young and handsome, and you’re obviously doing well. Please think of it as helping out a student. I really need that domain."

When the guilt trip failed, she immediately switched to acting cute.

Her syrupy voice was almost enough to give Jason goosebumps.

"Enough."

Jason’s patience ran out.

"Stop pretending. Put your boss, Ryan Cole, on the phone."

Roxxy instantly panicked.

Under the intense gaze of the people standing behind her, she struggled to maintain her composure.

"Wh-what boss? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a student. I haven’t even started working yet."

She swallowed.

"The person you’re talking about... is he our professor? He’s not here right now."

Jason shook his head.

"Put your boss on the phone. Otherwise, I’m hanging up."

His voice turned colder.

"I don’t have time to play pretend with you."

Silence fell on the other end.

---

New York City — Vantage Group Headquarters

Inside a private office in Midtown Manhattan, a group of sharply dressed men surrounded a young woman.

Everyone’s attention was fixed on Roxxy.

Their expressions were tense.

At the front of the group stood Ryan Cole, the founder of Vantage Group.

He wore rimless glasses, a tailored suit, and a close-cropped haircut. Despite being a successful entrepreneur, he looked more like someone who ran a rough neighborhood than a growing company.

Ryan’s expression was unusually serious.

This doesn’t make sense.

They hadn’t even started negotiating.

How had Jason already figured out who was behind the call?

His company wasn’t even officially established yet, and someone had already secured the domain name they desperately needed.

That alone could have been dismissed as coincidence.

But Jason also knew Ryan’s name.

That was what truly frightened him.

Could he be connected to some powerful family in New York?

Jason Carter...

Ryan felt a bead of cold sweat slide down his back.

He had originally planned to save money by having Roxxy pretend to be an ordinary college student. If Jason believed he was dealing with a broke student, perhaps he’d accept a cheap offer.

Instead, Jason had seen through the entire setup almost immediately.

Ryan had been a freshman once himself. Back then, he’d been buried in textbooks and knew nothing about business games like this.

The younger generation really is something else.

It looked like this negotiation was going to cost him far more than he’d planned.

Ryan took a slow breath before taking the phone from Roxxy.

"Hello, Mr. Carter."

His tone was respectful.

"This is Ryan Cole."

He paused, then smiled faintly.

"You really are impressive. I never expected you to see through such a small trick so quickly."

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