My Child and I Married a Billionaire

After speaking, Damien Vaughn looked at Cecelia Archer with a teasing glint in his eyes. Everyone else instantly understood his meaning.

This wasn’t about discussing business with them. It was clearly about discussing business with Linden!

Who would have thought that President Vaughn, rumored to be cold and abstinent, would actually chase a girl? And he was pretty slick about it too...

They were all seasoned old-timers, and all men. Who wouldn’t know what to do next?

"I’m sorry, President Vaughn. Normally, I wouldn’t refuse such a kind offer, but my company is small, and they count on me for everything... How about this? Some other day. I’ll treat you and everyone else to a meal another day to properly apologize for being so unappreciative today."

"Me too. My apologies, President Vaughn."

"Sorry, President Vaughn."

In the blink of an eye, everyone had left the conference room.

Ryan knew what was up. "President Vaughn, I have work to get back to. I’m afraid you’ll have to drive yourself today."

Damien Vaughn’s silence was his consent.

Just as Ryan left the conference room, he received a message from him.

"Left rear tire. Loosen two of the lug nuts."

’Loosen the lug nuts? Is President Vaughn planning something big? What is he going to do with Miss Archer?’

Seeing that not only was his boss not angry, but he was also planning to take Cecelia Archer out alone, Ryan was genuinely curious about what would happen between them. But he couldn’t ask.

"Yes, President Vaughn."

Only the two of them remained in the conference room. Damien Vaughn was still staring at her intently, leaving Cecelia Archer no room to refuse him outright.

"Where would you like to go, President Vaughn? What would you like to eat?"

"Shouldn’t our first meal together have a bit of ceremony, Miss Linden? I heard there’s a very authentic dim sum restaurant in Oakhaven. I’ll have to trouble you."

’Go to another city for dim sum? That’s at least a two-hour drive on the highway, right? Is he planning to eat breakfast or dinner?’

Cecelia Archer knew he was deliberately messing with her, and she didn’t want to go.

"President Vaughn..."

Damien Vaughn could read her like a book.

"If Miss Linden doesn’t want to treat me, then forget it. Coincidentally, the others haven’t gone far. I’ll just call them back to discuss the contract."

’If he gets involved personally, is there any chance the contract won’t go through? To think he’d use the survival of the Grant Group to pressure me! Despicable!’

"It’s rare for you to be in such high spirits, President Vaughn. It would be my honor to accompany you. Please, after you."

The two went downstairs together. Just as Cecelia Archer was about to unlock her car, Damien Vaughn tossed his car keys to her.

"I’m not used to being a passenger. You drive."

Cecelia Archer had no choice but to get into his car and open the navigation app on her phone.

"If you would be so kind as to tell me the location of the dim sum restaurant, President Vaughn."

Damien Vaughn gave her an address, and soon, the two were on their way.

Cecelia Archer chose the fastest route toward the highway entrance, but Damien Vaughn glanced at her navigation screen.

"Take the national highway."

Cecelia Archer said, "...The national highway has too many traffic lights; it’ll take too long. Aren’t you hungry?"

"I don’t trust your driving. What if something happens on the highway?"

Again, Cecelia Archer was speechless. "..."

’Fine. It’s true she wasn’t used to driving luxury cars. Damien Vaughn had a point. The speeds on the highway were too fast; if something happened, she’d be the one taking the fall.’

She obediently left the city and took the national highway. With nothing to say, Cecelia Archer focused on driving while listening to the GPS instructions. Suddenly, Damien Vaughn spoke.

"Let me borrow your phone."

"What?"

Damien Vaughn reached for the phone, but Cecelia Archer, afraid he would snoop through her things, quickly locked the screen.

"President Vaughn, don’t you have your own phone?"

"Just focus on driving."

Damien Vaughn didn’t answer her question, simply taking her phone with a blank expression.

"I just want to borrow it. I won’t pry into your privacy. What’s the password?"

’He says he won’t pry, so I’m supposed to believe him? Once I give him the password, he can look through whatever he wants, can’t he?’

Cecelia Archer refused to tell him. "President Vaughn, I believe a phone is a very private item. You should use your own. If that’s not an option, tell me what you want to do, and I can look it up for you."

Damien Vaughn ignored her, his long fingers tapping repeatedly on the screen.

Cecelia Archer was about to call him out on this pointless exercise, certain he could never guess her password, but in the next second, the screen unlocked.

Damien Vaughn wore a smug, ’I knew it,’ expression.

"Why didn’t you change the password? It’s still Candy’s birthday."

Cecelia Archer was speechless. "..."

The next second, Damien Vaughn pushed the phone screen in front of her, opened the app store right before her eyes, selected a game, and tapped ’download’.

"The drive is too long, and I’m bored. Can’t I even borrow your phone to play a game for a bit?"

’In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him play a game. And today he was having a fit and wanted to use her phone to play one?!’

She had been too busy last night and forgot to charge her phone. It had less than 40% battery left. It might even die before they reached Oakhaven. Cecelia Archer didn’t want him to play.

But, glancing at his face, he really didn’t seem interested in her privacy at all. To argue with him back and forth over a simple game...

’Forget it.’

Damien Vaughn was true to his word. He did nothing but play the game.

Throughout the drive, Cecelia Archer’s ears were filled with the TAP-TAP-TAP of his game.

Before she knew it, over an hour had passed, and they were halfway there.

They passed through a peri-urban area where the road, rutted and uneven from heavy trucks, kicked up clouds of dust. Cecelia Archer slowed down and proceeded cautiously, but she could still feel the car swaying violently.

She assumed it was because of the road. After finally making it past the rough patch, the car’s body began to tilt to one side again.

Cecelia Archer finally realized something was wrong and slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

Damien Vaughn was like a troubled fifteen-year-old, completely absorbed in his game and oblivious to the car’s condition. Even when Cecelia Archer had stopped the car, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Cecelia Archer had been about to ask if he’d felt anything wrong, but one look at his fingers flying nimbly across the screen made her decide against it.

She got out of the car by herself. After walking halfway around the vehicle, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Damien Vaughn’s luxury Bentley, a car worth over ten million, actually had a tire failure!

At some point, the black outer tire had vanished, leaving only a hub with a few scattered lug nuts, clinging precariously to the car’s frame.

It was like a person whose flesh had been worn away, leaving only a skeleton for support—a truly gruesome and shocking sight.

This was only the second time in her life she’d driven his car, and she never imagined she’d end up wrecking it like this. She instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Though embarrassed to tell Damien Vaughn about the situation, she couldn’t hide it.

After a moment of awkwardness, Cecelia Archer knocked on the car window.

The phone was on its last sliver of battery. The moment the window rolled down, Cecelia Archer watched helplessly as her phone shut down.

Damien Vaughn looked at her. "Your phone died. Why have we stopped?"

"I’m sorry, President Vaughn. You should probably get out and see for yourself."

Damien Vaughn tossed her phone back to her and got out of the car.

An awkward silence filled the air.

Cecelia Archer glanced at his expressionless profile.

"I’m sorry. We should call for roadside assistance. How much does a new tire cost? I’ll pay you back when we return."

Damien Vaughn stood there silently for a moment, his hands in his pockets, his posture casual.

"But your phone is dead."

Cecelia Archer replied, "...Then I’ll have to trouble you to use your phone."

"Didn’t I tell you? My assistant usually has my phone. I rarely carry it myself."

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