Love Strategy: CEO He is Really Scheming！

As Andrea Greenwood left, even the view of her back seemed livelier, that unconcealed delight so obvious.

Jose Floyd’s hand, which had been toying with the teacup, paused for a moment. When his gaze fell on that bowl of white fungus and goji berry soup, the space between his brows moved slightly, something deep flickering in his eyes.

When Nicole pushed the side door open and came in again, her fingers were a little stiff. ”Jose Floyd, let’s talk business.”

Seeing Nicole, Jose Floyd’s gaze sank. ”Fine.” He replied with a single word, setting the teacup in his hand down on the coffee table, the movement a bit forceful.

The cup gave a crisp ding as it hit the surface.

Nicole frowned slightly and sat down on the sofa beside Jose Floyd.

”This is white fungus soup. Talking business with me isn’t something you can finish in a sentence or two. Drink it first, then we talk.”

Nicole’s mind was entirely on the internal orders from the army. She didn’t hesitate, not wanting to waste time, picked up the white fungus soup, brought it to her lips, and drained it in one go.

Putting the bowl down, Nicole lifted her eyes to look at Jose Floyd. ”You said when you took over the Restricted District you wouldn’t make a mess, wouldn’t stir up trouble. Then why is the higher-up suddenly ordering a sweep of your turf now?”

Jose Floyd’s long fingers rested on his thigh. Hearing this news, he didn’t show the slightest panic, utterly calm and composed as he replied lazily, ”Maybe the people upstairs think I’ve been too well-behaved, find it unbelievable, not like how a man in charge should act. So they’re bored and decided to pick on me.”

”...” Nicole was so angry she felt choked. ”The order’s already been given, the personnel are already in place, and your turf’s about to be swept—yet you can still be this calm, that’s really something. If the losses are disastrous after the raid, don’t you dare regret it!”

”So this counts as tipping me off?” Jose Floyd gave Nicole a sidelong glance, his voice light.

”I’m questioning you! You’d better keep your word! You said once you took over the Restricted District you’d keep your head down and wouldn’t disrupt the order of City C. Jose Floyd, can’t you see it? They’ve already got their eyes on you! A sudden operation like this isn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision; they’ve been preparing it for a long time!”

”I’m a law-abiding, model citizen. I’ll be more than happy to cooperate with a surprise inspection. If they invite me down to the station for tea, remember to tell them what kind of tea I like. If they serve the wrong one, I won’t be willing to cooperate with their investigation for even a minute.”

Looking at Jose Floyd’s utterly calm, even faintly arrogant demeanor, Nicole was so furious that the white fungus soup she’d just drunk felt stuck in her stomach, starting to burn her from the inside. She wanted nothing more than to snap the cuffs on him right now and take him in.

With that flare of anger, the heat started burning from her stomach and chest, then began to spread, creeping up her throat, into her cheeks, and very quickly sweeping through her limbs.

The searing heat kept climbing. Nicole glanced at the teacup Jose Floyd had been playing with earlier, reached out to pick it up, poured herself a cup of water and downed it quickly, trying to suppress that rising heat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jose Floyd glanced at Nicole as she drank tea. The corner of his lips lifted slightly as he sat on the other end of the sofa watching, his posture noble and detached, the depth in his eyes well concealed.

”What’s going on, Jose Floyd, is your room’s air conditioner broken?”

Nicole felt her body temperature rising higher and higher, her cheeks burning hot, as if she were being roasted under a blazing sun. The heat made her increasingly irritable.

Fine beads of sweat gathered across her forehead, her cheeks growing even more flushed. Even after she’d knocked back several glasses of water, her mouth and tongue still felt parched to an unbearable degree.

The heat was becoming impossible to control, like a ball of fire rampaging inside her, dark currents surging through her body. The discomfort was so intense that, in forcing herself to endure it, her body trembled faintly.

Nicole dug her fingertips into her own palm with all her strength, desperately trying to force back that burning heat.....