Chapter 241: Still In Control/Frustration
If Adam knew what Julia was doing back in his room, he would burst out laughing with happiness, as she had just given him something to use against her.
But right now, he has no idea; instead, he glides through the morning traffic with ease, as if he has had hundreds of years of experience being behind a vehicle's steering wheel.
With his incredible perception, reaction time, and spatial awareness, Adam can even give professional racers a run for their money.
Soon, he arrives at his work and does the usual, parks, and goes in to greet Ellie, who, like always, is here before everyone else and is already preparing for today's busy day.
"Hey, about that party I talked about," Ellie stops Adam before he could go and change into his uniform.
"You really want to throw that party, don't you?" Adam says, shaking his head.
"It's the least I can do for everything that you have done for me," Ellie says with a sincere and bright smile.
Seeing her radiant smile makes Adam's heart flutter a little, and his resolve to make Ellie his woman grows stronger, but unlike his approach with other girls, he knows that he has to take it slow and steady with Ellie.
Ellie is in a relationship, and she isn't the type of woman who would go behind her partner's back and cheat on him, but it's not an impossible task for Adam.
He can already see that his charm and behavior have started influencing Ellie; he will need to continue doing what he is doing, be supportive of her, be someone she can trust, be that one reliable person she lacks in her life, and just wait until her boyfriend fucks it up because Adam knows it's inevitable.
A loser like him preyed on Ellie's low self-esteem when they started dating and then amplified it by constantly demeaning her goals and aspirations.
Ellie had no confidence in her when she opened this restaurant because of how little support she got from people around her.
Before Adam joined, Ellie found herself struggling to make ends meet, paying staff, paying for utilities, paying for ingredients, and paying off loans, draining every bit of income the restaurant generated.
This made Ellie think that the people around her were right, but then Adam joined, and things changed.
He was the first one to actually support her, and now became her partner.
Adam knows for a fact that Ellie will rise to the occasion now that someone believes in her, and soon she will outshine those leeches in her life, and her pathetic boyfriend will soon show his true colors the moment he realizes that his grip on her is loosening.
And when that happens, Ellie will see what Adam already sees. That's when Adam will make his move as Ellie will be vulnerable, and she will have no other option but to lean on someone who actually believes in her, and that's none other than Adam.
Ellie and Sean, her boyfriend, are already having problems, and this new and improved Ellie will destroy their relationship, a relationship that was built on Ellie's low self-esteem and Sean's predatory methods.
"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Adam asks.
"Tomorrow will be a day off as I need to prepare for the party," Ellie says.
"Have the others been informed?" Adam asks.
"Not yet, I want to surprise everyone at the party," Ellie says.
Adam nods and leaves Ellie to do her work while he starts working up front.
The day goes as usual, with nothing special happening, other than Cassie and Leila sticking much closer to each other as they talk about things out of reach of Adam's ears, well, at least they think Adam can't hear them, but he can, only for him to smirk at Cassie's attempt to corrupt Leila's mind further.
For being much older than Cassie, Leila is really naïve, while Cassie isn't as smart as she thinks she is.
At the end of the day, it has always been him who has been in control of this entire situation, and no matter how hard Cassie tries to insert herself in this, she won't be able to unless Adam says so.
As the morning service comes to an end, Adam, Leila, and Cassie once again sit down for lunch.
Leila sits next to Adam, blushing as he has his hands on her inner thigh, rubbing up and down, but keeps her on edge by keeping his finger just a centimeter away from her pussy, making her more desperate for his touch.
Cassie sees the frustration on Leila's face and also the slight movements of Adam's arm to guess what's going on, and can't help but feel jealous of Leila as Adam is giving her the time and attention which Cassie believes she deserves.
"Leila? Is something wrong?" Cassie asks, but before Leila can answer, Adam speaks up for her. "She is fine, her food is just a little too spicy for her liking today," Adam says, smiling at Leila.
Leila's eyes flicker with frustration before nodding her head. She hates how whenever Adam has his hands on her, she loses all her will to go against him; the need to let Adam do whatever he wants with her is something she can't fight against.
If Adam wills, he can put a chain around her neck and walk her outside on the road like a dog, and she will do it; that's how much she loves being under Adam's influence, and she will do anything to make him happy.
Cassie presses her lips, seeing Leila go along with Adam's words.
All this time, Cassie isn't just trying to convince Leila to be open to Adam having other girls in his life and participating in them; no, she is trying to gain some control of the relationship itself.
Knowing how dominant and control freak that Adam is, Cassie is aware she can't make him dance to her tunes, but Leila's a different case.
She is far more gullible and easy to control. If she can't control Adam, Cassie thought she would be able to have some influence over Adam's actions through her control over Leila, but from what she sees right now, her efforts have not yet borne any fruit.
Adam's control over Leila is still absolute.
'I need to do more,' Cassie thinks while keeping her fake smile up until the end of their lunch.
Adam then takes his leave as he has more training to do. As Adam leaves, Cassie goes back, trying to influence Leila through her words and trying to gain some control.
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Adam doesn't care what words Cassie fills Leila's brain with because one move from him, and he can get rid of the things that he doesn't want Leila to do; Cassie's efforts are useless.
So with a smile, Adam drives to his gym.
He wonders what Lamai and Rangsan have decided upon... Will they take his deal, or is Rangsan too prideful to take the deal? He will know soon enough.
In Adam's mind, his offer is a no-brainer, and anyone with a sensible brain will take it, but Rangsan clearly isn't with a sensible mind.
Well, Adam doesn't care; if Rangsan doesn't want his help, then so be it. He will just continue with the situation as it is right now.
Arriving at his gym, he sees that the last bit of Rangsan's gym's identity has been taken away. Now it just looks like an empty building for sale.
Adam walks in and finds the atmosphere cold and desolate; the only person here is Lamai. She is wearing a black sports bra and short fighting shorts as she is aggressively kicking the heavy bags. She looks frustrated.
Adam approaches her.
As he gets closer, he sees is covered in her own sweat while breathing heavily through her strikes; her strikes are all over the place. There is no coordination, balance, flow, or precision, just raw aggressiveness behind her strikes.
Noticing Adam, she finally stops, breathing heavily with her mouth open while her eyes stare at Adam with an unknown gaze.
"You seem frustrated. Did your father not agree?" Adam asks as he can't think of any other situation that would make Lamai this frustrated.
"No, it's not that. He agreed. He is willing to work as a paid instructor," Lamai says, placing her hand against the sandbag to take some weight off her legs.
"Then why do you look so frustrated?" Adam asks.
"Oh, this... I am just frustrated because of my next fight," Lamai says.
"You are fighting? When, and who?" Adam asks.
"In a month and a half. I will be fighting this girl named Branda. She's my rival. We have fought three times, of which I have won once, and she has won twice... I can't afford to lose our next bout," Lamai says, gritting her teeth.
Adam is surprised to hear this; after all, Lamai is a prodigy. She has very few losses in her record, so for two of those losses to come from the same person is a huge deal. Adam can see why Lamai would be frustrated.
"A month and a half... Do you think you can be ready by that time?" Adam asks. Looking at Lamai, she looks to be in fighting shape, but looking and actually being in fighting shape are two completely different things.
Plus, her being frustrated does help; it shows that this opponent of hers is not just a physical challenge that she needs to overcome.
Hearing Adam's question, Lamai looks at him for a few seconds before answering, "I don't know." She says