The CEO's Seductive Doll-Chapter 158: Money, Fame, and/or Glory

"What?" Freiheit literally took a step back, completely taken aback by what the Maestra said. "I thought you were willing to help us."

"I am," the Maestra affirmed, nodding. "However, you can’t exactly expect me to render my service without expecting anything in return from you."

"That’s not--" Freiheit tried to argue, but Evan lifted his hand, effectively silencing him. Freiheit gave his brother a reproachful look but didn’t say anything any more.

Evan took a step forward, his stature imposing even if his body looked extremely frail.

"What is it that you want?" He asked, his tone serious and direct to the point.

The Maestra gave that cryptic smile again, but this time it was more sinister. Evan knew that nothing good would come out of her lips. But he remained firm in his belief that he’d do anything just to give him and Eternity a chance to be together without either of them being a sacrifice.

"Simple," said the woman, whose voice sounded elderly and wise, yet her appearance was that of a youthful woman. "Trade with me something that’s important to you."

Evan furrowed his eyebrows and almost let out a scoff.

"Is this supposed to be a trick question?"

The Maestra seemed amused at his suspicious tone.

"There is no ’trick’ in this question," she said. "It’s as simple as what my words imply: trade with me something so important to you that you believe is a worthy exchange for your and Eternity’s lives."

Freiheit, who brought the two to this place, seemed equally confused as Evan and Eternity.

"You didn’t tell me the last time I went here that there’s a price to pay," he scowled.

The Maestra gave him a side glance. "You’re the one who merely assumed I would help free of charge."

Freiheit opened his mouth to argue but no words would come out. She was right. He was thinking so highly of himself that he expected the Maestra to give him what he wanted. But, stupidly, it never occurred to him that she had been indirectly killing men like him.

What made him think he was special compared to those other men?

"What is it that you want, Maestra?" Eternity said. Her words seemed accusatory, yet her tone was pleading. "Money, fame, glory?"

The Maestra laughed. Her laughter was like a child’s, but they all knew she was far from that. After she calmed down, she smiled gently at Eternity.

"You are my creation. What do you think your creator would want?" The Maestra asked in return.

"You didn’t answer my question--" Eternity tried to speak but was interrupted by Evan.

"The company," Evan said. "I can give you the company."

"Evan!" Eternity gasped in horror, her moss-green eyes dilating. "You’re not suggesting what I think you’re--"

"What?!" his brother demanded, his deep voice booming inside the small cottage. "Did you even think this through?!"

But Evan didn’t pay them any mind. Instead, he looked at the Maestra eye-to-eye and continued.

"I am the CEO of a billion-dollar company, it’s called RBAB. If it’s money, fame, and glory that you want, that is literally the easiest thing I could give."

"Easiest?!" Freiheit repeated in shock. "You’re giving the company to a witch just like that?!"

Evan sighed, gesturing at his brother. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"As you can see by Freiheit’s reaction, you can see how important it is to me."

Yet, the Maestra’s lips merely formed a straight line upon hearing this. She was unamused by his offer. In fact, she seemed greatly disappointed.

"If it’s the ’easiest’ thing you can give me, then I have to decline."

"What?!" Evan and Freiheit shouted in chorus.

The Maestra furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly insulted by their reaction.

"I do not need money, fame, or glory," she explained. "I have been alive for a while now, and those things no longer matter to me at this age. Furthermore, if it’s something so easy for you to give, then it’s not as important as you think it is to you."

But it seemed like Evan didn’t want ’no’ for an answer.

"RBAB is literally my life," he contended. "I’m where I am now because of this company. It’s--"

"Are you an idiot?" The Maestra immediately cut him off with her blunt tone and offensive words. "You literally have a few hours left before Eternity sucks the remaining life out of you, and you think offering your business to me will incline me to help you?"

Evan wanted to argue that his ’business’ wasn’t just any other business out there, but Eternity spoke first.

"Wait," she said, her voice shaking, and she sounded as if she were close to tears. "Evan only has a few hours left?!"

The Maestra nodded. Her face was devoid of any emotion.

"How do you even know this?" Freiheit muttered.

"I just do." The Maestra snorted, replying to his question that was probably rhetorical.

The Maestra resumed her attention back to Evan, her expression shifting to distaste.

"Well, Mister Holz?" she asked impatiently. "What can you offer me that you think would make me think your life is worth saving?"

"I..." Evan looked at the ground, clenching his hands to a tight ball of fist. "I... That’s the only thing I know is important to me. After all, without it, there’s no Evanescence Holz. It is literally who I am."

"But I do not need ’who you are,’" the Maestra said harshly. "the essence of your identity is the embodiment of what a typical Eternity Woman user is: vile, disgusting, self-centered--I can stand all day listing more words, but I’m afraid you might drop dead before I could even reach halfway down the list!"

"I don’t know what you want from me!" He shouted, losing control as desperation ate him alive. "The only thing that I deem important, even more so than the company, is--"

He stopped in his tracks as a realization struck him.

Slowly, he looked up and fixed his gaze at the Maestra in horror.

"You want Eternity?"