Chapter 75
“When Ellie was six, she went to an amusement park with her parents and sister. But she got separated from them. By the time the police found her, the
was soaked in a bathtub.
“The ones who took her were a twisted couple. After abducting her, they tried to discipline her to make her obedient. But she remained defiant, so they locked her in the bathroom. There, she accidentally fell into the ballstub.
“It’s just insane. If the police hadn’t show up in time, she probably would’ve died” fenice’s voice was trembling.
Theodore finally understood why Eliana didn’t cope well with the cold. Thinking back to how pitiful she looked sleeping on the sofa, he felt as if something heavy had slammed into his chest. The dull ache only grew.
“Even now, Ellie still won’t tell me what she went through back then. She always puts on a cheerful, optimistic front, but the moment she gets sick, she turns so fragile,” Bernice added.
As Theodore listened, he couldn’t help but picture Eliana’s bright, smiling face, One’d never guess someone like her had been through something
“She’s a good kid,” Bernice continued. “Never wants to trouble anyone. So if she ever comes to you for help, it means she’s really out of options. Please,
take care of her.
Theodore closed his eyes for a moment and then replied in a hoarse voice, “I will”
The next morning, when Eliana woke up, rubbing her eyes, she felt sticky all over and uncomfortable. But the dizziness and grogginess from last night were gone–clearly, her body had bounced back overnight!
Just then, Theodore, lying next to her, opened his eyes, his voice carrying a hint of relief as he asked, “You’re awake?”
Eliana noticed the dark circles under his eyes and felt a twinge of guilt. “Theodore… did I disturb you again last night?”
“You don’t remember what happened?”
Elana blinked, trying to recall. “I was really tired and fell asleep pretty early. But think I heard voices in the room later.”
“That was me talking with Samuel.”
“Dr. Wilson?”
“You suddenly had a high fever last night, so I called him over to give you an IV.”
Now it all made sense to Eliana. “No wonder I got better so fast. Um… I didn’t say anything weird while I was out of it, did IT
Theodore paused and then answered half truthfully, “You kept calling for Bernie. Sol had Samuel find her number in your phone and gave her a call,”
Elana got flustered. “Why would you
callb
Ther?” Bernice was in the hospital–she didn’t want to worry her.
But Theodore misunderstood. He thought Ellana didn’t want Bernice to know about him, and his expression darkened. Then, thinking of something, he pinched her cheek and said evenly, “Samuel left some lever medicine before he left. Take it after breakfast.”
Thank you, and sorry for all the trouble,” Eliana said sheepishly. “I go take a shower now. I’ll go to work later.”
Theodore asked casually, “You sure you don’t need to take a day off?
Eliana shook her head. “No need. Thanks to you and Dr. Wilson, I’m already fine.”
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Chapter 75
She still looked a little pale, but she seemed energetic enough, so Theddore didn’t try to argue.
“But you must be exhausted after taking care of me last night. Why don’t you get some more rest!” Eliana added.
To look after her, Theodore had barely slept last night, and now his still–recovering eyes stung a little. He grunted in response and slowly closed his eyes.
When Eliana finished getting ready and stepped out of her rooms, she was surprised to find Jayden standing right outside the door. She froze for a second before asking warily, “What are you doing here?”
Jayden, with a cooling patch stuck to his forehead, gave her a quick once over, snorted, and turned to leave,
Eliana was a bit baffled, but as long as he wasn’t here to cause trouble, she didn’t really care what he was up to
During breakfast, Anthony suddenly looked at her seriously and said, “Eliana, I heard Jayden was being a brat yesterday and tried to prank you, but ended up falling into the take himself. But you didn’t hold it against him and saved him. Thank you.”
His gratitude was genuine–after all, Eliana had saved his little brother. In fact, he was starting to reconsider his approach to toying with her feelings
“It’s fine,” Llana replied. “I saw through his little trick and played along, if I’d just exposed him from the start-
“He would’ve fallen in anyway,” Anthony cut in matter of factly. “He had to go to the middle of the lake to get his locket back.”
Eliana had to admit, “You’ve got a point.”
Just then, Jayden walked by, pretending like it was all a coincidence. Anthony immediately called out, “Jayden, come here and apologize to Eliana.”
Jayden awkwardly shuffled over to the table and muttered, “No.”
Eliana didn’t expect an apology anyway, so she just continued eating in silence.
Anthony’s face darkened. “Then at least
ast say thank you.”
Seeing his brother petting annoyed, Jayden opened his mouth to speak, but Eliana beat him to it. “Mr. Russell,” she said casually, “you a me earlier. No need to force it.”
hanked
Jayden froze, thinking. “No need to force it? What’s that supposed mean? She clearly doesn’t care about my thanks.” A bit annoyed, he lifted his chin and said loudly, “Fine. Thanks! It’s not that big of a deal anyway.
At that, Esana finally glanced at him. She thought, “This kid has been acting weird since dinner last night. First lurking outside my room, now saying thanks. Could it be that he actually felt guilty? But he looks reluctant, so it’s probably because Anthony’s pressuring him
She looked away and responded flatly, “Don’t mention it.”
Frustrated at being ignored, Jayden pulled out his cheeks and teased, “Hey, you kissed me–aren’t you going to make it up to me?”
Eliana frowned, confused
“That was my first kiss!” Jayden crossed his arms and said with a straight face, “Even the prettiest girl at school tried to kiss me, but I turned her down.”
Eliana decided to cut him some slack since he was still a kid, and patiently explained, “First of all, you’re only fourteen, so stop bringing up stuff like this all the time. Second, that wasn’t a kiss. It was CPR. I was saving your life. Got it?”
Jayden nudged Anthony with his elbow and grumbled awkwardly, “But it was still a kiss, right, Anthony?”
Anthony ruffled his silly little brother’s hair, eyes full of affection. Just drink your milk, Jayden.”
Seeing that Jayden still wanted to argue, Anthony grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth, cutting off whatever nonsense he was about to
Chapter 75
d out on the spot “Anthony Jayden choked so hard he nearly passed out
Ekana couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the
at her
Anthony thought, “With such a sweet girl around, no wonder Theodore, usually cold and alor
Jayden thought. “The woman who secretly kissed in actually looks good!
centle each day
Time flew by. Maybe it was because Eliana had saved Jayden, but for the next couple of weeks, Me at Russell
her a hard time, so she could focus on her work
Thanks to the video she’d secretly taken of Hannah and Jennifer tearing into each other in the break room, the two of them had cooperative at work lately. Still, the resentment on Hannah’s pretty face seemed to grow more intense every day.
Eliana happened to overhear some coworkers gossiping about Hannah and Nolan, saying
ey were giving each other the cold
“Nolan’s actually ignoring Hannah for this long?” Eliana thought, but didn’t dwell on it. She had m to check out the venue setup for the engagement party.
important things to deal with
An hour later, Elians arrived a little early at the Grandview Hotel and took a quick look
around the venue. Most of the setup
already done.
o please make sur
She noticed a worker installing ceiling lights above the stage and reminded him, “This is where the couple will b every part of the ceiling lights is tightened. We can’t afford any accidents.”
The worker glanced down at her and replied, “Got it.”
Eliana hadn’t seen him before and was about to ask who he was when a watt of fragrance suddenly drifted over She instinctively tuned and walking in, She nodded and said, “Hello, Ms. Powell
Alice’s makeup was flawless, and her long dress flowed elegantly. Her hair was styled in a simple updo, revealing her slender neck and delicate collarbones. She was absolutely stunning.
Elana felt like the whole room brightened the moment Alice walked in. “You came by yourself?”
Alice’s eyes
flickered as she answered softly, “Yeah, Anthony’s swamped at work, so I came alone”
Fliana nodded in understanding. “Shall I show you around?”
Alice nodded. “Sure,”
This was their third meeting, but with Anthony around during the first two, they had hardly spoken
What Eliana remembered was that Alice looked gorgeous and elegant, with a soft voice. Now, seeing Alice up close, she also noticed that Alice had a pretty cool and distant vibe, which totally fit her artistic persona.
Still, since she was the service provider, even if Alice wasn’t much of a talker, Eliana stayed warm and enthusiastic as she introduced every detail to her
During a short break, Alice suddenly turned to Elana and asked gently, “Mrs. Russell, I heard from Anthony that Theodore’s been doing much better lately. He’s even been going downstairs for walks and meals.”
“Huh?” Eliana replied instinctively. “Oh, yes, That’s right.”
Alice pressed her red lips together and asked, “I’m a little curious–how did you pull that off?”
