It may appear as a fashion show, but in private, the audience under the stage could make a bid according to the number on the model and win themselves the chance to meet and chat with the designer about the philosophy behind the design. To put it simply, it was an exchange of design inspirations. At first, Elise wasn’t very interested in it, but she didn’t want to turn Brendan down, so she followed him along. She felt much better when they received a mask at the entrance of the venue; hidden underneath the mask, so much hassle could be eliminated because nobody would know who the other was.
There weren’t many points of the show which surprised Elise. In the end, she picked a design which was kind of to her liking, then she wrote down the serial number and price before leaving the show early to go to the bathroom. When she came out, a man was standing at the door with his back facing her. At first, she thought that he was one of the models, but when she saw the mask strap around the back of his head, she realized that he was also an invited guest. Her gaze stopped on him for a couple more seconds before she looked away and prepared to leave.
When she passed by the man, he suddenly extended his arm and blocked her path. “Is anything the matter, sir?” she asked. Taking a step forward, the man stood in front of her and didn’t beat about the bush either, as he went straight to his point. “Nothing. I just wish to see how the lady who has the same tastes as me looks like,” he said, reaching out his hand to take off her mask. Out of reflex, Elise stepped backward, but the man pushed his luck and came in closer until she was leaning on the sink. With no room left for Elise to retreat, he placed both of his hands on the sink, trapping her in between.
On the other hand, Elise, who had nowhere to go, felt a wave of disgust over her chest. By using his male physical advantages to subdue a woman, this man had really pushed her button. “Sir, please watch what you’re doing.” Clenching her fists tightly, Elise suppressed her urge to strike him. “I didn’t mean to snatch anything from someone else and simply wrote a price. If you would like, you can meet with the designer.”
Under the mask, a smug smirk tinged the edges of the man’s lips. Although it was almost unnoticeable, it was especially glaring to Elise’s eyes. She recalled that she merely wrote 1,000 as the bid half-heartedly, but this guy couldn’t even out-bid her. In his eyes, the designer’s inspiration isn’t even worth 1,000? Everyone who was invited here is either rich or wealthy, and yet, he’s so stingy with his bid and even has the cheeks to make a fuss about it. Unable to hold it back anymore, she snorted and said sarcastically, “Let me guess: A well-dressed gentleman such as you—whom people can easily tell how wealthy you are—couldn’t even make a bid of more than 1,000?” Her words struck Johan Olsen in his sore spot, and he snarled under his mask angrily.
As the successor of the dignified Olsen Family, the money he would drop on the floor every time he took out his wallet would be more than 1,000. So, how could he have made such a petty bid? It’s all the fault of that new assistant who has no experience with events like this. I’m going to fire him later when I get back! he thought furiously. But this woman has a sharp tongue, and it’s kinda extraordinary how she insults without using any vulgar language. The thought of this made him even more excited, and he grabbed her entire mask with his large hand, impatient to have a look at the face of the woman underneath. However, a leg appeared from the side the next second and kicked him out straightaway.
Landing on the floor with a loud thud, he also took Elise’s mask with him at the same time. Scrambling to his feet, he had barely checked out his injuries when he decided to twist his head to check out the woman’s face instead. To his dismay, she already had her back facing him, and the man next to her was wearing a solemn expression. With the fierce, cold air around him, he looked like a murderous wolf from the Siberia. Unwittingly, Johan was stunned for a moment as he held in pain the spot where he was kicked. Alexander narrowed his dark eyes, and every word he said was aloof but firm.
“It wouldn’t be as simple as a kick if you touch her. You should be thankful.” Then, he spun around, placed his arm around Elise’s waist, and left. After they had left the masked man far behind, it struck Elise that Alexander should now be on a business trip in Athesea. “Why are you still here?” “I happen to have something to discuss with Brendan,” he explained, opening the car door. “I’ll send you back.” All the way while they were walking out, his expression had been rather stony, and she thought that he must be angry. Hence, she was embarrassed to accept any more of his kind gestures. “It’s okay.”
Stopping next to the car, she wanted to ease the tension in the air and said jokingly, “You have serious matters to attend to; if you keep sending me to places, people might think that I’ve hired myself a handsome driver!” However, Alexander’s face was grim, and he didn’t say anything in response, which made the atmosphere especially awkward. In fact, he wasn’t angry at Elise, but rather, he was mad at himself that he couldn’t marry her earlier. Although the biggest reason was she hadn’t reached the legal age for marriage, it still frustrated him.
If it was possible, he would write the words ‘exclusively for Alexander Griffith’ on Elise, but he couldn’t do that. So, he could only keep her outside and watch in annoyance as unwanted characters kept approaching her. Worried that Elise might read his mind, he quickly gathered his emotions and changed the topic. “The man who blocked your path earlier has some issues with me on a project. That guy is insane, so stay away from him and don’t accidentally get yourself hurt.” This is such a small world, Elise thought. After twists and turns, it turns out that everyone is connected to each other. “Got it,” she answered with a nod. Seeing that he wasn’t angry anymore, she asked in a pleasing voice, “Have you heard of the name Faye Anderson?”
“Is she from the medical family you mentioned before, the Andersons?” Elise noded. “Yes.” “Johan Olsen is her fiancé,” he said patiently. “This initially started off as a marriage between Johan and Faye’s younger sister, but it suddenly became hers in the past two years. The couple probably have their eyes on the Andersons’ assets, and that’s why they struck up this engagement in private.” “So, it’s a business marriage,” Elise concluded. Instead of answering her directly, he reached out and nudged her into the car.
A few minutes later when the car had rolled a distance away, he explained composedly, “Johan Olsen is a despicable man, and so Old Madam Anderson didn’t want to acknowledge this engagement. Because of this, both families have already fallen out with each other. A broken vase could never be repaired.” After listening, Elise nodded in agreement. With Bertha’s stubborn personality, Elise figured she would rather fall out with the other party than put herself at a disadvantage. This was very fitting with her personality. Nevertheless, the engagement was agreed from before, and if they wanted to annul it, they had to catch hold of the Olsens’ mistakes.
Judging from the situation, Elise reckoned that Bertha didn’t save any face for the Olsens and unilaterally decided to annul the engagement, which led to Faye and the Olsens ganging up in revenge. Scheming and plotting against each other among big families would always end up as a bloody scene! After the car stopped in front of her campus, Elise wanted to say goodbye to Alexander after hopping off when she saw him getting out as well. “Is there anything else?” Pacing forward, Alexander held her hand and walked toward the dorms, saying, “I just remembered that it’s Friday today.
Gather your things and come with me after that.” It would be fine if he hadn’t bumped into Johan causing trouble for Elise. He had confidence in her, but since he did bump into the scene, he thought it would be better to keep her by his side just to be safe. In addition, he also had his own selfish reasons. All of a sudden, it hit Elise that this man was a little clingy, but what surprised her even more was, she didn’t find it annoying. Instead, she was secretly happy. Perhaps this was what it meant to love someone. Meanwhile, Johan fired his assistant in front of everyone at the show and drove away.
After almost twenty minutes of driving around the city at high speed, his employee sent him Elise’s university address as well as the picture of her student ID. Looking at the picture, he slammed on the brakes suddenly, and a sleazy smile spread across his face. “So I was scolded by this ugly thing?” He felt disgusted for a couple of seconds, then he turned his steering wheel around and drove toward Elise’s university. I have to let this woman know what eternal doom means! Leveling the gas pedal, he smiled cunningly. The game of cat-and-mouse was his favorite game.
