Chapter 494 I’m Here to Protect You
The door slammed shut with a loud, ruthless thud that sent a jolt through Owen. He returned to his senses and his exquisite facial features darkened. Did Elise just abandon me for a weak, sissy man? Wait a minute! Her fiancé is Alexander, so why is she so intimate with that man?
From their attitude toward each other, Owen could feel the duo avoiding each other, as if they had something to hide. Is it possible that Elise is cheating on Alexander with this man? It’s good news if that is the case. This proves that Elise and Alexander’s relationship is not as stable as I thought. However, I don’t think she is as pure and innocent as I assumed.
From Elise’s strengths, she was, without a doubt, a woman of many talents who was good enough for Owen. However, he despised her slightly for her messy private relationships. At the thought of the both of them having fun on their own even after getting married, Owen left her room quietly.
Meanwhile, behind the closed door, Elise had been leaning against the peephole as she kept watch on the corridor. Upon seeing Owen turn around, she finally heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, she narrowed her eyes dangerously at Kenneth, who was currently against the wall as she held him by the neck.
“After he gets into the elevator, you have no chance of staying here, understand?”
Kenneth, however, smiled indecently and raised his other hand to stroke her hand that was clamped on his neck. This made Elise quickly loosen her grip and retract her hand as she thundered, “You jerk!”
With that, she remembered that Owen was not that far from them, so she lowered her voice. “Kenneth, there’s a limit to my patience,” she warned. “Don’t you go around assuming that I won’t dare to kill you!”
Kenneth’s lips twitched into a taunting smile as he countered, “Go ahead, then. Even if I’m dead, I will be a flirty ghost.”
Speechless, Elise narrowed her eyes again. “If you don’t know the meaning of the words, don’t simply say them.”
Kenneth looked like his parents were of different nationalities and he was raised abroad when he was younger, so he likely did not fully grasp the language. However, he took two steps towards her as he purred, “What do you mean? Why don’t you teach me, Miss Sinclair?”
The passage leading to the door was neither narrow nor wide, but as the both of them stood opposite to each other, they were not that far from each other. Now that Kenneth had gotten closer to her, Elise was forced to take a few steps back until her back leaned against the wall. His warm breath landed on her face, making her ears tingle.
She averted her gaze rationally and turned her palms around. In an instant, a silver needle was wedged between her fingers.
Suddenly, a huge, warm hand wrapped around her hand that was holding the needle. His callused hand felt slightly rough when he touched her flawless skin. Surprisingly, this inexplicably calmed her down. Her thoughts of killing him off, as well as her anger, disappeared in that instant.
“Stop poking me with all your sharp edges. I’m here to protect you.” Kenneth looked at her with his earnest and honest black eyes.
Thump! Thump, thump! What is the noisy sound? Oh—it’s my heartbeat.
Elise raised her head to look at Kenneth blankly. In that instantly, a familiar feeling surged through her, as if she was facing Alexander right now.
Her short-lived calmness dissolved into a frantic mess the moment she realized that. How can I fall for two guys simultaneously?
“No!”
Troubled by her own thoughts, Elise didn’t realize that she yelled out loud. Then, she quickly shook his hands off and turned around to open the door of her room to force herself not to look at Kenneth.
“You’d better disappear from my sight this instant!”
Kenneth’s face darkened as he felt that something was off. This time around, Elise was very different compared to the times she got annoyed by his teasing. He had no clue where he had stepped over the line, but he knew very well that he could not continue this any further. Hence, he walked to the door without another word. When he reached the door, he turned around to look at her, his expression worried.
However, what greeted him was Elise’s icy, firm expression as she shut the door in his face. An inexplicable pain suddenly shot through his heart, making him have a hard time breathing.
After a while only did Kenneth turn around, something flashing in his gaze as he walked away in huge strides.
On the other hand, Elise leaned against the door listening to the sound of his footsteps getting faint, a deep frown on her face. What is wrong with me? Why do I feel attracted to a man who already has a girlfriend? I shouldn’t harbor such feelings!
…
The next day, the gem auction event continued smoothly.
A day had passed and many people were successful in their auctions and managed to get what they wanted. Because of this, the auction gained a lot of popularity and attracted people who wanted to get rich overnight.
Some of them stayed there from the beginning without any urge of leaving—they were all gamling fanatics who were unwilling to leave without seeing the precious prizes.
Nevertheless, even without the prizes, if they hung in there until the very end, they could watch the match between Elise and Ziggy. After all, the only thing that humans never lacked was curiosity.
At ten o’clock, Elise finally appeared at the auction site, the venue crowded with attendees. As soon as she walked past them, she elicited a rather big commotion from the people who were gossiping about her.
“There she is! I already told you that this young lady will not let us down.”
“It’s quite dramatic indeed. Ziggy already brought his secret weapon, yet Elise still doesn’t know that she is going to suffer a terrible defeat. My heart breaks whenever I think of such a beautiful lady weeping because she lost. Hahaha!”
Though Elise heard their conversation, she pretended as though she didn’t and walked past them calmly without speaking a word.
Meanwhile, Tom, who was walking toward her, could not keep his cool.
“Miss Sinclair, you already know that Ziggy brought his secret weapon. His ancestors are all important customers of the gem auction event. An average person cannot even imagine his connections in this industry. I’m sure his secret weapon this time around is impressive.”
Tom’s brows were furrowed together and he had a hopeless expression.
“Is that so? Is the secret weapon better than me?” Elise merely asked indifferently with a confident expression.
Tom was speechless upon seeing her attitude. Have you forgotten that the crowd laughed for the entire day at the gem you opened yesterday?
Her blind confidence and courage made him sigh continuously as he walked. He did not have any hopes in her at this point, and he was just hoping that she could get lucky and not embarrass them.
However, before he could say something, Elise let out another loud yawn. He was torn between amusement and anxiety as he could guess what she was going to say.
Sure enough, she rubbed her hands together and said, “The air-conditioning is so cold that it makes me sleepy. I guess it’s better for me to go back and take a nap.”
Just like yesterday, she confirmed the crowd’s suspicions openly and walked toward the entrance, leaving Tom alone in his fight.
At that point, Tom was utterly speechless. It’s not reliable to depend on Boss. As an employee, I have to depend on my own hard work.
After cheering himself up, he walked back to the hall to pick from a collection of gemstones.
