Chapter 537 Something Weird
Celina’s expression instantly turned icy as she stood outside the room. The corners of her lips lifted up into a sneer. Thank me now, Elise. Your life will begin to go downhill and rot from this moment onwards!
After waiting for a bit, Celina went downstairs.
Once the door was closed, Elise’s expression morphed into a solemn one. She walked over to the door, and having ascertained that there was no sound outside the room, she headed to the bathroom and turned on the taps there. Then, she began to search the entire room. There must be something shady going on if Celina was willing to destroy her own birthday cake just to bring me here.
Despite searching every nook and cranny, Elise didn’t find anything out of place. There were no hidden cameras, no assassins lying in wait, and no easily breakable priceless items lying around.
Elise stood by the couch, a little troubled by this. What else did I overlook?
She sucked in a breath in an attempt to relax. There was a faint aroma in the air. Jasmine, from the smell of it. It was pleasant.
Right then, the door handle suddenly jiggled. The door swung open from the outside as Elise turned her head. Then, Kenneth walked in.
“Why are you here?” Elise was instantly surprised, for the person she saw was ‘Alexander.’
Kenneth closed the door before turning to look at her with a hurt expression. “I thought I’ve been here all this time?”
Elise hadn’t managed to answer him when ‘Alexander’ turned into ‘Kenneth.’ She hastily raised her hands, stopping him from taking a step closer to her. “Don’t move.” Her wariness kicked in, and her voice took on a warning tone. “Who exactly are you?!”
“What’s wrong?” Kenneth could sense that something was wrong with Elise. He attempted to get closer to check on her.
Elise’s body began to heat up. Her gaze on Kenneth slowly shifted to focus on his lips instead. Unknowingly, she gulped. Her mouth was a little dry.
The next moment, the last shred of reason that she had whipped her at the back of her mind—why did she feel a desire for Kenneth that she shouldn’t have?
Pained, she slapped a hand over her chest. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting to kiss him.
“Ellie?” Kenneth was frantic now. He attempted to reveal himself as Alexander, trying to get her to lower her guard.
That mention of ‘Ellie’ successfully turned Kenneth into ‘Alexander’ before Elise’s eyes again. She recalled the faint scent she smelled before. In an instant, she was hit with the realization that she had been drugged. She immediately charged into the bathroom, her hands scooping up water from the tap in a mad frenzy and splashing it at her face. The water cooled her head off significantly, but the heat coursing through her body still didn’t abate.
Elise slammed the door shut and took her belt off to retrieve the silver needles attached to it. She then peeled her clothes off and began to insert the needles into herself.
Outside the bathroom, Kenneth’s handsome eyes dimmed when he saw Elise’s response earlier, and a realization hit him—there was something weird about this room.
His black eyes darkened as he quickly gathered himself and analyzed the situation.
Considering Elise’s brilliance, she certainly wouldn’t have fallen for a direct trap meant to drug her. If the drug hadn’t been in anything she consumed, then it had to be in the air. Since there was a light fragrance in the room, there had to be scented oils somewhere in here.
Kenneth promptly began his search. At last, he found an aroma diffuser plugged into the socket next to the TV cabinet. He yanked it out and carefully surveyed it. The Saunders are a successful family. They certainly wouldn’t have used this kind of electronic diffuser if they wanted to diffuse some essential oils. This thing shouldn’t be here. It has to be this, he thought.
Right then, the bathroom door opened, and Elise emerged from the bathroom. Her gown had already been washed and dried with a hairdryer. Only the few strands of stray hairs hanging over her forehead made her look a little disheveled.
“Are you okay now?” Kenneth walked over to her.
“Not enough to kill me,” Elise stated flatly.
Kenneth’s brows furrowed slightly. He was still a little uneasy. “The essential oil in the diffuser has been tampered with. You probably feel terribly unwell judging from how you looked earlier. It’s probably a good idea to get yourself checked at the hospital.”
“No need!” Elise barked out, only realizing that she had been too riled up after the words had left her mouth. She then lowered her voice. “There’s no need to. I trust myself better than a doctor.”
In truth, the first thing Elise thought of when Kenneth mentioned seeing a doctor was the sudden urge she felt toward him during her hallucination. She definitely couldn’t let the doctors find that out.
She paused. Seeing how Kenneth’s face was its usual shade and how he didn’t seem to have any heart palpitations, she tilted her head to the side and asked, “Are you all right?”
“Shouldn’t I be?” Kenneth was baffled by the question.
Elise pursed her lips. “Did you think of someone else when you looked at me?”
“You’re you. Why would I think of someone else when I’m looking at you?” Kenneth looked at her with a serious gaze. He was actually being dishonest—he had been seized with a sudden biological impulse earlier. However, he didn’t dare to mention it, worried that Elise would think him a pervert. The two of them had been entangled in a situation not all that long ago, but Kenneth still didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic about that sort of stuff in front of her.
After all, he loved her for who she was, not because of her body.
At his words, Elise looked at him to see him somewhat lost in thought. Her recently calmed heart began to race uncontrollably again; she didn’t attempt to keep it under control either.
Kenneth’s words meant that she was the one that he treasured the most. She knitted her brows tightly then, a dull ache throbbing in her chest. He’s capable of loving only one person. But what about me? My heart actually yearned for both men just now. That’s… That’s simply unforgivable.
Elise reproached herself as she clenched her fists tightly. She didn’t like this. She had truly become the kind of person she looked down on the most: someone who fell in love at first sight at everyone she saw and proceeded to give all her feelings to.
Meanwhile, Celina soon found her relative, Edwin Haymond, down in the hall on the first floor. Edwin was the son of David Saunders’ distant cousin. They were distantly related enough that it would take plenty of scouring through the family tree to establish a relationship between them. After the Saunders rose to wealth, the Haymonds came knocking on their door, licking the Saunders’ boots and trying to get a piece of the pie because of their familial ties. David was one to maintain outward appearances. He even arranged for Edwin to work at the Saunders’ company after that.
Despite the favors, the Haymonds’ greed knew no bounds. They constantly coveted the Saunders fortune, wanting to let themselves gain access to that wealth by getting Edwin to court Celina. However, Edwin was a skinny, bony thing. So skinny, in fact, that he barely had any meat on his frame to the point that he looked sickly. On the day he confessed his feelings to Celina, she made David reassign him to a branch at the north of the city. Reassigning him to a distant post was a message to Edwin, telling him not to get close to her.
But Celina knew that this little worm’s desires hadn’t died yet.
“Hey, Edwin.” Celina stepped in front of the half-drunk Edwin.
“N-Nana.” Edwin abruptly straightened, so surprised by her appearance that he was tongue-tied. “W-Why are you here? Oh, right. H-Happy birthday!” His eyes widened in delight as he stared unblinkingly at Celina’s face, like a wolf eyeing a rabbit. It made Celina uncomfortable.
Edwin was a plain-looking person in the first place. Over the past few days, his face had severely broken out, making him an eyesore.
“Why, thank you.” Celina quashed the revulsion she felt and squeezed a fake smile out.
“Is there anything you need from me?” Edwin was drunk from drinking too much. The longer he looked at her, the more his heart itched for her.
