Chapter 740 Did Elise Catch Ariel’s Fancy?
“Someone outside.” The worker only brushed Elise off as he was busy with moving the painting.
Hearing this, Elise and Alexander immediately ran outside to go after the person.
However, the place was already empty by the time they reached the entrance. There was not even a shadow of a person in sight.
Elise couldn’t help but feel disappointed after letting the culprit slip away again. After all, they were here because of the counterfeit paintings that had been flooding the market.
Ariel only caught up to them now, and she reassured Elise, “I am sure you will find a way somehow. You don’t have to feel disappointed.”
“Thank you,” Elise gave her thanks as her lips pressed together into a smile.
“I had the chance to eat at a private restaurant a while ago. Would you like to try their food?” Ariel asked.
“Sure!’ Elise happily agreed to it. “I happen to be a little hungry.”
Ariel then passed her car keys to Elise. “I am not familiar with the roads in Tissote. I will let you do the driving.”
“No problem.”
The women were already in the car when Danny came out of the building.
“Where are we meeting up at?” Excited, he sprawled on the window of the passenger seat.
“Did I say you are invited?” Ariel wiggled her eyebrows before she turned to Elise. “We can go now.”
“Bye!” Elise waved at Danny. After she turned on the car engine, she drove off, leaving Danny screaming and chasing after them.
He chased after them for a brief second before he accepted the fact that he had been abandoned by the women.
As he turned his head, he saw Alexander leaving the exhibition hall. He quickly went to Alexander and said, “I didn’t bring my car. You will have to give me a ride.”
“Where are you heading to?” Alexander asked indifferently.
“Where else? Of course I’m going to eat with Elise and Ariel.”
“That is not on my way,” Alexander coldly rejected him. “I have to make a trip to the company.”
Danny somehow was surprised to hear this. “Are you not joining them?”
Thinking that this was a dumb question to answer, Alexander peeled his brother’s hand off him and walked away without saying anything.
Just like that, Danny was left to stand there alone. His head was a mess as he looked in the direction Elise had driven off to.
Ariel was a proud woman who usually looked down on him and the other business partners. Why was someone like her going out of her way today to invite Elise to have a meal together?
Come to think of it, the business partners were all young and handsome men. Yet, she didn’t seem to care to look at any of them even a second longer. She had also refused all the men that had ever shown interest in her.
And the most important thing of all was how she didn’t react the least bit when she saw him in his birthday suit the other day.
!!!
Danny finally came to a conclusion. Does Ariel like women?! Wouldn’t Elise be in danger, then?!
He was scaring himself the more he let his thoughts roam free. He turned around to stop Alexander, but the older of the siblings had already started his car and driven away without a care in the world.
Danny started to huff and puff in anger. After giving it some thought, he quickly took out his phone and made a call. “Hello? Jamie? I need you to help me check a car!”
Even if his eldest brother didn’t care, there was no way Danny could sit back and watch a tragedy unfold.
He would never let Ariel steal away his wonderful, darling sister-in-law!
——
The women were seated at a table in the private restaurant when Ariel personally poured Elise some wine. “You seem knowledgeable about oil paintings, Miss Sinclair. May I know who your teacher was?”
“I am only self-taught because I had time to spare. I am not a professional like you with a bright future within the industry by any means, Miss Whitney,” Elise said courteously.
Ariel let out a laugh at that. “There is no one else around, Miss Sinclair, and there is no need for flattery. I am serious when I said that you are knowledgeable about oil paintings. It makes me happy to find someone I can connect to on a spiritual level.” Her eyes were full of admiration as she looked at Elise.
“It is probably because I am a woman as well. Only a woman can understand how another woman feels. Men can be as educated and cultured as they can be, but they will never truly see things from a woman’s perspective.”
Ariel nodded in agreement as she added, “I have always thought that women, even from ancient times until now, get the shorter end of the stick when they get married. My belief was the reason my oil painting was born.”
“Not necessarily. A marriage will definitely come to fruition if you find the right partner,” Elise reasoned. “At least I now am at a stage where I feel like I have achieved freedom, both physically and spiritually.”
“You are such a brilliant woman, Miss Sinclair. It is only natural that a woman like you is living a contented life. But it is a gamble where it is highly unlikely to achieve happiness. I do think that I won’t find my ‘right partner’, so it is fine to me whether or not I get married.”
“It is a personal choice. There is no absolute way of living life.” Elise gave a neutral reply to respect Ariel’s opinion.
Elise was just about to raise her glass after speaking when a familiar, yet odd waiter caught her eye.
Looking at how the waiter squirmed around at the table next to theirs, she could tell immediately that it was Danny.
He had on the restaurant waiters’ uniform and with a tray in his hand, he was serving red wine to other customers with his other hand.
But still, he was so determined to eavesdrop on Ariel and Elise’s conversation that he started unnaturally wiggling about.
Half of the bottle’s content had spilled everywhere, and even the customers were dumbstruck as they looked on, but Danny kept stretching his neck backward in his attempt to listen in on the women’s conversation.
What are they talking about? he panicked. What is this about women being on the shorter end of the stick in a marriage? Is Ariel purposely throwing hints at Elise that she ran out of luck when she got married?!
Noticing Elise’s gaze, Ariel turned around and followed her eyes and she too, immediately recognized Danny from the back of his torso.
She swiftly turned her head back, and smilingly threw Elise a knowing look. “Elise,” she intimately called out. “Love strikes anytime at anyone it wants to. I can’t control who I fall in love with.”
As soon as Danny heard this, he instantly poured the whole bottle of wine on the other customer’s table.
“I am sorry! So sorry!” He profusely apologized before he whispered to the customer, “This meal is on me. Order anything you like, but keep quiet!”
Elise would have burst out laughing if she hadn’t understood what Ariel was doing. Without missing a beat, she started playing her part. “Absolutely. You know when they say first come first served? I sometimes find myself disagreeing with that. Life might get a little more fun if you make a different choice, or just go for something that is usually not to your taste.”
Danny completely froze when he heard that.
Make a different choice? And go for a different taste?!
So this was the end of the days when he had a sister-in-law.
As the thought hit him, he dropped everything he was holding and ran outside.
Ariel and Elise let out a satisfied smile as they watched him, and they brought their glasses together for a toast.
“Pleased to work with you, partner!”
“Likewise!”
When Danny reached the door, he paced back and forth with his phone in his hand. He couldn’t even stand still in one spot.
When Alexander finally picked up his call, Danny didn’t wait to yell into the phone, “I sent you the location on WhatsApp. Get here as soon as you can. This is an emergency! An emergency, I repeat! You are going to lose your wife if you come here even one second late!”
Ariel was terrifyingly good at what she did. She might just sweep Elise off her feet!
“Do you have too much free time in your hands?” Alexander wasn’t taking this seriously at all.
“I am not sh*tting you, my brother. Your wife said that she wanted to go for a different taste! How are you still in the mood to work? Oh—I am so worried I am about to pass out!”
After 30 minutes had passed, Ariel and Elise walked out of the restaurant side-by-side.
They had just reached the exit when Danny appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Ariel by her hand, and forcibly dragged her away.
Elise hadn’t even realized what was happening when Alexander suddenly caught her and pressed her up against the wall.
“Mrs. Griffith,” he purred. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that you seem to be interested in trying out a new ‘taste’. Tell me—what do you have in mind?”
