Chapter 9
Elise kurw her limits when it came to drinking and wasn’t actually that drunk. But by the time she left the bar, it was already past midnight.
The streets
es were quiet, and there were only a few cars and pedestrians armmd. The walk back to her villa was still a distance, and the area wasn’t ideal for hailing acab
As she held onto the talling to strade herself while stepping down the stairs, she prepared to perk up and make the journey home, Just then, a black Bentley pulled up in front of her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively took two steps back.
A man in his sos with gray–streaked hair came out of the car.
Are you Ms. Sullivan?” he asked from a few steps away.
Eloise pursed her lips. “I am ”
The man immediately smiled. “Ms. Sullivan, T’in Mr. Handlington’s driver–Benjasin Watson. Mr. Huntington asked me to pick you up and take you home”
dsaw
Was it William? She quickly took out her phone and saw a message from bilen. “I’ve sent Benjamin to pick you up. Go home and rest early.”
She felt relieved reading the message. “Thank you for the trouble”
Benjamin was chubby and had a friendly face. He waved it off. “No trouble at all, no one bit”
Once inside the car, Eloise was filled with questions. Wasn’t Willan just an employee? At most, a senior executive. But owning the city’s most expensive villa and a personal driver was simpeising, to say the least.
As if reading her mind, Benjamin said, “Mr, Huntington also mentioned that you’re welcome to call me anytime if you need a driver or help with anything else.”
“Alright,” she replied. Though curious, she wasn’t the type to pry too much. When she returned to the villa, she messaged William to let him know she was home safely. She didn’t expect a reply but received one promptly anyway.
“Goodnight.”
She responded, “Good morning”
After talding a shower, Eloise noticed that her bedroom was faintly Ukminated by the lights outside. She could hear voices drifting in
villa, seemingly
As she walked to the balcony connected to her room, she saw a car parked across from her villa. Xavier and Jacob stood in front of the vi trying to figure something out.
“Seriously, Jacob, this is your house. How do you not know the door code?” Xavier looked at Jacob in casperation
Jacobren a hand through his hair in frustration. “I usually come over when I know she’s home, so I just knock, and she’ll open the door.” “What about your fingerprint?”
“Never registered in.”
Xever let out a long sigh. “Looks like we’ll have to call Eloise. You do it.”
Jacob kicked the door angrily. “She blocked me!”
“Then we’re out of options.”
“You call her,” Jacob said
“Me?” Xavier posted. “Eloise warned me that if I called her again because of you, she’d cut me off,”
“Let her cut you off, then!”
“Absolutely not. You two can break up, but Tean’t lose her as a friend!”
“Xavier, are you looking for a beating?
Xavier chuckled nervously. “But think about it suld the code be one of your birthdays? Or some other important date?”
Jacob frowned and thought for a moment. Something finally clicked. “It might be the day we started dating”
Xavier snapped his fingers. “See? You remembered! Now open the door.”
Jacob grunted. “Who even remembers the exact day?”
“You don’t know?!
“What’s the big deal? There are many important dates. Who remembers all of them?”
“But this one’s special.”
“It’s nothing special”
“Fine. Try 1600”
Jacob scowled. “How do you know?”
“Te it’s also Eloise’s birthday. You confessed to her on her birthday, and she said yes. The two of you started dating that day. I was there, member! It was touching as hell.”
“Her birthday?”
“Yeah. But in all these years, you’ve never celebrated her birthday, have you?
“Why celebrate a birthday?”
“But every year, you throw birthday parties for Sophia. You go all cut for her.”
Jacob shot Xavier a glare before entering the code. The door unlockind.
“You should change the code later to Sephia’s birthday or your wedding date. That way, you won’t forget, Xavier reminded.
Eloise hadn’t received a call from Xavier, which made her feel that even though she and Jacob had broken up, she hadn’t lost Xavier as a friend
That night, she slept usually well. She still wanted to buy back her parents‘ house, but now wasn’t the right time, Jacob would definitely make things difficult for her. She would wait until he and Sophia got married. By then, he might lose interest in formenting her.
The next morning, Eloise was busy in the outpatient clink. During a break, Celia showed her a trending topic online.
“Sophia’s team has issued a response to the recent controversies. They claim she has no connections to Shawn and threaten to sue anyone spreading rumors. The statement also mentions that she and Jacob have been in a committed relationship since their university days and have remained loyal to
“They’re denying all the infidelity rumors.”
Eloise scoffed “Committed relationship? Loyal to each other?“!
“But there’s no mention of her attempted side. They just said she’s been troubled recently but chooses to trust her fiancé
“Something about the wording seemed off…”
“Of course, it’s off. They cleared up Sophia and Shawn’s rumors but didn’t bother to clear your name. They’re even implying that you seduced lacob, broku up their relationship, and caused Sophia to attempt suicide.”
Scrolling further, Celia found a flood of hateful comments aimed at Eloise.
“It’s all clear now! De. Sullivan used her position as Sophia’s attending physician to get close to Jacob and tried to seduce him. After being rejected, she wouldn’t give up, and it drove Sophia to despair!”
“Disgusting! She’s not it to be a doctor!
“Doctors don’t ear much, so obviously, she’d rather cling to a rich man. That way, she doesn’t even have to work hard
Celia couldn’t take it anymore and angrily closed the application
“Eloise, see? You can’t just ignore this and hope it goes away.”
Eloise frowned. She wasn’t involved in the entertainment industry
try and di
I didn’t want to get caught up in the chaos. But as Celia pointed out, if these rumors
kept spreading, they would disrupt her personal life and her career.
Just as she was contemplating a solution, a young woman wearing sunglasses walked into the clinic.
“Hello, please luave a seat.” Eloise adjusted her emotions and decided to deal with the matter after work. She moved her mouse to wake the computer and looked at the wornan. “What seems to be the problem?**
The woman neither sat down nor spoke
“You
Before Elose could finish, the woman suddenly pulled out an open bottle of ink and splashed it at her. The attack happened so fast that Eloise couldn’t
The cheap, foul–smelling lok stained her face, her clothes, and her lab coat. Cella was the first to react. “What are you doing? Security! Come quick!”
The woman smirked triumphantly. “Just how desperate are you for a man that you need to seduce someone’s lancé? If you’re that lonely, just grab some Tandom pay off the street and go to a motel. As long as he doesn’t mind, go wild!
think you can compete with Sophia?”
“ol, and do yourself a favor–look by the mirror. With a face like yours, you really think
Having delivered her trade, the wom fled. Eloise sat there, stand, too shocked to respond. A crowd had gathered outside the clinic. Many we recording the scene on their phones.
were
“Move along! This isn’t a show, Go back to your ap seethe with anger.
- appointments!” Cella hurriedly shut the door and turned to look at Eloise’s disheveled state. It made her
Chapte
She grabbed a wet towel and wiped Eloise’s face repeatedly until the ink was gone. But the clothes were beyond saving.
“Eloise, are you okay?”
Since the incident, Eloise hadn’t said a word. She sat motionless, lost in thought.
“Do you have any ink?” she asked suddenly.
“What?”
Eloise took a deep breath. “Celia, find me a bottle of ink.”
