Chapter 464
“That’s sheer nonsense!” Austin flung his arms in vexation.
“Nonsense? I’m not in the mood for nonsense, nor am I joking either,” Elise said expressionlessly. “Well then, I’ll take it as you’ve chosen to stick with Faye.”
Austin didn’t refute her.
The words the servant had just said rang in Elise’s head. In an instant, disappointment welled up inside her.
Sometimes, being foolish could be fatal. Despite his current age, Austin was appallingly not as farsighted as Jeanie and Bertha. Even they knew that Faye was a greedy and wicked monster who would bite the hand that fed her someday if kept around, but he believed her wholeheartedly. In that case, let him pay for the so-called love between father and daughter and his foolishness, thought Elise.
Shooting a glance upstairs, Elise saw Faye, who quietly avoided meeting the former’s eyes while hiding behind a pillar. “Since you’ve heard it all, keep this in mind,” Elise said to the person upstairs. “From now on, you and the Andersons have another enemy.” With that, she stormed off right away without taking another glance at Austin.
“You’ve made another wrong decision,” Alexander said before going out after her.
Shortly after the couple walked outside, they saw Bertha waiting in front of them. Even though Elise was in low spirits, she went straight up to the old woman without avoiding her
“Yoona.” Bertha looked at Elise while being visibly heartbroken. “I feel I haven’t seen you for ages.”
“You’ve got to be kidding, Old Mrs. Anderson. It’s only been a month or so,” Elise replied flatly.
“No, it’s different.” Bertha stepped forward and held Elise’s hands in her wrinkled hands, rubbing the latter’s hands again and again. “I used to know you as Miss Sinclair, but now you’re my dear granddaughter. Now that I think about it, we’ve not seen each other for almost 15 years.”
Elise didn’t say a word. She didn’t understand how Bertha had made the calculations. Regardless of whether she was speaking to Bertha as Elise or as her granddaughter, it
had indeed only been a month since they last spoke to each other. However, when Elise saw Bertha shedding tears of emotion, she decided to not be too particular about it.
After a while, Bertha wiped her tears away. Holding Elise’s hand in a tight grasp, she said, “Please don’t get angry with your dad. He has his reasons for doing so.”
“Are you gonna advise me not to fight Faye like he did?” Elise shot back. At first, she had wanted to tell Bertha that Trevor had nearly died because of Faye, but she bit back the words that sprang to her lips for the sake of Bertha’s health.
“I’m not trying to advise you. There are some matters that you don’t understand, and the matters at present aren’t the only things he needs to consider,” Bertha replied with some hesitation. In the end, she dared not reveal too many of the details.
“I’m not gonna try to understand what I don’t understand either,” Elise replied coldly “I only do what I believe is right and defend the right person.”
Bertha replied patiently in earnest, “But there are no absolute rights and wrongs in the world. Perhaps what you see is only an act that people put on to pull the wool over your eyes, no?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Elise was puzzled. “What’s right is right, and what’s wrong will always be wrong. There’s nothing that they should be afraid of facing. If they’re afraid, that only shows they’re too cowardly to summon up their courage. Are the others supposed to sympathize and play along with you if you’re a chicken? There’s no such thing in the world.”
“You’re gonna suffer for being so young and impetuous, Yoona,” Bertha said worriedly.
“I’ll suffer, then.” Elise withdrew her hand from Bertha’s grasp. “I’d rather suffer than have a guilty conscience,” she said. Then, she gave Bertha a nod and walked out.
Alexander listened to the two women’s conversation from behind them for a while. After Elise had left, he walked up to Bertha and apologized to her on Elise’s behalf, saying, “I’m sorry if Elise has offended you. She has a simple heart, so she doesn’t see people and things in a roundabout sort of way.”
“Do you think I’m gonna get angry with my own granddaughter?” Bertha let out a sigh. Then, she recalled something and added, “Since you’re always around her, please always remind her that fearlessness isn’t a good thing. I fear that she might end up being covered in scars one day.”
“Please don’t worry. I won’t let anyone touch a single strand of Elise’s hair even if that means l’ll get hurt myself,” Alexander promised.
Bertha nodded. “I’ll be entrusting this granddaughter of mine to you, then. Please be sure to take good care of her for me.”
“I will. Alright then, I’ve got to go.”
“Goodbye.”
Alexander bowed to her slightly before going out after Elise.
Meanwhile, Elise’s phone rang as soon as she got into the car. “Hello? Who’s that? Just shoot if you have something to say. If not, I’m hanging up,” she said in a rapid-fire way.
“Hey, don’t! Are you gonna cast me aside now that I’m no longer needed?” Nathan complained. “You can’t cozy up to people when you have a favor to ask of them and ignore them when you no longer need their help, sweetie.”
“Get straight to the point, please,” Elise urged impatiently.
“The point? I thought you knew what it was,” Nathan replied. He continued unhurriedly, “The Dahlens have gone bankrupt, no? I’d done the job, but you didn’t call me, so I can only call you to have you keep your side of the bargain.”
Elise thought she seemed to have underestimated Nathan’s capabilities. “What? That’s quick!”
“Well, how long it takes depends on my mood.” Nathan stared into space with a grin while holding his cell phone. “I put what you’d asked me to do at the top of my list of priorities. You didn’t forget what you’d promised me, did you?”
Elise was rendered speechless; indeed, she had forgotten her promise to Nathan. After a brief pause, she replied boldly, “I didn’t, of course. How about tonight? As it happens, she’s got time for a couple of drinks.”
Nathan replied, “Sure. I’ll prepare two bottles of fine wine then. You come over and have Alexander join us too. Let’s drink to our heart’s content!” His mood uplifted, he turned to look at the Romanée-Conti in the liquor cabinet. It’s only proper to serve A with wines of such distinction, I suppose, he thought.
“Okay, let’s meet up at the villa where we were last time,” Elise said. With that, she hung up before Nathan could say the words on the tip of his tongue.
Nathan looked at the phone while smacking his lips in resignation. “Is it really fine for someone as mysterious as A to meet with us casually at Dawn Villa? Does she really have no idea how many people are gonna throng the place if word leaks out about it…” he muttered. On second thought, though, he felt that A was putting her trust in him. She’s only so unperturbed because she believes I won’t erpose our whereabouts, he thought.
That night, Nathan arrived early at Dawn Villa, bringing the wine with him. Not only did he go out of his way to dress himself in the most expensive suit in his closet, but he even had his hair redone so that every strand of his hair stuck up in a meticulous curve.
After waiting for a long time, he finally heard footsteps outside the door.
Alexander was the first to come in, whereas Nathan stood up, getting all psyched up with his eyes fixed on Alexander’s back. At last, I’m gonna meet with the elusive and mysterious A after six years! he thought. He believed that as long as he and A teamed up at this meeting, building a new financial empire would be a piece of cake.
Soon, a thin small figure wearing a peaked cap came in.
Nathan’s eyes dimmed somewhat. A seems far from the towering figure I’d imagined, he thought. However, he braced himself soon afterward. Well, her looks and her stature are secondary; what matters the most are her capabilities. As long as she’s talented, her image will be much more majestic than that of mountains and rivers.
The next second, though, the thin and small figure took off her cap, and her beautiful long hair fell loosely around her shoulders. When she looked up at Nathan, he was completely taken aback. “Elise? What the hell’s going on? Are you fooling me?” He felt deceived
“No one’s fooling you.” Elise tossed her cap onto the sofa. Then, she threw up her hands and said in an easy manner, “Didn’t you say you wanted to meet with me in person? Eye me now to your heart’s content, then.”
