Chapter 76: Chapter 76

At the same time, Hayley forced some tears out of her eyes and pretended to wipe them off with her hands until they arrived at the mansion. Then, she gazed at the man in excitement and asked, “Elliot, would you like to come inside and have a cup of tea before you go?”

“No, thanks. | have a meeting to attend later.” Elliot turned the lady down.

“Well, it's not going to take you long to enjoy a cup of tea, plus | feel a little lonely being here by myself.”

“As I’ve told you before, you can always invite your family to move in with you if you feel lonely,” suggested Elliot.

“I've told them about it before, but they don’t think they'd be used to living with me here.” Hayley’s knee-jerk reaction was to lie because she would never want to share everything she had with the family she hated. After all, they had brought nothing else but pain and suffering into her life, which was enough to justify her resentment toward them.

“Persuade them to keep you company then,” said Elliot. He then took a look at his watch and continued, “I have to go now.”

Despite knowing that it wasn’t possible for her to make Elliot stay, Hayley lost herself in the man’s charming smile before she eventually mustered her courage and leaned closer to hug and kiss him. Nevertheless, Elliot was one step ahead by resisting her with his palms when he could sense her breath just a few inches away. Then, he gave an unwavering stare and said, “Get out of the car now!”

In the face of the man’s cold rejection, Hayley had no choice but to step out of the vehicle in embarrassment. As she watched Elliot drive away with her face flushed, she couldn’t help but wonder why the man had no lustful desires for her.

Does he have another woman by his side?

Hayley couldn't help remembering the hickey on his neck from the other day. If the hickey did not come from Anastasia, it was definitely from someone else.

On the other hand, Anastasia was killing boredom by reading her text messages in the taxi, only to be surprised when she saw her replies to Nigel that she didn’t —- remember typing herself. She tried to recall what had happened the day before and remembered that she was in the shower around 9.00PM. While she didn’t think her son could have replied to Nigel, Elliot was the only possible suspect since he was at her place. Was it him? Yeah, | think it was probably him! Damn it! How dare he deprive me of my privacy and reply on my behalf?! Anastasia’s intuition told her that it was Elliot who had texted with Nigel behind her back. However, she was later amused when she read Nigel’s confession. After all, she had already gotten used to his confessions as he had been doing that pretty often in a sentimental manner.

In the meantime, Anastasia arrived at her office just in time to attend the meeting held by Felicia to discuss preparations for the jewelry exhibition next week. While Alicia and Anastasia’s masterpieces were both nominated, Felicia hoped they could both win an award for the sake of the company’s reputation. However, that also made Alicia and Anastasia competitors in the jewelry fair.

Alicia appeared confident in the meeting, but despite the woman’s provoking gaze, Anastasia remained unbothered and determined because of the lucrative prize.

While Bourgeois was situated in the east, it was overshadowed by a building that was none other than Presgrave Group. In fact, it towered among the clouds like a pillar that stemmed from the ground to the sky. Due to its height, the other buildings that surrounded it looked just like obedient followers who bowed down to their leader. At that moment, Elliot was sitting in his chair in the meeting room at Presgrave Group, looking like a king on his throne. Nonetheless, there was barely any emotion seen on his handsome face as he stared blankly in an absent-minded manner despite his stern appearance.

“President Presgrave... President Presgrave?” The finance departmental head called out to Elliot because he needed his approval right after presenting his proposal.

Soon, Elliot took his eyes off where he was looking and turned his attention to his subordinate with a glacial gaze. “Please tell me the issue again.”

Upon hearing that, the finance departmental head was surprised as he quickly cleared his throat and repeated his presentation, but fortunately, Elliot was finally paying attention this time.

As soon as the meeting was over, Elliot stood in front of his window and cast his eyes on Bourgeois, feeling helpless about how distracted he was thinking about Anastasia. Damn! This is the first time I’ve ever lost myself in my train of thought. Soon, he took a look at his watch and returned to the intercom before dialing a number. “Get ready and come with me to Bourgeois.”

“Alright, President Presgrave.”

Meanwhile, Anastasia was already done with her tasks for the day half an hour before she got off work. She was getting ready to leave and pick up her son from school when she heard her telephone ringing. Thus, she answered it and said, “Hello?”

“Please come to my office.” The man’s magnetic voice could be heard.

“What's the matter, President Presgrave?” Anastasia’s tone implied her reluctance to see Elliot.