Chapter 572 Time to Call Me Hubby, Mrs Griffith
When Jamie heard what Elise had said, his expression turned gloomy as well. Looking at the door with a thoughtful expression, he said with a sigh, “We’re both men, so how could I not know what Noel is thinking? It’s not just you, Boss. In fact, none of us blames him for what he did. Let’s hope that he’ll make peace with himself sooner.”
Elise smiled; she just knew that despite his seemingly simpleminded demeanor, Jamie was actually very attentive. After so many years, Elise had long since forgotten what it felt like to be unable to explain herself about what had happened to Charlene. For Noel, however, now was just the beginning of his shock, so perhaps he was more anguished than anyone else. Still, Elise had to admit that the qualms she had always had had disappeared completely.
It was rare that everyone was present, so the group drank a lot on the pretext that they’d resolved their issues and made up.
Elise was a little tipsy as she walked out of the bar. Still, she walked steadily toward the spot where Alexander’s car was parked with Alexander supporting her.
Drunken and bleary-eyed, Elise looked up at the side of Alexander’s face. She called him absentmindedly, “Alex. Alexander.”
“I’m here.” Opening the car door, Alexander helped her to the passenger seat before attentively fastening the seat belt for her. However, just as he was about to step back and close the car door, Elise suddenly sat up and hooked her arm around his neck, pressing her body against his.
As Alexander smelled the strong smell of alcohol mixed with the refreshing perfume scent, his breathing instantly became heavy, and he instinctively gave an audible gulp. “Be good, Ellie.” His voice was deep and husky with a barely perceptible note of restraint.
As Elise stared at the man, her eyes moistened all of a sudden, and she deliberately pressed her body even closer against his. “No, I’m not a good girl.”
Everyone thought that she should be a magnanimous person and forgive Charlene. Even if there was someone who trusted her character, they merely voiced their support for her without doing anything else. Even Elise herself didn’t have the courage to find out the truth. However, Alexander found out what was weighing on her mind and quietly helped her restore her reputation without saying a word or even asking her about it. He never mentioned how nice he was to her, but he did everything for her in such a way.
Alexander had drunk a bit of liquor, so his breathing became somewhat heavy when Elise pressed her body against his like this. Still, with incredible self-restraint, he merely expressed his slight annoyance. “Be good, Ellie. Let’s take you home first.”
“No, I don’t wanna.” Elise acted up in front of Alexander with the liquid courage in her. “Why do you have to be so kind to me? Do you know you’re so kind that I feel I don’t deserve you?”
When Alexander heard this, his attitude softened at once. He raised his hand to stroke her hair gently, saying, “It’s fine as long as I know you’re good enough for me. I know how good you are. Ellie, is the wedding gift I gave you inappropriate?” He didn’t want to make Elise cry. Instead, he just wanted her to stop shutting herself off and blaming herself for everything.
Elise shook her head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I like this gift very much. Now I finally know that I wasn’t the one in the wrong. It’s just that I never thought people could be so bad. I promise you that I’ll never doubt myself anymore.”
Ever since the incident about Charlene happened, Elise had been lingering in the whirlpool of self-doubt, lost in introspection again and again. She wondered if she really was that much of a failure and if that was why no one had believed her. Everyone thought she would be so unscrupulous to the extent of robbing a lady of her chastity because of a song. Today, she finally learned that one couldn’t avoid trouble simply by keeping their nose clean. After all, there were many bad people in the world who couldn’t stand the sight of others being happy, and they were willing to give up everything as long as they could make the others’ lives a misery.
Still, this shouldn’t be an excuse for self-doubt. If we want to be independent and self-assured, we have to have faith in our charisma. The bad guys are too deceitful, which is enough to fool most people. However, what’s done by night appears by day. The truth will be made public sooner or later, so there’s no hurry to feel guilty and blame myself, nor should I push away those who sincerely love me, Elise thought.
Cupping Elise’s face in his hands, Alexander whispered softly, “In the future, you can do whatever you want. Whatever you lose—even if you lose everything one day—as long as you turn around, I’ll still be behind you. As long as you turn around, you’ll see me. So, you don’t have to be afraid of anything. Got it?”
Glistening tears rolled down the corners of Elise’s eyes, but she didn’t notice it at all. Instead, she deliberately sniffled, chiding, “You just want to make me cry, don’t you?”
“How could I bear to do that?” Alexander wiped the tears off her face. “I just feel that I messed up a little. Perhaps Noel would’ve sincerely apologized to you if I had let him and Charlene confront each other face to face.”
“You did well enough. And besides, now that the truth has come to light, whether Noel apologized or not doesn’t matter to me anymore,” Elise said while stretching out her neck slightly to plant a kiss on the corner of Alexander’s lips. “Alexander, it’s wonderful to have you in my life.”
Alexander felt his body go limp as if an electric current had spread through him. His spirits rose, and he joked, “Now that I’ve officially become your husband, aren’t you gonna call me ‘hubby,’ Mrs. Griffith?”
“Mrs. Griffith?” Elise was startled; she didn’t realize that Alexander was addressing her. The instant she realized it, she couldn’t help but bite her lower lip shyly.
Alexander happened to see how pitiable Elise looked from his angle. Feeling his throat tighten, he could hardly suppress his desire to touch her luscious lips.
However, just as he was about to lean close to her, the cell phone in the inner pocket of his suit jacket rang. His brow furrowed, and he paused in vexation. What an inopportune time for a phone call.
Elise let out a chuckle. Cupping the man’s face in her hands, she gave him a big smacker. “Alright, are you satisfied this time?”
Alexander’s lips curved up slightly. Only then did he step back and answer the phone. “What’s the matter?” he asked. Then, after falling silent for half a minute, he quickly put away his cell phone and turned to look at Elise with confidence of victory in his eyes. “Now I can give you a real gift.”
“Huh?” Elise looked baffled.
Then, after a half-hour drive, she was brought to the hospital by Alexander.
Elise was familiar with the hospital, for Faye had passed away here not long ago.
Without saying another word, Alexander led her straight to the morgue and pulled out one of the refrigerated drawers storing dead bodies. Then, with deft movements, he unzipped a bag containing a dead body, and the bag opened to reveal Elise’s face.
“What’s going on here?” Elise asked. I’ve taken off the prosthetic mask before leaving. Why is the mask back on Faye’s face?
Alexander explained impassively, “When I saw the photo of the car accident on the news, I knew that you had gone to Jacob. After you sent the mask back for repair, I took it back and put the word out that you were the one who died.”
Elise was shrewd enough to realize the man’s intention. “You wanna lure Matthew out?”
Alexander nodded. “The fish is gonna take the bait very soon. Well, I didn’t get to catch a big fish, but I got Heather.”
“Heather?” Elise had nearly forgotten about this person. Heather had always followed Matthew around. Now that she had been caught, Matthew would probably not show up again for fear of getting caught himself.
