Elise specially chose a seat by the window so that she could observe the people passing by in the shopping mall while she drank her coffee. Not long after, a man suddenly came over to strike up a conversation.
“Excuse me, miss. I apologize for interrupting.”
Hearing that, Elise calmly put down the coffee in her hand and turned around, only to find that it was Owen whom she talked about just this morning.
Judging from how cautious and chivalrous behavior, Owen obviously didn’t know her real identity. This would have been a perfectly normal scene if she was just a stranger to him.
However, she was Alexander’s woman. Owen had just snatched the collaboration opportunity with BJ Biotech from Alexander. It was impossible for him to not know her relationship. with Alexander. So why is he approaching me while pretending to be clueless?
“Can I help you?” she asked confidently in return. “Truth is, I have been observing you from over there for a minute now. Your features and aura are exactly what I’m looking for in a model. I was wondering if you’d be interested in letting me draw you,” he asked humbly..
“That’s a pretty old-fashioned way of picking. women up.” Elise beamed. “Sorry, but I’m a married woman.”
“Oh, you misunderstand me. I genuinely want to draw you as one of my art pieces. Would you mind it if we exchanged contacts?” He reached out with his phone in his palm.
She lowered her head and took a glance at his phone, noting that he had already clicked into the Contacts app. After thinking about it for a second, she eventually agreed, ‘Alright.”
Let’s see what you’re planning to do. Of course, she still had her guard up. She made sure to add him to Anastasia’s account, whose WhatsApp username was her name. Very quickly, they added each other on WhatsApp.
“Anastasia White… That’s a beautiful name.” Owen looked surprised. “My name is Owen Morgan. Please consider what I proposed, Miss White. I’ll be out of your hair now.” He soon left on his own accord.
After he said that, he walked away with poise. Elise kept her eyes on him until he left the cafe. It was only then that she let her head hang slightly.
Narissa happened to enter from the side door when she saw what happened. She started yapping away nosily as soon as she sat down. “You’re still the charming lady you always were, huh, Ellie? I was only gone for a while and you already have a hottie hitting on you!”
“Hottie, check. Hitting on me? Not really,” Ellie mused. “What do you mean?” Narissa immediately went on high alert. “Was he an enemy? Is there an ambush nearby?”
Elise didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her friend’s paranoia. “You and your wild imagination. Your coffee is getting cold. Drink up.”
Narissa only let out a breath of relief as she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.. However, she quickly tore it away from her face again and blurted out, “That reminds me! Ellie, do you know any good shrink? Jamie has been. guilt-ridden about Alicia. I want to help if I can.”
“I know a hypnotist, but it’s not a big problem. I’ll ask about it on the forum later.” Elise righteously took responsibility.
The two continued to chat for a while. After getting enough rest, they each went home. When Alexander returned home, Elise was helping the children try on the new clothes she bought for them.
Alexia wore a dress that made her look like a little princess, whereas Irvin had on a new jacket that was a tad too short. However, he still looked regal in it. Standing together, they looked like dolls that had just paraded out of a cabinet.
“Daddy, look at my dress! Isn’t it pretty?” Alexia gently lifted the skirt of her dress and spun around. “Wonderful! You look spectacular! My daughter is a fairy!” Alexander played along by showering her with praises.
“Ahem!” Irvin, who was already posing, cleared his throat. Hearing that, Alexander took a glance at the boy, only to swiftly look away as though he hadn’t seen anything.
Irvin’s face quickly dropped then. He grumbled,
“Daddy, do you know what being biased is?”
“Say that to me again when you become more handsome than me.”
After acting like a hooligan with his son, Alexander turned around and went to Elise while whining pitifully, “Ah… My son and daughter are loved. I’m so envious of them…
Elise immediately saw through his intentions. She then turned to take a necktie from one of the shopping bags before slipping it around his collar. “Any eyewitness has a share.”
Alexander lowered his torso to help her easily tie it on. It didn’t take long before he started complaining again, “You’re only giving me one necktie? Don’t you think you’re a little too stingy. to me?”
“What else can I do when you earn so little money?” She shrugged. “We have to take care of the children first.”
Truth was, the necktie was more expensive than the children’s presents combined. The couple was only having playful banter between them.
“Seems like I’ll have to work harder,” Alexander murmured with a smile.
“Yeah… Or else your wife and children will have to starve. Elise deliberately exaggerated. However, her words managed to startle Alexia so badly that her eyes went wide and round.. “Are we that short on money?”
“Oh, yeah. For sure!” Irvin chipped in with a calm face and voice. “Don’t you see how hard I work on my experiments every day? It’s so that I can. earn money to buy you yummies.”
Alexia’s heart broke then. She quickly waddled over and hugged Irvin. “I won’t eat yummies anymore, Irvin. You should play with me! Don’t do the experiments anymore. It’s too hard on you.”
“Silly goose, I’ll play with you for a bit, but I have to get back to my experiments later. I don’t want you messing around, okay?”
There was a corner in Irvin’s room that he used for his experiments. It was fairly dangerous because of the various drugs he placed there.
However, children were naturally fascinated by bottles and cups like these. Alexia would always try to touch them, and Irvin would have to stop his experiments and go to lengths to coax the girl out of it.
It was as time-consuming as it was counterproductive. That was why he was. interested in the Heidelbergs’ laboratory.
“Alright! I promise to not disturb you!” Alexia raised four fingers and solemnly swore. Of course, knowing that this was but an empty promise, Irvin quietly grumbled to himself. Still, he did as he said he would and brought Alexia to the backyard.
After Elise put the tie on for Alexander, she told him, “Owen came to me today.”
“I know.” Alexander was not surprised at all. “You knew?” She suddenly realized something after she gave it a thought. “Raymond and the others must have told you.”
He nodded. “They are there to keep you safe. They can’t stay too far away from you, but they’re not monitoring your every move either.”
It wasn’t like Elise minded. “What do you think was Owen’s intention for approaching me? He must know that you and he are rivals, which was why he pretended to not know me earlier.”
“Who cares what he’s up to? I’m not interested as long as you’re not his target.” Alexander leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead.
After he let go of her, he suddenly stood up, bent over, and carried her by her waist. Wobbly, she subconsciously held on to him. “You’ve been working all morning. Are you not tired? Where’s all this stamina coming from?”
“Work and this do not correlate,” he purred as he strode toward the stairway.
