Clack! Click! The sounds of people snapping photos and recording videos were interspersed with the occasional hoots and whistles. The eager crowd came to life as they seemed to revel in studying Maverick’s naked body in great detail as if they wanted to unearth every inch of him..
Maverick got up at once and was about to run off when he paused and posed confidently instead. Only a man who wasn’t confident in his body would fear being seen, and his body was at least an eight out of ten, so he had nothing to fear!
Thus, banking on his excellent figure, he began eyeing the women in the crowd with soulful, come-hither gazes. As it was, several young women began blushing. Satisfied, Maverick strode off dauntlessly, to the shock of all the other passersby.
Three days later. Alexander and Elise had just finished a meeting with a client and were about to get in the car when they bumped into Owen who stepped out of a Mercedes-Benz that was parked on the side of the road.
“Miss White,” Owen greeted lovingly as if she was the only person he could see.
Both Alexander and Elise were stunned at first.
Shouldn’t guys who want to steal another man’s wife try their hardest to avoid running into the other man? Why is he approaching us in the open?
They couldn’t quite figure out what Owen was trying to do. Elise felt a little awkward, but she pretended to be flustered as she greeted him, “Mr. Morgan.”
Then, she took Alexander’s arm and stuck right to him without looking at Owen. She looked as if she was a meek little wife who was afraid that her husband would find out that she was cheating on him.
Alexander was so amused by her act that he couldn’t help but smirk. He had to admit that she was extremely convincing.
Elise secretly nudged his arm at once to warn him not to let the cat out of the bag. Thus, Alexander snapped out of it and went along with her act.
“Your eyes seem to be failing you, Mr. Morgan.”
Alexander extracted his arm from Elise’s grip and wrapped it around her waist possessively instead.
Owen pushed his glasses up his nose before slowly turning to look at Alexander and greeting him smugly, “Long time no see, President Griffith. You’re still as handsome and dignified as ever.”
“You haven’t changed much either, Mr. Morgan.” Alexander chose a cutting response. “You still love ogling other people’s women.”
He voiced his displeasure outright. However, Owen didn’t take the bait. Instead, he changed the subject. “Fate must have brought us Cittadelians together in this foreign country. Would you two give me the honor of treating you to a meal?”
“That’s kind of you, but it’s not necessary.” Elise pretended to decline to avoid raising suspicion.
“That’s nothing. We Cittadelians like to have a full table at mealtimes, don’t we? Food tastes better when you’re in good company.”
Owen’s eyes flickered as he decided to push Alexander’s buttons. “It’s not a big deal if we go hungry, but we shouldn’t let Miss White go hungry. You should be thinking on her behalf. Surely, you’re not as ungentlemanly as that, right, President Griffith?”
It went without saying that Alexander wasn’t affected by this meager attempt at inciting him, but he still wanted to see what Owen was up to.
“Lead the way.”
Soon, the three arrived at a Cittadelian restaurant nearby. “The food here is very authentic. I always come here when I miss Cittadelian cuisine.”
Owen took the lead and ordered a few mains to share while Alexander and Elise spaced out the entire time. They didn’t pay any attention to what Owen said.
The server left with the menus. At the same time, Alexander’s phone started ringing, so he went out to take the call.
As soon as he walked out the door, Owen raised his hand and stretched his arm across the table to stroke the back of Elise’s hand. “Anastasia…”
Elise wasn’t going to let him have his way. She moved her hand away at once as if she was startled before she questioned him nervously in a soft voice, “What are you doing?”
When did Owen become such a handsy perv?
Had he been regressing as the rest of humanity progressed? “You don’t need to feel nervous,” Owen assured her gently. “I won’t cause trouble for you.”
He’s so smarmy.
“You’ve already caused me enough trouble just by showing up!”
Elise acted as if she was deathly afraid of having anything to do with him as she kept eyeing the door while she spoke.
Owen’s eyes flashed slyly. Why would she be so afraid of Alexander finding out if she didn’t have any feelings for me?
However, he wasn’t in a hurry to expose her. He merely remarked with great melancholy, “All along, I couldn’t understand why such an amazing woman like you isn’t getting the appreciation you deserve, but I finally realized why when I saw that the man whom you’re with is Alexander.”
“What do you mean by that?” That did the trick in getting Elise’s attention.
“I’m sure you can tell that Alexander and I are long acquainted,” Owen began slowly as he purposely avoided getting to his point.
“I do, and? Is there something that I don’t know about him?”
“Of course,” Owen declared. “You know about his first wife, Elise Sinclair, right?”
“All of Cittadel knows about her. Isn’t she dead?” Elise went along with it and played the part of a naive woman who was being led around by him.
“She’s dead, but she still lives in Alexander’s heart. Every woman that Alexander has been with after her all share similarities to her!”
Owen made everything sound so mysterious. It was as if he was trying to hypnotize Elise. “That’s impossible.” Elise pretended to be stubborn about it. “He loves me. He treats me very well.”
“Wake up and smell the roses. He’s just using you as Elise’s substitute!” Owen expressed with great emotion. “Think carefully, Anastasia. Whenever Alexander looks at you, doesn’t it seem as if he’s looking through you to see someone else instead?”
Elise wanted to make a recommendation to Owen. You should start acting in horror movies. Looking through me to see someone else, huh? What a vivid imagination. She was Elise, Alexander’s wife. Who else was he supposed to be seeing?
That being said, she was in the middle of an act. Thus, she stuck to her role and her downcast eyes drowned in worried recollection.
Noticing that she seemed to be convinced, Owen got up and sat down beside her before coming closer to begin tempting her once more. “Anastasia, this is not how your life should be. Are you willing to be someone else’s substitute for the rest of your life?”
What a good question.
Who else is going to be Elise, if not me?
Am I not supposed to be myself for my entire life? Should I just die right now?
Elise acted as if she was conflicted on the inside, but in reality, she merely didn’t want to continue talking to him.
After dwelling in her thoughts for a while, she saw that Alexander was heading back in, so she grabbed her purse and walked over to him as if she was trying to flee the situation. “Let’s go, Alexander. I don’t want to eat.”
Alexander glanced at Owen before nodding in agreement. “Sure.”
He took Elise by the hand and walked out with her. Owen didn’t chase them down. He poured himself a glass of wine and enjoyed it at leisure. He had already scattered the bait, so he didn’t have to worry about failing to reel the fish in.
As soon as the car door closed, Elise exhaled in relief. “I can finally drop the act.”
Alexander was amused. “You were doing a great job at being in character just now. Why did you suddenly stop?”
“I was just trying to make it look as realistic as possible. Why should I waste my time when I’ve already achieved the effect I wanted?”
Owen only had one goal in mind, and that was to drive a wedge between Elise and Alexander. One of the best ways to break a woman’s heart was to tell her that her partner was still hung up on another woman. Elise had to admit that Owen was pretty skilled at appealing to a person’s emotional side.
Furthermore, he didn’t bring it up the last time. Instead, he purposely created yet another seemingly coincidental encounter before bringing it up, which made him seem all the more believable. This was a wise move on his part.
“What did you two talk about after I left the table?” Alexander asked. Elise turned to him and fiendishly narrowed her eyes. “Owen said that there’s another woman who lives in your heart.”
