Chapter 21
Alexander didn’t even notice how his frown faded. He could hardly contain his exhilaration.
Taking one bite after another, he finished the beef stew in a flash, leaving his mouth with an unfulfilled
sensation. All of a sudden, the corners of his lips turned upward as the resistance that was once in his
head vanished. You and your unique taste buds, Elise!
The following day, Elise woke up to a familiar scent of disinfectant. When she opened her eyes, she was
dazed to find Alexander seated on the chair beside her bed. He was sitting in a rather slothful posture
with his legs crossed. Yet, there was a hint of dashingness on him, which left Elise staring at him for a
few seconds before she hastily blurted, “Why are you here?”
He lifted his gaze and looked into her eyes. “You’re finally awake. Good. Pack your things and let’s head
back.”
Hearing that, Elise grew joyous and even forgot to question Alexander regarding his presence. She
delightfully
stated, “I can go back to school already? That’s wonderful!”
Only God knew how long she had stayed in the hospital. She would’ve died from boredom if not for the
discharge.
Alexander didn’t speak much despite her glee. Tactfully, he stood up and glanced at the lunchbox placed
on the
table beside him. “Tidy up and eat. I’ll handle your discharge at the reception.”
It wasn’t until he finished his sentence that she noticed the lunchbox beside her. But why does it look so familiar?
Is... Is this the beef stew from last night?
“You..” Before she could say another word, Alexander had already exited the room.
She then took another look at the lunchbox before feeling the warmth on its surface with her palms. With
a doubtful frown, she started wondering and realized that he must have only done that because of
Jonah.
After packing her things up, Elise started munching on her favorite beef stew. Later, when Alexander
came back
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtfrom settling her discharge procedure, she followed him out of the hospital.
In the rather cramped car, Elise sat in the back seat. Not long after the car started moving, her phone
rang in her
pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was a call from Cynthia.
She merrily answered the phone. “Morning, Aunt Cynthia!”
“Oh? Sounds like someone’s in a good mood,” Cynthia exclaimed in a mischievous tone.
“What are you talking about? When was I ever in a bad mood? Every day is a happy day!”
“That’s my Ellie! There’s something I forgot to tell you yesterday, so I figured I should remind you now.
Through
my observation, among those five Griffith men, Alexander’s the only one that’s husband material. It’s now
or
never, Ellie. Better seize the opportunity and win a nephew-in-law for me, you know!”
Hearing that, she guiltily glimpsed toward Alexander and revealed a helpless expression. She
deliberately suppressed her voice. “Gosh, Aunt Cynthia! We… It’s not what you think.”
SS
Cynthia cheerfully cackled. “Oh, Ellie! Maybe not now, but who knows how the future will unfold?
Anyhow, I,
Cynthia Sinclair, like that boy, so he deserves to be with my Ellie!”
“Aunt Cynthia!”
“Okay, okay. I know you’re still young and you get shy talking about this. I do understand. However, the
opportunity is right before your eyes. Make sure you hold tight to it. As I said, Alexander’s pretty good,
but I’ve yet to see his mannerisms and whether he’s capable of satisfying my Ellie. Other than that, I can
only be your
advisor, so you’re ultimately the shot caller. No matter what your choice will be, know that I’ll always have
your
back.”
Regardless, Elise couldn’t grasp Cynthia’s motives. “Got it, Aunt Cynthia. Don’t worry about it.”
“Good. I’ll be busy the next couple days, so I won’t be seeing you. Give me a call if you need anything,
alright?”
After hanging up, Elise put her phone back into her pocket. Meanwhile, Alexander peeked at her in the
rear mirror and revealed a knowing look as the infatuation he had for her instantly dispersed. Although
he didn’t listen to the
entire conversation, he could still hear mentions of his name from Cynthia’s loud voice. Since every
person was
rather sensitive to their own names, he undoubtedly acknowledged Elise and Cynthia’s conversation was
pertaining to him.
Nonetheless, Elise’s expression seemed as if she was unwilling to talk about him. Then, he withdrew his
gaze
and silently gripped the steering wheel as he hit the gas and sped away.
After sending Elise to school, Alexander drove away without even bidding her farewell.
Watching as the car faded away, she thought, Ah, that’s the Alexander I know. Without reading too much
into it,
she walked into the building. Due to the incident during the fan meeting, she was considered to be
infamous
now.
Everyone in school who was a fan of Jack instantly gnarled their teeth at the sight of her. If it weren’t for
his
tweet urging everyone not to harass her, she would’ve never survived a day in school. Nevertheless,
although
they couldn’t do anything to her, they definitely had cards up their sleeves.
For instance, the students would rank Elise the “Queen” on the newly published “Ugly Bee Chart” on the
school
forum.
Elise, oblivious to such a happening, cluelessly minded her own business on her seat. Nothing was out
of the
ordinary except some turbulence every now and then outside the classroom and some judging eyes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Say, E-Ugly Elise, you’re quite the calm one, aren’t you? Or have you developed some sort of immunity
to losing
confidence on your face?” Danny bluntly scorned in a somewhat indecent posture.
With a still face, Elise answered, “Every strand of hair and cell on my body is a gift from my parents.
There’s no shame in that. A pretty vessel or a purposeful soul? I think I prefer the latter.”
Immediately, Danny blatantly burst into laughter. She must be out of her mind! A lowlife like her dares to claim
herself a purposeful soul! Out of all the jokes in the world!
Regardless, Elise disregarded him as she took out a book of Math Olympiad exercises and started
solving the
questions.
After getting first place in the previous Math Olympiad, her math teacher had come to her a few times in
private
and suggested she participate in the City Mathematics Olympiad Competition, which she had rejected
initially.
However, after countless measures of goading from her teacher, she eventually gave in and agreed to
take the
challenge.
On the other hand, seeing how his insults were going nowhere given how Elise didn’t respond the way
he wished, Danny was discontented.
Seeing as Elise was concentrating on the math questions, he couldn’t hold himself back from voicing
more teases. “Look at you, can’t succeed in beauty so you’re turning into a total nerd, hoping to go
somewhere. Know
that it’s only luck that you managed to get first place. You actually think you’re something, huh?”
She subtly glowered at him and coldly blurted, “Clown much?”
When she said that, the flame within Danny’s heart surged and stormed into his head. He was infuriated,
especially when he looked at her tremendously hideous face. Losing his temper, he snatched the
exercise book from Elise’s hands. “Cut the act, Ugly Elise! You must find pretending to be a scholar fun,
don’t you? I heard you’re going for the City Mathematics Olympiad Competition. With your sh*tty
standards? I should warn you: better wake up from your dream before you humiliate yourself out there.
Of course, you wouldn’t know anyone better
than you ’cause you’re always living in that pathetic, little fantasy of yours!”