Chapter 147
Elara walked into the prestigious restaurant known for its excellent service and food, adorned with riches, where a single plate could cost hundreds of dollars.
Antonio walked behind Elara, still not believing how cunningly Elara came through with her plan.
It was both admirable and amusing.
As Elara walked further inside, she was about to ask the manager about the table reservation when someone stopped her.
“It’s Madam Elara,” The familiar voice caught her attention, and she turned around, her gaze meeting the familiar men.
She smiled at the person who called her name.
“How are you doing, Mr. Timothy?” She asked before bowing to the man standing adjacent to him in respect.
The man furrowed his brows.
“What are you doing here, unsupervised like this? Don’t tell me you came to meet me with some family drama,” The man said, and Elara’s smile faltered.
She had just bowed to him out of respect for the elder, but it looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“I am here to—” Before she could finish her sentence, she saw the man nod to Mr. Timothy, who looked at Elara apologetically.
“Madam, please pardon us, but your father-in-law is here for a crucial meeting. Let’s not create any chaos here,” Mr. Timothy said.
Antonio, who was standing behind her, looked at the plain dumbness of the situation.
They were the ones who called her name and stopped her when she was already on her way, and now she was the one creating chaos?
He was about to open his mouth when Elara looked up at him and shook her head. After all, she had a plan in her mind.
What way could be better than seeing this man humiliate himself later? Besides, she needed a strong alibi for later, no?
She went along with the drama and lowered her gaze.
“I am sorry, father-in-law. It wasn’t my intention—” she let the sentence trail off, and the man raised his hand to signal her to stop.
“I don’t have time for this nonsense. Since you are married to Andrew, I can’t just push you away, even though you don’t belong in a place like this. I am sure you got excited by the grandeur of it. Follow us,” Heather Lloyd said.
Elara suppressed her urge to scoff and nodded at Antonio in a clear signal.
He needed to stay away but close enough to defend her for her safety.
The man nodded and stepped back, staying in the shadows for her benefit.
Elara followed her so-called ex-father-in-law into a private room on the first floor and saw a female entering who placed a really delicate vase in the centre of the table.
Her pupils dilated at the beauty of it. Wasn’t this an ancient artifact that was auctioned five years ago with the first ruler’s name on it?
Why would Heather bring it here? She wondered.
“This is really beautiful,” Elara said and was about to extend her hand to touch it when she found something odd when Heather smacked her hand away.
“Don’t touch it. Do you even know how expensive it is? What if you break it?” He said.
Elara pursed her lips but didn’t say anything more before she saw a man entering the room in a rush and whispering something in his ear.
She looked at her phone when she felt it vibrate in her jeans.
Her lips twitched slightly before she looked up when she saw her father-in-law stand.
“You wait here. I have something to attend to.” Heather Lloyd narrowed his eyes, and Elara was about to open her mouth to tell him she had somewhere to go when the man left.
She rolled her eyes and stood from the seat. This much time spent was more than enough to create the alibi here that she was in this restaurant at this time when chaos was erupting for someone, somewhere in the city.
She looked at the beautiful vase, then shrugged and left.
“Why are you following me with empty hands? We are here to meet him. What would I say to him when I see him? Wait for me, sir, because my secretary forgot the gift in the room.” Heather scolded the female secretary who had brought the gift.
The secretary muttered a quick apology before she rushed to the room. However, as soon as she saw the empty table, her pupils dilated.
She looked everywhere around, but the case was nowhere to be found.
Without hesitation, she rushed to where Heather was.
“Sir, the vase is not there anymore,” She said with trembling lips.
Heather paused in his actions, literally freezing mid-step as he looked at her with raised brows.
What did she say? The vase wasn’t there?
Before he could ask her anything, and if she checked everything, she opened her mouth.
“Sir, your daughter-in-law wasn’t in the room either.” The secretary was quick to add, hinting that Elara took the vase.
Heather massaged the center of his forehead and was about to call Andrew to ask his son to call Elara when he saw the girl in the adjacent corridor, walking to the stairs.
He didn’t waste a second and walked to the girl, who had already descended the stairs.
“Elara! Stop right there!” Heather shouted when he saw how quickly she was moving, as if in a rush to be somewhere, which only strengthened his suspicion.
Elara looked up at Heather with furrowed brows.
Didn’t he say he had something important to do? Why was he coming towards her now?
Before she could open her mouth to ask what was going on, the man grabbed her hand in a painful grip.
“Where did you take the vase? Where have you hidden it?” Heather asked.
Elara’s pupils dilated when she realized they were accusing her of theft.
She looked around and saw people stopping by to have a look at her, whispering among themselves.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. Let go of my hand, Mr. Lloyd,” Elara tried her best to keep her voice calm and controlled.
Heather narrowed his eyes at her.
This meeting was significant for him. He had planned for and waited seven months for this. He had been literally tracking this person’s whereabouts, and it was only yesterday that his men told him the VIP was seen in the city.
It was the main reason he returned to the city for this meeting, and when he heard he was here tonight, he didn’t even go home and came straight to the restaurant from the airport.
How could he jeopardize this meeting because of some family drama? He gritted his teeth.
“Let go of you? I would be out of my mind to do so. Sophia always used to tell me how pathetic your character is, but I always told her she was overthinking, because my father can’t choose the wrong person for his grandson, but I guess she was right. You are—” Heather started insulting her, and Elara’s eyes narrowed.
“And what did you do?” Elara interrupted him.
She didn’t really want to use any force and jeopardize his reputation as an elder, but she guessed some elders just don’t respect it.
“You say you trusted your father’s opinion, but what did you really do to stop the bullying and drama in the house against me? Without any evidence, you are accusing me just on the benefit of the doubt. And for some reason, you think your morals are great?” Elara asked.
“Elara!” Heather raised his hand to slap Elara, but before he could even touch her, someone stopped his hand.
“What is going on here?” The cold voice asked, and Elara sighed, then shook her head.