Chapter 113
Williams didn’t say anything for some time.
He just looked at his daughter-in-law blankly as if he didn’t hear her.
His hands reached for the cup of tea in a calculated manner, his lips lifting slightly, almost mocking, before he gently lifted his gaze and looked straight into Sophia’s eyes.
He had many things to say. Things like how he always asked them to treat her right and how he had warned them they would regret it later.
He had told them time after time to at least trust his decision, bound by Elara’s promise that no one shall know about her real identity because she didn’t want people to know, or maybe because she wanted to test if their family really deserved her, a test that extended for three long years, but they all failed.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Williams said.
He could tell Sophia everything if he wanted. Elara wasn’t here to see it, and he could always claim they found out from outside after she won the singing role.
But there was no way he was going to dishonour the promise he made to her.
Sophia’s expression turned ugly.
“Don’t lie to me, father. There has to be something that you know. Or why would you insist that she get into the family? Why would you say she would produce a strong heir?” Sophia demanded, almost stomping her foot.
Williams chuckled before taking another sip of his tea.
“So you remember all those words. And here I thought you forgot about them. Maybe that was why you guys went against my words,” Williams said, arching his brows.
His wrinkled face with arched brows mocked her in ways Sophia didn’t want to hear after being humiliated at the mall, too.
“Fine. Don’t tell me. I’ll find it out myself,” Sophia said.
Williams smiled.
“If you had spent half the energy in accepting her, it wouldn’t have come to this in the first place. Ever wondered that?” He asked.
Sophia smiled forcefully before walking out with a sour expression.
As soon as she walked out, she was met by Carla.
“Mom, what did you want to talk about with Grandpa? I had been calling you since you arrived, but you didn’t hear and went straight to him. Is something happening?” Carla asked.
Sophia looked at her daughter and remembered her friend’s words about her being talentless and the reason behind the mockery she faced.
She didn’t want to be harsh with her daughter, so she shook her head and left for her room, not before asking Carla to let her know if Andrew had arrived at the house.
At the same time, inside the company, Jason sat behind his desk, looking at the reports on the recent projects, and furrowed his brow.
Why was there such a drastic difference between what he heard from the people working on-site and what was written there? He wondered before checking the files.
When he double-checked it, he stood from the seat and called Martha in.
“Secretary Jason, you called me?” The girl walked inside confidently, her tone almost sultry as she blinked her eyes innocently.
Jason noticed how she leaned forward on his desk, her eyes wide, and couldn’t help but massage the area between his brows.
Just because this technique works on their boss when Beatrice does it, do all the women think it will work on everyone? He felt disgusted just by the thought, and his brows squinted.
“Who made this report? And stand straight when answering,” Jason said, not bothering to look at her again.
Marth felt heat rise to her cheeks when Jason talked like that, and she immediately straightened.
“I made it.” She said, unsure what was wrong.
“Is that so? And the data? Where did you get it from?” He asked.
Martha looked at the document.
“Is there anything wrong, Assistant Jason?” She asked.
The man barely suppressed the urge to fold the file and smack it on the girl’s head.
“Just answer what you have been asked about,” he pursed his lips.
“Sonia provided the data. She said Miss Beatrice recorded it,” Martha said.
Jason, who was doodling on the paper to keep himself distracted and not get too angry, paused.
“Miss Beatrice, you said?” He asked before standing from his chair and leaving the office to find her.
However, he had only taken three steps when he remembered something.
Something like this had happened before, too. But rather than finding fault in Beatrice’s work, his boss had asked him to go easy on her because she was just learning.
Out of nowhere, evidence that the information was leaked to the rival company at the same time had appeared.
And Mrs. Elara, who had been to the office that day, took the blame.
What were the chances that his boss even bothered to look at the information and say something to Beatrice? Really none.
Jason turned towards the canteen and got himself a soda can from the fridge before paying for it.
“You look stressed,” the canteen lady said as she saw the usual jolly man flexing his fingers repetitively.
“Not much. Just a report that I need to handle,” Jason smiled.
He pulled out his phone and asked a team member to go and gather all the data from the sites himself.
As he scrolled through the numbers, his gaze lingered on Miss Elara’s number, and for some reason, he felt a little pity for the woman.
If only she hadn’t fallen for the man who valued his opinion and beliefs more than others, she wouldn’t have been so unhappy.
He was delighted to hear now that she had filed for divorce. Though he pretended to be sad and concerned for Andrew, he was, in reality, rooting for Elara.
Why? Because that lady has a heart of gold. He still remembered how she had secretly allowed him to send his grandmother to their home and take care of her while Andrew was away on the trip because he couldn’t get a caretaker at the last moment.
He could never imagine Miss Beatrice doing something like this for anyone, despite how kind his boss portrays the lady.
At the same time, Elara, who opened her eyes, feeling much refreshed after a nap, looked around, the sound of the ocean waves catching her off-guard a little.
She placed her foot on the wooden floor before putting on the fluffy slippers that were already placed for her.
With confusion all over her face, she walked out of the bedroom she was in and walked to the living room, where the man she knew was facing the balcony and talking to someone over the call.
To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Not because she found it strange that she was in a beautiful place like this, but because the man before her wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Her gaze lingered on his taut muscles, the way his biceps flexed slightly as he talked on the phone.
The sight was drool-worthy.
“Like what you see?” She suddenly heard and looked up, frozen in place.
He knew she was watching him?
Of course. He knew. He was a mafia leader and probably had senses sharper than anyone else’s, always on the lookout for danger.
“It’s a sight I wouldn’t mind for sure,” Elara answered, not wanting to look like a fool who was caught red-handed.
“Good to know. Because you are going to see a lot of it,” the man said before turning to look at her.
If the sight earlier was droolworthy, nothing could’ve prepared her for what she was seeing now.
Her gaze travelled down to his abs, taking in every flex like she was drinking a fine wine while he walked to her.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I might actually get the impression that you want to do me,” Daniel said, placing his fingers under her chin to force her to look up.
Elara looked into his eyes, daring, challenging, and provocative, before she let out a slight smirk.
“I think I can entertain a release, only if you do it with that mask on,” she whispered.
Daniel arched his brows.
“Why? Is my face not handsome enough?” He asked.
Elara smiled.
“It is. That’s the problem. It’s too handsome. It will distract me. So if you really want to do it with me, do it in a way I won’t get distracted.” Elara placed her hand on his chest, loving the feel of his naked skin under her palm.
“Do you hear yourself?” He asked.
Elara nodded, remorseless.
“I do. And I mean every single word. I have lived like a good girl, following all the rules, respecting everyone too much, and pretending to have a moral character for too long. This wasn’t how I was supposed to be,” Elara said.
She stepped forward, her breath hitching as her heart trembled in her chest when her chest pressed against his.
“I was supposed to be reckless, someone meant to break the rules, wasn’t I?” she asked.
Daniel looked into the darkness that surrounded her tone and gaze as she said the sentence and felt his own desires rise.
“You will regret saying this,” he said before he grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her infinitely close until there was no space left between them, and placed his lips on hers.