CHAPTER 7: CHAPTER 6: UNNECESSARY MISUNDERSTANDINGS

North City, Vicars International Hotel.

"Vice President, I’ve already sent Miss Lyle a message, I wonder if she’ll transfer the money." The assistant, Cari, lazily leaned into Shane Southwell’s arms, her long legs wrapped in a short red slit skirt.

Shane Southwell had one arm around Cari and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other, looking very impatient, even annoyed, as he said, "How many days has it been? Last month we agreed she’d send the money, but there’s been no response until now!"

"Indeed, Miss Lyle likes you, Vice President, but doesn’t want to contribute. Should I urge her again?" Cari slightly raised her head, a faint seductive smile on her enchanting face, her hand also restlessly moved towards Shane Southwell’s chest.

Shane Southwell grabbed Cari’s wrist, helping her up, stood up himself, and walked towards the bathroom, taking off his jacket, "Urge her again, I’m tired. There’s Eleanor’s event tomorrow morning, arrange it properly."

"Alright, Vice President, I’ll head back then." Cari brushed her loose hair behind her ear. She was sensible and obedient in front of Shane, which is why he never found her bothersome; it was because she never aimed to have Shane like Elliana and those other women did.

"Mm." Shane Southwell responded lightly.

Minutes later, Cari returned to her room, lying on a pure white bed, her fingers clicked open WeChat, then opened a contact saved as "Silly Woman No. 1".

Roland: Elliana, are you still there? Are you alright? If you don’t reply, I’m really worried about you. I’m losing so much funding here, I’m afraid...

As soon as she sent the message, Elliana on the other side also received it.

When Elliana saw the message, she had no intention to reply to Shane Southwell. After contemplating, she still decided to send a brief response.

Shane Southwell currently only wanted money. In the past, half of the Lyle Corporation’s finances were used to cover Roland’s losses and Shane’s loans.

Most issues were unrelated to Roland’s company. Shane Southwell, as vice president, often misused public funds; naturally, the deficits were filled by Elliana.

Shane Southwell deeply loved Eleanor Llyod, although she was just an ordinary actress now, he still loved her passionately.

Apart from the Lyle family, Shane Southwell surely had other options, but if he didn’t marry someone else’s daughter, who would be willing to fill his financial gaps?

It seemed she couldn’t outright refuse Shane Southwell. Stalling would be better, the longer the better, giving him hope while the gaps would only grow larger. You harmed me, I won’t let you go either.

Kitty: I’m fine, thank you for your concern. Rest assured, I’ll find a way, don’t worry. You’re so busy, there’s no need to come back.

Roland: Elliana is still sensible as ever, don’t worry, I’ll come to see you when I have the chance.

Shane Southwell never planned on returning to South City, and he never really conversed with Elliana. No wonder, during their meetings, Shane hardly paid Elliana any attention.

"We’re here." A clear, brisk voice rang in her ears, and the car came to a halt.

Elliana put away her phone, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out of the car urgently, sprinting towards the hospital entrance, with Norman Bennett following her, neither too close nor too far.

At that moment, Elliana’s mother had already been sent to a hospital room, with multiple abrasions on her body, but luckily, she had only fainted from excessive shock.

"Mom!"

The hospital room door was open, and Elliana rushed in without a second thought.

Arriving before her were her father and Norman’s aunt, Rose White, a gentle and elegant lady. Her perfectly fitting sapphire blue cheongsam exuded a woman’s tenderness and a scholarly grace.

"Elliana, your mom is fine, she just ate some porridge and fell asleep. Don’t wake her." Rose gently stopped her, speaking softly.

Rose cast a look at Elliana’s mother, sighing lightly. She had been terribly frightened upon hearing the news and rushed here, relieved that there was no serious harm.

Back then, her, her sister Emily White, and Elliana’s mother Bella Hue had the closest relationship. Now, with her sister gone, only her two dear friends remained. She was terrified of losing Bella too.

"Is my mom really okay?" Elliana stared at her mother, tears welling up. It was all because she got involved with Shane Southwell, causing her mother such harm.

...Half an hour later, Mr. Lyle asked Norman Bennett to take his daughter home, but this "home" was back to Norman’s villa.

After all, they had agreed to stay for a month initially, but had only stayed a few days.

Inside the car, neither spoke. This time, Norman wasn’t in a rush, so they had a driver.

Elliana scrolled through her phone, not seeing any news about her mother’s accident, so how did Shane Southwell know first?

This further confirmed that it wasn’t an accident. Without looking, she could guess the license plate of the car that hit her mother. Sure enough, her father sent her photos of the accident scene upon her request.

How could she bring Shane Southwell to justice! Something the police couldn’t solve, could she possibly manage? Elliana asked herself inwardly, gradually feeling overwhelmed.

Hitting once is an accident, hitting twice is murder. She believed that Shane Southwell wouldn’t harm her family just yet; she remembered that tomorrow at the North City Red Carpet event, Eleanor would attend. This would be Eleanor’s chance to shine.

She would never forget how Eleanor acted in front of her, how she made Shane torment her.

Wait! It seemed she had forgotten something...

What was it?

Red carpet...

Suddenly, Elliana remembered something, quickly opened WeChat, and found her cousin Joy Lyle’s contact.

Kitty: "Sister, don’t wear the dress Eleanor sent you for the red carpet tomorrow!"

At that moment, Joy, who had just received the dress, looked at the message curiously. How did Elliana know?

Sister: "Elliana, what’s wrong? Why do you say that?"

Kitty: "There’s something wrong with the dress. The side seam is loose, it’ll rip!"

However, after sending the last message, her phone died, and automatically shut down.

"Norman Bennett, can I borrow your phone, please?" Elliana suddenly looked up at Norman, pleading.

Norman handed his phone to her without hesitation, saying, "Your birthday."

"Thank you!" Elliana unlocked the phone, opened Norman’s WeChat, and entered Joy’s phone number. Sure enough, she was added shortly after.

Interestingly, Norman’s WeChat name was Seven.

Seven: "Sis, it’s me, Elliana."

Melodious Voice: "Elliana, you were right. The dress Eleanor sent me really has issues. Now I even find it suspicious that my original dress got ruined."

Joy was her cousin. Due to choosing to be an actress, she was just as unwelcomed at their paternal home as Elliana, so naturally, Elliana was inclined to be close to her cousin.

In the past, when Joy walked the red carpet, her dress suddenly burst open, causing her major embarrassment, and she was even terminated by Shane Southwell’s Roland, leading to her being shelved indefinitely.

Moreover, Joy was kicked out of the Lyle family by their grandmother, forbidding the elder uncle’s family from acknowledging this daughter, directly resulting in Joy’s death from a fall in August, the year following Elliana’s marriage to Shane.

Joy was very beautiful, the gentle intellectual type, with a simple personality, diligent but with no other talents.

Seven: "Mm, change into a different dress, I’ll cover the cost, don’t worry about the money. (Do not reply)"

After sending the message, Elliana turned off the phone, didn’t even delete the chat history, and returned it to Norman.

Feeling like she had completed a major task, Elliana suddenly felt exhausted and slumped back into her seat.

"Tired?" Norman asked gently, seeing her weary look, feeling a pang of sympathy, although he knew this little girl had feelings for Shane Southwell, it didn’t stop him from loving her.

"Mmm~" Elliana nodded slightly, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep for a while, leaning closer to Norman, resting her head gently on his arm.

Norman’s gaze lowered, dismissing any thoughts of canceling the engagement, wanting to say: You initiated this, don’t blame me for holding on.

With a slight pull, he drew her into his arms, Elliana didn’t resist, instead snuggling closer into his embrace.

It was like she was gathering all the stars into her arms, Elliana felt Norman’s cautious tenderness, warm and safe.

This side of Norman could only be seen by her, could only be felt by her.

In Norman Bennett’s heart, Elliana was the exception to all his rules.