Chapter 43 Could We Leave Tonight
Penelope snorted, “You don’t really know Uncle Edward, do you? He’s used to being served by others and he thinks that he’s above everyone else. He’s entitled and arrogant.”
Pausing for a moment, she then added, “I’ll let you in on a secret, but you mustn’t tell this to anyone!
His girlfriend planned to move in with him a while ago, but he refused. He said that he didn’t like anyone invading his private space and they could just plan ahead if they wanted to meet. Do you think that such a man would be thoughtful enough to keep a pair of women’s slippers around? This is too suspicious.”
Nelissa was baffled. The Edward she knew seemed a little different from the person Penelope had just described.
“You should sneak over someday, maybe you could catch him in the act. That way, I could use Uncle Edward as a bargaining chip when my father threatens to send me abroad!” Penelope proposed.
Nelissa lowered her eyes and said, “Let’s just drop it. He’ll get mad, you know?”‘
Penelope feared nothing, she was still afraid of Edward’s fury. She was unfazed when her father threatened to send her abroad. The tiniest glint of hope in her heart dissipated in a second.
She removed the pair of slippers from the shoe rack and slipped into it. However, the size was a tad too small.
Penelope was tall for a lady, with the built of a supermodel. Hence, her feet were larger than average and could not fit into those slippers.
Nelissa grew nervous, worried that Penelope would ask to try them on. She nudged her and said, “Stop looking at them and let’s go. I’m going to be late for work.”
Penelope finally relented, “Alright. Let’s go.”
Nelissa was half an hour late for work.
Jolene handed a fresh set of clothes to Nelissa, her eyes narrowed. She looked as though she was about to interrogate her yet again.
Nelissa knew her well, so she grabbed the bag and said, “Fine. Just stop staring at me. I’ll tell you everything after I get changed.”
“Hurry up!” Jolene said as she shoved Nelissa into the washroom.
Nelissa applied some makeup after changing her clothes in a meek attempt to conceal the dark circles under her eyes.
She returned to Jolene’s office after and filled her in.
Jolene was mystified.
“Are you saying that that high school friend of yours is actually Edward’s niece? And you slept at his after passing out last night?”
Nelissa nodded, “Yeah.”
Jolene tapped her fingertips on the table impatiently, “Nelly, which prestigious high school did you go to? How did you even become friends with Edward’s niece?”
Nelissa smiled and said, “I only got in with good grades. I didn’t use any connections.”
Jolene was still unconvinced.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
Nelissa had gotten pregnant when she was eighteen. That meant that she met the father of her children when she was in her senior year. He might be friends with Edward and he could be a powerful man now!
Jolene kept her thoughts to herself, afraid that she might hurt Nelissa’s feelings. She probed, “Did Edward attempt to do anything to you last night?”
Nelissa shook her head and said, “No, but I think that I might’ve made him upset.”
She wasn’t sure what she had done, so all she could do at that moment was to take each day one step at a time. She had been living her life that way over the past five years.
After all, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. And more often than not, life would not turn out the way it was planned.
She struggled to make ends meet, but having her children and Jolene around was still a blessing to her. She had once lived in luxury and she had also experienced living paycheck to paycheck.
It was not as bad as she had imagined it to be.
It would be much better if her mother could recover from her coma. That way, they could leave Halestone City and get rid of their past for good.
Nelissa returned to her post after and began working. She was then called into Mr. Marcel’s office.
Mr. Marcel wanted a report on the progress with the Hales Group, and if Mr. Hales requested for amendments to their proposal.
Nelissa was stumped. She realized that she and Edward had never had a proper discussion on the project. All he did was lock the documents in his drawer and tell her that he would look at it.
She had yet to receive any word from him.
Mr. Marcel rushed her to follow up on the case, chiding her on her lack of responsibility. He then sent her out.
Nelissa cursed inwardly. She did not even have the chance to explain herself.
She immediately returned to her post and gave Andrew a ring.
She dared not ask Edward about it directly. She recalled Eliza saying that he was in an extremely bad mood earlier that morning.
The call was soon connected. Andrew was first to speak, and he sounded extremely frantic. He whispered,”Mr. Hales is very busy today and he has a few meetings to attend to. He has no time to look at other documents. Look, I still have to prepare the agenda for the next meeting.”
Andrew hung up the call after that.
Nelissa was even more certain that Edward was upset at her.
Noon came.
Nelissa took a break at her workstation after lunch.
She noticed an envelope with a check in her bag. She had planned to return the money to Penelope the night before, but it seemed that Zayden had already cleared her debt for her.
She wondered if she should keep the money or return it to Zayden once and for all.
Nelissa swiped through her address book, her fingertips hovering above Zayden’s name. She hesitated.
A second later, she punched the numbers to Edward’s personal cell.
Her curiosity was gnawing at her. Just what on earth did she do to have angered him so much?
The call went through, but no one picked up. Nelissa lowered her eyes. Perhaps she should give up.
All of a sudden, the call was connected.
Nelissa took a deep breath and said, “Edward…”
Edward cut her off coldly, “This is the second time you’re disturbing my sleep!”
The call ended abruptly after that.
He seemed really mad this time!
Nelissa sighed and laid her head on the table. She closed her eyes and rubbed her lips with her fingertips. She recalled how Edward’s sexy lips were imprinted onto her skin the night before.
Men were cunning creatures. They would desperately seek for the woman’s heart, especially if it seemed unattainable, only to discard it away once they had their hands on it..
Edward seemed to like her, but she wasn’t sure if his feelings were genuine. Was he just trying to satisfy his lust or was he trying something new?
Perhaps that was what happened between her and Zayden too. He tossed her aside after charming her away.
Nelissa sighed again. It seemed that it might be difficult to secure the contract this time.
She went home after work and spent time with the twins. Since it was the weekend, the twins were allowed to watch a little TV before heading to bed.
Nelissa’s phone rang. She looked at the clock. It was almost 10 p. m.
She took a glance at the screen and noticed that it was from an unknown number.
She ignored the call as they were usually from annoying digital telemarketers.
Her phone rang again. Noey accidentally sat on it and the call was connected.
A man’s voice could be heard coming from the other end, “Nelly, why aren’t you picking up your brother’s call?”
Jolene probed, “Do you have a brother?”
“No!” Nelissa rolled her eyes. She could tell that the voice belonged to Joshua, one of Edward’s wealthy friends.
Nelissa grabbed her phone and walked to the balcony, “My phone was in the washroom. What’s up?”
It was quite noisy on Joshua’s end and his voice was muffled, “Master Hales is not feeling too well. Come pick him up from the Golden Springs Clubhouse.”
Nelissa frowned as she said, “I don’t have a car.”
Joshua chuckled instinctively as he said, “Just get on a cab and come over. I will cover the fare.”
Nelissa was hesitant. He should have contacted Andrew instead of her, yes?
She said, “It would be much faster if you hire a driver instead. It’ll take quite a while for me to reach there.”
Joshua left the private room and his voice became clearer, “Nelly, Master Hales is in a very bad mood tonight. There’s nothing else we could do. You need to come over right now, else none of us are going home tonight.”
Was it that serious?
Nelissa was starting to get nervous.
She finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. After all, Edward took care of her and Penelope when they passed out the night before. She was just returning the favor.
Nelissa returned to the living room. Jolene glanced at her and asked, “Are you heading out?”
Nelissa nodded. She turned to her children, “Mommy has to take care of some work, so Aunt Jolene will be keeping you both company. I need you two to behave. I’ll be home quite late, so don’t wait up for me.”
Noey jumped off the couch and raised her little hands. Nelissa picked her up and inched her cheek over for a kiss.
Noey pecked her cheek and said, “Take care now, Nelly.”
Nelissa’s heart was charmed by her incredibly adorable daughter. “Good girl.”
It was already past 11 p. m. when Nelissa arrived at the clubhouse.
The staff at the clubhouse treated her significantly better this time around. They greeted her respectfully as she strode through the lobby. She knew that those people were only polite to her because of Edward.
After all, she was a nobody in Haleston City.
In the VIP room.
The staff wore a pair of white gloves when he opened the door for her. He even reminded her, “Be careful, Miss. There are glass shards in the room. Please don’t hurt yourself.”
Nelissa furrowed her brows. Just what on earth happened here?
The door creaked open, the lights in the room looked slightly dim. Loud music was blaring from the clubhouse, but not a single human voice could be heard.
Nelissa lowered her gaze as she entered. She noticed that there were broken pieces of glass everywhere and the huge T. V screen in the room was cracked.
It seemed as though a fight had taken place here!
Edward was sitting on a couch, dressed in a black shirt and a pair of black jeans. His eyes were closed and he looked inscrutable.
No one knew whether he was asleep.
Nelissa noticed that not a single person dared to sit near him.
He was such an intimidating man.
Joshua immediately lit up when he saw Nelissa. He pulled her over and said, “Some idiotic woman offended him earlier. She touched him without his permission while he was asleep. He got really angry after that. He only calmed down when he heard that you were coming over.”
The lady must have been out of mind to touch Edward inappropriately without his consent. The managers of the clubhouse apologized to him profusely, but he was still furious.
He kicked the glass bottles off the table, and they all fell onto the lady, who was begging for her life…