Filed to story: Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel >>
Suddenly, Harriet mentioned, “I need to go to the washroom.”
“Old Madam Presgrave, I’ll go with you!” Anastasia quickly placed down her cutlery and got up to escort Harriet from her seat. Meanwhile, Harriet happily walked with Anastasia to the washroom.
As soon as the door swung shut after them, Nigel turned to Elliot with a sharp look in his eyes. “Elliot, are you pursuing Anastasia?”
Upon hearing that, Elliot answered the question without flinching. “Yes.”
“Are you just trying to repay her kind act, or are you truly fond of her?” Nigel interrogated Elliot bluntly.
“Both of the reasons are valid to me.” Elliot voiced out in a low voice. In all honesty, he was indeed quite reluctant to go after the same girl as his cousin.
“I went after Anastasia first, so you shouldn’t fight me for her affections.” Nigel said
that while clenching his fist tightly.
“Precedence doesn’t mean anything in this. The deserving person of her affections should be whoever that’s more capable. Or perhaps, to be more accurate, she’s the one who gets to have a say.”
“In that case, let’s compete equally for her affections and see which one of us manages to win her heart. If you succeed, then I’ll acknowledge her as my sister-in law, and vice versa if I win. What do you say?” Nigel bluntly announced that they should compete equally with each other. As such, if he failed in his bid and the other party was Elliot, then he would admit his defeat graciously.
After all, Nigel knew that he was not as capable as his cousin, but he refused to give up without a fight and he wanted to try and make a bid at it.
“Alright. Let’s compete equally, then!” Elliot agreed to this solution as this was the best way that wouldn’t affect their kinship.
Shortly after that, Harriet and Anastasia came back from the washroom, and the two men immediately acted as if nothing had happened. They continued to enjoy their meal and sip from their teacups, and the confrontational vibe from earlier dissipated without a trace.
“Anastasia, I would like to propose a toast with this cup of tea in place of champagne.” Harriet held a teacup in her hand and walked toward Anastasia.
Extremely flattered, Anastasia quickly got up to toast Harriet. “Here’s a toast to you too!”
“Next time, bring Jared over to our house to have some fun. I would very much like to meet him,” Harriet announced.
“Sure, I’ll bring him over to pay you a visit once we’re free.” Anastasia agreed without any hesitation.
Just then, Anastasia was engrossed in enjoying her meal when she suddenly sensed someone serving something to her plate. She assumed that it was Nigel but it seemed to be coming from another direction, so she looked up and found out that it was Elliot looking at her. It turned out that he was the one who had served her some food.
Instantly, she anxiously glanced at him and shot him a warning look. She didn’t want to appear too intimate with him around Harriet.
Meanwhile, Nigel saw everything and he couldn’t contain the desolateness that arose within him. He felt as if he was one step behind in everything. He couldn’t help wishing that he had taken over the Bourgeois Jewelry Atelier so that Anastasia could work for him and subsequently, he would be able to court her every day during working hours. However, she was now Elliot’s subordinate and he had the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
At that point, Nigel was quite downcast so he found the meal quite bland and tasteless. It felt as if every bite turned to sawdust.
Finally, the meal ended and Elliot took a look at the time before mentioning to Harriet, “Grandma, I’ll head back to the office now.”
“What? Are you leaving so soon?” Harriet was quite surprised to hear that.
“Yes. I’ll send Miss Tillman back too, since we’re heading in the same direction.” As soon as Elliot finished saying that, he turned to Anastasia, who was still in her seat. “Let’s go,” he urged.
Meanwhile, Anastasia was momentarily stunned before she quickly grabbed her bag and bade Harriet farewell. “Old Madam Presgrave, I’ll see you next time.”
With that, Anastasia turned to Elliot and casually commented, “Thanks for the kind offer, President Presgrave.”
However, Nigel hurriedly got up from his seat and offered, “Anastasia, I can give you a ride.”
At that point, Anastasia quickly turned around. “Nigel, do stay on and finish the meal with your grandmother. I’ll catch a ride with President Presgrave as we’re heading in the same direction anyway.”
After that, Nigel could only watch helplessly as the two of them left together, and he couldn’t contain the desolateness that rose up within him. Is Anastasia interested in Elliot?
Upon entering the elevator, Anastasia keenly sensed that the man next to her was in a horrible mood. Elliot had a dark expression on his face and it was as if he had suffered a huge loss in his business. Instantly, she became quite reluctant to catch a ride with him so as soon as the doors to the elevator slid open with a ping’, she turned to him and immediately said, “President Presgrave, thanks for your offer but I’ll just catch a cab.”
“Why?” Elliot shot her a look.
Why?! It’s because you’re obviously in a bad mood so I’d better avoid courting trouble!
“It’s not a big deal. I just want to catch a cab;” Anastasia lifted her head and replied before quickly walking off in the direction of the street. Suddenly, a large palm reached out and possessively grabbed hold of her wrist before dragging her to the direction of a car. Elliot pulled open the door to the front passenger seat and gestured for her to get into his car.
Meanwhile, Anastasia frowned. This guy is too domineering! Can’t I go back by myself without catching a ride with him?!
In the end, Anastasia ended up getting into the car and Elliot entered the driver’s seat too. Subsequently, the black car drove off and merged slowly into the traffic.
Anastasia was quite perplexed as to why Elliot suddenly lost his temper but despite racking her brain for the reason, she couldn’t quite figure it out. He was an unfathomable individual and his emotions were quite unpredictable most of the time.
All of a sudden, Elliot’s low, interrogating voice rang out. “You mentioned earlier that you intend to remain single for the rest of your life. Are you serious about that?”
At that point, Anastasia was stunned and she turned her head to stare at his handsome side profile. Similarly, he turned his head too and shot a look at her.
“Of course I’m being serious! I have no intention of getting married anyway.” Anastasia wasn’t accustomed to telling lies and she was quite happy and content with the life she had with her son right now, so she found it pointless to add trouble to her peaceful life.
Getting married didn’t necessarily guarantee a blessed life and likewise, remaining single didn’t mean that one’s life would definitely be an unhappy one.
“If Jared also likes the guy who pursues you, then would you still maintain your stance of not getting married?” Elliot continued to direct questions at her. Coincidentally, their car came to a stop in front of the traffic light, so he kept his piercing eyes on her.
Instantly, Anastasia realized that the person Elliot was referring to was himself.
She gulped and turned her head in the other direction to look out of the window. At the same time, she shook her head firmly. “I don’t plan to get married. I plan to raise Jared by myself.”
Suddenly, Elliot felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his heart upon hearing her words. She knows that I’m referring to myself and yet, she still insists on giving such a ruthless reply.
“Anastasia, could you consider things from another person’s point of view? Don’t keep hiding in your own world and avoid another’s feelings.” Elliot spoke through gritted teeth as he directed his deep eyes at her. He seemed to be extremely angry at the moment.
Meanwhile, Anastasia turned her head to look at him. His current expression was exceptionally forbidding and his gaze was full of frustration.
“Elliot, you don’t even know what I’ve been through and you don’t know me at all, so don’t you dare jump to conclusions about me!” Anastasia was also slightly angered at that point and after finishing her sentence, she remained quite annoyed so she continued on her tirade, “I told you this before. I don’t need you to repay me for anything, so could you please suppress your feelings for me? Nothing will come out of this relationship. Stop the car. I want to get out of the car.”
Meanwhile, Elliot, who was holding onto the steering wheel, evidently tightened his
Tip. There had never been any woman who could easily trigger his anger with just a few mere sentences.
However, he didn’t pull over. He continued to keep his eyes on the road and his anger suddenly dissipated as he calmly responded, “I’ll send you back to the office.”