Filed to story: Love’s Perfect Match Novel Read Online (Elspeth & Callum)
“Is love that important?” Arthur’s words sounded ridiculous in Elspeth’s ears. She retorted, “It is indeed important! Why would you even be with someone if you do not love her? Arthur, what else do you consider more important than your relationships?”
He was taken aback at her surprising remark. “There are of course more important priorities! You can’t only live for relationships alone.”
In his life philosophy, relationships were the most useless of all. He was so practical and detached that he appeared to be devoid of emotions.
“That’s enough. I hope you will stop asking me to date you before you figure out the definition of love.” She flashed a smile at him and finally clutched her luggage, ready to leave.
Elspeth was immediately stopped by the butler once she marched out of the doors of the Winthrop Family. “Miss Lynwood, you can’t do this! How should I explain it to Mr. Winthrop if you leave?” Mr. Graham stared at her with a troubled expression.
“I’m moving out of the Winthrop Residence, not severing ties with the family. Mr. Graham, take it easy.” She almost chuckled at his efforts at blocking her.
Callum ran into Elspeth and Mr. Graham at the entrance upon his return. He looked slightly uneasy at the sight of Elspeth’s departure but pretended to look unconcerned. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business.” Elspeth fired back and rolled her eyes. The fact that Ophelia tagged along with Callum only strengthened Elspeth’s resolve to leave.
Ophelia appeared dumbstruck. “Elspeth, why are you moving out of the Winthrop Residence?”
Despite the tone of her question, she was secretly overjoyed at Elspeth’s exit. Great! Elspeth has finally given up and wanted out! That girl is no match for me!
“You don’t have to worry about that. Isn’t this good news for you?” Elspeth smirked at Ophelia’s pretense. The latter instantly felt unfairly accused. “Elspeth, you misunderstood me. I didn’t mean it that way. I—”
Callum finally spoke up. “That’s enough. Stop bullying Ophelia.”
“You think I’m bothered to do so?” Elspeth felt a gut-wrenching pain and desperately wanted to leave the scene. “I shall not keep you from enjoying your time together. Time for me to leave. I don’t want to be your third wheel.”
As all her actions would be misinterpreted as bullying Ophelia, she would rather remove herself from the situation sooner.
“Elspeth, please do not overthink! There’s nothing between him and me. I’m just back here to meet Mrs. Winthrop, and Callum came with me since he was heading here too. It’s not what you thought!”
She answered coolly, “I did not overthink. Whatever you do, that’s your business.”
On the other hand, Callum felt a chill at her firm decision to leave. “What now? Are you going to move to Jordan’s?”
That instantly led to Elspeth’s outburst. Fuming, she bellowed, “Callum, stop that nonsense! There’s nothing between me and Jordan!”
“Oh? Elspeth, you have a crush? All this while, I thought you were crushing on Callum. It seems like it’s all in my own head,” Ophelia chirped with a smile.
Elspeth could not stand the loaded conversations with the pair anymore. “I’m leaving.”
Just as she dragged her luggage to the door, she was interrupted by a scream from upstairs. “Madam! What happened?”
Elspeth, Callum, and Ophelia put aside their heated exchanges and rushed up to Mrs. Winthrop’s room upon hearing the scream. They were shocked by the scene that greeted them in Margot’s bedroom.
Margot was lying on the floor with her eyes tightly shut, looking like she had fainted from stress.
The nanny by her side explained anxiously, “She was just putting on a facial mask after jogging! And then she fainted! I have no idea what happened to her!”
Elspeth bent over to check Margot’s breathing and confirmed, “Her breathing is shallow.”
The nanny’s jaw dropped, and she muttered in horror, “What? Her breathing is… shallow?”
Elspeth ignored the nanny’s emotional response and asked, “Have you called 911?”
“Yes, I did, but our place is too far out. It’d take the ambulance an hour to reach here! What if something bad happens to Madam because of it?”
There was a ruthless gleam in Callum’s eyes. “Is this how you take care of Madam?”
The nanny trembled from head to toe and only stared at her feet in silence.
Elspeth narrowed her eyes and asked, “Does Mrs. Winthrop suffer from any illnesses?”
Ophelia interjected, “She has congenital heart disease, but she has been given a clean bill of health recently. She even chatted with me about it yesterday and told me that she has not taken her medicine for a while! I can’t believe she suddenly fainted!”
After closer inspection, Elspeth concluded that Margot must have had a sudden heart attack from excessive exercise. With that in mind, she ran out and brought back a set of needles from her bag.
When she rushed into the room with the needles, Ophelia immediately looked petrified. “No, Elspeth! You can’t insert needles as you like! What if something went wrong? You couldn’t shoulder that responsibility, could you?”
Elspeth shot her a glance. “I will take responsibility if anything goes wrong.”
“But…” Ophelia stammered and was at a loss for words. She knew that Elspeth had knowledge of acupuncture, but part of her wanted to see how Elspeth would be in trouble if things went awry!
She might appear worried, but she was ready to put all the blame on Elspeth later.
“I said she’ll be fine.”
Elspeth wanted to insert the needle, but the nanny clenched her jaw and advised her against it, “I have called the family doctor, though. He’ll be here in a few minutes. Miss Lynwood, why don’t you—”
Elspeth gave her an icy side-eye. “Mrs. Winthrop has lost consciousness for five minutes and needs immediate first aid. If anything happens to her because of delayed treatment, would you shoulder the blame?”
Trembling under Elspeth’s stern look, the nanny finally nodded and shut up.
Callum did not say a word because he knew Elspeth had exceptional skills. He waited quietly for her next move with an unexplainable trust in her.
Firstly, Elspeth applied the basic chest compressions for Mrs. Winthrop. When Mrs. Winthrop started breathing normally, Elspeth took out a few needles and inserted them into various meridian points with accuracy. It did not take long for Mrs. Winthrop to start grunting.
The nanny exclaimed, “She’s awake! Madam is awake!”
Elspeth stored her needles away and explained calmly, “No, she isn’t. That’s just a reaction to stimulation. She needs to be sent to the hospital. Anyway, she’ll be fine while we wait for the ambulance.”
The nanny nodded furiously. “Yes, yes, I informed Mr. Winthrop and the other children as well. They will arrive in a while.”
Right then, they heard a commotion at the door.