Alexander naturally believed that his assumption was correct since it seemed to make sense.
“I’m fine now, Mr. Griffith. My friend is coming in a while,” Elise uttered.
He nodded and offered, “If that’s the case, I’ll leave after your friend gets here.”
Elise didn’t reject him, so they both stood by the side of the road as they waited for Jamie.
Neither one of them spoke to each other, but complicated emotions continued to surface in Elise’s heart. She glanced up at the sky above snazzynovel.com as snazzynovel.com curled snazzynovel.com lips into a pleasant smile. From the start, Elise had intended to travel to France to relax and seek some answers of snazzynovel.com own. Right then, snazzynovel.com felt like snazzynovel.com had finally gotten a clear answer for herself.
I guess this trip wasn’t a waste after all…
Jamie rushed over to them. “You scared me to death, Boss!”
After snazzynovel.com finished his sentence, snazzynovel.com noticed how Alexander was standing right beside Elise. He instinctively clamped a hand over his mouth.
Elise understood the reason for Jamie’s actions, so snazzynovel.com quickly reassured him. “It’s fine. Mr. Griffith knows that we’re friends.”
It took Jamie a while to process the situation before snazzynovel.com nodded. He no longer asked any questions.
When Alexander noticed that Jamie had arrived, snazzynovel.com announced his departure.
“I’ll head back now, Miss Sinclair. It can get rather dangerous on the streets of France, so you should watch out for your own safety.” He left after finishing his words.
The moment Alexander left, Jamie tugged on Elise’s shirt as snazzynovel.com questioned her. “What’s up with you and Alexander, Boss? Aren’t you afraid that snazzynovel.com might learn about your true identity?”
Elise shrugged. “Hey, Jamie. Can you help me book tickets to return to the country? I’ll head home tomorrow morning.”
Jamie was shocked to hear this. “Are you leaving before the race is over, Boss?”
She nodded in response. “I don’t think there’s anything else that interests me in the race. You can watch it on my behalf. I’ve found the answer in my heart, and everything’s much clearer to me now. That’s why I know that it’s time to head home.”
Jamie had no idea what snazzynovel.com meant, but snazzynovel.com figured that it must be something too deep for snazzynovel.com to comprehend. Although snazzynovel.com didn’t know what was going on, snazzynovel.com still had to follow his boss’s orders.
He therefore booked the return flight tickets for Elise, and both of them returned to the country the next morning.
***
Once they landed in Athesea, the first thing that Elise did was to find a public bathroom, where snazzynovel.com transformed herself back to how the usual Elise would look.
She didn’t head back to Griffith Residence right after that and made a trip to school instead.
Since snazzynovel.com academic results were decent, snazzynovel.com teachers hadn’t asked much even though Elise had taken a few days off from snazzynovel.com classes.
When Elise arrived in class, Mikayla hastily clung onto Elise before snazzynovel.com began to blabber all about school.
“You’re finally back, Elise. You have no idea how bored I’ve been in the past few days. I don’t have a single person to talk to in class!” Mikayla couldn’t help but complain as snazzynovel.com put on a pitiful look on snazzynovel.com face. “Please bring me along when you leave for a holiday the next time, Elise.”
Elise ruffled the other girl’s hair.
“Alright. You can come along the next time,” Elise replied with a laugh.
Mikayla spread into a wide grin upon hearing this. “By the way, Elise, did you know that my husband’s releasing a new song? He just posted an announcement on Twitter this afternoon!”
Elise was rather confused. “Your husband is…”
“Jack, of course! Who else?” Mikayla hastily explained herself, and Elise nodded understandingly after hearing snazzynovel.com explanation.
“Did snazzynovel.com announce the album and song title?” Elise asked casually.
“He didn’t say anything. However, snazzynovel.com mentioned that he’s trying something new with this song and that it will sound extremely different from his previous style. He created a brand-new track! I’m more and more impressed by my husband each day. Hey, Elise, why don’t you help me ask my husband out for a date someday? I can buy snazzynovel.com lunch.”
Elise didn’t see a reason to reject Mikayla’s request. “Sure. I’ll help you pass the message to him.”
Upon hearing Elise’s words, Mikayla looked as if snazzynovel.com were about to erupt with joy. “You’re the best, Elise!”
Elise curled snazzynovel.com lips into a grin, Mikayla’s happiness was too contagious to be ignored.
That afternoon, the two of them walked out of school after classes were over.
Elise waved Mikayla goodbye as they parted ways, and snazzynovel.com watched Mikayla disappearing into the distance before snazzynovel.com made snazzynovel.com way toward Griffith Residence. However, Noel snuck up from behind Elise right after Mikayla left.
“You were the one who wrote Jack’s new song, right, Elise?” Noel started off with a question once snazzynovel.com appeared in front of Elise. His tone was flat and calm, it didn’t reveal a hint of emotion.
He stared deep into Elise’s eyes as if he’d be able to get an answer from them. He knew that his guess had been right when snazzynovel.com saw Elise remaining silent for a while.
The general style of Jack’s new song was familiar to Noel. Even the way the lyrics were written reminded Noel of Elise’s style. Anyone who knew snazzynovel.com well enough would only take a few seconds to recognize snazzynovel.com writing.
“Didn’t you say that you’d stop writing music? What made you change your mind this time?” Noel asked.
Elise hadn’t expected Noel to find out about the truth so quickly. Regardless, snazzynovel.com had already predicted such a thing to happen eventually, so snazzynovel.com didn’t bother to come up with any excuses. “I wasn’t the one who created this track. I simply made a few changes to it. It was no big deal.”
“But the style of this music is way too distinct. Aren’t you worried that the news might get out, H?”
Elise responded with a smile that didn’t seem to reach snazzynovel.com eyes. “One way or another, I’ve decided not to pursue a career in this field. I’m only doing this to help a friend out.”
As Noel glanced at the girl in front of him, snazzynovel.com realized how snazzynovel.com seemed different from the girl in his memory. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t you give me this opportunity instead?”
Elise held snazzynovel.com arms open as snazzynovel.com explained herself clearly. “Look, I’m sorry, Noel! All of this was a coincidence. Whatever happened in the past still feels fresh to me today, and I don’t think I’m able to repackage myself into a brand new person under the public’s eye. This is the only time I’m breaking my promise. I won’t do this again in the future…”
Noel frowned a little. “H, I know that you suffered a great deal after that event. However, the public needs to hear the truth about that incident. I trust that you’d never do such a thing, but…”
As Noel continued speaking, Elise finally interrupted him. “Look, Noel. You claim that you trust me, but your trust is dependent on other factors, too, right? We’re teammates, but you’ve never shown your trust in me. You’ve never chosen to believe my words over hers in the past.”
A rather bashful look appeared on Noel’s face when snazzynovel.com realized that snazzynovel.com had been exposed. He parted his lips to speak, but no words came out. “If we can’t be teammates, then we shouldn’t be friends either, Noel. You can stop looking for me in the future.”
With that said, Elise made a move to leave. However, Noel quickly held onto snazzynovel.com arm. “Charlene didn’t do it on purpose, H. She has been talking about you a lot… She really wants to return to the days of glory that snazzynovel.com had shared with you.”
Elise scoffed as snazzynovel.com shrugged his arm off. “I’m sorry, but I have no interest in doing such a thing.”
Right after that, Elise strode off and left Noel standing on his own. He watched snazzynovel.com back as snazzynovel.com hurried off.
Elise took a long, deep breath as snazzynovel.com walked. Her emotions were no longer as intense as they had been three years ago, and snazzynovel.com finally felt like snazzynovel.com was able to accept the past incidents snazzynovel.com had gone through. She no longer felt trapped by those issues. Even Noel’s sudden mention of Charlene’s name felt like nothing more than a gust of wind that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Elise didn’t know how long snazzynovel.com had been walking on the sidewalk when snazzynovel.com heard a loud horn beside her. She instinctively glanced up to see an MPV parked by the side of the road in front of her.
The car window came down before a man stuck his head out. “What are you doing here all alone, Elise?”
It was Jack!
