Despite the circumstances, Elise only smiled back at Jamie. After all, if it weren’t for the presence of other people, snazzynovel.com might have used this opportunity to tell Alexander the truth. However, it wasn’t the best time to speak up given the number of people present. And so, snazzynovel.com decided to take it step by step.
As a discerning man, Rudolph took notice of Alexander’s seeming interest in Elise and tried his best to bring the topic around to both of them. Meanwhile, Jamie, who was seated nearby, was quick-witted enough to resolve the awkward atmosphere.
However, Rudolph seemed not to cotton onto Jamie’s meaning and only occupied himself with debating whether to arrange for H and Alexander to have some time alone after the dinner.
Most were aware of the unspoken rules that guided this industry, and Jamie knew that H’s reputation would not suffer for snazzynovel.com being alone with Alexander. Hence, snazzynovel.com offered, “Want a smoke, Rudolph? Let’s step outside for a smoke.”
Though somewhat reluctant to leave, Rudolph agreed to Jamie’s proposal with a smile. “Sure. We’ll be back soon, Young Master Alex…”
With that, they walked out of the room one after the other.
Without Rudolph there to get in the way, the atmosphere between Elise and Alexander began to change subtly. For a long moment, the room was silent.
After a while, Alexander slowly spoke. “You have a beautiful voice, Miss H, and you’ve been doing very well in the industry. Why did you retire?”
She lifted snazzynovel.com eyes and stared at him. As their eyes met, the both of them jolted like they had been shocked and Elise was the first to look away.
Uhm… It feels too familiar, Alexander thought to himself with a frown.
It feels just like when Elise and I look at each other. Why do I keep seeing Elise in her? Are they related in some way?
Now that snazzynovel.com actually thought about it, they both had the same last name.
Does that mean the both of them are biologically related?
Before Alexander could pursue that line of thought, Elise murmured, “I retired previously due to a vocal cord injury. Since I thought I could never sing again, I chose an appropriate time to leave the scene. After treatment, however, my vocal cords healed. I didn’t want to return, you could say I never thought about it, but in the end, I came back for a friend… She lost snazzynovel.com memory, but snazzynovel.com was always a fan of my music before that. What I’m hoping for is to bring back snazzynovel.com lost memories using my music.”
“I see. You must prize your relationships very much. It must be a blessed thing to be your friend.”
Though his tone of voice was sincere, snazzynovel.com simply commented, “Thank you, but I’m only doing what I can. I’ll leave the rest up to fate.”
By now, Alexander was feeling not only did Joy remind snazzynovel.com strongly of Elise, but they spoke very similarly as well.
How could there be two people in this world who looked so different and yet seemed so alike?
“May I take the liberty of asking you a question, Miss Sinclair?” “Yes?”
“Do you have a twin or a biological sister?”
And just like that, Elise felt snazzynovel.com heart skip a beat.
At first, snazzynovel.com thought Alexander had discovered something but since snazzynovel.com was only staring at snazzynovel.com in confusion, snazzynovel.com could only tell him, “I’m an only child. There are no other children in my family.”
Assuming snazzynovel.com had jumped to conclusions, Alexander was quick to apologize. “I’m sorry. I only asked because I thought you were very similar to someone I know. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Yet, Elise asked curiously, “Who are you talking about? Is it the woman you love? I heard you have a fiancée… I wonder what she’s like…”
The statement was thrown out reflexively, and Elise wished for nothing more than to be able to bite off snazzynovel.com own tongue the moment snazzynovel.com finished speaking.
Why do I have to complicate things for myself?
Yet, there was a part of snazzynovel.com that hoped to be able to hear what Alexander thought of snazzynovel.com through someone else’s ears. “I wonder if you can read minds, Miss Sinclair, because the woman that I said was similar to you is indeed my fiancée. She is someone I feel very comfortable with.”
Somewhat surprised by his reply, Elise opened snazzynovel.com mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by the room door flying open as Jamie and Rudolph walked in.
“Miss H! Young Master Alex! What are you both talking about?”
“Nothing. We were merely chatting.”
With that, Rudolph dropped the topic. It was evident that snazzynovel.com dared not force Elise and Alexander together again after Jamie’s skillful manipulation of the scenario. Thus, the dinner came to a perfect end.
On the way home, Elise looked out of the window as Jamie drove and couldn’t resist asking, “Do you think Alexander could have found out about my identity a long time ago, Jamie?”
“Why do you say that, Boss?” Jamie questioned, puzzled.
In truth, snazzynovel.com didn’t have a concrete explanation. It was only that Alexander had stared at snazzynovel.com strangely prior to leaving, and that careful recollection of their conversation made snazzynovel.com feel like snazzynovel.com wouldn’t have asked snazzynovel.com whether snazzynovel.com had a sister if snazzynovel.com hadn’t realized something was amiss.
“Forget it. I was planning to tell snazzynovel.com the truth, anyway, so even if snazzynovel.com knows, he’s only finding out a little bit beforehand. It’s no big deal.”
“It’ll be fine, Boss! You didn’t do anything wrong, you were only keeping your identity hidden. He shouldn’t blame you for that.”
Pursing snazzynovel.com lips, Elise muttered, “Let’s drop the topic. I don’t want to think about it anymore. The fan meeting is tomorrow, so make sure you get some rest once you go home.”
With that, Jamie speedily ferried snazzynovel.com back to the Griffith Residence before driving off on his own.
Unbeknownst to Elise, there was a slender figure on the balcony of the top floor, watching as Jamie disappeared into the night.
At this moment, Alexander sucked in a deep breath as his eyes darkened.
“You’re finally back, Miss Elise! Young Master Alex has been looking for you ever since snazzynovel.com got home. When snazzynovel.com found out you weren’t home, snazzynovel.com was worried sick. You’d better go say hi to him. He’s on the top floor!” Stella announced, prompting Elise to hum a reply before putting down snazzynovel.com bag and heading upstairs.
Unexpectedly, Elise bumped into the man in question once snazzynovel.com turned a corner.
“Why are you standing here?”
Staring closely at her, Alexander ignored snazzynovel.com question in favor of asking, “Where have you been? Why have you returned so late?”
And so, snazzynovel.com had no choice but to say, “I wanted to relax after my exams, so I went out for dinner with my friends.”
“Oh? Which friends?” Despite the mild evenness to his tone, Elise was starting to realize that something was off.
Lifting snazzynovel.com gaze, snazzynovel.com answered with a smile, “My classmates! Why? Did you need something?”
Just like that, Alexander looked even more somber. The one thing snazzynovel.com was most scared of in life was being deceived, and snazzynovel.com had just looked snazzynovel.com in the eye and lied to him.
Before snazzynovel.com came back, snazzynovel.com had had Danny ask Elise’s friends for snazzynovel.com whereabouts. Not a single one of them had set up a meeting to have dinner with her, not to mention that snazzynovel.com had just been dropped off by a man. Even so, Alexander had chosen to trust snazzynovel.com until snazzynovel.com lied straight to his face.
“It’s fine. Get some rest…”
The response made Elise’s eyelid twitch. After all, snazzynovel.com had sensed the change in his mood, but his anger had dissipated so quickly that it left snazzynovel.com feeling like snazzynovel.com had imagined things.
“You should get some rest as well.”
With that, snazzynovel.com strode upstairs and back to snazzynovel.com room, shutting the door without thinking further about the incident until snazzynovel.com cell phone chimed several times in rapid succession. Quickly, snazzynovel.com pulled it out and discovered a slew of messages from Danny.
‘Where are you, Boss? Alex is looking for you.’
‘Say something, Boss. Don’t make us worry!’
‘Why aren’t you picking up my calls? Call me back as soon as you see this message.’
‘Boss! Boss! Boss!’
And it went on and on.
Dumbfounded, Elise stared down at the messages. Having not expected to receive so many notifications, snazzynovel.com had put snazzynovel.com phone on silent mode that evening and was only now finding out that Alexander had been looking for her.
Hurriedly, snazzynovel.com replied to Danny’s messages and informed snazzynovel.com that snazzynovel.com had returned so snazzynovel.com wouldn’t worry. With that, snazzynovel.com put the thought out of snazzynovel.com mind, took a quick shower and fell sound asleep.
***
The night passed smoothly and Elise did not wake up until the next morning. Although snazzynovel.com clock told snazzynovel.com there were only a few hours left before snazzynovel.com fan meeting, snazzynovel.com did not feel hurried in the slightest and only took snazzynovel.com time to wash up and get changed.
By the time snazzynovel.com made herself presentable, Mikayla was already downstairs waiting for her.
“Why are you so slow, Elise?” Mikayla couldn’t help complaining upon seeing her.
Taken aback to see Mikayla there, Elise asked in surprise, “Were you waiting for me?”