Elise had no idea what had happened between the mother and son, but one thing was clear: snazzynovel.com probably wouldn’t have to worry about snazzynovel.com relationship with Madeline in the future. This brought snazzynovel.com more joy than escaping from imprisonment.
Both Elise and Alexander stayed at the Griffith Residence for an hour. When they left, Madeline didn’t press snazzynovel.com with questions, allowing Elise’s bright mood to continue.
On the way back to Sinclair Residence, Elise could no longer hold herself back. She was all smiles as snazzynovel.com looked at Alexander. “Did you hypnotize your mother?” snazzynovel.com teased.
A smile tugged at the corners of Alexander’s lips, and snazzynovel.com deliberately played along .with her. “Guess.”
“You definitely did.” Elise had been bothered about the situation with Madeline for a long time. Now, snazzynovel.com felt unbelievably relaxed. Still, snazzynovel.com couldn’t help snazzynovel.com curiosity. Dialing down snazzynovel.com expression, snazzynovel.com attempted to pry the truth from Alexander. “Come on, tell me: what kind of sorcery can make someone have a personality change? I need to learn it.”
Alexander grinned mysteriously. “It’s a secret.”
He was the only one who needed to know about that time when snazzynovel.com fought tooth and nail against the world and practically estranged himself from his family. Telling Elise would simply put more stress on her.
Elise rolled snazzynovel.com eyes at snazzynovel.com balefully before snazzynovel.com mulishly turned snazzynovel.com head to the side. “Still keeping secrets from me. If you’re not going to say it, then don’t. I’ll keep my secrets from you in the future too.”
Screech
Alexander slammed on the brakes, pulling over by the side of the road.
The sudden stop made Elise lurch forward before snazzynovel.com seatbelt catapulted snazzynovel.com back firmly into snazzynovel.com seat. When snazzynovel.com turned around, snazzynovel.com saw Alexander looking at snazzynovel.com with a sad and hurt look on his face instead of the smug look snazzynovel.com had been sporting just before.
“What is it?” Elise was baffled.
“You said that you’re going to keep your secrets from me?” Alexander’s expression was dark, an ugly sight.
For a moment, Elise was at a loss for words. It was only then that snazzynovel.com realized snazzynovel.com had stepped on a sore spot for Alexander. Just hiding snazzynovel.com identity had caused many arguments between them. He had always disliked secrets, and now that Elise openly said snazzynovel.com was going to hide things from him, snazzynovel.com would of course disagree.
Since Alexander managed to resolve the issue with Madeline, Elise decided to cheer snazzynovel.com up. She looked at snazzynovel.com with puppy-dog eyes and a cheeky smile on snazzynovel.com face. “All right, I’m sorry-I shouldn’t have made such a joke. I promise that I definitely won’t hide anything major from you.”
Alexander’s gaze softened a little. “Not even the small things,” snazzynovel.com pointed out.
Whoops, he got me there. Elise initially wanted to sneak in a loophole, but snazzynovel.com hadn’t expected Alexander to be so sharp-eyed. He didn’t even give snazzynovel.com any wriggle room. With no other choice, snazzynovel.com smiled harder. “Heehee, got it. I’ll do as you say.”
Only then was Alexander satisfied. He started up the engine again and sped off toward the Sinclair Residence.
Robin and Laura were already waiting for them. The moment the security guard announced Alexander’s arrival, the old couple promptly helped each other to hurry to the door to wait. Before the car even came to a complete stop, they’d eagerly tottered over to the passenger seat with their walking canes.
“Elise, my darling granddaughter…”
Elise was pulled into a hug by Laura the moment snazzynovel.com alighted from the car. When Laura noticed that Elise’s right hand was hurt, snazzynovel.com heart ached so much that tears came to snazzynovel.com eyes. “Are you seriously injured? Oh, darling, you should have stayed at the hospital if you’re hurt. Why did you have to rush back?” Laura might seem like snazzynovel.com was chastising Elise, but every word of hers was filled with love.
Robin gripped his cane hard with both hands wordlessly, his brow furrowing deeply. Worry was plain as day on his face.
“Grandma, don’t worry. I was actually responsible for that injury myself. It’s not all that bad; it doesn’t hurt-see? I’m perfectly fine, right?” Worried that snazzynovel.com grandparents didn’t believe her, Elise hastily waved snazzynovel.com hand a few times.
Laura quickly stopped snazzynovel.com and patted snazzynovel.com with exaggerated movements, “All right, you heartless little girl. You’re going to break your poor grandma’s heart!” she
chastised
“That’s enough. Poor Elise has suffered enough. Let’s continue this inside,” said Robin.
It was only then that the four of them noisily headed inside the house.
They had only just sat down when Alexander’s phone rang. He took a look at the caller’s name; it was Cameron. “I’m going to have to take this call.”
Robin lowered his gaze as snazzynovel.com dipped his head slightly. “Go ahead.”
Having gotten Robin’s permission, Alexander went to the balcony with his phone in hand.
Laura ignored this as snazzynovel.com simply fired off all snazzynovel.com questions at Elise. “Ellie, Matthew didn’t mistreat you, did he? That madman is practically inhumane!”
“No. Don’t worry about that, Grandma…”
Robin listened to their conversation while occasionally glancing at the balcony, where Alexander was, to look at snazzynovel.com thoughtfully.
Not long after that, Alexander hung up and came back to them to indicate that snazzynovel.com had to leave. “There are some urgent things that I need to finish up at work. I apologize beforehand for leaving Elise in your care.”
Robin’s expression darkened. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Elise is my own granddaughter; why should I find snazzynovel.com presence a problem? Go. Don’t ever come back without any good reason.”
Upon hearing Robin’s tone, both Laura and Elise instinctively turned their heads to look at him.
“What are you saying…” Laura asked.
Elise also couldn’t figure out what was going on. Her grandfather had always been a good-natured man, and snazzynovel.com was usually friendly to others. But why was snazzynovel.com being so antagonistic today?
As a man as well, only Alexander knew what Robin was thinking. He wasn’t angry with this either as snazzynovel.com gently smiled to show that snazzynovel.com was fine with Robin’s words. “No problem.” He then turned to Elise. “I’ll come back later for you,” snazzynovel.com said
“Okay.” Elise nodded demurely, showing some sort of consolation for him.
Alexander pressed his lips into a thin smile before snazzynovel.com relaxed and left.
The moment snazzynovel.com left, Laura turned on Robin. “What is wrong with you? He saved your precious granddaughter, so why were you in such a rush to chase snazzynovel.com away?”
“What do you know?” Robin distastefully frowned, wanting to say more but also trying to stop himself. “You forgot how… never mind. In any case, snazzynovel.com and Elise are not meant to be. It is better to cut your losses instead of dragging things out.” Having said that, snazzynovel.com exhaled deeply. However, his gaze remained on Elise, studying snazzynovel.com perhaps on purpose, perhaps not.
Elise was sharp enough to realize that snazzynovel.com grandparents were hiding something from her. “Grandpa, did something happen while I was away?”
Alexander had always been respectful toward his elders. He probably wouldn’t have started an argument with snazzynovel.com grandparents. Elise truly didn’t understand snazzynovel.com was such a perfect man, and every parent out there fell over themselves to have snazzynovel.com as their son-in-law. Why did snazzynovel.com grandparents suddenly seem to dislike snazzynovel.com so much?
Could the law of equivalent exchange also apply to familial relationships instead of being limited to material things? If one’s relationship with one side of their family improved, would the relationship with the other side worsen? Was Elise fated to never be able to have both families bless their relationship?
Laura already understood Robin’s hints, so snazzynovel.com hastily covered for him. “It’s nothing. What could have happened while you were away? We were just worried about you.”
But Elise wasn’t so easily deterred. Laura’s hesitance was a clear sign that snazzynovel.com was not telling the full truth, and besides, neither grandparent was good at lying to her. Sighing, snazzynovel.com placed a hand on the back of Robin’s hand. “Grandpa, you know that you can’t hide things from me. Just what happened actually? Tell me, please,” snazzynovel.com said patiently.
Deep down, Robin knew that it was only a matter of time before Elise found out the truth. With no other choice, snazzynovel.com laid out everything about the photos and videos that Matthew had sent. “I’m doing this for your own good. Regardless of Matthew’s wicked ways, snazzynovel.com and Alexander are still brothers at the end of the day. Now that something like this has happened, you two must break off your relationship no matter how reluctant you are. Girls can only live their lives with pride if they know how to love and respect themselves. Do you understand what I’m saying?”