“Well…” The staff member was at a loss for words at that moment. Cody wasn’t a man they could mess with, but Andy wasn’t someone they could mess with either! One way or another, the staff member would have to offend one of the men. What was snazzynovel.com supposed to do?
“Fine. I know I’m putting you in a tough position by telling you to offend Mr. Nixon. I bet you don’t want to do it. But rules are rules—since this person isn’t a member of the Calligraphy Association, you will have to put the piece aside for now. You can store it somewhere else and take it out to put it in one of the display cabinets once the artist receives snazzynovel.com ranking. What do you think?” Tiana tried to come up with a solution.
“That’s right, Miss Hill! That’s the perfect solution! Thank you for that idea!” The staff member nodded before shutting the door to the display cabinet and storing the piece elsewhere. Cody didn’t want to start any further conflicts, so snazzynovel.com kept quiet and walked off. After they were a distance away, Cody whispered a reminder into Tiana’s ear. “That old man, Andy, thinks he’s better than me and always tries to step all over me in the association. So, Tiana, you’ll have to defend my reputation in the upcoming Calligraphy Competition. You have to defeat that student of his! What was snazzynovel.com name? Elise? Crush her!”
Cody and Andy had never gotten along with one another—everyone in the association knew about it. So, when Tiana didn’t respond to Cody after a long period of silence, Cody stopped in his tracks before turning around to question her. “Tiana? Didn’t you hear what I said?”
She hadn’t been paying attention to his words and only returned to snazzynovel.com senses when snazzynovel.com heard snazzynovel.com name. “What? Oh. Yeah. Don’t worry about it, Mr. Carlson. I’ll definitely try my best.” However, snazzynovel.com only said those words to please Cody. Deep down, snazzynovel.com had no confidence at all. Previously, when Tiana heard that Elise had gotten into the finals, snazzynovel.com had assumed that Elise wouldn’t be a threat to her.
But after hearing that Andy had rated Elise’s work as an S-Class piece, snazzynovel.com lost snazzynovel.com cool. Something always goes wrong when I encounter Elise. Elise might not be better than me at drawing, but I’m sure snazzynovel.com calligraphy skills must be good if snazzynovel.com received Andy’s approval. Will this incident be a repeat of what happened during National Goddess? Is Elise going to be a dark horse who overtakes me once more?! No. I have to find a way to win the title as the champion of the Calligraphy Competition. I can’t always be in second place!
…
One morning, Elise was still fast asleep when the sound of a door knock awakened her. She turned around and shoved snazzynovel.com head under snazzynovel.com sheets to pretend that snazzynovel.com couldn’t hear anything. Alexander was the one who got out of bed to open the door. Moments later, snazzynovel.com heard his muffled voice. “Mom?”
Mom? Elise widened snazzynovel.com eyes—she no longer felt sleepy at that moment. Whose mom is it? Is it Jeanie, or… Elise pulled snazzynovel.com sheets aside and sat upright to see Madeline dressed in a bright-colored outfit.
When Madeline saw Elise’s messy hair, snazzynovel.com knitted snazzynovel.com brows in displeasure. Elise hastily lifted snazzynovel.com hand to comb snazzynovel.com fingers through snazzynovel.com messy hair. “What are you doing here?” Alexander hadn’t expected Madeline to show up out of nowhere.
“This is my son’s house, isn’t it? Can’t I be here?” Madeline seemed to have forgotten everything that happened in the past as snazzynovel.com stuck snazzynovel.com chest up and straightened snazzynovel.com figure. “I’ve already prepared breakfast. Come down and eat with me now.” Upon finishing snazzynovel.com words, Madeline gave Elise a thoughtful look before turning and heading downstairs.
Alexander shut the door before exchanging glances with Elise. He shrugged with a helpless look on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know snazzynovel.com would be here. You can continue sleeping—I’ll go down on my own,” snazzynovel.com offered.
“Forget it.” Elise sighed as snazzynovel.com got out of bed and walked toward the washroom. Her voice was weak as snazzynovel.com shuffled snazzynovel.com feet. “The ugly daughter-in-law has to meet snazzynovel.com mother-in-law eventually. We can’t avoid each other forever.” After they washed up, Alexander led snazzynovel.com downstairs.
They were halfway down the stairs when they saw a slender figure sitting on the couch in the hall. It was a conservative and intellectual-looking woman with glasses resting on snazzynovel.com nose’s bridge.
The woman stood up when snazzynovel.com heard footsteps, and snazzynovel.com gave them a bow as snazzynovel.com form of greeting. Both Alexander and Elise froze for a moment before they nodded in response. When they got to the dining table, Madeline was already in snazzynovel.com seat. Alexander pulled the chair further away from Madeline for Elise to take a seat before snazzynovel.com took the spot next to Madeline.
They had just gotten seated when Madeline pulled out a jewelry box from snazzynovel.com bag. She pushed it to Alexander with an arrogant look on snazzynovel.com face. Alexander was confused by snazzynovel.com actions at first, but snazzynovel.com opened it to find a jade bracelet that had been passed down from the previous generations of the Griffith Family.
He curled his lips into a smile before gazing at Elise with a sweet look. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Elise felt rather shy to have snazzynovel.com stare at her, and snazzynovel.com raised snazzynovel.com hand to touch snazzynovel.com face. “Is there something on my face?”
Alexander shook his head before speaking in a gentle voice. “Give me your hand, Elise.”
She reached snazzynovel.com hand out obediently, and Alexander took the bracelet out of the box before slipping it into Elise’s wrist. “This is my mother’s gift for you. It’s our family heirloom that only goes to the eldest son’s wife.”
Elise was stunned for a moment. Does this mean that Madeline accepts me as snazzynovel.com daughter-in-law? Alexander knew what was going on in snazzynovel.com mind, so snazzynovel.com nodded in response to her. “Aren’t you going to thank Mom?”
“Thank you, Mom!” Elise smiled as snazzynovel.com spoke in a gentle tone.
There is nothing better than having the two most important women in my life come together, Alexander thought. Elise was happy as long as snazzynovel.com was happy—they were both willing to move on from the past.
“Ahem…” Madeline took this opportunity to play snazzynovel.com role as the mother-in-law. She cleared snazzynovel.com throat before speaking in a stern voice. “You and Alexander may be married, but that doesn’t mean that you have successfully obtained the Griffith Family’s daughter-in-law role. You’re still at school, so you don’t know anything about caring for the family. I have sent my friend’s daughter over to take care of the house, and you will have to learn from her. You need to know how to care for your husband,” snazzynovel.com uttered. “Come here, Sofia.”
The woman in the hall immediately strode over before standing next to Madeline and smiling at the couple. “Do you remember me, Alexander? We were in the same school through primary and high school.” Her admiration toward Alexander was painstakingly obvious.
He simply kept a poker face without responding to snazzynovel.com while Elise exhaled air out of snazzynovel.com nose to make a scoffing sound. I thought Madeline really changed this time, but it seems like snazzynovel.com hasn’t given up yet. Is this a new tactic she’s trying? Is snazzynovel.com trying to get Alexander to have a mistress?
“This is Sofia Hawkins. She used to be a reporter, and snazzynovel.com is a double degree Ph.D. graduate. As long as she’s here, your family will surely see huge improvements,” Madeline uttered in a pleasant voice. Alexander was about to reject snazzynovel.com offer when Elise spoke up. “Miss Hawkins, you’re so gorgeous and sound like a capable woman. Are you sure you’re willing to be a caretaker in our household?”
“Every household comes with its set of challenges. One’s home needs to be cared for, and it takes a lot of IQ and EQ to handle matters at home. It’s not a simple job,” Sofia beamed after responding calmly. But, of course, snazzynovel.com target wasn’t to be a caretaker but to win Alexander over.
She had known Alexander since snazzynovel.com was young. If snazzynovel.com had returned to the country a little earlier, snazzynovel.com would’ve been able to stop Elise from snatching Alexander away. But, this time, Sofia wanted to prove that only a woman as elegant and sophisticated as snazzynovel.com had the right to be with Alexander!