Chapter 181: Chapter 371-380

As soon as Grace left, Anastasia looked at Elliot as the man stood in front of her. Even though she tried hard to control her expression, she couldn’t contain the bitterness that spread in her heart.

Suddenly, Elliot let out a cough, which caused Rey to remind him, “President Presgrave, you forgot to take your medicine this morning.”

Anastasia’s gaze immediately locked on Elliot. For some reason, after two days of not seeing him, she felt that he had lost weight and his face had paled. Did he catch a cold?

He shook his head. When he looked at her, she quickly turned away, not wanting him to think that she was worried.

“I’m here to make a statement too,” uttered Elliot in a low voice.

“Okay. Go ahead!” After saying that, Anastasia turned around and wanted to leave.

Rey quickly took the opportunity to offer, “Miss Tillman, let me send you off.”

As she walked toward her car, he followed suit and said, “Please be gentle with President Presgrave.

He’s sick.”

“Anyone can fall sick. Isn’t that normal?” Anastasia turned to him.

“No, President Presgrave is suffering from a severe cold and a heart problem this time. Ever since he returned from saving you that day, he hasn’t slept for two days. He started coughing last night and he doesn’t look well either. After a check-up, they discovered a problem with his cardiac regulation,”

explained Rey.

As she tightened her grip on the door handle, she uttered, “Tell him to take his medication on time!”

“Sure. Drive safely, Miss Tillman.” Rey had mentioned everything that he had to say.

Once Anastasia left the police station, she drove to her father’s company. Throughout the drive, all she could think of was Elliot’s pale face. He’s an adult! How can he forget to take his medication? Even my son can remember such an easy task.

When Anastasia arrived at Tillman Constructions, she entered her father’s office. There were a few key personnel in a meeting with him as he instructed her to take a seat and sit in for the meeting.

She tried her best to understand their conversation. However, she wasn’t familiar with the construction industry at all, so she had a hard time comprehending the minutes of their meeting.

At lunchtime, Alex came. The moment he saw Anastasia, he couldn’t help but feel butterflies in his stomach like he usually did.

Knowing that Anastasia and Elliot would never end up together, Francis eagerly attempted to matchmake Alex with his daughter again.

Alex was a sensitive person, so he was ecstatic when he heard from Francis that he had a chance to woo her again!

Though he didn’t know why Anastasia had broken up with Elliot, it was still an ending that he anticipated!

“Anastasia, I’ll let Alex accompany you in the afternoon while I meet some friends,” said Francis to Anastasia.

She nodded in response. After experiencing the event that followed after picking up her son last time, Alex intentionally brought her for a tour of one of the departments. As expected, when Anastasia realized it was time to pick her son up from school, they didn’t have time to finish the tour.

“I should leave to pick Jared up now. Can you send me to his school, Alex?”

“Of course!” exclaimed Alex.

Then, he drove her to pick her son up where he silently observed her on the way there. He noticed how she looked gloomy throughout the car ride. It was obvious that she was having a rough time in her relationship.

When they arrived at the school, Anastasia rushed out of the car to meet Jared and left her phone in the car.

Two minutes after she left, her phone rang. Alex grabbed her phone and saw Elliot’s name on the screen. He picked it up intentionally and said, “Hello, President Presgrave? I’m sorry to inform you that Anastasia’s phone isn’t with her.”

“Who are you?” Elliot’s voice sounded chilly.

“I’m Alex Hunter. We’ve met before, President Presgrave.”

“Where is she?” an unhappy Elliot questioned.

“She’s gone to pick Jared up, and I’m waiting for her at the school gates. Is there something you want to tell her? I’ll pass on the message for you.”

“It’s fine.”After saying that, Elliot hung up the call.

Hearing that, Alex smirked. His purpose was to create a false impression that he was close with Anastasia so that Elliot would be jealous and disappointed in her.

Little did he know that this phone call was more than just a disappointment to Elliot.

Elliot, who was sitting in Rey’s car, suddenly felt suffocated and started coughing violently. Seeing that, Rey quickly parked his car by the roadside and opened the backseat door while asking, “President Presgrave, are you alright?”

Elliot grabbed his collar, closed his eyes, and gasped, “It hurts!”

“Should I take you to the hospital?” Rey was so anxious upon seeing Elliot. It was his first time seeing Elliot so weak, after all.

“Send me to Anastasia’s house.” Doctors and their prescriptions couldn’t cure Elliot. In fact, Anastasia was the only one who could heal him.

“Don’t hold on anymore. You should go to the hospital this time,” Rey urged anxiously.

“I am well aware of my own body.” Elliot shut his eyes and ordered, “Send me there.”

Is Alex planning to have a meal or visit Anastasia’s house by sending her and Jared back home? Or is he trying to take the opportunity to take advantage of Anastasia?

He was a man, so he knew what other men thought. Moreover, he had been someone like that in the past.

Therefore, he had to drive Alex away, even if that meant being despised and resented by Anastasia.

Since he was unable to persuade him, Rey could only start the car and silently hope that Anastasia wouldn’t do something to provoke Elliot anymore.

After Anastasia entered the car with Jared, Alex asked, “Miss Tillman, should I send you home or pick up your car at the office?”

“Just send us home!” Since the next day was a weekend, Anastasia figured that she didn’t need the car, and she didn’t want to go back and forth with Jared.

Hearing that, Alex was delighted. He quickly thought about excuses to be invited into her house.

“By the way, you left your phone in the car just now. President Presgrave gave you a call.” Alex pretended to be reminded of the call.

“What did he say?” Anastasia inquired with a frown.

“He didn’t say anything in detail. Perhaps it was me who answered the call, so he didn’t sound happy.

He just hung up the call,” Alex deliberately described Elliot as a cold person.

Anastasia knew Elliot well, and it did seem like something he would do.

When they arrived at Anastasia’s housing area, Alex suddenly asked urgently, “Miss Tillman, may I use your washroom? It’s a little urgent.”

Of course, Anastasia felt bad to reject him, so she nodded. “Sure. Come on, then!”

“Jared, is your bag heavy? Should I help you carry it?” Alex quickly tried to befriend Jared, wanting to win him over.

In response, Jared shook his little head and answered, “Nope. I can carry it myself.”

Though Jared was young, he could tell that Alex was trying to win over his mom’s heart. It wasn’t that he disliked Alex, but there was only one person who was qualified to be his future dad, and that person was Elliot.

“You’re a good boy, Jared,” praised Alex.

Just then, Anastasia halted in her steps. When she and Alex entered the premises, they saw two figures sitting on the bench—Elliot and Rey.

“Mr. Presgrave!” Jared immediately struggled to get out of Anastasia’s grip as he ran toward Elliot.

At the same time, Alex’s expression turned rigid. He didn’t expect to see Elliot here.

“Jared, I can’t carry you right now because I’m sick,” said Elliot.

“Are you sick? Did you take your medicine?” Jared asked with concern.

“Yeah! I’ve taken them.”

Rey, who was standing beside Elliot, leaned down and asked Jared, “Shall I bring you to the playground, Jared? Let’s give your mom and Mr. Presgrave some time to talk.”

Upon hearing that, Jared wondered, Since Mr. Presgrave is here, Mr. Hunter will probably leave!

“Okay, sure!” Jared nodded. He wanted to create opportunities for his mom and Mr. Presgrave.

Seeing that Rey had brought her son away, Anastasia turned to Alex. “Mr. Hunter, let’s go to my place!”

Elliot instantly furrowed his sharp brows upon hearing that. It turned out that this woman was bringing another man home!

“It’s fine, Miss Tillman.” Alex suddenly became a coward as he didn’t want to offend Elliot.

Anastasia knew that he had an urgent bladder. Moreover, he was just intimidated by Elliot, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him along while reassuring him, “You don’t have to be scared to come over to my place.”

Alex’s heart skipped a beat, but there was no doubt that Anastasia’s action had made his heart flutter.

He nodded and apologized, “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

Instantly, Elliot pulled a long face as jealousy took over him. Was Anastasia playing a game of push and pull with Alex right now?

“Stop right there, Anastasia.”

Elliot’s voice, which was laced with anger, sounded behind Anastasia.

When she turned around, Elliot had an awful look on his face. “May I help you, President Presgrave?”

“Mr. Hunter, I need to have a private talk with her. Can you leave us alone?” Elliot didn’t even bother looking at Alex. He merely stared at Anastasia, but underneath every word contained a warning.

Seeing that, Alex quickly smiled and replied, “Sure. I’ll take my leave, then.”

After saying that, he furrowed his brows intentionally to show that he was holding his bladder.

When Anastasia saw him suffering, she insisted, “Don’t bother with him, Mr. Hunter. Come on!”

Just like that, Alex followed Anastasia to her house.

When Elliot’s attempt to stop them was ignored, he could only stand by and watch as his beloved woman brought another man into her house.

A sudden wave of emotions pierced his heart like sharp needles.

He couldn’t stop his violent coughing, and due to the pain in his chest, his straight figure was now bent.

After walking several feet away, Anastasia could vaguely hear someone coughing behind her, so she turned to check.

All she saw was Elliot crouching on the ground.

The next moment, she was already rushing to him.

“Elliot! Elliot! What’s wrong?” Anastasia bent over to support his arm. “Where does it hurt?”

The heart-wrenching pain in Elliot’s chest was relieved a little by her presence. When he raised his head, she could see that his face had turned pale, and his eyes had lost focus. He even lost his usual wise and sharp appearance. Elliot seemed so weak that he was about to collapse at any time.

“Didn’t you leave me alone here? Why did you come back?” Elliot grunted coldly as he pushed her aside and got up from the floor.

It pained Anastasia’s heart to watch him suffer. Subconsciously, she tried to support him and suggested, “I’ll ask Rey to send you to the hospital.”

With that said, she fished out her phone.

Elliot turned his head away like a sulky child. “I’m not going to the hospital.”

“Stop making a fuss. Even if you want to be dead, don’t do it in front of me.” While fishing out her phone, Anastasia made a merciless remark.

Her words instantly caused Elliot to gasp for air. “Are you trying to piss me off alive?”

Anastasia quickly shut her mouth. Just then, Alex arrived at the scene. “Are you alright, President Presgrave?”

“It’s none of your business.” Elliot’s cold gaze swept across him.

This time, Anastasia was a little upset with his attitude. Why was he being so rude to someone who was just concerned about him?

“Sorry, Mr. Hunter. If you turn left from here, there’s a mart.” Anastasia could only apologize to Alex since she couldn’t leave a sick man behind.

“No worries. I’ll see you on Monday.” Alex smiled before turning to leave.

Once he left, Anastasia tried to call Rey again, but Elliot snatched her phone away. “I said I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

“In that case, where do you want to go?” Anastasia didn’t know what to do about him anymore.

“I’ll just take a rest at your house.” After saying that, Elliot grabbed her phone and headed toward the elevator.

When Anastasia returned to her senses, she realized that she was once again entangled with him though she didn’t want to see him anymore.

In the elevator, Anastasia stared at Elliot. It was obvious that Elliot was thinner now, and his complexion was a little pale. Under his sunken eyes were patches of dark circles, and even his stubble could be seen; it was as if he hadn’t been taking care of his image lately.

After opening the door, she went to pour a glass of water for him.

Elliot sat on the sofa in a bad mood. Whenever he thought about Anastasia wanting to bring Alex into her house, he couldn’t help but feel his chest tighten.

“Why did Alex say he’ll see you on Monday? Are you guys dating?” Elliot held the glass in his hand and questioned.

After sparing him a glance, Anastasia replied, “I’ve decided to work at my father’s company.”

Hearing that, Elliot choked on his water and started coughing violently. “What’s wrong?” Anastasia asked in a hurry.

“Are you going to work in your father’s company, or do you just want to see Alex every day?” When the question came out of his mouth, Elliot looked exactly like a jealous boyfriend.

Anastasia frowned. “Of course. I see and talk to Mr. Hunter every day at work, so what’s the issue?”

“Don’t you know that this man has ulterior motives toward you?” Elliot was so angered that he clenched his fists tightly.

“Elliot, just mind your own business. Moreover, don’t you also have ulterior motives toward me?”

Anastasia thought this man was meddling too much, and it was no wonder that he got so furious.

Elliot fell silent.

“You’re allowed to pursue me, but when other men try to court me, they’re automatically criminals?”

Anastasia reproached again. She had never seen a man so selfish as him.

“I’m pursuing you so that I can give you and Jared a home. Other men just want your money and body.

I don’t believe that Alex doesn’t intend on taking over your dad’s company.” Elliot was straightforward.

Now, it was Anastasia’s turn to be silent. Even if Alex had such thoughts, her father needed him right now. Also, this had always been a matter of exchanging benefits, so this was no way to measure Alex’s character!

“Well, just take care of your health!” Anastasia said. Then, she sat on another couch and stared at him.

“Leave after you’ve finished your water.”

Seeing that she was chasing him out, Elliot frowned. “I’ll be having dinner at your place tonight.”

“You can’t. We don’t owe each other anything, and we shall not bother each other,” Anastasia declined.

“In that case, you should’ve just left me downstairs to die just now. Why would you care about me?”

Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I won’t care about you next time.” Anastasia wasn’t the least bit kind.

“Anastasia, would you be glad to hear about my passing if I die one day?” Elliot suddenly stared at her with a serious look as he spoke dejectedly.

Anastasia’s heart shuddered, for this man sounded like he was cursing himself.

In a panic, Anastasia blurted out, “Don’t say such nonsense, Elliot. How would I be happy if you died?

My mom sacrificed her life to save you, so you should treasure your own life more.”

Even though her words weren’t entirely sincere, Elliot could still feel her concern.

“Alright, I’ll try my best to live as long as I can,” Elliot replied in all seriousness.

Anastasia grabbed her phone and looked at the time. It was almost 6.30PM, but this man was still hanging around.

“It’s getting late, and I should start preparing dinner for Jared now. You can leave with Rey.”

“I’m not leaving,” Elliot insisted.

“You can starve, then. I’m not making meals for you,” Anastasia threatened.

“Sure, no problem. I’ll just stay here.” Elliot narrowed his eyes.

Anastasia got up and made her way to the kitchen. When she prepared the ingredients, she compromised in the end and included his portion as well.

As For Rey, he definitely wouldn’t stay behind for dinner.

Soon, Rey brought the little guy home. When the child saw Elliot at home, he was overjoyed.

“Mr. Presgrave, are you having dinner at my home?”

“Yes!”

“Awesome!”

“President Presgrave, I’ll get the medicine for you. Remember to take your pills later.” With that, Rey opened the door and left.

After Rey delivered the medicine, he walked over to the kitchen on purpose and said to Anastasia, “Miss Tillman, please make sure President Presgrave takes his medicine!”

Anastasia turned around, stunned, but Rey had already left.

Anastasia peered through the glass at the man on the couch. Did this man need her supervision just to take medicine?

Meanwhile, the man on the couch stared at the figure bustling about in the kitchen. He was the least bit worried about not getting dinner tonight.

After all, he knew that she wasn’t so heartless.

In the kitchen, Anastasia sighed in exasperation. She knew that she didn’t want to see him again, but why couldn’t she steel herself enough to chase him away every time he appeared?

After dinner was ready and the dishes were spread on the table, Anastasia looked toward the man on the couch. “Should you take your medicine before or after meals?”

“After,” the man replied.

“Mr. Presgrave, you have to take your medicine on time so that you can recover quickly,” Jared said in concern.

“Okay.” Elliot smiled as he spoke.

At the table, Jared put some food on Elliot’s plate like a good child. Elliot gazed gently at the kid as if Jared were his own son.

Anastasia looked up and caught his gaze before lowering her head in panic. The nicer he was to her son, the more powerless she was to reject him.

After dinner, Anastasia poured out a glass of water for him and took the opportunity to thank Elliot.

“Thank you for hiring the lawyer.”

Her kidnapping case this time had involved the help of his lawyer.

“The police are gathering evidence; as soon as they can be convicted, I won’t go easy on them.” There was a cold gleam in Elliot’s eyes.

“If you want to investigate your kidnapping case years ago, and if you need my dad’s help, you can just call him to ask. He’ll cooperate.”

“Okay!” Elliot nodded.

“Here, take your medicine!” Anastasia urged.

Elliot opened the plastic bag. There were a few bottles inside, and when he counted the pills, he had to take around eight of them in one go.

Anastasia was stunned. Why did he have so many pills to take?

“Is this prescription from a reputable doctor?” Anastasia frowned as she asked, worried that he had gone to the wrong doctor.

Elliot felt warmth in his heart, for her momentary concern did not escape his notice. He shook the pills onto his palm and swallowed them in one go.

Time ticked by, and after Anastasia bathed her son, she emerged to see the man already asleep on the couch.

He sat on the extended side of the couch, his head on the back of the couch as he closed his eyes and slept soundly.

“Shh, please keep quiet, Mommy. Don’t disturb Mr. Presgrave in his sleep.” The little guy immediately put a finger to his lips as he spoke.

Anastasia thought that it was quite late already, and he simply had to be woken up so that Rey could take him home later.

“You can go back to your room and sleep first,” Anastasia whispered.

The little guy went to bed as he was told. Then, Anastasia walked up to Elliot. The man was in a deep sleep, for he would usually sense if she went near him. Now, he slept as if he had lost all consciousness.

Could it be that his medicine was putting him to sleep?

Anastasia couldn’t help but make a call to Rey.

“Mr. Osborne, President Presgrave has fallen asleep in my house. Please come and fetch him!”

“I’m terribly sorry, Miss Tillman; I have some matters to attend to, so I’m afraid I can’t make it.”

“In that case, do you have his bodyguards’ contact numbers? Can you get them to pick him up?”

“Miss Tillman, since it’s a rare occasion for President Presgrave to fall asleep so soundly, why don’t you let him rest at your place for the night?”

Anastasia was speechless.

“For the past two days, President Presgrave has been having problems with his sleep, and it has been affecting his recovery too. Sorry to trouble you.”

Remembering that Elliot didn’t seem too high in spirits, Anastasia couldn’t help but soften. “Alright!”

She would have to share the room with her son tonight.

After ending the call with Rey, Anastasia looked at the man sleeping on the couch. She thought that he should move to the bedroom since it was quite chilly outside, and his cold would definitely get worse.

“Elliot, go sleep in the room!” Anastasia walked over and patted his shoulder gently.

However, Elliot didn’t seem to hear her. Anastasia stared at his handsome face and resorted to harsher means instead. Thus, she patted his face. “Elliot, go sleep on my bed.”

The face-patting was very effective. Elliot lifted his thick eyelashes and looked at her with bleary eyes.

“I can stay for the night?”

“Yes, it’s quite late already, and Mr. Osborne doesn’t have time to fetch you,” Anastasia said in exasperation.

A grinning look flashed across Elliot’s eyes. As expected of his trusty assistant, Rey knew him best.

While Elliot sat on the bed, Anastasia brought half a bucket of water to him so that he could soak his feet in warm water for a bit. If he didn’t soak his feet in this weather, it would be too cold for him to bear.

Elliot cooperated and took a warm foot bath. Then, he put his head on her pillow as he lay on her soft bed. Every breath he took was filled with a fragrance unique to her. Then, he went back into a deep slumber.

After helping Elliot settle in, Anastasia took a bath and slept next to her son. The little guy’s rosy cheeks squished against her chest, and she couldn’t help but lower her head and plant kisses on his head.

Anastasia was exhausted as well, and she soon fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Hayley had just survived a near-death experience in Hogland. All her surgeries were completed, and the doctor said they were a huge success.

Hayley could hardly wait to return home. She had essentially switched out her entire head; her slightly squarish face was now oval, and she had also undergone epicanthoplasty so that her double eyelids looked just like Anastasia’s.

As Hayley lay on the bed, her mind was being tortured with every passing second. She imagined how Anastasia was probably inseparable from Elliot right now, and perhaps by the time she rushed back, an engagement would already be in the talks.

Hayley counted down the days as she suffered terribly.

Back at home, there had been multiple ownership changes at Abyss Club, and tonight, Rey asked for a meeting with its current owner. When the owner heard that he would be paid two million in exchange for the CCTV recordings from five years ago, he was stunned. “The recordings from five years back have disappeared a long time ago, though.”

“Why is that so?” Rey asked.

“Just a few months ago, there was a fire at my storehouse, and suddenly all the data stored in the server room were burned to ashes,” said the owner. He was also perplexed as he continued, “It seemed like some sort of circuit problem.”

“Have you reported it to the police?”

“The firemen did come over to put out the fire. I didn’t lose much except for those data, so if you’re looking for recordings from five years ago, they’re definitely gone.”

Suspicion flashed across the depths of Rey’s eyes. There were too many coincidences; why was the server room the only place to catch fire?

It hadn’t been too long since this new owner took over the place, so he definitely knew nothing about the incidents that happened five years ago.

Then, Rey found the manager and gave her a hundred thousand, asking her to make a list of all the veteran employees who had worked at the club for more than five years.

The manager soon found more than ten people who matched the requirements, but she had only worked here for three years, so when Rey asked her about the server room, the manager immediately said, “We rarely go there, and the security team is in charge of guarding it.”

The manager circled a few names. “These are the security guards who have worked here the longest.

All of them have been working here for more than five years.”

Rey also got a list of the employees who quit after the fire. The manager saw that he was handsome and generous with money, so she gave him all the information he needed.

In the end, Rey locked onto a target—it was a security guard who had quit after the fire.

He quit only three days after the fire happened, so Rey suspected that someone had bribed him to set the place on fire before he quit his job. Hence, Rey believed that he’d be able to get some information from the guard.

This involved Anastasia’s incident from five years ago. Rey was the only person Elliot sent to investigate this in secret, and even his bodyguards were kept out of this investigation.

Back at the Tillman Residence, Erica was so excited that she couldn’t sleep since she had been spending money for the past two days. In fact, she had nearly used up all of the one million Elliot had given her.

She never thought that the information on Anastasia would be so valuable and that she could get a million just by saying a few sentences about that woman.

However, she had no idea how important those few sentences were to Elliot.

Erica’s thoughts went to one important task; she had to hold a discussion with Hayley so that they would tell the same story! If Elliot interrogated Hayley about it someday, and Hayley’s version of the story was different from hers, Elliot would find out that she lied.

Erica feared the consequences, so she hastily picked up her phone. Disregarding the fact that it was already way past midnight, she sent Hayley a message that read, ‘Hayley, are you there?’

‘Yes, I am!’ Unexpectedly, Hayley’s reply came quickly.

‘Let’s video call.’

‘I can’t do that at the moment, so let’s just have a voice call.’ Hayley declined the invitation.

After the call went through, Erica blurted out the news about Elliot asking her for information. However, she decided to keep the one million a secret.

“What? You told him it was at the Abyss Club?” Hayley was obviously furious on the other end of the line.

“He wanted me to tell the truth, so what else could I do? I can’t offend him, you know!” Erica said helplessly.

“If he finds out that we’re behind all this, we’ll be done for. If he knows that we plotted against Anastasia together, do you think he’ll let us off the hook?” Hayley shouted in anger.

“Even if he doesn’t investigate the matter, Anastasia might tell him that we were the ones who did it!”

Erica said.

“Don’t forget that Anastasia has a son with that host. If news of this gets out, it would put her son at a disadvantage, so she would never tell Elliot the truth. Why else do you think we managed to stay safe until today?”

Upon hearing that, Erica was instantly elated. “This means that Anastasia will keep this a secret forever, then! We’ll be alright!”

“Elliot went to you for information exactly because Anastasia refused to say anything about it. Now that you’ve mentioned the Abyss Club, he will definitely start investigating that place. Erica, can you not cause so much trouble for both of us?” Hayley said angrily.

“Fine! I won’t say anything in the future. Also, Hayley, where have you been these days?”

“Something came up, so I went overseas for a vacation. Anyway, if Elliot asks you anything next time, don’t tell him more than is necessary. Also, try your best to pull him away from Anastasia. If not, when Anastasia becomes Mrs. Presgrave, we’ll both be in trouble.”

“I’m trying! Now, Anastasia is flirting with Elliot every day, seducing him with every tactic she knows. I’m helpless here, so please come back soon, Hayley! We can fight against her together.”

“I’ll only be returning after three months. Just try to hold her off, and if Elliot visits you again, don’t be an idiot and start talking about that night. You mustn’t say a word,” Hayley warned.

Erica was beginning to fear the consequences. She hastily said, “Okay, I won’t say a word next time.”

After ending the call with Erica, Hayley lay on the bed with a gleeful look in the depths of her swollen eyes. Fortunately, she was able to predict Elliot’s next move, and she had already bribed someone at the Abyss Club to burn down the server room inside the storehouse.

No matter how powerful Elliot may be, he couldn’t possibly recover lost data. After all, those were the only data that remained.

Moreover, five years was a long time. No one could possibly remember what happened five years ago.

However, Hayley was still on edge. The security guard I bribed should’ve resigned by now!

Meanwhile, Rey left the club and immediately went to a certain security guard’s home. The rundown house looked especially dim under the streetlight.

Rey wanted to figure out if the security guard truly lived here, so he decided to keep watch outside until the next morning.

Usually, people of his age would go out in the morning to get groceries and breakfast.

Rey was about to nap for a bit when a scooter suddenly passed by him. The scooter pulled up in front of him, and when Rey opened his eyes, he saw a familiar face. It was the security guard he was looking for, Scott Parker.

It was currently 2.00AM, and Scott had obviously drunk some alcohol, for his footsteps were unstable.

Preliminary investigations told Rey that there were no CCTVs in this area. He immediately opened the car door and walked out, calling to the man, “Hey, Scott Parker.”

“W-Who are you?!”

“I’m Bob from the Abyss Club! The company has sent out some gifts, so come and get yours. It’s in my car.”

Scott was a greedy man, so when he heard there were gifts to be distributed, he immediately went over to the car. What gifts will I be getting?

Rey instantly pushed Scott into the car. Then, he grabbed a long, sharp tool before holding it against the latter’s waist.

“Why did you burn the server room at Abyss Club, Scott? Who ordered you to do that?”

Scott was a little drunk, so he thought that the sharp object against his waist was a knife. He immediately froze in terror. “Who are you?!”

“Answer the question. Did you burn the server room on purpose?”

Scott felt the knife being pressed closer to his waist, so he told the truth right away. “Please spare me! I didn’t do it because I wanted to. Someone gave me 100,000 to burn it!”

Rey didn’t expect to get an answer from him so quickly. He asked again, “Who bribed you?”

“A woman. She was wearing a mask and sunglasses when she talked to me. I only know she’s a woman, and quite a young one at that. I’ve used up all the money, so I can’t give you anything even if you take me to the police station.” Scott thought that Rey had been sent by the Abyss Club to ask for compensation.

Rey suddenly let go of him, opened the door, and said, “Get out of the car. I’m not here to give you trouble.”

With that, he took out a wad of cash from his car. “Tell me, how did that woman find you?”

Seeing that there was money he could get, Scott reached out to take it, but Rey waved the money out of the way. “Answer my question before you take the money.”

“I first received a call from a woman. She asked me where the CCTV recordings from the club were stored, so I told her that we stored the data in the server room. She then asked me if I was willing to do something, and she would pay me 100,000 for it.”

Scott continued a little guiltily, “Since I needed money, I agreed to it. After everything was done, the woman came to me with the cash. She also took my phone and deleted her number from it.”

Rey frowned. Did the woman burn the server room because it had something to do with Anastasia’s assault incident from five years ago? Or was it someone else who had committed a crime and wanted to erase the evidence?

Further interrogations with Scott yielded nothing more. Rey gave him 200, for he didn’t deserve more than this.

Early the next day, Anastasia was still dazed with sleep when she heard her son talking to the man.

She immediately threw the blanket off of her and walked out to the hall. Elliot was fiddling with a Rubik’s cube together with Jared on the couch.

“Mommy, Mr. Presgrave has bought breakfast. Go and grab a bite!” The little guy said to her.

Anastasia noticed the breakfast on the table. “Alright, I’ll wash up before eating.”

Elliot had to leave after breakfast since he had something to do, and Rey arrived to pick him up. As they stood at the door, Elliot said in a low voice, “Call me if anything happens.”

“Mr. Osborne, take good care of him, and don’t send him to my house for no reason again.” Anastasia ignored Elliot as she spoke to Rey.

The man was speechless.

Can’t she be a little bit more considerate of my feelings?

“Miss Tillman, after spending the night at your place, President Presgrave seems to be in higher spirits now.”

“Anyway, just don’t bother me anymore.” With that, Anastasia closed the door while she avoided looking at the man.

Elliot and Rey went back to the car before the latter proceeded to report on last night’s investigation.

After hearing this, Elliot frowned. “Why is it so coincidental?”

“My thoughts exactly. Is the fire at the server room related to Miss Tillman’s incident from five years ago?”

“Do you have any other ways?”

“I have an idea. The woman deleted records of the call on Scott’s phone, but the telecommunications company might have records on their end. I’ll keep talking to Scott, and I’ll continue investigations after finding out the woman’s number.” Rey nodded.

Elliot approved of the idea. “Take me back to the Presgrave Residence.”

It was time he met his grandmother and asked her about the incident. If his grandmother had really threatened the mayor to save him, then the debt that the Presgraves owed the Tillmans couldn’t be compensated in terms of money or relationships.

At the Presgrave Residence, Harriet wore a dark red coat as she sat on an antique chair. The shrewd and wise look in her eyes was the same as it had been many years ago.

Elliot told Harriet about the incident where Riley had kidnapped Anastasia, and Harriet responded in stunned shock and anger. “How dare he do something like that?!”

“Grandma, he’s the one behind my kidnapping all those years ago.” Elliot was very sure that it was him.

“I suspected him as well, but I couldn’t find any evidence. The two criminals were killed right on the spot,” Harriet said in hatred. “Chasing him out of the family was too light a punishment.”

“Grandma, there’s something else. I apologize for being rude, but I want to ask you something. Back when I was kidnapped, did you personally phone the mayor?”

Harriet was stunned. “How do you know that?”

“Did you threaten the mayor by saying that you’d cause a storm in the stock market if I wasn’t saved?”

Elliot tried to sound as controlled and gentle as he could, not daring to let the slightest bit of suspicion show in his voice.

Everything Harriet did to save him was done out of love and protection, after all.

Harriet looked at him sharply. “Elliot, are you trying to say something? Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Elliot intended to hide Anastasia’s involvement. “Nothing, I’m just curious.”

“I did phone the mayor at that time, and I was really scared to lose you.”

“Did you threaten him?”

“How could that be considered a threat? I just hoped that he would call the police and do everything in his power to save you. However, the stock market that year was unstable, and the stock market was crashing. The mayor hoped that I would retrieve my other funds to save the country’s stock market, but since you were kidnapped, I couldn’t be worried about stocks. The mayor promised me that he would save you, and he wanted me to use Presgrave Group’s power to save the stock market as well. It was indeed a year of disaster!”

Elliot was stunned. It turned out that Harriet didn’t threaten the mayor herself. Instead, the mayor had promised Harriet to do everything in his power to save Elliot so that the stock market could be saved.

Riley was indeed a cunning and vicious man, for he twisted the truth in front of Anastasia.

He led Anastasia to think that Harriet had caused the stock market crash, forcing the mayor to send orders to the police to save Elliot.

“Grandma, I won’t forgive Riley so easily. I’ll make him pay a steep price for what he’s done.” Elliot clenched his fists. After all, he was also the murderer who killed Anastasia’s mother.

“Elliot, your parents died because of him too. Don’t hold back and be sure to make him pay!” There was an apparent hatred in Harriet’s eyes. She also hated her husband for fathering this illegitimate son, who almost drove the descendants of the Presgraves to ruin.

Elliot stood on the balcony on the third floor of the Presgrave Residence. He had more or less pieced together the incident that happened so long ago. Still, it didn’t change anything.

Anastasia’s mother had died because of him, and this was the unchangeable truth.

He picked up his phone and got close to dialing Anastasia’s number a few times. In the end, he finally took a deep breath and dialed it firmly.

If there was anything in his life he would risk everything to fight for, it was this woman.

It didn’t matter if she hated him, for he would still love her no matter what.

After lunch, Anastasia spent time with her son. Her son was in her arms as they watched cartoons on the couch. Just then, her phone rang.

She lifted the phone to look at the screen, realizing it was a call from Elliot. As such, she went to her room to answer the call.

“What’s up?” Her voice was calm and nonchalant.

“Anastasia, I’ve asked my grandma about it. Riley wasn’t telling the truth. My grandma did call the mayor, but she never threatened him with the stock market crash. The stock market was already crashing by then, and the mayor needed my grandma to save the stock market. Coincidentally, I was kidnapped on the very same day. My grandma was very anxious at the time and couldn’t focus on saving the stock market, so the mayor promised her that he would rescue me… Still, I know saying all this won’t change anything.”

Elliot’s voice was especially dim with guilt and remorse.

“Alright, I believe you, and I believe your grandma didn’t do it,” Anastasia said. “However, I don’t want to get involved with the Presgraves from now on. Just leave me alone.”

“You don’t want to see me to that extent?” The man sounded a little pitiful.

“That’s right.”

“What if I want to see you?”

“You can just bear with it or forget about me,” Anastasia said rather cruelly.

“I can’t bear with it, nor can I forget about you.”

“Elliot, don’t do this to me. Why can’t you see things from my perspective and be more considerate of me? If you truly love me, then you should respect my decision.”

“Do you not want to see me for now, or forever?” Elliot couldn’t help but probe further.

The question seemed to have struck a chord deep within Anastasia’s soul.

“There is no future between us, and I will forget about you.” With that, Anastasia hung up.

She didn’t know when her tears began pooling in her eyes.

As he stood on the balcony at the Presgrave Residence, Elliot’s heart was a mess.

His emotions were heavy like never before. If he failed while doing business, he would still have another chance to try again. He had the confidence to succeed in most things, but convincing Anastasia to stay was more difficult than any problem he had faced before.

Nonetheless, he knew that he was willing to wait, even if he had to spend his whole life waiting.

He would spend his entire life repaying everything he owed her in his own way.

The weekend flew by, and Anastasia was called to the police station on Monday to make a statement.

After that, she arrived at her father’s company at around 10.00AM.

As soon as she arrived at the office, she saw a face she didn’t want to see—Erica’s.

Erica crossed her arms and looked at Anastasia gleefully. “Dad mentioned that you’re working at his company now. Sorry, I’m working here as well.”

“No one’s stopping you.” Anastasia just hoped that Erica wouldn’t cause trouble for their father.

“I see that I’m not welcome here! In that case, I’ll come here as often as I can. From now on, I will own the same things you own. I won’t allow Dad to be biased anymore.” Erica snorted as she spoke.

Francis was away at the time, and he still hadn’t returned. Just then, Alex opened the door and walked in to see both women in the office. He was stunned for a moment. Not daring to offend either side, he greeted, “Miss Anastasia, Miss Erica.”

“What do you mean by greeting me only after her? Am I inferior in your eyes?” Erica instantly flew into a rage.

In truth, Alex was extremely disgusted by Erica. To him, she was no more than garbage.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Since you’re both Mr. Tillman’s daughters, that naturally puts the two of you on an equal footing,” Alex immediately explained himself.

“Where is my father, Mr. Hunter?”

“He is currently meeting up with a client.”

“Keep me in the loop about everything regarding the company, Mr. Hunter. I wish to be involved in my father’s business,” Erica ordered the man.

Although he was disgusted by the lady deep down, Alex forced himself to react with a smile and nodded. “Sure.”

“Well, I’d like to get going.” Anastasia refused to stay there any longer with Erica.

“Anastasia, I have orders from Mr. Tillman to show you around the company.” Alex wasn’t about to let Anastasia walk away like that.

“I’m coming along too,” Erica desperately said.

“Let’s go.” Anastasia nodded and left with Alex just as Erica grabbed her purse and caught up to them.

However, by the time she headed downstairs, she saw Alex’s car setting off without waiting for her, which irritated her so much that she stomped on the ground repeatedly in exasperation.

“You son of a b*tch, Alex! How dare you ignore my presence?! I’ll make sure you pay for that!”

In fact, Alex had intentionally left Erica behind in an attempt to gain Anastasia’s favor, but it was only after they hit the road that he noticed the lady’s preoccupied look as she set her eyes outside the window. “Is there something that’s bothering you, Anastasia?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Anastasia shook her head just when raindrops started to fall from the cloudy sky. As the rain became heavier and heavier, Alex suggested that they should stop by a nearby café until the rain cleared up before they continued their journey.

“Okay,” Anastasia agreed, refusing to put both their lives at risk due to the rainy weather. Alex then drove to a café, whereupon both of them quickly entered the place and took shelter.

Soon, lightning struck the sky outside the window as the deafening thunder roared across the city.

Meanwhile, Elliot paused when he was about to sign his documents in his office at Presgrave Group. At that moment, Anastasia’s fearful look when she heard the thunder sprang to his mind; this prompted him to reach for his phone to send a text message. ‘Where are you?’ However, when he didn’t get a reply after ten minutes, he began to lose his patience and asked himself whether the lady had forgotten about him. Therefore, he decided to directly call her.

On the other hand, Anastasia set her eyes on her phone’s screen, frowning while she wondered why the man wouldn’t stop bothering her.

“Why aren’t you picking up the call?” Alex asked.

“It’s nothing important.” Anastasia declined the call.

Nonetheless, Alex noticed the caller ID that appeared on the phone’s screen and realized that it was Elliot.

For a successful and powerful man like Elliot, I’d say he’s humbled himself just to win Anastasia’s heart, but with his status, he could easily steal any lady’s heart. I doubt even those rich men’s daughters wouldn’t be out of his league either.

At that moment, Anastasia heard another notification alert from her phone once again just as she subconsciously took a glimpse at the incoming message. ‘I’m going to your place now.’ She then squinted, asking herself why the man would visit her during heavy rain.

‘I’m away from home now, so don’t bother looking for me.’ Anastasia finally responded to his text.

‘Where are you? I’ll come over and keep you company.’ Elliot asked for her whereabouts.

‘There’s no need for that. I have someone here with me.’ Anastasia replied to his message provocatively.

‘Who?’

‘Mr. Hunter and I are having a tea break now.’ Anastasia responded.

‘Are you guys dating?’ Elliot asked.

‘You can say so.’ Anastasia refused to explain any further. However, her phone rang shortly before she realized it was a call this time. Upon taking a deep breath, she answered it and questioned the man.

“Can you please leave me alone?”

“I’m going to meet you at your father’s company now,” the man said.

“Now? It’s pouring like crazy now, so why are you going to do that?” Anastasia was surprised to hear the man.

“See you there.” Elliot hung up the call without saying a single word more.

Deep down, Anastasia couldn’t help but think that Elliot must be out of his mind. After all, no one would want to get wet due to the heavy rain, but the man insisted on meeting her at Francis’ company.

“Let’s go back, Mr. Hunter. The rain is too heavy today, so I think we should probably visit our subsidiary company another day,” said Anastasia as she raised her head to look at Alex.

“What? Are we going back to the office now?” Alex was stunned.

“Yes, we are.” Anastasia finished her sentence and proceeded to foot the bill before Alex could stop her from doing so.