Hiding Behind Her Superficiality novel Chapter 421
Hank couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the look of surprise and slight puzzlement on her face. “I dropped by to visit you while you’re working. By the way, when can you go back to work?”
Her face immediately fell when she heard those words.
With a palm pressed against her forehead, Yelena gave Jasmine an instigative side-eye and muttered, “I would like to go back earlier, but you need to know that there is a little b*tch here who keeps showing off and delaying the shooting just because she is the investor’s fiancée. Goodness! I’m about to get a headache at this rate.”
She didn’t mention whom she was talking about, but everyone knew she was referring to Jasmine.
Jasmine, especially, had a dark expression when she heard those sarcastic remarks secretly made about herself. “Yelena, I won’t hold back anymore if you keep on with your nonsense!”
Yelena glared at her and snorted. “Oh? Why did you stop pretending to be a goody two shoes? Weren’t you weakly calling Callum to help you just a second ago?”
Hank immediately understood what was happening and he chuckled. “So, this is Mr. Winthrop’s fiancée. Now that I’m meeting you for the first time, you seem somewhat… impertinent.”
This was not Jasmine’s first time hearing that word, but it definitely was the first time she heard someone use it to describe her.
Immediately, she pointed at Hank’s nose and spat, “I don’t know who the hell you are, but I won’t let you off the hook for standing on Yelena’s side and blatantly spouting nonsense!”
Hank, who was a tall man with a cold aura, remained indifferent even when she pointed at him. He only quietly watched her make a fool of herself.
Callum was the one who came to them and stopped the argument at last. “Enough, Jasmine. Stop messing around.”
He basically put an end to the situation with those words alone.
Jasmine couldn’t help but feel wronged. She couldn’t put a name to what she was feeling. She was the one who was pushed to the ground at the beginning but now, she had turned into the person who was ‘messing around’!
However, she knew she couldn’t continue acting unlike her image and embarrassing herself under everyone’s watchful eyes.
She finally shut her mouth and fell silent.
“I apologize for the shameful display, Mr. Damazio,” Callum casually uttered for formality’s sake. His attitude toward Hank was not very enthusiastic.
No matter how unreasonable Jasmine was, Callum was the one who brought her along, after all. He didn’t say anything else because scolding her would be equivalent to embarrassing himself.
Yelena’s eyes shone when she saw the man walking over. “Hank? What are you doing here?”
Hank slightly nodded in return. He didn’t seem very interested in Callum, who was renowned in Damoria. Instead, he turned his attention to Yelena. “Why didn’t you tell me anything about you being bullied?”
Yelena rolled her eyes and let out another helpless sigh. “What’s the point? Not to mention that the person who is being bullied is Elspeth, not me. Ha! I really can’t figure it out. Jasmine has picked on Elspeth a few times now. I wonder if someone is fueling the flames behind the scenes.”
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it was just enough to reach the ears of everyone nearby.
Jasmine knew Yelena was talking about her as soon as she heard it.
Hank glanced at Elspeth, who was completely fine with being left out of the conversation as she stood off to one side. With a smile, he commented, “Look at how calm and collected she is. You, on the other hand… You keep wanting to stand up for her, but really, to let his current fiancée pick on his ex-fiancée… Mr. Winthrop’s not very kind, is he?”
Yelena and he started to have a discussion right there and then.
Callum had never bothered to get involved with verbal disputes like this and he didn’t have the intention to stay here any longer. As such, he didn’t say anything when he turned around and left.
Jasmine’s filming was not yet over. Now that Callum had left suddenly without saying a word, she could only stand there and wait. It felt extremely awkward for her to suddenly stand there without anyone to support her.
Elspeth’s the reason everything turned out this way! I wouldn’t have to suffer so much if not for her! She immediately threw a sharp look at Elspeth and glared at her like she wanted to cut the woman’s face.
Elspeth naturally noticed the sinister gaze. She raised her hand to ruffle her hair as she asked in a neutral tone, “What’s wrong? You seem dissatisfied. Should we check the surveillance footage?”
Jasmine’s heart swiftly fell to her stomach when she heard the last two words.
“No! I only wanted to ask when we will resume shooting.”
Elspeth covered her mouth with her hands and let out a surprised expression. “How unexpected! The arrogant Miss McGrath from before now wants to hurry it up, eh?”
Those thorny words almost made Jasmine lose her cool, but she couldn’t do anything.
However, making progress on the shooting was indeed their priority now. Not wanting to spend another second making fun of Jasmine, Elspeth waved her hand and started the shoot.
Jasmine and Yelena were the first ones to be filmed. With Elspeth and Hank staring at them, Jasmine didn’t dare to make any more silly mistakes. She obediently finished filming everything before long.
After that, she came up with an excuse and quickly left the place where she had embarrassed herself.
Aldea and Agnes weren’t a problem either. They quickly ended the shoot as they were both professional.
Elspeth, Hank, and Yelena were the only ones left after the session ended.
He lowered his head and stared at the seemingly absent-minded Yelena. “How about I take you out for a meal?” he asked with a smile.
Yelena shook her head and tugged on Elspeth’s arm. “I promised Elspeth I’d buy her a meal.”
He promptly suggested without a change in his expression, “The three of us can go together, then.”
He was determined to stick to Yelena.
Elspeth held her forehead helplessly. She was just about to come up with an excuse to leave first when she received that pitiful, pleading look from Yelena.
She seemed to be begging Elspeth to wait for her and not leave with her eyes.
Seeing this, Elspeth could only give a small hum of agreement.
And so, the lovey-dovey bubble Hank imagined himself and Yelena to be in was now illuminated by an additional lightbulb.
The three of them then set off to a Juranian restaurant nearby.
Hank only brought up the purpose of his visit when they were eating. “I found a prospective solution to deal with the charges against your company.”
He looked rather nonchalant when he mentioned this and yet, he sounded completely convincing.
Yelena was also influenced by his demeanor as she asked in a relaxed manner, “How’s the investigation going?”
Hank picked up the cup of tea on the sandalwood table and took a sip. “Nothing much. I’ve found a way to keep the company from being sued.”
“It’s done? Just like that?” Yelena’s eyes went wide.
“Yup. You can tell your father that he can run his company like usual.”
Yelena couldn’t help thinking how mysterious this whole thing was.
After all, Hank had solved this problem despite not having any contact with anyone from the Sullivan Corporation.
I’m not doubting his business capabilities, but isn’t this kind of insane? It’s outrageous! she mused.
The truth had already come out as soon as he said that.
Still, Yelena couldn’t help her curiosity and asked, “But I want to know how you managed to catch the culprit!”
Elspeth was beside her and she couldn’t hold her giggle upon hearing Yelena’s words.
Yelena turned her head and glanced at Elspeth. Seeing that she was trying not to laugh, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you laughing? Do you know something too?”
“I’d better leave it to Hank to tell you.”
Elspeth didn’t want to be the one to leak the secret.
Hank only grew calmer as he announced, “This is a secret.”
“Urgh! Can we even still hang out together? Both of you are keeping it from me!” Yelena lowered her head and poked the piece of salmon on the plate fiercely with her fork.
I’m going to cover you in holes!
“Alright, alright. Since this matter has been perfectly resolved, why don’t we drink some wine to celebrate?” Elspeth pointed at the bottle of white wine beside her.
Half an hour passed after that. She fell into deep thought while she looked at the flushed Yelena who was drinking.
Was I too careless when I said that earlier? I don’t even know whether that was the right decision to make.
Yelena seemed to have gotten drunk the same way back then.
However, the man they were sitting with was still clear-headed after taking only two sips of the white wine.
While Yelena jumped here and there on the side, Elspeth and Hank sat there facing each other like no one else was around.
“I sure was surprised to learn of your identity, Mr. Damazio.” Elspeth let out a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Likewise, Miss Lynwood. You even have several identities,” Hank replied in a similar tone.
She remained calm and composed. “Still, that is nothing compared to you, Mr. Damazio. I had to use my most elite system to find out your identity. The young master of StoneY Group, hmm? That’s one hell of a hole card.”
Hank suddenly let out a cheeky laugh but despite that, he did not overdo it. He still appeared modest and was a sight for sore eyes.
“Why didn’t you say it outright just now, Miss Lynwood?”
Elspeth shrugged. “Whatever for?”
Hank was taken aback before he looked at her with smiling eyes. “You truly are a frank and sincere person, Miss Lynwood. Thank you for keeping this secret for me.”
He worried that Yelena would even lose her gratitude for him if the truth was made known.
That would greatly affect his plan to pursue her.
Hank didn’t seem surprised. “Also, you can just tell your father to fire the project manager related to this collaboration.”
Seeing how Elspeth didn’t say anything despite seeing through him made Hank want to laugh. He asked, “But I must say, I am curious—why help me instead of Max Winthrop?”
Callum is always cold to Elspeth, but there shouldn’t be any dispute between Max and her.
However, judging from the way things were now, Hank had a feeling that there was more than meets the eye.
Elspeth lowered her gaze to look at Yelena who was lying on the floor, exhausted from behaving like a madwoman.
“Max did something that disappointed me.” A pained look appeared in her eyes when she said that.
She thought that Max was framed during what happened back then. However, she found out that the truth was slightly different from what Max told her after she looked into it.
As early as a month ago, Max had already had relatively close communication with that other woman.
Max’s contact with her never ceased even during the period of silent treatment between Max and Yelena that lasted for about a week.
The woman ended up falling for Max. Even though he wasn’t the only one responsible for that, he did play a part in it.
The woman later did everything she could to do the deed with Max and climb up the social ladder, despite knowing that Max had a girlfriend.
And just like that, Max took the bait.
Elspeth and Max might be good friends, but she couldn’t bear seeing Yelena continue to date a man like him.
Hank could guess what had happened from the ever-changing expression on Elspeth’s face.
Surrounded by silence, he chuckled and asked in a low voice, “So you would rather have Yelena date me, is that right?”
Elspeth responded by shaking her head. Her gaze had turned sharp and probing once again.
“I don’t know if you’re a good person. I will keep observing you.”
Hank was no more inferior than Max in terms of family background, temperament, ability, and appearance. In fact, he was another level above Max. Although Hank was decent in every way, Elspeth still wasn’t completely sure about him. After all, he was too much of an enigma.
“You are Yelena’s best friend. I won’t let you down.”
As Hank looked at the unconscious Yelena lying sprawled on the table, he had a doting and loving glint in his eyes. “Yelena Sullivan… I swear I’ll make her mine.”
Elspeth was taken aback when she heard that. She finally couldn’t help but ask the question on the tip of her tongue.
“I would like to know how you got to know Yelena.”
She was curious about why Hank would suddenly be so deeply in love with Yelena.
Hank had no intention to hide it from her, and he said without hesitation, “I fell for her three years ago when she first got onstage.”
That was how simple it was for him. There was no exciting prelude to the love he felt at first sight. It was straight to the point.
Elspeth felt tingly all over when she heard that.
She had imagined uncountable reasons Hank could have fallen for Yelena, but she didn’t think it would be so straightforward.
So he’s a fan of Yelena?
And somehow, along the way, he started to like Yelena as a woman instead of a celebrity, eh?
Something suddenly came to mind then.
“I have a question.” Elspeth’s voice shook a little as she muttered, “Yelena took her first set of photos three years ago and everything was sold out within a day. You couldn’t have…”
Yelena had talked to Elspeth about this before.
Not long after her debut, she took a set of photographs that ended up selling a few times more than the A-list actresses at that time.
She had suspicions that some benefactor was pulling the strings then, but she never found out who it was.
Since then, her journey in the entertainment industry was smoother than butter. In just one year, she has become a B-lister. She had now shot up from being second-best to being an A-list actress with Elspeth’s help.
“I bought them.”
It was just money for Hank. He didn’t mind spending it to make Yelena happy.
As shocked as Elspeth was to hear that, she felt emotional for some reason.
He’s completely enamored, isn’t he?
Hank’s involvement probably had a lot to do with Yelena’s success today.
Her benefactor was actually right in front of her!
“In that case, I have no objection if the two of you want to date.”
Elspeth began to think to herself, Not only is he willing to spend money on her, he treats her well and has her back. They haven’t got any dispute between them, and I’m sure he will choose her no matter what…
It doesn’t sound like a loss for Yelena to date him.
Clearing his throat, Hank muttered, “Your thoughts are written all over your face, Miss Lynwood.”
It was only then that Elspeth came to her senses, and she flashed an embarrassed grin at him.
“But since you have the intention of handing Yelena over to me, I would like to thank you in advance. You can always come to me if you need help with matters concerning your company in the future.”
He raised his glass and concluded in a warm voice, “Looking forward to working with you.”
Elspeth also took her glass. The clear and pleasant sound of glass lightly bumping soon rang out.
“Same goes for you.”
Hank might have certain intentions, but he was clear-headed. She knew he would not do anything to Yelena.
And so, a drunk Yelena was then ‘abducted’ by him to his car.
Just like the last time when she drank too much, she started to snore as soon as she got in the car.
Hank could only inwardly sigh as he watched how she kept wriggling around even after falling asleep.
He then fastened her seatbelt carefully to avoid waking her up.
The moment he got up, Yelena suddenly opened her pair of big, misty eyes, which were filled with confusion and drunken allure.
He immediately stopped in his tracks.
“Hank…”
“What’s wrong?” The fact that she was aware of who he was even when she was intoxicated pleased him.
Suddenly, she reached out and frantically ruffled his hair. “I’ve wanted to touch your hair for a long time now,” she slurred. “I finally got to do it today. Hehe!”
He was at a loss for words as he pressed down her wandering hands and went back to the driver’s seat.
After he started driving, she suddenly started making noise about wanting to go to the toilet.
“I don’t care! I want to go!”
Hank had no choice but to park the car on the side of the road. When he found a public toilet, he asked, “Shall I take you there?”
The woman reacted by blinking at him while flashing a sly smile.
“Gotcha. I don’t even want to use the restroom.”
Hank had no comeback. In that case, there is no need for me to waste time talking to this drunk lady over here, he thought.
It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t tempted when he saw her smile.
However, there was something else that he was more worried about.
“Hank, I’m going to puke.”
Having learned his lesson after she cried wolf, he ignored her and kept driving fast.
A crisp retching sound rang out the next second.
The defensive wall around his heart immediately collapsed and he quickly parked the car. He then turned his head and looked at her, only to see her leaning to the side with a sunken look on her face as she threw up.
The new car he spent millions on was soiled just like that!
And yet, Yelena was still unappreciative. When she saw him stop the car, she dazedly straightened her torso and asked while she was still in the middle of throwing up. “Why aren’t you driving?”
Hank was speechless at this point. “If you want me to drive now, I will throw you out of the car.”
Aggrieved tears abruptly rolled down her face which looked confused just a second ago.
“Why would you throw me out…” Yelena sobbed.
“Alright, alright.” Hank immediately surrendered. “I was wrong. Goddammit! Throw up all you want. We will leave after you’re done.”
Hearing that, she nodded and stopped crying. She then continued to vomit while lying on her side.
Hank was someone who had a serious obsession with cleanliness. Naturally, he wouldn’t send her home in this situation.
Since his house was closest to where they currently were, he took her back to his home first. After he settled her down, he drove out again to wash the car.
He would have thrown this car away if it wasn’t because Yelena had been in it before.
Two hours had passed by the time he brought the washed car home.
Considering how late it was into the night, he was worried that Yelena’s family would suspect him of being someone indecent for bringing her out and having fun without a care if he were to send her back to her home now.
In order to leave a good impression and establish a good relationship with his future in-laws, Hank carefully thought it through and decided to let Yelena stay at his place for the night.
After he got home, he noticed how the woman who had thrown up everywhere was now sprawled on the side of his bed, puking again.
Her vomit had not only dirtied the sheets this time; even the carpet and her body were covered with barf.
At that point, Hank’s tolerance for uncleanliness was stretched to the limit.
He proceeded to put on gloves and a mask before he took her by the waist and dumped her into the bathtub. He then pointed the showerhead at her and let the water run.
Even though Yelena was drunk out of her mind earlier, she felt more awake after the water washed over her.
Seeing herself being bathed in the bathtub by a man wearing a mask, she shrieked in surprise. “Ah!”
Hank managed to suppress his temper as he muttered, “Stay still, Yelena Sullivan.”
It was probably his innate oppression that Yelena actually felt fear and cowered without saying anything.
She had on a white dress today. As soon as she was drenched in water, the wet dress outlined the exquisite curves of her body.
More importantly, even the color of what lay underneath the dress…
She sounded timid when she let out another sob. “How about I wash it off myself?”
Sure enough, Hank could hardly keep his heart from thumping against his chest as he looked at the mouth-watering sight.
He took a deep breath and nodded before turning around to leave the bathroom.
While Yelena was left to clean off the vomit on her body while she thought of a countermeasure in the bathroom, Hank sat by the bedside and struggled to keep his mind from wandering.
He had always found it difficult to have any interest in the women around him. He would even indifferently refuse those who throw themselves at him.
But when he saw Yelena shivering like a frightened bunny in the bathtub, he actually started having ideas…
Stop it, Hank Damazio! he quietly scolded himself. She has just become of age. Stop it with these nonsensical thoughts.
With his strong mentality, he suppressed the thoughts that he shouldn’t have.
He was right in the middle of doing that when the phone next to his hand rang.
It was a text message notification ringtone.
It is not my phone. It must be hers.
His principles were telling him not to peek, but his curiosity kept compelling him until he couldn’t help taking a glance.
The message was sent by someone whose name was saved as Pig Head. It was only a simple sentence that popped up. ‘Where are you?’
Hank immediately knew who the sender of the message was, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Taking advantage of the spare time he had while Yelena showered, he picked up her phone and took a good look at it. It didn’t take long for him to crack the password.
There wasn’t a specific reason as to how he knew her password. Judging from how simple a person she was, Hank was sure that she would use her birthdate as her phone’s password.
He had no hesitation as he clicked into the message and replied, ‘At a friend’s place.’
There was an incoming call the next moment.
Seeing this, Hank took the phone with him and went outside the glass window on the balcony to pick up the call.
“Yes?” Hank struck first, his cold voice sounding especially low in the middle of the night.
The person on the other end of the line immediately felt their heart tear when they heard a male voice ring out. “Who are you? Where is Yelena? Why isn’t she the one picking up my call?”
Hank glanced at the bathroom and murmured with a hint of amusement, “She is taking a shower.”
“I was wondering why she said she is at a friend’s house when she usually doesn’t say things like that. She would always tell me which friend it is. Who the hell are you? What are you trying to do to Yelena?”
It was almost 12.00AM now. It was impossible for Max to not worry about Yelena being alone with a man.
Max loathed it when people talked about his pain, and he immediately lost his temper. “It’s none of your business whether we broke up or not. You are only an outsider. You have no right to meddle in our relationship!”
“Sorry to break it to you, but I’m her prospective boyfriend now. I have more right than anyone else to care about things like this.” Hank’s voice was low and domineering when he said that.
“Prospective boyfriend?” Max was taken aback. “She agreed to date you?”
That’s impossible! Yelena is not that type of person.
Moving on so quickly? She wouldn’t do something like that.
“Of course. Also, don’t call and disturb her anymore. We’re going to bed soon. Goodnight.”
After saying this, Hank mercilessly hung up, deleted Max’s number, and blocked him. He did everything in one fell swoop.
When he was done, he placed the phone back in its original position and smiled.
…
Max started panicking when the call abruptly ended.
He instinctively wanted to go out and look for Yelena, but when he was about to go downstairs, he noticed how Callum’s lights were still on. He stumbled to Callum’s room in a daze instead.
Callum was ready to sleep when Max came into his room. He couldn’t help but be shocked when he saw how disappointed and gaunt the usually confident and high-spirited Max was.
“What’s wrong?”
Max’s tears were threatening to fall at that point.
“I called Yelena earlier, Callum. A man claiming to be her boyfriend picked up. He told me to stop looking for her. I’m so scared. Can you help me find her, please?”
Max couldn’t bear losing Yelena.
He had been struggling with himself these days. As much as he wanted to go and see Yelena, he was afraid she would only coldly reproach him in return.
He finally picked up the courage to call her today and yet, he learned from the phone call that she was about to start dating another man.
He couldn’t accept this at all.
Soon, he began to remember the man he saw at the film set this morning.
Hank Damazio…
“Calm down for now.” Callum couldn’t say for sure what he felt when he looked at his younger brother on the verge of tears.
Max balled his fists tight and continued to whimper, “Callum, I really don’t want to break up with Yelena. Please, I beg you. Can you come with me to see her? I can’t get through to her phone because she blocked my number… Ah! We can go to Miss Elspeth! I’m sure she knows where Yelena is! Miss Elspeth and I are close. I’m sure she will tell me!”
“Are you sure you want to go? You won’t regret it?” Callum stared into Max’s eyes, his gaze darkening.
However, Max couldn’t bother with anything else now. Without understanding what Callum truly meant, he hurriedly blurted out, “Of course I want to go! I’m going to see Yelena right now. I can’t take it anymore!”
It was 2.00AM when Elspeth heard knocks coming from the door of her main entrance.
As she was a relatively light sleeper, she would wake up at the slightest disturbance.
Annoyed and resigned from hearing the heavy knocks, she had no choice but to get the door. She first observed the surrounding situation vigilantly and only opened the door when she found nothing unusual.
As soon as the door was opened, a dark figure suddenly rushed over and grabbed her arm, startling her.
After taking a good look at the figure, she finally recognized him as Max, whom she hadn’t seen in a long while.
“Max? What are you doing here at this time of the night?”
“Miss Elspeth… You know where Yelena is, don’t you? Can you please tell me where she is? I’m begging you!”
Elspeth felt a little strange seeing his almost unusual reaction. Still, she mentioned honestly, “Yelena should be sleeping at home right now. What’s the matter?”
Max shook his head as if his life depended on it. “No! She is with a man! She is at the guy’s place!”
“What? Hank brought her to his place?” Even Elspeth felt unsettled when he heard that.
That jerk! And here I am, thinking that he’s a gentleman. How could he do something so immoral?!
Elspeth wouldn’t worry as much if this was any other day. However, Yelena was drunk today. That could make her an easy target that Hank could gobble up just like that!
“Hank…” Max muttered his name as a trace of hatred flashed in his eyes. “Miss Elspeth, do you know where he is? I want to go to Yelena now!”
Hearing that, Elspeth quickly snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. “Forget about it. I don’t know.”
She wasn’t lying about this. It was true that she didn’t know where Hank’s house was.
“Miss Elspeth, I know that you know! Don’t lie to me anymore and don’t hide it from me, okay?” Max almost started crying at that point. “I really can’t live without Yelena. I love her so much. You have to believe me!”
After saying this, he turned his head to look at Callum, who was standing in the shadows, and begged, “Callum, can you help me? I really love Yelena a lot. Can you please persuade Elspeth for me?”
It was only then that Elspeth noticed Callum standing not too far away.
He isolated himself as if he didn’t want to get involved in this matter.
“Don’t embarrass the Winthrops, Max,” the older man warned in an indifferent voice.
Max was at a complete loss.
Elspeth somewhat pitied him when she saw how confused he was while he begged, but more than that, she found him ridiculous. “To be honest, Max, I know almost everything about what you did.”
Max immediately stiffened upon hearing that.
“You appear to be deeply in love with Yelena now. Of course, you really do. But I hope you understand something. A broken mirror can’t be restored. You may be forgiven after you did something wrong, but things can never go back to what they were.”
“Is there really no chance at all?” he choked out.
“Do you know what Yelena told me? She said she doesn’t regret meeting you and experiencing so many things with you, but if she was given another chance to start all over, she wouldn’t want to know you. It’s not that she hates you or anything. She just can’t handle an ending like this.”
Max allowed his tears to roll down his cheeks and seep into the ground when he heard that. This was the first time he had ever cried.
“I’m sorry…”
Elspeth took out a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him before she patted him on the shoulder. “Alright, now. Stop clinging to her. Why don’t you be each other’s beautiful memories? As for the other things, don’t think about them. They will all slowly fade from memory.”
Fade from memory? When Callum heard those words, he slowly raised his head to peer at Elspeth not far away with a cold and dark gaze.
To his surprise, he made eye contact with her.
However, Elspeth clearly didn’t want to waste time on them. She couldn’t stop the frown from showing up on her face when she saw Max standing there in a daze with no intention of leaving.
Right then, Callum strode over to stand beside Max. “Come home with me, Max,” he instructed.
Max first nodded, only to shake his head the next moment. He looked extremely pitiful and heart-wrenching.
“Can I see her one more time?”
Hearing that, Elspeth finally agreed to it as she couldn’t bear to watch him.
What’s more, she was a little worried that an ‘accident’ would happen to the drunk Yelena at Hank’s place.
After thinking about it, she took out her phone and gave Hank a call.
According to Max’s description earlier, Elspeth probably wouldn’t be able to call Yelena on her phone. That was why she would rather call Hank straightaway.
The phone only rang twice before the call went through.
“Hank, are you with Yelena?”
Hank was surprised by Elspeth calling him, but he nodded and replied, “That’s right. She had one too many and puked all over herself. I brought her home and cleaned her up for now.”
Elspeth’s imagination began to run wild at those words.
“Don’t tell me you helped her wash.”
Hank started laughing out loud upon hearing that. Even Max, who was beside Elspeth, slightly lifted his head, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.
“That, I didn’t.”
Elspeth asked again, “Is she asleep now?”
Hank hummed as he looked at Yelena snoring away in bed. “She went to bed and fell asleep right after she took a shower herself.”
“Take good care of her, then.” Elspeth sighed. Hank probably won’t lie.
“Of course.” It was a given that he wouldn’t be careless about that.
Knowing that Yelena was safe, Elspeth was at ease when she ended the call.
However, when she looked at Max, she noticed that he looked more torn than before. “Yelena is asleep. You should save the rest for tomorrow.”
Max only clenched his right fist tight. He seemed to want to say something, but he quickly swallowed his words.
Turning around, he had a worn-out smile on his face. “It’s late. I won’t disturb your sleep anymore, Miss Elspeth. Callum, let’s go home.”
Callum said nothing. He only nodded and turned the other way to walk to his car.
Max also followed after him after he gave Elspeth a deep bow.
Max sat in the passenger seat and he kept his head tilted to look at the night view outside the window.
“Callum… Why do you think things turned out this way?”
Callum kept his eyes on the road when he stated, “You only have yourself to blame.”
I only have myself to blame… Max suddenly let out a sad smile.
He still remembered the day he and Yelena met for the first time, and how she relentlessly and persistently pursued him afterward.
Initially, he wasn’t interested in the young lady whom he saved. However, she was like a sun that lit up his world and before long, he had fallen in love with her.
He didn’t have the best of tempers, but he was serious about his feelings for her.
From having a short fuse, he slowly learned to love all because of how Yelena inspired him.
However, it was this exact woman whom he had loved for two years who took off from his life abruptly. And there was nothing he could do about it.
It was all because of one stupid mistake he made in the heat of the moment.
He wouldn’t blame Yelena for not forgiving him.
“Callum, do you think the guy will treat Yelena right?”
Max had only realized today how likable Yelena was to everyone and how he had gone too far with what he did.
Callum tried to recall what he knew about Hank. When he remembered how protective Hank was of Yelena, he nodded. “He does like Yelena a lot.”
Max was stunned when he heard that. “Callum, do you know who Hank is?”
How come everyone but me knows about this guy who suddenly appeared beside Yelena?
“I met him once. He’s quite protective of her.”
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