Sharon had kept the motel room very clean, like a pocket of calm in the middle of the chaos."Please, have a seat. I hope you don't mind the place," she said as she pulled out a chair before moving it toward the door.Elias took it and sat. How could he possibly mind anything about Sharon?"I'll need a little time. I've got a lot of clothes to pack," Sharon added, her tone slightly nervous.Elias nodded and waited quietly. His eyes fell on what she was wearing—a plain white T-shirt with jeans and canvas shoes. The fabric looked cheap, and there were even visible creases."Just throw it all out," Elias said. "Tomorrow I'll take you shopping. We'll buy everything new."Hearing that, Sharon, who was squatting with her back to him, lit up instantly, though she quickly suppressed the joy on her face and replied in a quieter voice, "It's fine. These are still good to wear. Nothing's torn.""If they're not torn and you don't want to toss them, then donate them," Elias said. "I'm not sa
"It's our fault for not finding you sooner. If we had, the Fowler family wouldn't have dared to bully you like this," Elias said, filled with guilt.If Sharon had been recognized as the Hale family's daughter from the start, her relationship with Edward would've been a perfect match. No one would have opposed it. Yosef had only forced Sharon to leave because she had no status or prominent family background. Elias could understand the Fowler family's actions to a certain extent. After all, families like theirs cared about their social standing. But Sharon was his sister, and he couldn't help but be furious, especially at Edward's calculated revenge after two years."Don't say that. I never blamed any of you," Sharon said, leaning against him as she cried softly, breathing in the subtle scent of his cologne. "It was my own stupidity. I walked right into the trap. I deserved it.""Don't say that. You weren't the one chasing after him. Edward set the whole thing up from the start,"
Elias was stunned by Sharon's words. He then asked confusedly, "Edward retaliated against you? Didn't he love you deeply? Why would he go after you?"He thought about all the trending headlines and the nine-million-dollar necklace he gave to Sharon. He had assumed that it was Edward's wife taking revenge. It never occurred to him that Edward himself could be behind it."We were in love at first. But later, he resented me for leaving him and studying abroad for two years. Everything that happened recently—those were just sugar-coated traps." Sharon cried again, tears streaming down her face. She continued, "He acted like he cared and loved me, but the whole time he was plotting his revenge. Once the rumors about us spread, he cut me off completely. He even got me fired from the company and left me with a massive debt."As Elias listened to her sobbing, he felt a sharp pang in his chest, a mix of anger and heartache. He had long found it odd. With a corporation as massive as Fowler
"Edward and I have been in love since high school, but his grandfather looked down on me. He forced me to leave him, saying I wouldn't survive in Valoria otherwise… He may be married now, but he doesn't love that woman. The one he loves is me," Sharon said to Elias.Elias listened calmly and said, "But it's over between you and him. You shouldn't keep clinging to the past, let alone have people trouble his wife."Sharon looked up with red, tear-stained eyes and said aggrievedly, "So it doesn't matter to you how Macie treated me?"Elias paused, then quickly said, "I'm sorry. I'm not blaming you entirely. I just mean that there are plenty of good men out there. Edward isn't worth your pain.""But I love him. And he loved me too." Sharon's voice trembled as she choked back tears. "Yes, I did have people confront Macie, but I didn't do anything to her. Instead, she and her friends beat me up."I only did it because I was desperate. I was cornered. Even a rabbit bites when it's pushed
In the passenger seat, Sharon kept her head down, her fingers twisted tightly together.She knew that Elias had definitely looked into her background, so there were things he'd already be aware of, whether she said them or not.Instead of waiting for him to uncover everything on his own, she figured that it might be better to get ahead of it. If she told him first, she could control the narrative."I left my last company... and now I'm carrying a breach-of-contract debt," Sharon began. "But they used me and then turned on me. It was all part of their retaliation."Elias frowned, listening quietly. "Retaliation? From who? Your former boss?" he asked.Sharon gripped her hands tighter, hesitating over how to explain her whole situation with Edward."…My former boss was just following the crowd, kicking me while I was already down," she said in a low voice.Elias' brows knitted tighter. He already knew about the contract penalty and that it was tied to her relationship scandal and t
Not discouraged by Elias' lack of response, the woman raised her voice and tried again."I'm talking to you. Don't you have any gentlemanly manners?"You! The handsome guy in the dress shirt and black slacks!"Are you waiting for someone?"At last, Elias lifted his head and glanced over. His indifferent expression and cool demeanor instantly made the woman's eyes light up even more. She thought that he was very handsome—absolutely perfect."I can help you with that," the woman said, her smile flirtatious.She shifted her posture, striking a provocative pose. Her spaghetti-strap dress hugged her curves, her body displayed in an enticing arc.Most men wouldn't be able to resist a move like that. But Elias looked away immediately, feeling that doing so would be downright offensive. He regretted turning his head in the first place.He believed that the world had truly gone downhill.It wasn't even dark out yet, and the prostitutes were already working. And she had the nerve to tar