From the angle of the photograph, it must have been taken surreptitiously.
She remembered the location where the photo was taken.
At the time, she was 14 years old, volunteering on the streets with her classmates; how could she have been... captured?
She thought back to that time in Adam Jones’s office when she accidentally knocked this over, and Adam reacted by quickly tossing the photo into the drawer, claiming it was Robert Green’s.
Back then, she had suspected that whatever made Adam so nervous must be his sweetheart.
Although she didn’t show it on her face, she felt somewhat jealous deep down.
But at that time, she was just Adam’s ex-wife, even if she was sad, what could she do?
She also remembered Adam noticing that something was off with her mood and asking her why she suddenly became so distant.
He thought it was the presence of Lily Jones that had upset her, but in fact... it was because of this, right?
Elly couldn’t help but laugh along with the bright smile in the picture.
Is this... being jealous of oneself?
The more she thought about it, the more the smile in Elly’s eyes grew.
After putting the photo back in its place, she picked up the pen from beside Adam’s computer and returned to her seat.
At that moment, her intestines began to twist in pain again.
After having a meal at the mall with Helen Melendy last night, she had diarrhea.
The pain persisted subtly since then, but because it wasn’t constant, she hadn’t taken it seriously.
However, after having a bit of breakfast in the morning, the pain started again.
She rubbed her stomach and went to the restroom, and when she came out, her intestines were still spasming with pain now and then.
Thinking back to the meal she had with Helen yesterday, she wasn’t sure if she was the only one who had gotten sick from it.
And recalling that she was to accompany Helen to the hospital for a gastrointestinal check-up today, she hurriedly made a phone call.
"What? You went to Annapolis? Weren’t we supposed to go for the check-up today?"
"Alright then, when you come back, you have to get checked out," Elly insisted.
After she finished talking with Helen and hung up the phone, Elly rubbed her still subtly aching intestines.
Seeing that Adam hadn’t come back yet, she walked out of the office.
Inside the secretarial office, Secretary Rohr immediately stood up upon seeing Elly come out.
"Secretary Rohr, I’m going to the pharmacy. Please let the CEO know if he asks," Elly said.
There weren’t any pharmacies near the Jones Corporation, so the one Elly found was somewhat far away.
When Adam returned from his meeting and saw that Elly wasn’t there, he frowned as he noticed her phone still on the office desk.
"Where did the madam go?" he asked as he approached Secretary Rohr.
"The madam said she was going to the pharmacy and would be back shortly, about ten minutes ago."
Adam darkened slightly, his mind racing to different thoughts, then turned and silently went back to his office.
As he sat in his executive chair, he thought about the medicine Elly might be buying at the pharmacy and felt his heart sink even further.
If he thought about it, the last box of birth control pills she had should be finished by now.
Considering this, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.
Lately, every time after they were intimate, he deliberately avoided thinking about her taking birth control pills.
Even if he didn’t see her take them, he knew she would definitely do so afterward.
He thought he could truly be indifferent, always imagining that when one day she fully trusted him unconditionally, she would naturally agree to have another child for him.
He even fantasized about being there with the child, starting from when it was a mere speck and watching it grow, making up for everything he missed out on with William.