"I can’t believe I have to work with this country bumpkin," Carla said as soon as she walked closer to Elara, who was filling her plate with good food since she seemed to have a lot of space in her stomach.
Elara turned to her briefly before nodding.
"I know, right? I can’t believe you still got a role despite being so terrible at it," Elara smirked, infuriating Carla even more.
Seeing Carla getting riled up, Beatrice stepped forward.
"Hey, let’s not heat things, Carla. We all expected Elara to give the role to you, but it looks like she doesn’t love Andrew enough to give up this tiny role," Beatrice said, blinking her eyes pitifully and innocently.
Elara looked behind her and saw Andrew standing there, and couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
The same drama all over again. And honestly, she would’ve definitely bothered to explain herself about how she didn’t intend to hurt him or his family or how this had nothing to do with her love if it were previous times.
But now? She didn’t even love the man anymore, so she didn’t bother to try to clear the misunderstanding.
Her gaze met with Andrew’s briefly. The man held her gaze, a weird intensity swirling in them.
As if he had so much to say, but she didn’t, and thus, she turned to walk to the farthest chair from the group.
However, luck wasn’t on her side.
As soon as she made her way towards the chair, Andrew walked to her.
And since his so-called best friend was afraid she would steal the man again, she tailed him.
"You have blocked my number again?" Andrew asked.
Elara nodded.
"Why? I thought things were getting better. When I was able to send you that message, I thought you were ready to forgive me for the sin that I don’t even know about," Andrew said.
For the sin that I don’t even know about.
The words rang in Elara’s ears, and she looked up, unsure if he was really so dumb or if he really was just trying to rile her up.
"Well, what can I say? We used to be close, but people can go from people you know to people you don’t. And what hurts the most is that people can go from people you know to people you don’t," Elara quoted the words from the famous singer Selena Gomez.
Andrew stood there for a solid few seconds before sighing.
"But why block me again?" He asked.
Beatrice, who heard the conversation, clenched her fingers around the plate, not liking how desperate Andrew was starting to sound.
"Do you even know how inconvenient it is for me to find someone every time so that I can relay a message to you?" Andrew asked.
Oh, so he is just angry about the inconvenience. Beatrice heaved a sigh of relief, one that didn’t go unnoticed by Elara, and the latter couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.
"Why do you even want to communicate with me, Andrew? We made it clear that we don’t want to be in each other’s lives, right?" Elara asked, fluttering her eyelashes, feigning oblivion.
Her gaze moved to Beatrice, who was eagerly waiting for his answer, and a smirk appeared on her face.
She stood from her seat and stood close to Andrew.
"You don’t miss me, Andrew, do you?" She asked, her tone almost challenging.
Andrew, caught off-guard at her closeness, hadn’t realized how much he missed being able to hold her so close.
He never realized how he had gotten used to her invading his privacy and always acting childish and in love around him.
Thus, the moment she stood so close to him, his hands moved on their own, and he was about to hug her and pull her close when Elara lifted her hands and stopped his hand in time, stepping away.
"I am sorry, Mr. Lloyd. That was too close. I didn’t mean to cross the boundary." Elara blinked.
Andrew furrowed his brows.
"Elara, what are you talking about? You are still my wife. You can come as close to me as you want. Why are you making it sound like it’s illegal?" Andrew’s unthoughtful words shocked Beatrice, and she looked at him in utter disbelief.
Can she stand however close she wants? How close have they been in the past? How many times did they really cross the boundaries with each other? The thought of this man naked under Elara ignited a fire of jealousy in Beatrice, and she glared at Elara, quickly masking it behind a soft smile.
However, Elara, who just wanted to see that kind of reaction, smirked inwardly.
"We are not married for the world, Mr. Lloyd. You never wanted others to know. Or why would you keep it a secret for so long? Anyway, our position wouldn’t appear good in the kind of setting we are in. Regarding the number, I don’t really have anything to discuss with you. Now, please excuse me," Elara said, arching her brows when he didn’t leave immediately.
Andrew looked at the girl, moving his hand through his hair to ease his frustration before he nodded and left.
"Enjoy the food," Beatrice smiled bitterly, and Elara smiled genuinely, a complete contrast to how it was a month ago.
She remembered how many times the roles were reversed, and Beatrice always got the upper hand.
However, for the first time, seeing Beatrice as the one who was worried that Andrew would be taken away from her gave Elara the kind of satisfaction she didn’t know she would like so much.
It looks like she got her new plaything. Elara chuckled inwardly.
Since you had made a habit of enticing me from time to time and always kept me on edge, fearing that Andrew would leave me for you, I would love to see how you deal with it. Elara smiled.
She started eating her snacks, enjoying them a little more now that she had seen Beatrice’s ugly expression.
However, if she thought she was going to get away with just standing so close to Andrew, she was so wrong, because in the next second, her phone vibrated with an incoming message.
She looked at the message, and her hand froze on the table, her pupils dilating as she read it.
[You’d better stay ready to be punished for what you did just now. Standing so close to another man when I clearly told you you are mine?]
The message said, and the sender was none other than Daniel Macros.
Elara read the message repetitively before gulping, her heart skipping a beat as heat rose to her cheeks at the thought of all the ways the man could punish her.