Chapter 407 Is Your Boyfriend Mr. Peterson?
The young woman linked her arm through Ivan's, looking up with innocent wide eyes. "Ivan, is this your wife?"
"Of course not," Elissa spoke before Ivan could, "I'm just reminding you."
The girl turned to Ivan. "You know her?"
Ivan pulled his arm away. "I have something to handle. Go back to campus."
The girl didn't want to leave. When Ivan's expression hardened, she shot Elissa an angry glare before turning and walking away. Her high heels hammered against the floor like angry mallets, revealing her level of fury.
Elissa felt undeservedly targeted by that glare and immediately regretted getting involved.
"Elissa..."
"Whatever you have to say, I'm not interested. Please keep your distance and don't ruin my appetite," Elissa coldly interrupted.
Ivan grabbed her arm.
Elissa immediately pulled free. "If you're mentally ill, go to a hospital. Don't disgust me here."
"I'm getting divorced," Ivan pulled up a chair and sat down next to Elissa. "Elissa, you've always been in my heart."
In his heart? While he was just being affectionate with that young girl? While deceiving his wife? His claim to like her was an insult.
Elissa stood up. "Finn, let's get this to go."
Finn immediately went to find a server.
Elissa pulled Hope toward the exit, but Ivan grabbed her at the door.
Elissa snapped, "Are you serious? Touch me again and I'm calling the police."
Hope had already texted Jerry, who was probably on his way.
Ivan replied, "Do we really need to be so hostile? Can't we even talk?"
"No!"
Elissa tried to pull her arm away, but Ivan gripped tighter.
"Elissa, I never wanted to get married. You know people of our status have no choice," Ivan said, feigning innocence.
"Let go!" Finn emerged with the takeout, handed it to Hope, then grabbed Ivan's arm to help free Elissa. "Can't you see she doesn't want to talk to you? Back off unless you want me to make you."
Ivan glanced at Finn with disdain before telling Elissa, "Since leaving me, your standards have really dropped."
"Where do you get the confidence to say something like that?" Elissa retorted.
She regretted leaving the hotel today. Stepping in dog poop would have been better than running into Ivan.
She then added, "Who I'm with is my business, not yours. Besides, my boyfriend is a thousand times better than you ever were."
Ivan tried to step forward but Finn pushed him back.
Enraged, Ivan immediately punched Finn, knocking him to the ground. Finn was more show than substance, but as the only man present, he felt obligated to protect the women.
When Elissa tried to help Finn up, Ivan grabbed her and pulled her away.
"Let go!" Elissa shouted.
Ivan dragged her off. "We need to talk somewhere quiet."
"I have nothing to say to you!" Elissa struggled, kicking and scratching, but couldn't break free.
The difference in strength between men and women was infuriating!
Hope quickly put down the porridge and tried to follow, but someone held her back.
Seeing Jerry, she was both relieved and surprised. "That was fast."
"I was already on my way."
Hope turned to see Francis going after Elissa, which relieved her. She bent down to help Finn up.
Elissa was dragged all the way to the parking lot. When she tried to reach for her phone, Ivan noticed and grabbed that hand too.
Furious, she opened her mouth to bite him.
Suddenly, a force gripped her waist from behind.
Ivan felt a sharp pain in his arm and instinctively released his grip.
Before he could identify who had intervened, a powerful kick sent him flying into his own car, denting the body.
Elissa looked up to see Francis's ice-cold profile, his jaw clenched and muscles twitching with barely contained rage.
Without a word, he turned and led Elissa away.
Ivan, undeterred, clutched his stomach and chased after them.
"Elissa!" he called out.
Francis didn't break stride, and since he was guiding Elissa, she couldn't stop either.
Ivan ran ahead and blocked their path. When he saw Francis, he froze.
His gaze dropped to Francis's arm around Elissa's waist.
"Your boyfriend is... Mr. Peterson?" he asked.
Elissa stood on tiptoe and kissed Francis's cheek. "Like I said, my boyfriend is a thousand times better than you."
Ivan's expression soured. "How could he possibly..."
He suddenly recalled rumors in their social circle about Francis having feelings for someone without proper background—someone the Peterson family wouldn't accept.
He hadn't paid attention to those rumors since arranged marriages were common in their circles, as his own experience proved.
But he never imagined it would be Elissa.
Francis didn't say a word, simply walking away with Elissa.
Ivan stared at Elissa's retreating figure, deep in thought.
When Elissa returned, she saw blood on Finn's lip and asked, "Should we go to the hospital?"
Finn waved dismissively. "It's just a scratch. Some ointment will do. Where's that lunatic?"
Elissa pointed behind her.
Finn suggested, "Since he's gone, let's continue with our porridge before it gets cold."
Sensing the coldness radiating from Francis beside her, Elissa tactfully replied, "Finn, I'll take it back with me."
Finn nodded. "That works. It's already packed up. I won't see you off—I'll head home directly. I'll have someone take you."
Francis finally spoke, "Thanks."
"No, no—I should be thanking you," Finn shook his head. "I need to sign up for Taekwondo classes. How else will I protect my future wife?"
Hayden was assigned to take Finn home, while Felix—who had lost at rock-paper-scissors—was tasked with driving Elissa and Francis.
Felix felt unlucky, always being the one driving during tense situations.
"Don't worry, Francis won't be angry with Elissa," Jerry reassured Hope when he noticed her watching the departing car.
Hope shook her head. "That's not what concerns me."
Jerry placed the porridge in the front seat and opened the back door for her.
"What are you thinking about, then?" he asked.
Hope replied, "I just can't understand how, in such a huge city, we'd coincidentally run into Ivan."
Jerry smiled slightly. "If Francis wants to know, he'll find a way."
The air in the car was heavy with tension.
Normally straightforward, Elissa found herself hesitating to speak.
Felix, learning from experience, had already lowered the partition.
Yet somehow the air still felt suffocating.
"What are you looking at?" Francis leaned back against the seat, legs casually crossed, half his face in shadow.
Elissa could only see the cold, sharp line of his jaw.
He pressed on, "Do you need to think so hard before speaking to me?"
"Not really..." Elissa moved closer to him, finally seeing his entire face—cold and distant, as if it were carved from ice.
She took his hand and said, "Please don't go after Ivan."
The atmosphere grew even more oppressive. Even Felix, separated by the partition, could feel the tension.
Felix figured only Elissa could pull this off with Francis.
"Explain," Francis finally spoke, his lips barely moving, his voice ice-cold.
Elissa said, "I never ran into an ex in Maple Valley, but here in Seaside City—a massive place—we happen to meet while getting porridge? The odds are lower than winning the lottery. It doesn't make sense. My instinct tells me that going after Ivan directly would be falling into a trap."
The coldness around Francis remained, but his expression softened slightly.
He remarked cryptically, "Perhaps you two are destined to meet."
Elissa frowned.
Francis gripped her chin, his gaze intense. "Why didn't you introduce me as your fiancé earlier?"
Elissa swatted his hand away and glared at him as if to say, "Are you crazy?"
Francis's lips curved slightly as he put his arm around her. "You still haven't answered my question."
Elissa sighed, exasperated. "You were my boyfriend, wasn't that enough? Why insist on 'fiancé'?"
She added, "What's the difference? He understood our relationship either way."
Francis disagreed. "A boyfriend might just be an ex tomorrow, but a fiancé means marriage—a much more serious commitment that would make him think twice."
Elissa waved her hand, the diamond catching the light. "My ring is huge and obvious, but he didn't even notice it. Even if I'd called you my fiancé, he wouldn't have believed it. He left me because of family pressure to marry someone else, so he'd just think I was joking."
Francis caught the key point. "He broke up with you?"
Elissa realized what an unfortunate evening this had become—running into her ex and now discussing him with her current partner.
But having come this far, she needed to be clear.
She explained, "I initiated it. When he arranged his marriage, he didn't plan to tell me. He probably wanted both women. When I found out, I broke it off."
Francis seemed satisfied and returned to their earlier topic.
He said, "Your encounter with him definitely wasn't coincidental."
Francis then tapped on the partition, and Felix pulled over.
"Where are you going?" Elissa asked as Francis prepared to exit the car.
"Just buying something. Stay here—I'll be quick."
Looking through the window, Elissa saw only a convenience store and a pharmacy nearby.
Francis entered the pharmacy and returned shortly.
Back in the car, he took her hand, and only then did she notice the red marks circling both her wrists.
While applying ointment, Francis said, "You should learn Taekwondo too."
As Elissa was about to respond, he added, "If you don't want to pay for classes, just call me 'teacher' and I'll give you private lessons."
Elissa rolled her eyes. "You were just trying to get information about my history with Ivan, weren't you?"
Francis didn't answer.
After finishing with the ointment, he put everything into a plastic bag and hung it on the front seat.
The car continued toward the hotel.
Elissa poked his cheek. "If you wanted to know about this, you could have investigated when we first met. Why ask in such a roundabout way?"
Francis gave her a flat look.
Confused, Elissa pressed, "Just say what's on your mind."
Francis remained silent for the rest of the journey.
Elissa found it puzzling—everyone has exes.
They'd broken up, so why dwell on it?
So she too remained quiet.
They entered the elevator and reached their room in silence.
Francis placed the porridge on the dining table. Elissa pulled out a chair, sat down, and opened the packaging to eat.
Finally, Francis spoke, "When I came to you, I had no baggage from past relationships. But you didn't value that. Instead, you wasted your time on that guy who couldn't even decide between two women."
Elissa had forgotten.
Francis had no ex-girlfriends.
But he did have his own history.
She retorted, "What's wrong with the way I approach dating? Unlike some people who claim they don't have a girlfriend but still treat women like they're in a relationship."
This round ended in a draw.
Elissa took a spoonful of porridge.
She'd wondered how good it could possibly be, and was genuinely amazed by the taste.
She immediately wanted to share this with Hope and ask Finn why it tasted so unique.
Just as she reached for her phone, Francis took it away.
"What now? Still want to argue?" she said.
Francis placed her phone at the edge of the table and sat beside her. "Wanting to ask about the porridge?"
Elissa's gaze turned mischievous. "You know me so well. You must be head over heels for me."
"Haven't I made it obvious enough?"
Elissa was speechless. She didn't want to continue this topic.
Instead, she asked, "Why does this porridge taste so different from what we get in Maple Valley?"
"Different rice."
Elissa looked carefully but couldn't see any difference.
"Organic rice."
Elissa stirred it. "Is everything organic here?"
"Yes, there's a large organic farming base nearby—a demonstration area."
Francis held her wrist, avoiding the injured areas, and ate a spoonful of porridge she had scooped up.
He offered a halfhearted review, "It's good."
Elissa put down the spoon and pushed the porridge toward him.
Then she opened the other portion.
Knowing he wouldn't eat much at the business dinner, she had specifically ordered an extra portion.
If they hadn't run into Ivan, she would have finished her meal and then gotten one to go for him.
Francis suddenly said, "Do you mind using the same spoon as me?"
Her hand paused, then she nodded.
Francis smiled, cupped the back of her head, and kissed her.
After a long moment, he pressed his forehead against hers and asked, "Still mind?"
Elissa pushed him away. "Get off. You're annoying."
Francis's lips turned down slightly. "So you see your ex and suddenly I'm annoying?"
"I just remembered something," Elissa said with sudden seriousness. "You're over thirty—it's normal to start showing signs of premature aging."
Francis didn't immediately grasp what she meant by "premature aging."
Her comment seemed out of context.
But judging from her expression, he figured it out.
After a quick search on his phone, he laughed coldly. "It seems my physical efforts these past few days haven't fully convinced you."
Elissa's momentary defiance earned her a night of "suffering."
Fortunately, she had nothing scheduled the next day, so she could stay in bed.
On his way to an early meeting, Francis listened as Hayden reported what they'd found.
"Near the restaurant Mrs. Peterson visited, there's a school. Many wealthy men stop by at night, parking their luxury cars. Last night, that girl bumped into Ivan. They had no prior connection—it seems coincidental."
"But that girl has had contact with one of Aiden's subordinates. Her approaching Ivan and going to that restaurant was likely intended to engineer a meeting with Mrs. Peterson," he added.
Felix, taking a bite of his burger, listened to Hayden's report.
The term "Mrs. Peterson" made him frown.
He mentally cursed Hayden for not warning him about the change in how they should address Elissa.
Luckily, yesterday's situation hadn't allowed him to speak, or he might have called her "Ms. Wilson" and faced Francis's wrath.
"What's strange is that Aiden didn't try to hide this. It's almost as if he wanted us to discover it," Hayden continued.
Francis tossed the file he was holding and frowned.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
