Chapter 454 How Are You Talking to Me?
Elissa noticed Anne had gone silent, staring at the report for what felt like forever, like she was frozen in place.
Her expression tightened, and her eyes started to redden.
But she didn't seem overly emotional.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell from her reaction what the result was.
Elissa walked over.
Francis, worried, followed closely behind Elissa, ready to step in if anything went wrong.
"Anne..."
Anne suddenly hugged Elissa tightly.
She kept murmuring, "It's so good, it's really so good..."
Elissa didn't need to see the result; Anne's reaction told her everything she needed to know.
"As long as it's good."
She hugged Anne tightly.
The scenario Francis had imagined didn't happen.
He stood to the side, feeling like an outsider.
Willard pulled him out of the room, letting the two women have their moment.
Francis, still worried, watched through the small window.
Willard mocked him, "Man, you're worse than your wife. A little trouble and you freak out, huh?"
Francis retorted, "How dare you talk to me like that? ren't you afraid I'll badmouth you? You better think twice. My wife has always disliked you. Now that she's Anne's sister, do you think she'll go easy on you?"
Willard understood, but even if he didn't say anything, it would be hard to change Elissa's impression of him.
He might as well take a different approach.
"Elissa can't control everything. But if she wants justice, I'll be there. Just don't ask me to give up on Anne; I can't do that."
Anne and Elissa didn't have much to say.
They hugged for a while, letting the excitement and surprise dissipate.
What remained was pure joy.
They had always considered each other as sisters in their hearts.
So, Elissa took Anne's hand and left the room, ready to confront Willard.
As soon as they opened the door a crack, they heard Willard speaking openly.
He seemed unaware of their presence and continued talking.
"I know I've wronged Anne and shouldn't have been so persistent, but without her, I would truly die."
Elissa smirked sarcastically.
She spoke to Anne without lowering her voice, "He's pretending not to see us."
Willard was speechless.
Anne didn't even glance at Willard. "Elissa, this is a good thing. We should celebrate. I'll treat, and Francis can join us."
Seeing how happy Elissa was to be reunited with Anne, Francis promptly transferred money to Anne, as it was Anne who made Elissa so happy.
He had saved her once and left his Facebook contact. If he hadn't later found out she was Willard's wife in name, he might have deleted it.
Unexpectedly, keeping it turned out to be useful.
Apart from Anne expressing her gratitude, their chat history was empty.
Francis transferred a million dollars to Anne, an amount that made her smile brightly.
"Thank you, Francis!"
Francis waved his hand, "As long as you and Elissa are happy."
He only cared about Elissa's happiness; spending some money was nothing.
He had plenty.
Willard was completely sidelined.
Anne linked arms with Elissa, and Elissa linked arms with Francis.
The three of them walked away happily.
No one paid attention to him.
They all ignored him.
Especially Francis, who was truly a friend who forgot his buddies for a girl.
For Elissa, he wouldn't say a single good word about Willard.
Willard shamelessly chased after them.
Anne had found her sister today and didn't want to argue.
But she didn't want Willard following them and ruining her appetite.
"Willard, calling the cops on you for stalking wouldn't look good."
Willard wanted to say he was following Francis, but Anne anticipated it. "Francis, are you taking him with us?"
Francis definitely wouldn't.
Without hesitation, he replied firmly, "No."
Elissa chimed in, "Mr. Larson, you should know when to back off."
Willard certainly did.
But if he left now, he wouldn't have any future opportunities.
After a few seconds, he calmly said, "I'm Anne's assistant. Isn't it my job to follow her?"
Anne immediately responded, "I'm firing you."
"Why?" Willard asked seriously, "Tell me my work-related issues. I don't accept being fired without reason."
Anne had no reason; she just regretted hiring him.
"You damaged my camera."
"Which one?"
Anne regretted deeply, "You didn't do what an assistant should."
"For example?"
"For example, I'm the boss. I told you not to follow me and stay in the studio, but you didn't follow my instructions. I can't afford such an employee."
Anne found a good reason and stood tall.
"So, you're fired!"
Elissa wanted to help say a few words, but seeing Anne's confident stance, she smiled indulgently.
Francis noticed her expression and his eyes darkened slightly.
With a new sister, Elissa's attention on him would surely decrease.
He originally planned to side with Anne.
As for friends, he could always make new ones.
Elissa's anger was deadly.
Now, his thoughts had changed slightly.
He needed to think carefully about how to proceed.
Willard quickly glanced at Francis.
After all these years, he could guess some of Francis's thoughts.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Ms. Waverly, as a leader, you should separate emotions from work. How can you work well with personal feelings involved?"
Anne had learned from his experience.
"It's my studio, I'm the boss, and I do as I please. If I don't even have the right to fire an assistant, I might as well go work for someone else."
"Fine."
"What?"
Willard replied calmly, "If you go work for someone else, I'll follow you."
Anne couldn't take it anymore, "Willard! How can you be so shameless now!"
Willard used to handle things differently.
He messed up and shamelessly tried to fix it, risking never having a wife.
Dignity was less important than Anne now.
"Anne, we've known each other for years. I made mistakes, but my past kindness to you was genuine. I'm not saying this to convince you or to use my past kindness to pressure you. I just want you to consider our history and stop pushing me away. If we can't be a couple, do we have to never speak again?"
What else did he want?
Anne wanted nothing more than to never speak to Willard again.
She had truly loved him, given her heart selflessly, only to be shattered.
She couldn't even be a casual acquaintance with him, let alone rekindle their past relationship.
"Willard, nothing you say matters—I don't even want to see you, much less breathe the same air as you."
Willard's tall frame shook violently.
His lips pressed into a cold, straight line.
Some emotions were hard to suppress.
His body reacted faster than his mind, and he grabbed her wrist.
"Anne... don't push me."
Elissa had wanted to confront Willard earlier, but Anne was so happy about inviting her to dinner that she decided to let it go for now.
After all, settling scores with Willard wasn't something that could be done quickly.
But he just had to make her angry.
"So you just want to maintain some kind of relationship with Anne, huh?"
Willard's thoughts were deep, a side effect of his years in high positions.
No matter what anyone said, he couldn't just take their words at face value.
Especially since Elissa never showed him a friendly face; there was no way she would say anything to please him.
This statement was probably going to cause trouble. But he couldn't avoid stepping into it.
Elissa smirked. "For Anne's sake, I have an idea."
Seeing Elissa's expression, Willard knew this idea was definitely aimed at him.
But he couldn't do anything to Elissa.
If he tried to trick Elissa, Francis would definitely join the fight.
Better to let it go.
He sighed. "Please, go ahead."
Elissa was practically bubbling with mischief. "There's no time like the present. Since today is a good day for us to reunite, let's add another celebration and double the happiness."
She patted Anne's shoulder. "Call him uncle. From now on, he's your uncle."
Anne didn't hesitate; she did whatever Elissa said.
"Uncle!"
Willard was speechless.
The idea was hers, but Elissa bit her lip hard to keep from laughing out loud.
"Mr. Larson, I should call you uncle too, out of respect for your age. So from now on, Anne and I have a uncle."
Willard was speechless.
Elissa continued, "Please remember, relatives can't get married."
She hinted, "You know, some relationships can't be forced."
Willard looked at Francis.
Elissa's words clearly indicated she knew about the fake divorce certificate, but he had only told Francis about it.
Francis didn't meet his gaze.
He held Elissa's hand, his voice gentle, "You're tired, let's get in the car and talk slowly at the restaurant."
Elissa pulled Anne into the car, not caring what plans Francis might discuss with Willard.
If Francis hid anything from her that upset Anne, she would definitely punish him.
"Give me your divorce certificate, I want to verify it."
Anne took it out of her bag and handed it to Elissa. "You don't believe the divorce certificate is real either?"
Elissa nodded. "Without you, he becomes irritable and paranoid. So how could he calmly divorce you?"
She added, "You just said something harsh earlier, and he couldn't handle it. How could he calmly divorce you and completely lose you?"
Anne nodded, "Elissa, your analysis is spot on!"
Elissa instructed her, "You need to force him to admit that the divorce was fake and make him actually divorce you for real."
Anne replied, "I'll do whatever you say."
The atmosphere in the car following them was not as pleasant.
If space weren't limited, Willard would have wanted to punch Francis.
In the end, he only managed to punch him in the shoulder.
"I trusted you so much!" Willard accused, "Just because you love your wife, you turned around and betrayed me? If you had waited one day to tell, I wouldn't be this angry."
Francis brushed off nonexistent dust from his shoulder, "You think Anne was fooled by you? Wishful thinking, making a fake one."
Willard's reaction was odd. "Did I ever say the divorce was fake?"
Francis rarely showed confusion. "Didn't you tell me that if Anne came to Elissa to verify the divorce certificate, I should help you and say the certificate was real..."
He paused, suddenly understanding.
But he couldn't show any amusement.
He looked Willard up and down. "You didn't make a fake one, did you?"
Willard didn't respond.
Francis frowned. "You really divorced, and you didn't have a breakdown?"
"I did."
"Then why?"
Willard straightened his back against the seat, his face hidden in the darkness.
Occasional light and shadow illuminated him briefly, but as his voice sounded, attention shifted, and his expression remained unseen.
"I don't want her to be afraid of me. I want to get better and love her wholeheartedly, so I divorced her."
Francis felt a wave of emotion.
Before meeting Elissa, he had been close to Willard.
He hadn't intervened much, partly because of Elissa, and partly because meddling in emotional matters often made things worse.
Francis looked out the window, calculating the time to the restaurant.
After a long silence, he spoke up, his voice deep, "It's not completely hopeless. I have an idea, but I can't guarantee it will work. Want to hear it?"
Willard didn't answer.
He remained silent until they reached the restaurant.
He didn't get out of the car.
Francis walked up to Elissa, who asked, "Did Willard leave?"
"He has something to do, so he's leaving."
"Is he trying to avoid us?"
Francis patted her head, "He had a breakdown earlier and didn't want to scare Anne, so he's going for treatment."
Elissa said nothing, pulling Anne into the restaurant.
While ordering, Francis suddenly spoke, "Mental illness is different from physical illness. You can't just quickly cure it with injections and medication. Willard's doctor said he needs to address the root cause if he wants to fully recover. Otherwise, there's a risk of him harming himself."
Anne's hand froze while ordering.
Elissa glared at Francis, a clear warning.
Francis took a sip of water.
He had said enough for now.
While waiting for the food, Elissa contacted Hope.
She wanted to bypass Francis to verify the divorce certificate.
She used a secret language she and Hope shared, telling Hope not to let Jerry know.
Hope could keep it secret, but if Jerry wanted to investigate, he could do it in no time.
Hope messaged: [I'll contact someone trustworthy.]
Elissa replied: [No need, I've already reached out.]
Hope asked: [Who?]
Elissa said: [The black market.]
Only the black market could bypass Francis, Jerry, and Willard.
Although they would quickly catch on, it would be enough to verify the divorce certificate's authenticity.
Hope was worried. She texted: [You're pregnant, you can't go to the black market. I'll find a way.]
Elissa: [No, they have power and influence. They can fake anything with a word. I can't risk Anne. The black market is safer.]
Hope: [Then I'll go to the black market. You stay put.]
Elissa was well taken care of at home.
But life had become too dull.
She felt restless and wanted some excitement while ensuring the baby's safety.
Elissa: [Hope, please. Let me be with you.]
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
