Chapter 50 The Controller

Elijah froze upon hearing the words.

Did he fall in love with Yvonne?

That's ridiculous!

Yvonne had never been his type. Admitting that he had any feelings for her was simply a result of his possessiveness, unrelated to love.

Seeing Elijah's silence, Ryan continued, "So I was right? If you like her, don't hide it! If I had known about your intentions earlier, I wouldn't have agreed to work with her! Now that my dad's money is about to transfer, you're ruining everything!"

"I will speak to uncle on your behalf and try to salvage your financial losses. You and Yvonne are done." Elijah's tone was forceful with no room for negotiation.

"Well, if you say so, what else can I do?" Ryan helplessly hung up the phone.

Elijah got up to pack his briefcase, preparing to leave work.

His secretary knocked on the door, reminding him of a reception at the exhibition center at 8 p.m. tonight.

"Send a vice president instead," Elijah curtly declined.

In the business world, it was the actual money that mattered, not the number of social engagements one attended. This was also Charles's style over the years.

Being criticized, yet standing atop the Winslow commercial district's pyramid of admiration due to its strong economic power.

A cocktail party would last at least two or three hours, which was enough time for Elijah to finish reading a few hundred pages of files and reviewing all the major and minor affairs of the Harper Group.

In truth, these were not the most important things. Just the thought of the woman waiting for him to have dinner in Rhode Hills gave him a feeling of longing, just like years ago.

Back then, he attended the best private boarding high school in Winslow. Every Friday, he couldn't sit still because his grandmother and Shirley would be waiting for him at the old house, preparing a table full of his favorite dishes each time.

The three of them would sit around the dining table, eating and chatting, and the dinner would always take two hours.

The cold dishes would be taken downstairs by the nanny to be reheated and brought back up again.

That tranquil well-being eventually came to an end with Shirley's early passing.

What he may be missing now is perhaps not those meals, but the warmth of having loved ones to rely on.

For some reason, Yvonne gave him a sense of familiarity.

Returning to Rhode Hills, he pushed the door open and saw the table set with the four planned dishes and a pot of freshly brewed hot fruit tea.

The empty room suddenly felt alive.

"Back already?" Yvonne's voice came from the bedroom by the entrance.

"I'm back." His mood inexplicably improved. While taking off his coat, he walked to the bedroom door and saw Yvonne taking clothes out of the suitcase.

"The food hasn't cooled down, right? Do you need me to heat it up again?" He filled the silence with small talk.

"I don't think so. It was just delivered less than five minutes ago." Yvonne glanced up at him, as if she had something to say.

After waiting for a moment, Yvonne urged him, "Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."

He went to the washroom.

Once the two of them sat in the dining room, Yvonne arranged the bowls and cutlery before suddenly saying, "I went to the Winston family after work."

"Still planning to continue the act?" Elijah's expression immediately turned serious.

Yvonne shook her head. "Mrs. Winston has been too good to me. I can't deceive her anymore, so I confessed."

"It should have happened earlier." Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. "Your charade with Ryan was bound to be exposed sooner or later. Ending it earlier would have caused less harm to the Winston couple."

"Elijah, because of your words, I lost six hundred thousand dollars!" Yvonne still felt discontented. "You have to compensate me for that money."

"I won't touch ill-gotten gains. Don't even think about it." Elijah directly shut down her thoughts.

Yvonne wasn't angry either and smiled as she picked up some food for him. "RD has already released all the entries for the competition, and my work has a good position."

"Don't think I can intervene in this matter. Whether you can win or not depends on your own abilities." Elijah wasn't moved by her flattery. "In the domestic competition zone, it's only you and Grace participating. I heard Edward wants Grace to establish herself firmly in the design industry, so this time he spent a lot of effort."

This is exactly what Yvonne was worried about.

Even if she lost based on ability, she would still have no regrets. But if Grace played dirty tricks behind her back, she wouldn't accept it.

Honestly, Elijah could have help her with this. It would be beneficial for her in the subsequent competitions. But the way he said it was so heartless that she couldn't bring herself to ask for his help.

"I never intended for you to help!" Yvonne countered him, going against her conscience.

She calmed herself down, smiled, and added, "Of course, I also don't rule out the possibility that Mr. Harper will compensate me through other means for my loss of six hundred thousand dollars."

"We'll not talk about the matter of six hundred thousand dollars from now on. I forbid you to mention it again." Elijah had a good appetite tonight; he had finished one bowl of rice and was still not satisfied.

"I'm full." Yvonne was filled with anger. She had eaten less than a third of the rice in her bowl.

"I need to work overtime later to review a case. Could you take care of the dishes?" Elijah called out to Yvonne, who was about to leave the table.

"Sorry, I have to work overtime to draw a blueprint. I won't be able to wash the dishes," Yvonne replied.

"Then, perhaps you could wash them after you're done with your drawing." Elijah went on to serve himself another bowl of rice.

Yvonne didn't respond and returned to her bedroom by the entrance.

"In the future, we'll sleep in the master bedroom." Elijah's voice sounded from behind her.

She froze, turned around, and stared at Elijah in disbelief. "There's no need to sleep in the same bed after we're done, right?"

"I believe there is a need." Elijah's voice grew deeper.

Yvonne nodded helplessly. "Whatever you say, I have no right to question or refute."

Elijah's eyes pained as he watched Yvonne's desolate figure walking into the bedroom.

Deep down, he knew that as long as he was a bit gentler toward Yvonne, she would be as obedient as a kitten. He also wanted to consider her feelings, but he felt that if he didn't assert his dominance and suppress her, he couldn't control this relationship.

He would decide when it started.

He would decide when it ended.

If he indulged and pampered Yvonne too much, he feared his own feelings would completely spiral out of control.

With Yvonne around, Elijah didn't have the mood to work overtime. He cleaned up the dining table and washed the dishes before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. Then, he symbolically knocked on Yvonne's half-open bedroom door.

"What do you want?" Yvonne spoke with obvious annoyance.

He pushed the door open and walked in, staring at Yvonne lying on the bed and playing with her phone. His Adam's apple bobbed. "Let's go to sleep."

Yvonne's face instantly turned red.

Coming from Elijah's mouth, such straightforward words had a profound impact on Yvonne.

He had said many explicit things to her, but they were always in the heat of the moment, during their intimate moments.

Now, without any foreplay, he was being so direct that she thought she had misheard him!

Before she could turn around, she was pushed against the bed by Elijah.

His intense kiss left her defenseless. She couldn't resist his advances, but she still had her senses intact.

"Please use a condom," she urged.

"I've calculated it, you're in the last two days of the safe period." He confidently refused.

She had never calculated anything about the safe period.

In her eyes, Elijah had always been cautious and reliable, so if he said it was safe, then it must be safe!

Indulging in the pleasures of love was intoxicating.

Afterward, Elijah went to the study to do some overtime work.

Lying on the bed, Yvonne couldn't help but feel like she was just a tool for Elijah's release.

Since they met, the most communication they had was on the bed, and there were rarely calm and peaceful conversations.

She started complaining to herself again, realizing that she was overthinking things. Being Elijah's bed partner was enough, and having a conversation was just a waste of time!

"We're out of A4 paper. I'll go buy some from the supermarket nearby." Elijah's voice came from the living room.

Yvonne glanced at the time on her phone, it was only 8:30 PM.

"Wait for me! I don't feel well in my stomach, I'll take a walk outside." Since she couldn't sleep anyway, she quickly got out of bed and got dressed.

"Don't go for a walk so late at night, let's walk to the supermarket together." Elijah placed the car keys he had just picked up back where they belonged.

"Sure." Yvonne walked out of Rhode Hills with him.

As they entered the supermarket, they bumped into Grace and Edward.

Grace was pushing Edward in a wheelchair, and they looked very affectionate.

Yvonne had no desire to greet them, and Elijah pretended not to see them, but Edward called out with a smile, "Mr. Harper, what a coincidence!"

"Indeed." Elijah nodded and made a gesture to indicate he would walk ahead.

"Mr. Harper, I've tried to invite you several times, but your assistant always blocked me. When would you have time to have a drink and chat?" Edward said while glancing at Yvonne, who was standing next to Elijah.

Yvonne and Grace stared at each other, obvious to anyone that they were at odds.

"I'm swamped this month, how about next month?" Elijah had no intention to continue the conversation with him, so he walked toward the stationery section.

Yvonne followed closely.

Grace stared hatefully at their retreating figures, muttering under her breath, "Bitch."

Edward observed this scene with interest.

After pondering for a moment, he quietly said, "Grace, RD Events won't give awards to works from the same district. If Elijah helps Yvonne, we're bound to lose."

"Edward, how can we make a man truly disgusted by a woman?" Jealousy blazed in Grace's eyes.

Edward smirked sinisterly, "Elijah has always been aloof when it comes to love affairs. He definitely won't tolerate any impure thoughts from the woman he loves. The best way to drive a wedge between him and Yvonne is to frame her and make him sickened by her."

"I think I already know who to ask for help," Grace murmured with a determined smile on her lips.

"We have to move fast on this. The competition results will be announced next month."

"Thank you, Edward," Grace said, bending down to give Edward a kiss on the cheek.

Elijah and Yvonne finished their shopping at the supermarket. Elijah only grabbed a few packs of A4 paper, while Yvonne chose a bunch of snacks.

During check out, Elijah threw them out, saying, "Eating too much junk food will lower your IQ. Since your IQ is already low, it's better not to eat them."

"Stop worrying about it. It's my IQ that's affected, not yours, Mr. High IQ!" Yvonne put them back in the shopping cart.

On their way back to Rhode Hills, Elijah carried two big shopping bags in front, while Yvonne happily munched on a bag of potato chips in the back seat.

Elijah never ate in public and detested others behaving that way.

He turned around and glanced at Yvonne several times, wanting to scold her, but in the end, he held back because he was enjoying the peaceful times with Yvonne too much now.

He realized that if he didn't demand too much, his happiness would increase.

When they arrived home, Elijah went to his study, and Yvonne took a shower before going back to the master bedroom, where she spent some time on her phone before falling asleep.

In her drowsiness, a piercing phone call disrupted her tranquility.

She reached for the phone on the bedside table. Elijah was probably still busy working in his study.

The phone screen showed an unknown landline number ending in 911. When she answered, a man's urgent voice came through.

"Are you George's family member?"

Yvonne had a bad feeling and sat up immediately. "I am—"

"George had a heart attack. He's currently in critical condition at the city hospital and needs surgery. Please come and sign some documents!" The other end was filled with noise.

Yvonne urgently asked, "What about George's wife and daughter?"

Those two were the closest people to George, and he had already severed his relationship with Yvonne unilaterally.

"We have already contacted them. They both claim not to be the patient's family and refuse to come to the hospital. Your phone number was provided by them—"