Chapter 359 Tell Me What You Know
“I just want to let you know that I will never give up on my feelings for Elliot,” Aliona said. She was here for no other reason than to try and get on Anastasia’s nerves after her own bitter resentment overwhelmed her. “For the rest of your life, you’ll have me as competition,” she added confidently. “I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before President Presgrave notices me and falls for me.”
Anastasia, however, was neither impressed nor intimidated. “Your non-achievements do not interest me, so take your gloating elsewhere,” she pointed out sarcastically.
Contempt flashed in Aliona’s eyes as she snorted and said haughtily, “We’ll see who the real winner will be!” Now that Father’s already plotting her demise, Elliot will be mine sooner or later once we get rid of her!
Anastasia, on the other hand, was admittedly affected by what Aliona said even though the latter had already left. It seemed as if Elliot constantly had a barrage of women who would not hesitate to seize even the slightest of chances to get close to him.
When noon rolled around, Anastasia made up her mind to invite Elliot out for a meal as an apology for what happened last night. If it hadn’t been for her overreaction, things might not have ended on such a tense note, and the night would have been perfectly wrapped up.
She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed Elliot’s extension. When he did not pick up, the call was automatically transferred to his assistant’s line.
“Hello, this is the president’s office,” the assistant greeted courteously.
“Hi, Lily. Is President Presgrave in at the moment?”
“Oh, Miss Tillman! It seems President Presgrave has already left for a lunch appointment.”
“I see. Alright, thanks.”
Anastasia hung up and sighed in frustration. Then, she asked Felicia to join her for lunch instead.
Meanwhile, Erica was on cloud nine as she made her way over to the restaurant. She checked herself in the mirror constantly just to make sure that she looked as flawless as she did when she left the house. In fact, the tiniest smudge of her make-up would set her off at this point.
She had to present her flawless side to Elliot today. She reckoned that something about her must have caught his eye, which explained why he would ask her out for lunch out of the blue. The thought of this gave her a rush. If things went well, she might even surpass Hayley and Anastasia to become Elliot’s new object of affection.
In every woman, there was buried confidence that would not dim under any circumstance.
Presently, Rey was waiting outside the restaurant for Erica, and when he registered her arrival, he led her up the stairs to the main dining atrium.
She was brought to a private dining room in which Elliot was already seated and waiting for her. Erica swallowed and felt her palms grow sweaty. At the same time, she nervously flipped her hair over her shoulder as she appraised the man shyly. After taking her seat, she asked, “Young Master Elliot, may I know why you’ve asked to see me today?”
Rey left to give them some privacy, and as soon as the door fell shut, Elliot slid a bank card across the table and said to her, “Miss Erica, there’s a million in this card. All you need to do is answer my questions, and the money’s yours.”
Erica was stunned as she gaped at the card in front of her. A million was a tempting offer, and she blinked to snap out of her reverie. “What do you want to know, Young Master Elliot?”
“You have to promise to answer all my questions honestly,” he said as he eyed her somberly.
Disappointment surged through her at that moment. Have I read too much into the lunch invitation? Did he not ask me to join him for a meal because he likes me? However, when she glanced at the bank card, the thought of having a million in her pocket comforted her. After all, it was enough to last her for a while. She nodded and said, “Fire away, Young Master Elliot.”
He gazed at her darkly and asked, “First question—do you know the name of the man who assaulted Anastasia five years ago?”
Erica’s heart leaped to her throat. As it turned out, Elliot was only here because he wanted to know about Anastasia’s past. In a snide tone, she countered, “Why don’t you ask my sister? I’m sure she knows more than anyone else the details of that particular night.”
“If you have no plans of giving me the answers I want, then I won’t waste your time anymore,” Elliot said, not wanting to stay here and listen to someone speak ill of Anastasia.
He reached out to take back the card, but that was when Erica panicked and cried out, “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, Young Master Elliot.”
He paused and took his hand off the card. Money was the key to getting someone as greedy as Erica to open up. “I want you to tell me everything you know about what happened that night,” he ordered. He knew that she would not give up on the bank card.
While Erica knew that the incident at Abyss Club had been planned and set up by Hayley, it didn’t change the fact that she was an accomplice. There was no way that she could deny her involvement in the whole thing, so after a moment of thought, she said, “On the night of the incident, Hayley and I were hanging out at the club, but that was when one of our male co-workers decided to make a move on her. She called my sister out of panic to have her pick us up, but we waited for long enough to think she wasn’t coming at all. Just as we were leaving, however, Anastasia suddenly ran out of the club with her clothes disheveled, and that was how we found out she had been assaulted.”
