This turned out to be the best way to sleep. Anastasia immediately began to feel drowsy, and when Elliot heard her even breaths, his heart settled down as well.
That night, they fell asleep in each other’s arms and felt a kind of peace they never felt before.
The next morning.
As soon as Anastasia opened her eyes, she saw a pair of beguiling eyes, the owner of which was staring at her for who knew how long. She instantly turned red and buried her head into his arms, sticking close to him as she said petulantly, “Stop staring at how ugly I look right now.”
Elliot chuckled in amusement. “Who are you calling ugly? I’ve been staring for one hour and I didn’t see any trace of ugliness.”
Anastasia flushed a deeper shade of red. He’s been staring at me for one whole hour? Oh dear.
“Not ugly at all. On the contrary, you’re gorgeous,” Elliot announced soothingly as he held her in his arms.
Anastasia laughed and looked up at him with feigned dissatisfaction. The morning rays shone in through the window to illuminate the man who was lying on his side. His fair skin gleamed in the sun, and his features came to life. He was the image of perfection with his sharp brows, deep eyes, tall nose, and luscious lips. It was almost as if he were a masterpiece sculpted by the best artist in the world.
She was positively drowning from how enthralling he was. This made her despise Hayley even more for taking her place and being the one who possessed such a gentle and caring man for so long. The more she thought about it, the more disgruntled she became.
The first time she had met him, it was after her fight with Hayley, and he had lovingly carried Hayley away in his arms. All of a sudden, she sat straight up in bed and growled, “I want to see Hayley right now and let her know the horrors she’ll be facing in her very near future.”
Elliot pulled her back down. “I’ll drive you over after breakfast.”
“Fine, but I want to confront her myself.” Anastasia could not wait to see the look on Hayley’s face.
As soon as they finished breakfast, they heard from Harriet who was eagerly waiting to spend the day with Jared. She would leap at the opportunity to keep Jared by her side forever.
Elliot first made a stop at Presgrave Residence to drop Jared off before driving Anastasia to the detention center.
Anastasia had gotten all dressed up for the occasion. She never cared about her appearance in the past, but she felt the need to look immaculate when she met Hayley.
When Hayley heard that someone had come to the detention center to see her, she felt a mix of joy and surprise. She assumed that it was her parents since they were the only ones who would come and see her now.
However, when she saw the person walking in through the door, her expression darkened at once. Was Anastasia here to mock her?
“Why did you come here?” Hayley loathed Anastasia with every fiber of her being.
Anastasia leisurely pulled out a chair and sat down. She dazzled like a diamond with her poise and refined aura. Her makeup brought out the best in her features, while her tan coat, white lace dress, and elegant jewelry all added to her captivating looks.
“Hayley, do you know how much I hate you?” Anastasia’s fists were tightly clenched. If this was not a detention center, she would have slapped Hayley across both cheeks.
“Hahaha! You hate me? What gives you the right to hate me?” Hayley sneered. Despite her downfall, she was unwilling to be the brunt of Anastasia’s mockery.
“I found out about the secret you mentioned last time,” Anastasia declared
with slightly raised brows.
Hayley felt a jolt down her spine. She shook her head vehemently. “That’s impossible. There’s no way you’d find out about this. You don’t even know what I was referring to. You’re just trying to fool me.”
“Jared is Elliot’s son. Five years ago, the person I slept with that night wasn’t the man you arranged, but Elliot instead. Am I right?” Anastasia retorted coolly.
Hayley’s heart dropped and her eyes widened in shock. “How did you know? Who told you? Who?!”
“It was a sign from heaven. I realized the truth about that night right as Elliot and I got engaged. As for you, just sit tight and wait to face the music in court! You’re going to spend your life in prison for swindling 750,000 from me and 4.5 million from Elliot!” Anastasia talked. about it like she was just describing the weather, but to Hayley, she was confronted with the knowledge that she would be spending the rest of her life behind bars.
Hayley felt like she had been struck by lightning. She took a deep breath and grabbed the metal grills in front of her. “Anastasia, Anastasia, we’ve been good friends since we were kids, right? Don’t treat me like this. Save me! Don’t make me spend the rest of my life in prison. Anastasia… I know I made a mistake. I know what I did was wrong. Please…”
