“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Elisa quickly pulled out a tissue to dab at Holden. “Mr. Holden, are you okay?”
Before she could even touch him, Butler Ted grabbed her wrist firmly.
It had been his mistake not to notice Elisa’s scheming earlier, but now that he was onto her, there was no way he was going to let her get close to Holden again.
Elisa winced in pain, tears welling in her eyes as she gasped, “Let me go…”
Ted glanced at Holden for direction.
Holden calmly wiped the spilled wine from his clothes and said, “Let her go.”
Elisa bit her lip. “I ruined your suit, and I’ll definitely pay for it! Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can just let it go without holding me accountable.”
Ted let out a silent sigh.
Work was already annoying enough, and now this? Where did this oddball even come from?
If word got out that some random woman spilled wine on Holden and was asked to cover the cost of the suit, Holden’s reputation would be toast. Samuel and Reuben would probably laugh so hard they’d fall out of their chairs.
Ted kept his tone polite but firm. “There’s no need, miss. You can leave now.”
Elisa gave him a look. “I’m talking to your boss. Who gave you, a servant, the right to speak? I take orders from Mr. Holden, not you.”
Butler Ted just shrugged.
Holden stood up, expression cold and indifferent. “Get someone to throw her out.”
Butler Ted gave Elisa a polite smile. “So, miss, would you prefer I, ‘the servant,’ throw you out, or would you rather leave on your own?”
Elisa couldn’t believe Holden wouldn’t even glance her way. Panic started to set in-she’d spent a fortune and pulled a lot of strings to get an invite to this jewelry event.
She hurried after him, desperate. “Mr. Holden, please, listen to me! I’m not some shallow gold-digger! I’ll pay for the suit, I promise-”
Before she could finish, Ted pushed her firmly by the shoulder toward the exit. “Enough. You might not care about your reputation, but my boss does.”
Fortunately, there weren’t any of Holden’s business rivals nearby, or they’d have had a field day, laughing and offering to pay for the “self-respecting woman’s” mistake just to embarrass Holden.
Ted gave a quick nod to a security guard, signaling him to get Elisa out.
Elisa fumed. She had never been treated so disrespectfully by a servant before, and she glared at Ted with pure hatred. If that old geezer hadn’t stood in her way, she was sure she would’ve had a chance to talk to Holden.
Feeling humiliated, she stepped outside, where it was quieter, and pulled out her phone to make a call.
A short, chubby man emerged from the venue a few moments later.
Mr. Karl wasn’t happy. “What are you doing out here?”
Elisa scowled. “That old man with Mr. Holden wouldn’t let me talk to him.”
Karl cursed under his breath. “We’ll try again next time. I’ll find another opportunity.”
Karl had offended Holden once before and had been on edge ever since, terrified that Holden might come after him. He was desperate to smooth things over, hoping to explain the misunderstanding and, ideally, build a better relationship.
Elisa bore a passing resemblance to Sarah-not as stunning, but her personality was more approachable, and guys liked that.
Karl had been hoping Elisa could help him patch things up with Holden.
“Listen, don’t mess with Butler Ted. That guy’s sharp-one of the few people Mr. Holden actually listens to. Most folks are falling over themselves to stay on his good side. A lot of the time, what he says is what Holden means.”
Even Mr. Karl wouldn’t dare raise his voice to Ted.
Elisa, on the other hand, scoffed. “He’s just riding on Holden’s coattails. What’s so special about him?”
The first thing she’d do once she got with Holden would be firing Butler Ted.
Well, being a butler wasn’t an easy job.
While Holden went upstairs to his hotel room to change clothes, Ted took the chance to tip Sarah off. “Lady, some woman tried to seduce Mr. Holden today.”
Sarah didn’t even need to ask-she already knew the woman didn’t succeed.
If this had been about Ronald, she might’ve asked, “Did they go up to a hotel room together?” But since it was Holden, known for his self-control, she only asked, “Did your boss kick her out?”
Ted sighed. “Lady, aren’t you even a little worried she might’ve succeeded? Do you know how much jewelry Mr. Holden’s been buying lately? If another woman wins him over, those jewels are going to her, not you!”
Sarah shrugged. “I trust your boss’s character.”
She knew she was attractive-always had been. She was the prettiest girl in her kindergarten, then in her school. Guys and girls alike had confessed their love to her. Wealthy men and women had even tried to keep her as a mistress.
After entering the industry, people criticized her acting skills and morals, but never her looks.
If she ever dared say, “I think I’m just average,” people would call her a liar.
But honestly, after spending enough time around Holden, she sometimes forgot she was even a beauty.
The aloof, self-controlled Holden was like a kryptonite for a narcissist like Sarah.
In fact, she sometimes wondered if he’d ever be intimate with any woman at all.
Ted added, “Oh, and that woman called me a servant and told me to get lost.”
Sarah blinked. “What? Didn’t you tell her that the feudal dynasties were destroyed?”
Ted groaned. “No, I didn’t think of it in time.”
He hated when the perfect comeback hit him too late-it was like missing out on half a million dollars.
Frustrated, Ted muttered, “I’m gonna buy a few hundred hit pieces on her when I get the chance.”
Sarah raised a brow. “Wait, she’s an actress too? Point her out next time, and I’ll deal with her for you.”
Ted took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s Elisa-the one who loves copying you! She’s a real piece of work. Kept saying she’s too proud to be a gold digger, like Mr. Holden did something to her. If she’d raised her voice any louder, it would’ve been a full-blown scandal. The whole Smith family’s reputation would’ve gone up in flames!”
At that, Sarah’s guard shot up.
To be fair, if it had been any other woman, she might not have cared. Holden had never been one to show interest in women, after all.
But Elisa… that was a different story. In the original novel, nearly every decent man around the heroine had fallen for her at some point.
Even though Holden and Elisa didn’t have any romantic moments in the book, if Elisa actively tried to seduce him, who’s to say he wouldn’t react like Ronald and think, “Wow, this girl’s really different-so pure, so unpretentious.”
Sarah sighed. Yeah, no. She knew she wasn’t pure or unpretentious. She was materialistic to the core. Seeing a long line of numbers in her bank account made her feel like she was swimming in honey.
She was practically the opposite of those “pure and innocent” types.
Men-especially wealthy ones-hated feeling like they were being taken advantage of. They all loved the sweet, naive types who seemed untouched by the world.