“Layla, CEO Reed said that it wasn’t your fault because you were set up. To make up for his erroneous judgment, he decided to expand his scale of cooperation with us.”
Richard’s voice became more and more emotional.
After that joyous news, he said, “Thanks for all that you did, Layla. Remember to go home for dinner tonight. I will ask them to make your favorite dish. You must come home, okay!”
“Okay, Big Brother.”
Layla was utterly dumbfounded. Before she could even get out of that stupefaction, her second sister, Mandy, phoned her.
“Layla, Larry said he was wrong to blame you. He’s now convinced that people with malicious intentions deliberately fabricated those rumors!”
Mandy seemed very excited. “I’m going traveling with Larry. He said that he’d pamper me more next time!”
“Layla, I was angry when I said all those things. Please don’t take it to heart. When I come back, I’ll bring gifts for you!”
Layla was even more dumbfounded. She could not react even after the call had ended.
“Elena…” Elena seemed to be the only one who could explain to her what had happened.
“I don’t know anything about that.” Elena shrugged it off. “Maybe they felt guilty for blaming you like everyone else did.”
“Elena, do I look like an idiot to you?” Layla muttered with a pout.
“I don’t know whether you look like one or not, but one thing I do know is that you really are an idiot!”
Elena rolled her eyes, but Layla was unable to refute that.
There was too much excitement that day. All the emotion that she had experienced throughout the eighteen years of her life paled in comparison to what she had experienced in that single day!
It even escalated to a point where Layla nearly jumped off a building. The mere thought of that alone was enough to send shivers down her spine!
However, none of it seemed entirely plausible.
It made sense that Larry would want to patch things up with her second sister because of the misunderstanding.
However, it was too far-fetched for a businessman like CEO Reed to want to expand his business with her older brother just because of a small misunderstanding with some girl.
No matter what, she felt as if there was an invisible force that had helped things along!
That hidden hand must have also had the capability to turn the world upside down too! That hand was powerful enough to subvert anything and everything!
“Elena, are you sure you didn’t get someone else to help?” Layla was curious.
“I am a poor student, who could I ask for help?” Elena turned her face away.
“For example, like Williams…”
“Elena said ‘no,’ so it’s a ‘no’ then. When has she ever lied to you?”
Luacs started the car and drove out of Suntech Hospital’s underground parking garage.
Luacs did not like her persistent questions, probably because he did not wish to see Elena be put in a tight spot. Layla decided to stop with the questions.
After such a stormy situation, one felt as though one had just been resurrected from the dead. The air even felt fresh when they inhaled.
The storm had finally passed.
It was Mia’s turn to run out of luck. The live broadcast that had been streamed earlier was truly an exciting one.
“You’re incredible, Caleb. How were you able to remotely control Elena’s cell phone and log onto Mia’s account through her phone?”
If one were to use someone else’s account to live stream, one might leave a trace of evidence behind.
Secret recordings, if found, were very troublesome as well.
However, if they were to use Mia’s own account, then she would not be able to pin the blame on them at a later date.
Caleb smiled proudly as he sat in the front passenger seat. “Easy peasy. You guys just haven’t discovered all the good things about me yet.”
Elena felt a bit of coldness in her heart.
Caleb was truly incredible. In Elena’s past life, Ava had manipulated that specific ability of his, and he had thrown a good portion of his life then.
“Caleb,” she called out suddenly.
“Yes?”
“Promise me. Don’t ever agree to do illegal things like this in the future, no matter who asks for it. It doesn’t matter who or for what purpose.”
Elena looked so serious suddenly that Caleb had to scratch his head in confusion.
“What’s wrong? Why would I do something illegal?”
Luacs glanced at Elena from the rearview mirror with a serious look. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, I just wanted to remind this guy in case someone wants to manipulate him in the future.”
“How will that even be possible? I’m such a smart person. How could anyone take advantage of me?”
Caleb smiled noncommittally. “Don’t lump me into the same category as Layla. I’m not that stupid!”
“Caleb, don’t overstep your boundary!” Layla frowned immediately.
“Okay, okay. I’m just kidding, but please don’t be so stupid in the future. You saw how Elena had to sacrifice herself just to save you. You have no idea how scared I was then.”
“I know, I won’t do it again.”
Layla did not want to think about what had happened.
However, she seemed to remember something, and so she stared at Elena. “Eldest Young Master Williams has treated you well. He was even willing to risk his life to save you. I thought that you were both going to die.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Caleb snapped at her with all the talk about death.
Layla exhaled and muttered, “Okay, I won’t talk nonsense or do anything stupid again in the future.”
Nevertheless, she insisted on the last word. “Eldest Young Master Williams has been really good to you!”
Elena kept quiet and turned to look out the window.
Had Eldest Young Master Williams been that good to her? Well, at least, he did not mistreat her.
Her cheeks became hot again when she thought about their shameless antics earlier in the afternoon.
They kissed, hugged, and they even nearly…
It was something she had never dared to think about in her past life.
She did not even dare to put too much thought into the so-called hidden hand that Layla had mentioned.
She was not a fool, though. Even if she did not have that ‘hidden hand’ behind her, their operation would have still succeeded, but perhaps not in such a resounding and thorough manner.
Eldest Young Master Williams… Why did he help her? Everything that had happened had nothing to do with him…
“But Elena, you have spent a lot of money again today. You already bought all these things, and it’ll be useless if you were to sell them again.”
Layla looked at all the branded bags and cosmetics on the back seat. She felt quite agonized as she looked at them.
“These are all at least a few hundred thousand dollars, and you don’t even use branded goods too.”
“What are you afraid of? Everything’s still brand new, well, except the paper bags then.”
Mia had ample knowledge about brand-name goods. She would definitely notice it if the paper bags were fake.
She smiled, “Didn’t you know that items from luxury brands can be returned within three days if you’re not satisfied with them? I’ll return them as is, and I won’t lose a single penny.”
Hundreds of thousands of dollars just to spend on Mia? It was not worth it!
She could still destroy that flirty little b*tch without spending a single cent!
Layla stared at Elena with her mouth wide open. “You… You… OMG! You’re my idol! I love you!”
Amongst their circle of friends, Elena was as amazing as a big boss!
Elena was right when she referred to Layla as a terrible friend!
“I will listen to you in the future, I will do whatever you say, and I will not do anything if you don’t let me do it!
“You are my boss, and I will always be your little follower!”
“I’m not joking around, Elena…”
Elena ignored her and proceeded to answer a call when the phone rang.
Michael’s magnetically-deep voice came through the line, “Come home. Now.”