Henry gave Elena a credit card before he sat down to read the newspaper.
“Here’s one million bucks. If you can’t finish it, these two won’t get their bonus at the end of the year,” Second Young Master Sharp said.
Elena’s eyes widened in shock and surprise. Did he say to spend one million dollars in an hour? He had a lunch appointment with his friend in an hour, so that was long they had to shop. That was crazy!
“Too little? Three million, then. I’ll deduct their bonus if you can’t finish it.”
Elena almost vomited blood. Before she could say anything else, Lois dragged her away.
“Don’t argue anymore!” What if he raised it to five million dollars? How could they finish that amount?
If they failed to do it, their year-end bonus could be gone! Although Second Young Master Sharp was a sensible and kind person, he was their big boss. Bosses would not go back on their words. He spoiled Elena, but that did not mean that he would also treat Lois and Layla the same way. Furthermore, Lois and Layla’s bonuses were at stake!
“Yes, anyway, he said he would deduct both of your bonused so both of you should get that settled quickly.” Elena put the card in Lois’s hand.
Lois wanted to scream in excitement! She had never had such a luxury in her life. Three million dollars in an hour, oh dear! Was it a dream?
“Where’s Layla? Hurry up and get Layla to start buying things.”
Layla would probably be shocked when she heard that. Where had she gone?
“Wasn’t she with us just now?” Elena turned around but could not find Layla, either. “Did she go to the restroom?”
“I’ll go find her.” Time was running out, so Lois had to hurry back with her friend.
“Wait for me here, Elena. I’ll go get here.”
Lois yelled at Elena as she ran to the restroom, “Oh, you should start picking out your stuff first, and we will come back later to pay for them. Hurry!”
However, Layla was not in the restroom. After she heard the woman on the phone, she followed her discreetly as she was curious about her. That woman had complained about Elena on the phone!
As she got closer, Layla finally realized that the woman was Grace. Did she have an accomplice to plot against Elena? Layla was aware that Grace and Ava had always teamed up to bully Elena over the years.
“You can rest assured that I will not let the bloody girl have the opportunity to meet the Old Master Garcia! Most certainly not!”
Grace was afraid that someone would overhear her conversation, so she quickly dodged into the stairwell. It was difficult for Layla to pick up her words, so she hurried and trailed behind Grace into the stairs as well. Grace walked to the corner of the upper stairs, so Layla took cover at the bottom level, and pressed her ears against the wall to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“Don’t worry, my daughter. How could Elena possibly find out her relationship with the Garcias? Don’t worry about it.”
Relationship with the Garcia family? What did she mean? Layla knitted her brows tightly as she took half a step forward. Grace stopped, so Layla dared not go any closer. She could only eavesdrop against the wall.
Grace tried her best to comfort Ava. “Don’t be alarmed, she probably thought that I had a relationship with a guy from the Garcia family and gave birth to you. How would she know that things are actually related to her deceased mother?”
“No, my daughter, don’t be afraid. If Elena knew that she was the Garcia family’s real granddaughter, then we…”
Grace smirked and lowered her voice. “I will find someone to kill that b*tch!”
Elena was a child of City L’s Garcia family? Did Elena not say that Ava was their granddaughter? Did she fake her identity? Everything sounded so complicated that Layla did not know how to react. She leaned on the wall to continue to listen to the conversation.
Grace did not know that someone was focused on her phone call, so she continued, “Don’t worry, we used her blood to do the DNA identification test with the old man, so Old Master Garcia will not doubt the result.”
They had the results of a DNA identification test as evidence, who would doubt them, indeed?
Furthermore, the Garcias did the test themselves.
Grace relaxed her voice. “You don’t have to worry about this. If the old man wants to eat with us, then we shall have a meal with him. When it’s time, I will say that Elena refuses to attend the dinner.”
“Yes, you’re right. Don’t worry. I will help you, and everyone will help you… Elena wants to be the granddaughter of the Garcia family in City L? She can keep on dreaming! She has no chance for it, not this life, not even in her next life!”
Layla clenched her fists tightly. Those people had gone overboard! It turned out that the matter was related to Elena’s late mother. It seemed that Elena’s mother had Elena with a son from the Garcia family. Blinded by the Garcia family’s wealth, Grace and Ava had schemed to take over Elena’s identity. They even took her blood sample and went for the DNA test with the Garcias! How could there be such shameless and disgusting people in the world? Layla had to act quickly and warn Elena about their evil plans. She was the real granddaughter of the Garcia family, whereas Ava was nothing!
Layla made up her mind and turned toward the stairs. Suddenly, her mobile phone rang. The voice from the stairwell silenced, and Layla was startled in a mad dash down the stairs. However, she had only taken two steps before she saw two men in black appear from the lower ground.
One of the men coldly asked, “What are you doing here?”
…
Lois could not find Layla; her friend also did not answer her calls.
“What’s going on? I have called her several times.”
Lois looked at the darkened screen on her phone. “Where did that silly girl go?”
Elena also looked for Layla. She was with them just moments ago, but she had disappeared in the blink of an eye. Why did she not answer her phone? Was her phone lost or stolen? They remained in the same area. Even if Layla lost her mobile phone, she could still meet up with them in the same location.
“What’s going on?” Henry finally realized that something was amiss.
After he gave them the credit card, they had wandered around in the same area instead of enjoying their shopping spree. He put down the newspaper and walked toward them.
“Why do you look so anxious?” Panic was written all over the girl’s face. “What happened?”
“Layla is gone.” They should not need to be worried about an adult in such a lively place. Perhaps she did not hear her phone, or maybe she was too engrossed in her shopping. However, Layla would not normally behave like that. Elena was inexplicably flustered. She did not know why or what had happened, but she was uneasy about it.
“What do you mean she is missing?” Henry frowned. She was not a kid. How could she be gone?
“We just couldn’t find her, she…”
Suddenly, there was a loud noise and then followed by screams of terror.
“Argh!!!”
“Argh!!!”
People started to form a circle around something on the ground floor. Elena’s heart tightened, and she exchanged anxious glances with Lois. They ran toward the crowd as fast as they could…