Chapter 174: Be proactive
Serena, without any hesitation, nodded, “Okay, go, I’ll wait here.”
“No, no, you don’t need to wait for me. Go down. I’ll be there in 2 minutes,” Alice waved her hand.
Serena then took her cell phone and purse and went downstairs. As soon as she was out of the room, Alice breathed another sigh of relief.
She really thought herself lucky. After all, Serena was a very naive person. All she had to do was tell her to leave and she had gone without doubting anything.
Bam!
After closing the door tightly, Alice pulled the suit out again, tore off the two remaining buttons, and put the suit back in its place. Finally she put the two buttons in her purse, with a hint of a smirk. Now that she had the possession of the other two buttons, she would no longer be in any danger, right? Even if Serena found the suit in the closet, the suit no longer had the buttons, and she could not doubt anything.
If only… Alice’s face became worried again.
If only she had not given that button back to Serena. She had obviously been too hasty at that moment. She should not have given it to her so soon. Now then, she would find a way to get the last button as well.
Going down alone, Serena found the dinning hall strangely crowded. There was not only Alessandro Ferrari, but also the Ferrari brothers. Seeing Serena, Alessandro and Leonardo turned toward her, then Alessandro looked over her back, “But hasn’t Alice come up to look for you? How come you didn’t go down together?”
Serena hastened to answer, “Alice will be right down, Alessandro.”
“Good.”
As soon as they had just finished talking, behind them came first a sound of footsteps, then Alice appeared with smile, “Here I am. Mr. Alessandro, I was late. I apologize. I sprained my foot and therefore I am late.”
Hearing Alice’s words, Alessandro stared at Serena in a visibly displeased manner, “Aurora, Alice has sprained her foot, and you come down alone without giving her a hand?”
“But I…” mumbled Serena who did not understand why Alice made up this story. And as she was looking for something to say, Alice grabbed her by the arm and explained, “It’s okay, Mr. Alessandro, I was the one who told her to come down without waiting for me.”
“All right. Eat something now. Alice, sit here.” And Alessandro pointed to the seat next to Leonardo. Serena, who was aware of Mr. Alessandro’s intention, did not object.
Alice hesitated for a moment and then took the seat next to Leonardo with her unwavering smile. Serena wanted to follow her but Alessandro said, “And you Aurora, go and sit next to Cristian.”
“Alright….”
Serena, who certainly did not want to disobey the order from Alessandro, walked slowly toward Cristian. He sat impassively, so much so that Serena only needed to sit next to him to feel his coldness.
Alessandro always liked Alice, and the two were always chatting amiably. Alessandro asked her suddenly, “Alice, what do you think of Leonardo?”
Both Alice and Serena were speechless for a moment.
It was obvious by now that Alessandro really hoped that Leonardo and Alice would get together. If Serena’s marriage gone well, it would be a pleasure to have Alice as his granddaughter-in-law. Unfortunately, however, the marriage between Serena and Cristian would surely break up sooner or later. In light of this, it would not be a good move to have Alice marry with Leonardo.
Overcoming her initial embarrassment, Alice replied, “Leonardo is so good, polite and kind, not bad really.”
Upon hearing these words, Alessandro did not hide his satisfaction and stroke his beard, “So Alice, how about….”
“Grandpa,” said the taciturn Leonardo who suddenly interrupted him. Maintaining polite and gentle tones, Leonardo looked less gentle and kind.
“There are a few things to do at work. I have to go to the company right now.”
“Why so hurry? We haven’t even finished our breakfast.” said Alessandro who was a little upset.
“Grandpa, you know today is the company anniversary. There is still a lot of things to do at work. If I have time, we will have dinner together.”
And as he finished speaking, Leonardo left without waiting for Alessandro’s permission.
“Get back here now!” yelled Grandpa angrily, but Leonardo pretended not to hear that.
Everyone continued to sit in obvious embarrassment.
Serena then grabbed the cutlery preparing to eat something, but she was discomforted at what had just happened. She never imagined that Leonardo could disobey Alessandro like this in public and right in the crucial moment. Everyone understood what Alessandro was preparing to say, yet Leonardo left like that.
Cristian always remained silent. There was no expression on his face, as if all this had nothing to do with him.
Alessandro asked, “You left Leonardo to do everything by himself, didn’t you?”
Cristian then glanced at him.
“What do you do?”
Cristian then coldly replied, “You don’t really think he left because he is busy at work, do you?”
“Then why he left?” asked Alessandro with angry eyes. In truth, he knew very well the reason for Leonardo’s escape, but he wanted to blame Cristian for that.
“Whatever,” said Cristian who didn’t want to continue the discussion and put down the cutlery, “Evidently someone doesn’t like it if I don’t go to work right away, too.” And so saying, he turned his wheelchair around and left.
Serena was speechless.
Alice also hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, “Mr. Alessandro, then let’s go too.” She then turned to Serena who was still embarrassed, and winked at her. “Yes, let’s go to the company too.” said Serena.
They left the room and Alice suddenly asked her, “Well, aren’t you going to help him?”
Serena shook her head, “He doesn’t need me to help him.”
“You are just… he is a person in a wheelchair. Going to help him is the least thing you can do.”
And having said that, Alice promptly went to push Cristian’s wheelchair.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
“Cristian, I’ll give you a hand,” she said in a kind and gentle voice.
Moving closer to him, Cristian could not help but smell Alice’s sweet scent. He raised his eyes to look at her, and simultaneously cast a glance at Serena behind them. Then, with an almost defiant smile, he nodded, “All right, thank you very much.”
Serena stood petrified.
She was really angry.
She began to bite her lip, and clutched the corners of her dress tightly with both hands. She wished she knew what was in Alice’s mind. She always helped Cristian the bastard. Why didn’t she stay away from him?
And the more she thought about it, the more depressed she felt.
She did not even know whether she was angry with Cristian or Alice.