Love's Tangled Web (Alex and Ellie)

Hearing footsteps, Alex ipuickly yanked off his jacket. Their eyes locked, and he stood up fast. But after crouching for too long, his legs felt mumb and wobbly. He reached out toward Ellie. "My legs are all tingly "Oh" Ellie said, subtly taking a step back.

Alex tried to grab Ellie but missed, losing his balance and crashing down right in front of her.

Ellie bent down to pick up two shopping bags and went to open the door.

"Bang!" The door slammed shut, and Alex turned around.

Ellie stepped inside and locked the door, leaving him outside.

After a moment. Alex shook it off and banged on the door. "Ellie, open up! We need to talk!"

Ellie switched into her slippers, leaning against the shoe rack, listening to Alex yelling outside. She frowned but didn't respond. Eventually, the noise died down

Peeking through the peephole. Ellie suddenly

lenly met a staring eye, making her jump and drop her phone on the floor.

"Ellie, are you okay? Open the door! I've been waiting for you since after work! I've waited all night! I really need to use the bathroom!" Alex's frantic voice echoed from outside.

Grabbing her phone. Ellie thought. "You get what you pay for. The phone Alex had bought her was surprisingly durable, holding up well compared

to others

Just as Ellie was about to hit the shower and unwind, the door's keypad lock started beeping!

Without hesitation, she grabbed her phone and called the building management to report in. A few minutes later, her front door when the apartment security, accompanied by the police, showed up behind him. Later, Alex was fiddling with the code to

Alex turned around and asked, "What the heck? Why are you guys standing behind me in the middle of the night? What's going on!! The security guard replied. "A resident reported someone trying to break into their home, sir. You'll need to come with us. Alex was left speechless

Over an hour later, Alex was pulled out of the police station by his parents.

The builer rushed forward. "Mr. and Mrs., is your son alright

Todd's expression was stormy. "What an idiot! Instead of sleeping, he's over here messing with someone's door code and gets caught by the police!"

The old butler stood in stunned silence.

Nancy pointed at her son, bunching into a scolding. You have the police right behind you, and you still ask why they're there? How many drinks did you have tonight, son?! Is this because I watched too many horror movies while pregnant with you, or did the doctor drop you on your head? When are you going to start acting normal?!"

"Look, I have an early meeting tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed now, Alex retorted, tired of his p

parents lecturing, and turned to leave.

The next morning at Jaslands Hospital, Ellie found out that Mark was coming in for a specialist consultation, so she decided to arrive early to see

him.

"Why the sudden switch from surgery to acupuncture with Marvin Mark asked, raising an eyebrow,

Ellie murmured, "It's good to have more skills. I

Im interested in acupuncture"

In the last few days, Alex had been popping up at the most unexpected times, and last night he even checked out her door's keypad lock the police had arrived just in time to take him away. If he had kept at it, he might have unlocked her door. Luckily,

She thought it over all night and finally decided to learn a self-defense skill. She heard that Marvin could use acupuncture to wake someone up, or

12

Idro Check-in

even knock them out. If she could just learn that technique, she could handle that psycho easily.

Since you want to learn, I can connect you with him someday," Mark replied, making Ellie breathe a sigh of relief.

As soon as Ellie returned to her office, her phone rang. It was Diana inviting her to dinner. After work, Ellie changed clothes and headed out after a quick showernoveldrama

The watter led her to a private room, but when Ellie entered, she saw not only Diana and Lacey but also someone new-Quinlee,

Seeing Ellie linger at the door. Haley stood up "Diana, am I interrupting something?"

Ellie noticed the way Haley's gare lingered on Quinler across from her; it felt odd, like there was something off about the whole situation. Quinlee was dressed casually but smartly, with long hair hanging loosely, and those striking dark blue contact lenses that seemed to hide countless secrets. Her soft-spoken words carried a strange, ghostly quality that always made Ellie shudder a bit.

Ellie waved politely, turning to Lacey. Is your brother back yer?"

Lacey shook her head

Nalani chimed in. "With no news for days, he's probably dead out there."

Lacey shot her a sharp look. "Come on, Nalani, can we not jinx my brother?"

Nalani chuckled. "Even if I don't jinx him, the universe might just strike him down anyway?"

Lacey fell silent, not wanting to provoke any bad luck.

Duna shifted over to make room for Ellie. She leaned in and whispered. "Don't mind her, Ellie. Quinlee just moved here and doesn't know many people yet. My sister-in-law asked me to bring her around to make some friends." Elle nodded, understanding the situation

"Sorry, I don't eat cilantro or um. beef, Quinlee said softly

Ellie blinked in surprise. For a moment, she thought she was hearing things! Although Quinlee had said it quite quietly, she distinctly heard that she didn't eat cilantro!

Watching Lacey serve up beef with cilantro on Quinler's plate, Ellie's expression tightened.

Among the people e she knew, only Haley completely avoided cilantro; she wouldn't touch anything that had even seen cilantro before!

"Quinler doesn't like meat, let's get her something vegetarian, Ellie suggested, moving a plate of stir-fried vegetables with cilantro in front of Haley.

As Quirilee hesitantly picked up a tiny bit and put it on her plate, Ellie interjected, "Quinlee, how does it taste?"

Thanks, Miss Ellie I just need to take this call outside, Quinlee said, stepping away. Ellie waited for her to finish her call, not even touching the dish Quinler had just selected, feeling a little suspicious.

"You guys eat, I'll hit the restroom, Ellie said, standing up.

As a surgical doctor, the understood better than anyone that a person's appearance can be completely transformed. how someone sounds as well. But no matter how someone looked, their habits were much harder to change. Voice surgeries could change

When she first saw Quinler at the gathering, she couldn't shake the resemblance to Haley. And this sudden pickiness about cilantro mirrored Haley's habits perfectly!

Coming back from the restroom, Ellie was still preoccupied with what had just crossed her mind.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her, and before she could react, strong arms pulled her into a nearby private room!

Inside, the lights were off, and the only illumination came from a faint glow through the glass door.

Surrounded by a familiar scent, Ellie realized what was happening and started to struggle. "Let me go, you psychor

Before she could finish her sentence. Alex seized her around the waist, lifting her off her feet and pinning her against the wall!