Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Eliana was completely stunned. She watched, dumbfounded, as the unscrupulous boss and subordinate duo Maurice and Theo, left her all alone without a single care in the world.
“Maurice, you bastard!”
She deeply regretted being moved by him, of all things.
Furious, she picked up the music box and stormed out of the auction house in angry steps.
Unfortunately, the fact that the hotel was in the suburbs made it hard for her to hail a cab. It took her an absurdly long time to find herself a ride. By the time she got home, her anger had reached its boiling point and she exploded.
“You know what, Nana? That jerk Maurice isn’t normal. Do you have any idea how abnormal he is?! He drives me up the wall! Anyway, I can’t stay in the Moran Group anymore. I’m at my limit. Let anyone who wants to work there do it instead. I’ve had enough!” NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.
Eliana shook off her high heels, exhausted, and threw herself on the sofa as she voiced her complaints to Nana.
However, Nana was oblivious to Eliana’s displeasure. She was absent-minded, seemingly lost in thoughts, and didn’t reply to Eliana at all.
At the moment, all she could think about was Corbin. She couldn’t shake him off her mind no matter what she did.
“Nana? Nana, are you listening? Nana!”
Eliana, noticing Nana’s dazed state, sat up and patted her best friend.
“Ah…”
At this, Nana snapped out of her musings and returned to her usual self.
Eliana frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
Nana hesitated to reply. After a while, she relented and muttered softly, “It’s just… One of my friends is in trouble.”
Eliana decided to crack a joke to lighten the mood. “What? What sort of trouble? Don’t tell your friend was question by the police?”
Unexpectedly, Nana replied with a grim nod.
Eliana was dumbstruck, not expecting her silly remark to be real. She let out a shocked gasp, very much startled.
“No, don’t misunderstand. My friend’s not a bad person!” Nana immediately explained upon seeing Eliana’s shocked expression.
Eliana stared, suddenly feeling a tinge of suspicion. There must be something wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
With that in mind, she looked into Nana’s eyes and asked seriously, “So, is it your friend or your boyfriend? If it’s your boyfriend, you’d better make it clear. If not, you might get dragged into his mess. Who knows, you might get some jail time.”
“W-What are you saying? It’s a friend! Of course a friend. Jeez…” Nana hurriedly clarified, though her cheeks had turned beet red at that very instant.
“Really…?” Eliana, however, didn’t buy it. Not when Nana was blushing so hard.
“A-Anyway, let’s drop the topic. Didn’t you say you bought back your parents’ music box? Take it out and show it to me and the kids.”
Nana swiftly quickly changed the topic to put aside Eliana’s suspicion.
“Oh, yeah. Wait a moment. You’ll be so surprised!”
Just as Nana had predicted, she successfully diverted Eliana’s attention. Eliana carefully took out the precious music box and called to the bedroom, “My dears, come out to see something left by your grandparents.”
“Mommy, we’re here!” Aileen and Adrian immediately burst out of the bedroom and threw themselves at her, running excitedly with their little legs.
“Wait.”
Under the expectant gazes of the twins and Nana, Eliana carefully opened the music box. Three little figures appeared in the music box and began to dance to the soft tune.
“Wow!” The children’s eyes lit up at the sight, shining with delight.
“Mommy, look at this little girl. Doesn’t she look like Aileen?” Adrian said, pointing excitedly at the little girl in the music box.
“Me?” Aileen tilted her head and scrutinized the figure. Surprised, she said, “It really does look like me!”
Eliana smiled sweetly and stroked Aileen’s little head before pointing at the three little figures in the music box. “Of course. This little girl is me when I was a child, and the two adults are your grandpa and grandma.”
At her explanation, Aileen and Adrian grew more and more interested in the music box. They reached out their little hands and stroked the small figures with awe, careful to be gentle.
“Grandpa and Grandma are so beautiful,” Aileen praised, her little voice filled with affection.
“Of course! Grandpa and Grandma must be good-looking. That’s why they could have such a good- looking daughter like Mommy,” Adrian exclaimed proudly, his nose high up in the air.
“Eliana… This music box must be really expensive. How did you buy it?” Nana whispered curiously in Eliana’s ear.
Eliana recalled the auction. Feeling ashamed, she muttered a hasty reply, “You worry too much. Maurice was the one who bought it.”
“W-what? Maurice?!” Unable to hold back her surprise, Nana’s voice rose to a shrill octave.
“H-Hey! Keep your voice down!” Eliana hissed, glancing anxiously at the children.
“That’s great, Eliana! A man who’s willing to spend money on his woman is a real man.” Nana now gained a better impression of Maurice.
“Humph!” Eliana felt differently. Thinking of how ruthless Maurice was when he insulted and abandoned her alone at the auction venue, anger surged in her. He may have bought the music box, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t move her anymore.
The melodious tune from the music box blessed Eliana with a good night’s sleep.
Early the next morning, her phone rang before she could wake up properly.
Groggy and dazed from having been woken up so abruptly, she picked up the call without bothering to check the caller ID. “Hello…?”
“Is this Miss Pierce?”
“Yes, who are you?”
“I’m Theo Scott, Mr. Moran’s new assistant. We met yesterday.”
“Oh, Mr. Scott. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing serious. I just want to inform you of a company decision.”
“Huh? What decision?”
“You’re fired, Miss Pierce.”
…What?!