The Billionaire Who Saved Me

Finding different looks from her co-workers had become a common occurrence for Elice. She had experienced it even before she married Garrett. Back when she had just started working and had been given important assignments. Then, when there was an article about her love story. And now?

This should be an improvement. The reason why I’m becoming more and more the center of attention should be noble, right?

Elice didn’t care anymore. As long as their conversations didn’t cause her any real discomfort, she would ignore them. Even if she accidentally overheard them gossiping in the pantry, it didn’t matter.

“Elice’s fate is really something, huh? Just started working and already trusted to conduct interviews.”

“Close to the grandson of a conglomerate and married.”

“Now? Even her car is more expensive than the director’s here.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she had bodyguards following her.”

Elice took a deep breath and counted to three as the conversation paused before deciding to enter. She deliberately tapped her foot lightly, signaling the pantry dwellers to stop gossiping. Elice didn’t want to get into an uncomfortable situation.

“Hi. Are you all gathered here?”

The beautifully painted faces suddenly smiled. They looked at Elice with sparkling eyes. They greeted her, saying one or two things that were clearly different from what they had said before.

“You look radiant. How was your honeymoon?”

It was Kylie who asked. The bobbed-haired woman was Elice’s colleague who had had an accident a few months ago. It was thanks to that incident that Elice and Garrett met again during an interview event.

“It was nice,” Elice replied casually. “Just like any other honeymoon.”

Elice walked over and picked up a cup, deciding that tea was the drink of choice that morning.

Kylie nodded. “Of course.”

Slowly, Elice stirred her tea while she looked at her colleagues. Not only Kylie, but also Yonna, Neva and several others. Elice smiled.

“I brought souvenirs for all of you. They’re on the table in the conference room. Feel free to take them.”

There was a decent sized table in their workspace. They usually used it for small team meetings. Or sometimes they used it for typing or writing when they got bored working behind their cubicles.

“Make sure you take it.”

With that, Elice gave everyone a smile. Then she left. Outside she ran into Freddy.

“She… didn’t hear what we talked about, did she?”

Yonna asked her friends uneasily. They looked uncertain. But they decided to think positively.

“Of course, Elice heard.”

Entering with casual steps, it was Freddy who answered Yonna’s question. He was sitting in a chair. He raised one hand and pointed at his colleagues one by one.

“I came here to make coffee, but from a distance I saw Elice standing at the door,” Freddy continued, looking at his colleagues. He shook his head briefly. “I knew it when I saw her not going into the pantry right away. You must have been talking about her.”

Of course, Freddy’s explanation successfully changed the expressions on the women’s faces. They seemed uncomfortable.

“We were discussing the truth,” Neva said, trying to defend herself. She looked at her friends, signaling for support.

Yonna nodded. “That’s right. There are no lies at all.”

“Even if there are no lies…” Freddy breathed deeply for a moment. “… it doesn’t mean that everything you’ve said doesn’t have another perspective, does it? Besides… if you don’t think it’s wrong, why didn’t you talk about it in front of Elice?”

Kylie narrowed her eyes. “You’re crazy, Freddy.”

Freddy just grinned at Kylie’s curse. As his colleagues left, he wondered. Would they take the souvenirs Elice had brought?

The answer… yes. And that made Freddy chuckle. Embarrassed.

*

Ruben was silent. He sat quietly, saying nothing as Ariel looked at the photos in his hands. There was no need to ask. It must be a picture of Elice. Surely with Garrett. When they were on their honeymoon.

Why am I doing this? Just to be heartbroken when I see their happiness?

However, Ariel couldn’t deny that Elice looked extremely happy in those photos. A broad smile adorned her face endlessly. And it made him wonder. Was it just his feelings or was it reality? Elice seemed to become more beautiful with time.

Ariel put the photo on the table. He turned to Ruben and asked, “So they are back to their usual activities?”

Ruben nodded. “For Mrs. Elice… now she goes and comes back with a private driver.”

“Of course,” Ariel whispered. “But that’s not the point. Have you contacted your people?”

“I have. They’re ready any time. All you have to do is give them an order and they’ll do it.”

Ariel sighed deeply. She looked at his fingers moving abstractly.

“Um.”

Ariel’s fingers stopped moving. He looked at Ruben. “What is it?”

There was a slight furrow on the personal assistant’s forehead. He looked hesitant, but Ariel’s gaze prompted him to speak.

“I don’t know if this information is important or not, but I’ve heard from my people that Mr. Garrett has been busy lately investigating the death of his late father.”

The furrow on Ruben’s forehead spread to Ariel’s. “Investigating Uncle Allan’s death?” he asked, immediately meeting Ruben’s nod. “Why?”

This time Ruben shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. It seems that Mr. Garrett suspects something behind his father’s accident.”

“Why is Garrett investigating the accident?”

Again, Ruben shook his head.

“The accident happened a long time ago. I think about four or five years ago,” Ariel muttered uncertainly. “Doesn’t he have anything else to do but investigate that accident?”

Pondering his own question, Ariel shook his head slowly in a rhythmic motion. He rubbed his chin and realized something.

“No,” Ariel shook his head. “Garrett wouldn’t do something if it wasn’t important. But to what?”

Ariel looked at Ruben. He sensed something in the personal assistant’s expression.

“Do you know something?” Ariel asked.

Ruben looked embarrassed. He wiped the sweat from his brow that had suddenly appeared.

“I’m not sure if this is related or not,” Ruben replied quietly. “But as far as I know, the day before Mr. Allan’s accident, he had an argument with Mrs. Farrah.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Mom?”

“Yes.”

That one word made Ariel feel uncomfortable. But he dismissed the possibility. No matter how crazy his mother was, Ariel was sure that Farrah wouldn’t do anything to hurt her own sibling.

But Ariel couldn’t rest until he knew what had really happened. It was better to make a futile effort that provided answers than to do nothing at all.

“Additional task for you, Ruben. Investigate what happened in the accident.”

Ruben nodded.

*

The first day back at work after the enjoyable wedding vacation. Garrett was immediately faced with a number of tasks. But among the many schedules he had to go through, there was one important thing that caught his attention.

Amber sighed slowly. She sat in front of Garrett with an uncertain look on her face.

“All the things you asked me to find during your honeymoon are in this folder.”

Without saying anything, Garrett immediately took the folder. He opened it and quickly read every word.

“His name is Mr. Dirk Thomas. He is the police officer who investigated the accident of the late Mr. Allan. There were rumors that he had determined that the incident was not an accident. But shortly after, the case was closed. And two months later he was promoted.”

Amber’s statement certainly influenced Garrett’s opinion. But he didn’t say anything. Silently and attentively, he listened.

“All the information about him is there. Including where he lives.”

Garrett nodded. He set aside several sheets of information related to Dirk, then turned to other sheets of information.

“Next is dr. Dakota Spencer. She is the doctor who performed the autopsy on the late Mr. Harlan. At that time, there were rumors that Mr. Harlan’s death was not really due to heart disease. But because there was another trigger. But Mrs. Daphne asked that the autopsy be stopped.”

Garrett’s busy fingers, which had been flipping through paper after paper, stopped. Instead of continuing to read, he raised his face. He looked at his secretary.

“Are you sure?”

Amber nodded. “I am certain that these are the rumors that have been circulating. Whether they are true or not… I don’t know.”

Garrett took a deep breath and nodded. He thanked his secretary.

“Thank you for your help, Amber.”

“You’re welcome, sir,” Amber replied. “I will take my leave.”

Alone in his office, Garrett decided to take a short break from his work. He needed to review all the information Amber had gathered. And of all of it, the rumors about Daphne’s actions were what really caught his attention.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Regardless of Daphne and Hirawan’s attitude toward him all this time, Garrett knew something. His grandparents loved each other. At least it seemed that way on the outside. And when he found out that Daphne didn’t want her husband’s death to be investigated any further, he began to wonder.

Was Grandpa’s death not a natural death either? And Dad’s too? Then… why is Nana silent?

*