Chapter 536

Chapter 536

"There's nothing to talk about." Elsie refused bluntly and turned to leave.

"Elsie!" Ronald panicked. Ignoring his physical discomfort, he suddenly sat up and grabbed her wrist.

His hand was cold, yet surprisingly strong.

"Don't go," he said, his voice carrying a barely noticeable tremor, his eyes filled with deep pain and pleading. "Give me a chance, a chance to make it up to you, okay?"

"My stomach hurts... my head hurts too..." He began to lower himself, even showing a somewhat pitiful vulnerability. "Elsie, I really know I was wrong..."

Elsie looked down at his hand gripping hers tightly, then at his pale, haggard face. In the end, she remained expressionless as she pried his fingers off one by one.

"Mr. York, get well soon."

With that, she turned and walked out of the hospital room without looking back.

When Elsie returned to her temporary residence, it was already getting dark.

In the living room, Luna was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, tapping away at her tablet. Hearing the door open, her little head immediately popped up.

"Mommy, you're back!" She held up the tablet like presenting a treasure. "Tammy called several times this afternoon, saying she wants to see you tomorrow!"

Tammy was the housekeeper who had been taking care of her abroad.

Elsie paused while changing her shoes, a strange feeling crossing her mind. Tammy had always been abroad and rarely contacted her on her own initiative.

She took the phone Luna handed her and called back.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Tammy's somewhat flustered voice came through, "Ms. Olivia Glover? Is that you, Ms. Glover?"

"Tammy, it's me."

"Ms. Glover, I... I think someone's watching me. They... they won't let me talk." Tammy's voice was very low, clearly nervous and frightened. "I must see you in person. There are some things I have to tell you!"

"Where are you now? What kind of trouble are you in?" Elsie asked with a frown.

"I..."

Suddenly there was a busy tone on the other end, the call had been forcibly disconnected.

Elsie held the phone, her brow furrowing even more. Tammy's tone didn't seem fake. This strange, incomplete call felt unusual.

While she was thinking, Harold came out of the study, looking somewhat serious.

"Harold."

"Olivia, there's a new development with Missy." Harold got straight to the point. "She snatched an overseas expansion contract from the Glover Group today, one that was almost certainly ours. She specifically asked for you to be at the signing, saying the contract can be smoothly signed as long as you show up."

He paused, then continued, "I looked into the company she's working with. It's a headhunting firm that's risen rapidly overseas in recent years. Very mysterious background, and the owner's identity is impossible to trace. This company operates in strange ways, specializing in poaching talented people who are in difficult situations. It's very unusual that Missy suddenly connected with them."

Elsie's eyes darkened slightly. There was indeed someone behind Missy.

First the overwhelming online smear campaign, now using a contract to force her to show up - the other party was clearly well-prepared with a clear target.

"Could this headhunting company be the one from back then..." Elsie's voice turned cold.

Harold said gravely, "We can't rule out that possibility. Missy is just a pawn. The person who really wants to get you is hiding much deeper."

Elsie was silent for a moment, a name flashing through her mind.

"Harold, I'm going out."

"Where are you going to?"

"To see someone... who might know something."

In a quiet corner of the café, Bruce looked at Elsie sitting across from him, calm to the point of coldness, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"You're looking for me about what happened back then?" he spoke first, his voice still gentle.

Elsie was direct. "Five years ago, after Ronald and I divorced, I kept getting inexplicably dragged into all kinds of public opinion storms. Did someone deliberately approach you, tell you things about Ronald and me, or guide you to do something? Bruce, I remember five years ago you told me something, but I didn't care about anything then, so I didn't plan to investigate. But now that person has appeared again."

Bruce's fingers tightened slightly around his coffee cup. He looked up, meeting Elsie's searching gaze, and finally nodded.

"Yes." His voice was somewhat hoarse. "Before I decided to take you abroad for treatment, right when Ronald deliberately had people sabotage my project and I lost a lot of money, someone approached me. He seemed to know our past very well, and also knew Ronald's attitude toward you."

"What did he say?"

"He hinted that Ronald wasn't still had feelings for you, but couldn't express them openly for certain reasons. He saw that I liked you, and said if I ruined any chance of you two reconciling, he would invest in me and help me successfully take you abroad." Bruce lowered his eyes. "He told me that if I really cared about you, I should keep you away from him. At that time, I hoped you could speak again, and I couldn't bear to give up my project. Elsie, I didn't expect it to hurt you this much."

"Bruce, you're not that kind of person. You were already in such a difficult situation, yet you still thought about helping me speak. Besides, it's been so many years. You don't need to feel sorry." Elsie looked at him gently but calmly, saying with absolute certainty, "You're a very important friend to me. During the most difficult time in my life, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have found the will to live again."

Bruce's fingers tightened around the coffee cup, his knuckles turning somewhat white. "At that time... I let his words influence me. I thought he genuinely cared about you, and I also thought that if there was no future between you and Ronald, you could completely let go of the past and start a new life."

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Elsie, I'm sorry. About what happened back then... I'm sorry."

"Bruce, if you hadn't known me, maybe you wouldn't have gone through all this. Between us, who owes whom more, it's impossible to say anymore." Elsie didn't let him finish. "Ronald is already in the past. Right now I just want to know who the person is who keeps framing me again and again."

What concerned her more now was, "Who was that person? Do you have any other information about him?"

Bruce shook his head, looking somewhat helpless. "He was very cautious, didn't reveal anything about his identity. All I know is that his purpose in appearing was to drive a wedge between you and Ronald, make you completely disappointed in him, and at the same time, make me misunderstand you and push me away from you."

If even Bruce couldn't detect any flaws, the other party must be extremely meticulous, definitely not ordinary.

"What about that project you've been working on recently, about trauma stress psychological intervention, how's it going?" Elsie changed the subject, her fingers lightly tapping the table, producing a soft tapping sound.