Chapter 75: Which Hand Touched Her

Her phone vibrated inside her bag.

Elisa pulled it out and saw Louis's name flashing across the screen.

She answered the call.

"Is it raining hard?" On the other end, the rustling of papers being shuffled could be heard in the background—clearly, he was still in the conference room.

"Not too bad," Elisa said, holding the phone with one hand.

"Is Mr. Shaw's umbrella big enough?" Louis's tone remained even, betraying no emotion.

Elisa glanced at Stephen beside her. He looked calm, his gaze fixed on the curtain of rain ahead, paying no attention to her call.

"Your assistant has a pretty good camera," Elisa said, cutting straight through his probing. "The wind's all over the place here. Mr. Shaw happened to be inspecting the center as well and gave me a hand on his way."

"On his way." Louis lingered on the words. "Five hundred million dollars in sponsorship for an umbrella—that's a terrible deal for him."

Elisa caught the bitterness in his tone.

She shifted the phone to her other hand. "The umbrella worked perfectly—I stayed dry. If you keep being sarcastic, I won’t come over tonight."

With a single sentence, she completely shut down Louis's room to maneuver.

There were two seconds of silence on the other end.

Louis sighed, his tone softening. "What would you like to eat tonight?"

"Something light will do."

"Alright, I'll come pick you up."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Elisa turned her gaze to Stephen.

"Looks like I don't need to walk you any further." Stephen gripped the umbrella handle, his gaze drifting past the rain to the Maybach ahead, its hazard lights flashing.

"Mr. Shaw, thank you for today," Elisa said with a nod.

Stephen said nothing more. He tilted the umbrella slightly toward Elisa, ensuring she could step beneath the large black umbrella Jeffrey had opened.

"See you tomorrow." Stephen turned and walked away, his leather shoes splashing through puddles as his figure quickly disappeared into the rainy night.

Jeffrey rushed over, holding the large black umbrella above Elisa's head.

"Mrs. York, Mr. York sent me to pick you up," Jeffrey said in a respectful tone.

Elisa was just about to step forward.

"Elisa!" someone shouted.

A sharp curse suddenly rang out from behind the landscaping along the auxiliary road to the right.

Two dark figures burst into the rain, charging straight toward Elisa.

Jeffrey reacted instantly, stepping in front of Elisa to shield her with his body.

The two rushing toward them were a man and a woman. The man was in his early fifties, wearing a worn, yellowed jacket, with thinning hair and harsh features. The woman had cheaply permed hair, wore a red raincoat, and clutched a tattered cloth bag.

Elisa saw their faces clearly and froze in her tracks.

They were Leon Sullivan and Cindy Nguyen.

They were her adoptive mother's brother and sister-in-law.

"What are you doing here?" Elisa's voice turned instantly cold.

"How dare you ask?" Leon wiped the rain from his face as he shouted at Elisa over Jeffrey's shoulder.

"You ungrateful brat! Your mom's dead, and you think you can just abandon us?"

"I'm telling you, there's no way!"

Cindy chimed in, her voice shrill and piercing. "That's right! When your mom was alive, she sent us money every month. Now that she's gone, you need to keep it up! You're the lady of the York family now—just helping us out a little would be enough to set us up for life!"

Elisa's expression darkened completely.

When Juniper was alive, she was soft-hearted and indulged Leon endlessly. He gambled and racked up debts, which Juniper paid off while barely making ends meet.

"My mom's gone." Elisa looked at Leon, her tone firm and unyielding. "I'm not giving you a single cent."

"You won't give us anything?" Leon's eyes bulged, exposing his vicious nature. "I'm your uncle! You think I won't make a scene at that research institute of yours? At the York family? I'll let everyone see what a money-grubbing social climber you are!"

"Go ahead." Elisa remained unfazed as she walked around Jeffrey toward the Maybach.

When threats failed, Leon completely lost control.

His eyes darted around before landing on the custom tote bag Elisa was carrying. Though he didn't recognize the brand, he knew it must be expensive.

"Stop right there!" Leon lunged at her.

Jeffrey raised his hand to block him. Leon snatched the tattered cloth bag from Cindy's hands and swung it hard at Jeffrey's face.

As Jeffrey dodged, Leon slipped past him from the side and grabbed Elisa's bag strap.

"Let go!" Elisa shouted.

She stumbled from his pull, and her right ankle—still recovering from injury—took her full weight, sending a sharp stab of pain through it.

"Give it to me!" Leon's face twisted as he yanked hard.

Cindy also rushed forward, reaching for Elisa's hair. "Won't give us money, will you? You bitch—getting too big for your boots!"

The three grappled in the pouring rain.

To protect the classified core documents in her bag, Elisa gripped the strap tightly and refused to let go.

Cindy's nails raked across the back of her hand, leaving three bloody scratches. Leon gave her a hard shove, and Elisa lost her balance, falling onto the wet asphalt.

Her knees hit the ground hard, sending muddy water splashing all over her. Her white shirt was instantly filthy, and her palms scraped raw against the rough pavement.

"Mrs. York!" Jeffrey's face flushed with fury.

He sprang into action, driving a kick straight into Leon's stomach.

Leon screamed and fell into a puddle, clutching his stomach. Jeffrey grabbed Cindy's wrist and twisted it hard, making her howl in pain.

Jeffrey pinned both of them down and turned to check on Elisa.

Just then, the piercing screech of brakes tore through the din of the rainy night.

A black Cullinan with sequential license plates roared onto the auxiliary road, its tires throwing up massive sprays of water across the flooded surface as it screeched to a halt barely 10 feet behind the Maybach.

The door flew open with a loud bang.

Louis strode out of the car.

The moment the meeting ended, he couldn't wait for Jeffrey to bring her back—so he had the driver head straight over.

As he reached the intersection, he immediately spotted Elisa on the ground through the windshield.

Louis's gaze cut through the rain, locking onto Elisa's scraped palms and mud-splattered white shirt.

Time seemed to stand still.

Then Louis walked to Elisa.

He knelt on one knee in the muddy water, the fabric of his expensive suit pants instantly soaking through. He ignored the two people Jeffrey had pinned down, his entire attention fixed on Elisa.

"Where are you hurt?" Louis's voice was hoarse, barely containing his rage.

He reached out, carefully avoiding the scratches on the back of her hand and the scrapes on her palm, and cupped her face.

Elisa leaned on him as she stood up.

Her right ankle still ached, and she frowned slightly.

"Your ankle?" Louis immediately noticed, his gaze dropping downward.

"It's nothing serious—I just tweaked it," Elisa said, shaking her head.

Louis said nothing. He simply scooped Elisa into his arms. The mud on her clothes smeared onto his clean shirt, but he didn't even flinch.

He carried Elisa to the back seat of the Maybach, grabbed a dry towel from the car, and gently wiped the rain from her face.

After that, he closed the car door and turned around.

Jeffrey stood in the rain, still gripping Cindy's arm. Leon had just crawled out of the puddle and was about to curse.

Louis advanced slowly toward Leon.

Rain streamed down his sharp jawline. He looked down at Leon, his eyes devoid of any warmth, as if he were looking at a corpse.

"Which hand did you use to touch her?"