Chapter 88 Getting Crazier
Chapter 88 Getting Crazier
The next morning, New York's snowstorm had passed, leaving a pristine white view blanketing the sidewalks of the West Central Park area. The warm morning sunlight streamed through the thin bedroom curtains of The Azure apartment, casting a soft glow on the flawlessly polished oak floor.
Elena Vance slowly opened her brown eyes, letting out a long breath with a feeling far more relaxed than the previous night.
The warmth spreading across her back made Elena glance to the side.
The tall man was sleeping very peacefully beside her. He had returned to his casual mode, wearing his signature red plaid flannel shirt with the top buttons deliberately left open, exposing his marble-hard broad chest, which had been Elena's sleeping pillow all night.
His handsome face looked so peaceful and innocent, as if this man hadn't just broken the necks of three Red Viper professional assassins and destroyed Morgan Valdez's satellite communication on a SoHo rooftop just hours ago.
Elena smiled very faintly, creeping forward to kiss her lover's firm jaw with sincere tenderness.
The love and dependence that increasingly locked their fate together made Elena feel like the luckiest woman in lower Manhattan. To Elena, Elijah was just a poor IT technician who worked overtime all night for his daily wages from his Wall Street client.
'He must be so exhausted after fixing that backup server all night,' Elena thought with deep pity.
Elena got out of bed very quietly, walking toward the kitchen to prepare a breakfast of buttered toast and a cup of warm black coffee.
However, just as Elena was pouring hot water into the cup, a pair of strong, solid arms suddenly crept around her waist from behind, pulling Elena's slender body until it pressed seamlessly against the man's broad chest. The masculine scent of sandalwood mixed with the lingering chill of snow immediately assaulted Elena's senses.
"You woke up too early, Ángel," Elijah whispered, his low, husky, sexy baritone voice sounding so captivating right at the curve of Elena's neck, sending subtle flutters that instantly paralyzed all her movements.
Elena chuckled softly, turning her body slightly within the confines of Elijah's strong arms, then looking up into her lover's sapphire blue eyes, glinting with absolute possessive obsession.
"And you woke up right on time when the scent of coffee started to hit, Elijah. How was your client's server last night? Did everything go smoothly?"
Elijah flashed his most charming lopsided smile, bending down to briefly kiss Elena's full lips with tenderness full of ownership claims.
"Everything went one hundred percent sterile, my Employer. All external data leak gaps have been destroyed down to their roots. My client even guaranteed that a two-block radius around your SoHo studio will never be penetrated by any flies again."
"Thank you, Elijah," Elena said sincerely, resting her head on Elijah's broad chest, gently clutching his red plaid flannel fabric with absolute safety.
"Now, finish your breakfast quickly. We have to get to the studio right away. Today I need to start carving the initial Gothic pattern into that ten-carat pink diamond. I don't want Victoria Blackwood to think we're delaying her work."
Elijah only replied with a sexy low chuckle, burying his handsome face in Elena's hair while enjoying how his empress was becoming increasingly entangled in the golden cage he had so neatly built.
Meanwhile, under the cold morning light on the Upper East Side, the main hall of the Blackwood clan's residence was once again struck by high-level tension.
Alaric Blackwood sat frozen in his grand chair, his face completely blank like cement paper.
Before him, a digital tablet screen displayed the daily report from the London Stock Exchange, just updated a minute ago.
All of the international port shares belonging to the branch clan managed by Silas Blackwood had officially been declared completely bankrupt, liquidated by New York's central banking system overnight due to illegal cyber evidence automatically sent by Apex Sovereign's network.
"That little devil... he really conducted a mass purge!" Alaric roared in frustration, slamming the marble table until his teacup rattled.
"He not only froze Vivian Sterling's flight visa in lower Manhattan, but he also crushed Uncle Silas's entire financial supply network from London! In just one year, that unfilial son has turned New York into a personal dictator's territory just to protect that Vance designer!"
Victoria Blackwood, who had just stepped in wearing her classic gray cashmere dress, could only stare at her husband with a very cold, assessing gaze.
The main Blackwood empress folded both arms over her chest, flashing a mysterious smile full of incredibly foolish irony.
"I told you, Alaric. Elijah's patience ran out the moment you sent that ridiculous ice cream truck to Fifth Avenue," Victoria said, her voice crisp yet sharp as a surgical scalpel.
"Your son is a pure Blackwood type willing to burn his entire business empire throne as long as his private territory remains intact. If you keep trying to arrange a match with Vivian Sterling, I'm afraid my Paris charity foundation will also be turned to ashes by tomorrow morning."
Alaric grumbled in annoyance, once again settling his aged body into his chair with a severely wounded ego.
"Then what should we do, Victoria?! Just let him keep wearing those cheap shirts and acting like a hired gigolo in front of everyone for the remaining two and a half years of their contract?!"
Victoria did not answer. Her eagle eyes stared sharply toward the large glass window facing the SoHo district.
"We wait for this one month, Alaric. If Elena Vance manages to deliver a 'Memory's Crown' draft that captivates my taste, then the main Blackwood clan itself will step in to become her public legal shield, no matter how loudly Morgan Valdez screams from across the ocean."
Back on the second floor of Elena Vance Atelier that afternoon.
Elena sat with full concentration at her high-tech designer work desk.
Under precise LED spotlights, the raw ten-carat pink diamond reflected a magical shimmer onto her digital sketch draft's surface.
The medieval Gothic lines inspired by her childhood memories with her grandfather were now neatly etched into the tiara's support structure. Every detail symbolized resilience and sacred tears.
Elijah stood silently behind the studio's back bar counter, back in his casual mode with the calm of a deeply protective ordinary man.
However, hidden within the folds of his red plaid flannel shirt, his encrypted smartwatch once again vibrated softly with a private frequency from Marcus.
\[Young Master, Morgan Valdez in London is reported to have suffered an acute panic attack after you destroyed his satellite connection last night. His remaining allies in Northern Europe are now beginning to withdraw all their funds from Mayfair out of fear of Apex Sovereign's cyber radar. The perimeter isolation scenario is running one hundred percent successful.\]
A very cruel and deadly predator's grin once again beautifully etched itself onto Elijah's handsome face. This one-year grand charade remained safe and solid under the absolute law he controlled completely from behind Manhattan's lower darkness.
He turned off his watch screen, then walked slowly across the blood-red velvet carpet toward Elena, ready to once again embrace his empress within his strong, warm arms, locking their fate in a golden cage that no storm in the New York world could ever penetrate.