Chapter 9 Dance with Me
Elodie's POV
He walked straight through the crowd.
Finally, he stopped right in front of me, his eyes landing on my torn dress hem and disheveled appearance.
Damn it, of all times for him to see me like this!
I wished I could find a hole to crawl into.
A cold, terrifying pressure instantly enveloped the entire room, even more suffocating than the earlier confrontation.
"What's going on?"
Samantha stammered, trying to explain, "Mr. Nelson, we... we were playing a game, Elodie she..."
"Did I ask you?" Nelson said.
He seemed to be waiting for my answer.
I looked at his face, both familiar and strange, and my nose suddenly stung.
Every time he appeared when I was at my most pathetic - was he my savior or my curse?
Before I could speak, a steady voice came from behind Nelson, "Sir, the surveillance footage has been retrieved."
It was that burly bodyguard. I recognized him - his name was Rod.
He held a tablet in his hand and respectfully handed it over.
Seeing the tablet, Samantha jumped in first, "Mr. Nelson, don't get me wrong - it was just a silly joke! Since you're here now, let's just drop it. I don't even want the necklace anymore. Elodie, we're good."
I knew what this bitch was thinking. She was trying to gloss over the whole thing this way, painting herself as a generous and forgiving victim.
But Nelson didn't even lift an eyelid. He took the tablet and pressed play. Clear surveillance footage immediately appeared before everyone's eyes.
In the video, Samantha walked into the small room and quickly stuffed the diamond necklace into her handbag, then took out a fake one she had prepared beforehand and hid it.
The drink she gave me when she came out was also planned in advance, all so she could frame me later and catch me red-handed with the "evidence."
The truth was out. The evidence was ironclad.
A chorus of gasps and hushed whispers immediately erupted around us.
Samantha's face went through every color of the rainbow - first pale as a sheet, then green around the gills, then beet red, before going completely white.
She completely panicked, rushing over to grab my hand, crying and begging, "Elodie, I'm sorry, I was wrong! I just lost my mind for a moment, it was just a joke. Please forgive me, okay? We're still good friends..."
Looking at her fake face, I just felt disgusted.
Who was good friends with her?
This stupid woman was practically insulting the concept of friendship!
Seeing I remained unmoved, Lorenzo put away the tablet. "A hundred thousand dollar necklace and you say you don't want it just like that - Miss Samantha is really generous." He paused, the mockery in his voice even stronger. "Or are you saying that in your eyes, my girl is only worth a hundred thousand dollar frame-up?"
His girl?
I jerked my head up to look at him, my heart skipping a beat.
Samantha froze too. She looked at Lorenzo in disbelief, then at me, her pretty face completely twisted with jealousy and humiliation.
"Alex!" She cried pitifully. "Help me explain to Mr. Nelson, I really didn't mean it..."
Alex's face also looked terrible. "Mr. Nelson, Samantha is young and doesn't know better. For my sake, let's just forget about this."
"How interesting. She's young and doesn't know better, so she can freely slander me. When I was forced to jump into the frozen lake, why didn't you say I was young and didn't know better?" I looked at his stupid face and couldn't help but sneer. "And another thing - how much is your face worth?"
Alex clearly didn't see that coming. His face turned beet red, and I had him so tongue-tied he couldn't get a word out.
He wanted to say something more, but Lorenzo had already lost his patience.
He suddenly reached out, put his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me into his solid, warm embrace.
That familiar cedarwood scent instantly surrounded me, letting my tense nerves relax a little.
"My patience is limited," Lorenzo said. "Rod, throw these two eyesores out."
"Yes, sir." Rod waved his hand, and two bodyguards immediately stepped forward. Ignoring Alex and Samantha's struggles, they hauled them up like sacks.
"Elodie!" As he was being dragged away, Alex still shouted at me unwillingly. "Don't get cocky! Using this playing-hard-to-get trick to get my attention - you think I'll fall for it? I'm waiting for you to come crawling back to me!"
I couldn't be bothered with his crazy ranting. I just buried my face in Lorenzo's chest, blocking out all the sounds from the outside world.
The drama ended.
I pulled away from Nelson's embrace and said quietly, "Thank you. I should go now."
Tonight's drama left me feeling fed up. I didn't like Samantha, and I liked these people's pitying looks even less. They made me feel like the lead in a stage play, or rather, like a clown seeking attention.
Right now I just wanted to escape from here.
But my wrist was caught.
A graceful waltz had started playing in the club at some point. Nelson held my hand, bowed slightly, his deep blue eyes gazing at me like an elegant aristocrat, and extended an invitation. "Dance with me."
I froze.
When I placed my hand in his large palm, a subtle electric current shot up from my fingertips.
My heart felt like it had been scalded by something.
He pulled me by the hand up to the second floor. The surrounding lights dimmed, a spotlight shone on us, and everyone tactfully retreated from the dance floor.
We glided onto the dance floor. Moving with the music, his hand gripped my waist firmly. We were very close, so close I could clearly feel the steady heartbeat from his chest.
In a trance, time seemed to flow backward.
I remembered the community dance when I was ten years old. Clumsy me had also been led like this by a boy, dancing my first dance on the moonlit lawn, stepping on his feet.
That boy had also carried the same pleasant cedarwood scent.
"Lorenzo..." I opened my mouth as if possessed. "Why won't you admit it?"
I felt his body stiffen for a moment. He looked down at me. I couldn't make out the expression in his eyes. "You're talking nonsense again."
There it was again.
Every time I tried to probe, I got his firm denial.
I stared straight at him. "You're Lorenzo, aren't you?"
Nelson raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.
But the way he looked to me was clearly guilty.
He didn't dare admit it!
Grievance and unwillingness made me instantly lose focus. My steps faltered, and I stepped hard on his shiny leather shoe.
"I'm sorry!" I cried out, frantically trying to step back.
But his arm around my waist suddenly tightened. I lost my balance and fell forward uncontrollably.
In my panic, I looked at his sexy lips, grabbed his collar, and suddenly stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
Time seemed to freeze in this moment.
I thought I must be crazy too.
I met his slightly startled blue eyes.