Chapter 190
Matthew's sudden forcefulness caught Zander completely off guard, leaving him in disbelief.
"Matthew, Elise is my girlfriend. Show some respect!"
Matthew glared at Zander, his eyes bloodshot, his voice stern and harsh.
"Let go of her!"
Zander looked at Elise, then at Matthew, his brow furrowed tightly.
"Elise is my girlfriend. I can do whatever I want!"
Matthew completely ignored Zander's words, "I'm counting to three!"
Zander felt nervous inside, but on the surface he still maintained an extremely angry, unyielding attitude.
Elise didn't want the two of them to argue in public, so she first removed Matthew's hand.
"Mr. Moore, I'm fine!"
Then she also freed herself from Zander's grip.
"Zander, let me walk over there with you. I've met some potential partners since coming to Emerald City. Let's go chat with them!"
With that, Elise pulled Zander away.
Matthew watched them, looking lost.
"Matthew, what's between those two is none of our..."
Mia's words stopped abruptly. Matthew's gaze turned toward her, making her heart skip a beat.
"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked.
Mia had already prepared her excuse, so she appeared calm and composed.
"Didn't I say I was bored at home? So I came out for a walk to clear my head!"
Matthew said, "You know Zander well?"
Mia lied without any guilt.
"He came to see me once to find out about your relationship with Elise. I knew he was attending this event tonight, so I asked him to bring me in!"
"He brought you here with bad intentions. You understand that, right?" Matthew scolded.
Mia lowered her head and mumbled, "I don't care what his intentions are. I just wanted to see you!"
Matthew really didn't know how to deal with Mia. Being too harsh on her felt cruel, and he couldn't bear it. But being completely cold to her didn't work either, she just kept clinging!
"From now on, don't come to places I don't allow you to come!" Matthew mocked, "What Mrs. Moore? There's only one Mrs. Moore in my heart, and that's Amelia!"
Mia's self-esteem was hurt. Her chest heaved violently as she looked at Matthew defiantly.
"I'll come if I want to. It's not like I'm riding in your car!"
Matthew showed a helpless expression. How did he not know Mia could be so shameless! Was he blind before?
"Fine, go wherever you want, but please don't go around telling everyone you're Mrs. Moore! Otherwise, I'll call the police on you for being a fraud!"
Matthew turned and left.
Mia called out unwillingly, "Matthew, where are you going?"
Matthew said coldly, "None of your business! Feel free to look around!"
He didn't stay any longer and left by car.
Mia was so angry she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
Not far away, Elise stared blankly as Matthew's car drove away.
"Elise!" A cold gleam flashed in Zander's eyes, "You're not actually developing feelings for Matthew, are you?"
Elise blushed and quickly lowered her head, twisting her fingers together.
"What are you thinking! There's nothing between him and me!"
However, Elise's shy manner had already revealed her thoughts.
It seemed he had to hurry and take Elise away from Emerald City.
Zander's voice became gentle, easing the atmosphere. He grabbed Elise's hand and stroked it.
"Elise, I got carried away just now and hurt you when I grabbed you. I'm sorry!"
"If it wasn't for Matthew, I wouldn't have been so angry!"
"In a few days, we'll leave Emerald City and go to Everglade City to handle business. Without Matthew bothering us, we'll be very happy, just like before!"
Elise remained silent. Deep in her heart, she really didn't want to leave Emerald City.
She had an indescribable feeling about Matthew. Not seeing Matthew gave her a sense of loss.
Her reluctance to leave Emerald City wasn't just because of Matthew, there was another reason.
It was her relationship with Amelia! She wanted to find out the truth!
Seeing Elise's silence, Zander felt even worse.
All of Elise's signs indicated she had developed some kind of feelings for Matthew!
What Zander feared most was that once Elise's memory returned, she would never be his!
"Elise, can you promise me something?" Zander put his arm around her waist, looking at Elise sincerely.
"What is it?" Elise could probably guess.
"Don't see Matthew anymore, okay?" Zander said in a pleading tone, "I don't want Mom and Dad and Atticus to see us unhappy when they come!"
Thinking of how good the Parkers had been to her, Elise nodded obediently.
Zander smiled and pulled Elise into his arms.
Soon after, a business partner came over to chat with them, and Elise went to the restroom.
When she came out of the restroom, she saw Mia standing outside waiting for her.
Elise planned to ignore her, but Mia took the initiative to greet her.
"Ms. Sinclair, can we talk?"
Elise refused directly, "No, we can't!"
Mia's expression stiffened. A flash of displeasure appeared in her eyes, then quickly disappeared.
"Ms. Sinclair is really direct! I wanted to talk about you and Mr. Lawson. Can we talk privately?"
Elise sneered, "What does my relationship with Zander have to do with you? I find you really thick-skinned. I already said it's not convenient, but you still insist on talking to me! Now I understand why Mr. Moore can't get rid of you and lets you stay in the villa! You're really shameless!"
Mia gasped. Even though her name had changed and her memory was gone, Elise's sharp tongue was still the same as before!
"It looks like you've already fallen in love with Matthew! Mr. Lawson has such deep feelings for you, what a shame! If word got out that you cheated with Matthew and ruined someone else's relationship, what would people online say about you? What would happen to the Lawson family's reputation?"
Elise thought over Mia's words and heard the threatening tone.
"You're going to spread rumors online?"
Mia's tone was sarcastic, "Whether it's rumors or not, people online will judge for themselves!"
Elise didn't care at all.
"Spread rumors if you want! But let me warn you, if Mr. Moore finds out you did it, don't expect to stay in his villa anymore!"
Elise looked at Mia with contempt and returned to Zander's side.
Mia clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white.
She couldn't control Amelia before, and now she couldn't control Elise either. So frustrating!
When it was time to take Elise to meet Field, Matthew sent Elise a message.
Matthew: [Are you free this afternoon?]
Elise was in a conference room with Zander discussing business with partners. When she received the message, the corners of Elise's mouth turned up slightly. Although the expression was subtle, Zander had already caught it, and a look of alertness flashed in his eyes.
Elise: [What's up, Mr. Moore?]
Matthew: [I do have something, but I need to tell you in person! It's about you!]
Elise glanced at Zander. Zander pretended not to notice and just kept talking to the business partner.
After hesitating for a moment, Elise inexplicably agreed.
Elise: [Okay, where should we meet?]
Matthew: [I'll pick you up downstairs at your company!]
Elise quickly replied.
Elise: [I'd better drive to your company instead!]
Matthew could tell Elise was worried about Zander misunderstanding, so he replied.
Matthew: [Okay, message me when you get downstairs at my company!]
After finishing the discussion with the business partners, Zander suddenly grabbed Elise's hand, startling her so much that her hand jerked.
"What's wrong with you?" Zander asked, knowing full well.
Elise covered up, "Nothing!"
Zander said, "Let's take these partners out to dinner later, and go singing tonight, okay?"