Hiding Behind Her Superficiality

Chapter 158

“Leave? You’re my granddaughter, Elspeth. How can I bear to watch you staying outside all alone?”

Elspeth didn’t know if he was telling the truth, but she felt that he held extreme views, and so he was probably not benevolent.

“I don’t need the Joneson Family’s protection. I can protect myself.”

Michael snorted and said, “Whose help do you need if not ours? The Winthrop Family’s? Mr. Wordsworth told me that you are engaged with Callum. I never understood what good you saw in him when he is nothing compared to you.”

In that split second, Elspeth knew why she had a nauseous feeling when she looked at him. When she heard his words, her face turned gloomy and she thought, He’s trying to control me by saying he cares for me. He looks like someone who wants all the power to himself.

“I have the right to choose whom I want to marry. It’s the 21st century, yet you still want to arrange my marriage for me?” Elspeth retorted.

Her stubbornness shocked the crowd.

After all, aside from Frank, Elspeth was the only one who dared to talk back to Michael.

“Fine. I’ll leave that be, but you have to promise me that you will stay here.”

Is he putting me under house arrest? Elspeth’s face darkened even though she had expected the outcome. “No. I can’t stay here, as I still have places to be.”

However, Michael wouldn’t approve of anyone disobeying him. “Listen, Elspeth. If you be a good girl and stay here, nothing bad will happen to Callum,” he said calmly as if he wouldn’t hurt Callum the moment Elspeth disagreed with him.

They are threatening me with Callum again. Elspeth knew that the Joneson Family had men in both law enforcement and the underworld. No one could compare to them in terms of power, nor would they be brave enough to challenge Michael.

Elspeth’s eyes darkened as she hummed in response.

Only then did Michael look happy and praise her for being obedient.

Frank suddenly said impatiently, “Alright, that should be it. Can we leave if there is nothing more to say? Do we really have to put such a big effort into welcoming her?”

Frank was Michael’s favorite. Seeing that he was impatient, Michael stopped asking Elspeth questions and rolled his eyes at Frank. “How can you say that? She’s your cousin! We will be family from now on!”

“Family? I doubt that she wants this.” Frank snorted.

Although his words were harsh, he was saying what everyone already knew.

Seeing that Frank was about to fly into a rage, Michael didn’t argue with him. He then cleared his throat and said, “Alright. Everyone get back to what they are doing. Frank, since Elspeth is unfamiliar with the surroundings, why don’t you take her for a stroll?”

“What? Why me?” Frank’s eyes twitched.

“That’s because you guys are also the same age. The both of you will have many things in common.”

Michael wasn’t wrong. After all, the Joneson Family didn’t have many offspring. Nicholas’ wife—Anya— gave birth to Kenneth and Lola; Dylan’s wife gave birth to Frank; and Elspeth was the child of Helena. There were only a total of four children in the house. Hence, it was understandable that Michael didn’t want Elspeth to leave.

Although Frank was getting impatient, he didn’t say anything more and agreed to it in silence.

“Well then, you must be tired from all the traveling. I have asked someone to clean out a place for you to stay. Frank, take her to Cluist Pavilion. She will be staying there.”

Frank nodded when he heard Michael’s words. Then, he looked at Elspeth, who was daydreaming, and said faintly, “Let’s go.”

Elspeth breathed a sigh of relief and followed Frank out of the room.

After a few steps, she suddenly said to Frank, “Thank you.” Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.

“What for?” Frank raised his eyebrow.

“I suppose you said those words on purpose to save me.” She thought that Frank must have known that she didn’t want to stay with Michael any longer. The reason he said those words were to help her get out of that situation.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t have the time to help you. Have you forgotten that you kicked me into the flowerbed?” Frank would be annoyed every time he thought about this and his face turned as black as thunder.

“No matter what, I still owe you a thank you.” Looking at him, Elspeth felt that Frank might be a nice person. After all, he wasn’t as arrogant as he seemed.

“To be honest, I understand why you would be unwilling to stay here.” His sudden words surprised Elspeth.

“What did you just say?”

Frank seemed to realize that he had made a mistake and put on his cocky expression once again. Coldly, he uttered, “Nothing.”

Since Cluist Pavilion was not far away, they arrived within five minutes. Frank led her to the door, where he stopped and said, “Take a look around inside. Call me if you need anything, but I hope you won’t.” Then, he turned around and left.

Elspeth clicked her tongue and gave him a glance before entering the room. The room was huge, and the name of the room sounded ancient. Looking at the antique decoration, Elspeth could guess where Michael’s feudal views came from.

Suddenly, her phone rang. When she saw that it was Callum, she picked up the phone.

“How did it go? Did anyone bully you?” Although Callum sounded calm, Elspeth could still hear the concern in it.

After thinking for some time, Elspeth still decided to lie to him as she didn’t want him to worry. “Don’t worry. No one bullied me. They are all… nice.”

Unfortunately, she was terrible at lying, and Callum could tell that she was being dishonest at once.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I said I’m fine, right? You have to believe me. After all, when have I ever lied to you?” Elspeth giggled.

“When are you coming back then?” Callum’s words took a turn.

“About that… I will be home soon. Old Mr. Joneson asked me to stay for a while since he misses me.”

Callum could tell that Elspeth was locked up there.

“Do you want to come home? I can pick you up if you want,” Callum said softly. He didn’t care if the Joneson Family was behind this. He would do anything it took to protect Elspeth no matter what.

When Elspeth heard his words, she was surprised and quickly shook her head. Then, she realized that he couldn’t have seen her actions and sighed. “I’m fine. I just need to stay here for a while. It’s not like I’m being locked up here. You don’t have to do this.” After all, she would find a way out herself.

Callum stopped pressing her about it since she was insistent. He only hung up the phone after talking to her for a while more.

Looking at her phone, Elspeth sank into deep thought. There’s no way I can stay here for long. If Callum senses something wrong, he will come over immediately. Who knows what will happen then?

Suddenly, she thought of Frank and smiled.

I have a plan.