Chapter 26

Elena Hayes blinked.

“Any room I want?”

Richard Sterling unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing a small section of his strong, smooth chest.

He raised an eyebrow at her question.

“What’s the problem?”

Elena asked cautiously, a hint of hesitation in her voice.

“Then… is your daughter’s room also on the second floor? The door should be locked, right? I’m just worried I might accidentally walk into it.”

Richard didn’t pause in unbuttoning his shirt.

“No.”

His tone was calm, almost as though the answer should have been obvious.

“There’s no room for her here.”

Elena froze for a moment.

Richard turned his head toward her. Seeing the blank look on her face, he added,

“She hardly ever comes here.”

Elena: “…”

In the original novel, the heroine’s father had essentially been a background character. His only real purpose seemed to be providing her with a powerful identity and access to resources. He had barely been given any direct scenes, and naturally, there had been almost nothing written about the relationship between him and his daughter.

Elena could imagine all kinds of situations that might exist within a wealthy family—distant family relationships, strict rules, and so on.

But a daughter who never even came to her own father’s house?

That was something else entirely.

If her parents had been divorced, perhaps it would have made sense. But they weren’t. As far as Elena knew, Richard was the only parent who had ever been involved in Victoria’s life.

Elena found herself wondering what exactly the relationship between father and daughter was like.

In principle, the worse their relationship was, the more advantageous it might be for her.

After all, Victoria absolutely despised her.

Granted, most of that hatred had been directed at the original Elena. But there was no way Elena could run around telling people that she wasn’t actually the original Elena.

More importantly—

Victoria liked Adrian, which was precisely why she hated Adrian’s ex-girlfriend.

The ex-girlfriend’s personality and character probably weren’t all that important to her.

“…At next week’s European Central Bank meeting, increase our interest-rate swap exposure by another €1.5 billion. As for the hedge… reverse the position.”

“You think they’re going to signal something more hawkish than the market expects?”

Richard had already gone into the study with his assistant, Robert. A servant soon brought coffee in after them.

Elena pushed those thoughts aside and headed upstairs.

The second floor of the mansion was so spacious that it was almost difficult to comprehend. The staircase opened onto a vast, open-plan living area.

Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling bullet-resistant glass walls were staggered terraces, lush greenery, and the glittering lights of the capital in the distance.

Several minimalist leather sofas were arranged in the center of the room. A few pieces of contemporary art stood in the corners, while the air carried the faint, cool scent of sandalwood.

Elena followed the hallway farther inside and pushed open the door of what appeared to be a guest room.

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The level of luxury inside still far exceeded anything she had imagined.

The room was roughly thirty to forty square meters, decorated in muted gray and walnut tones, with a huge double bed positioned in the center.

A small semicircular balcony extended outward from one side of the room. Below it lay the shimmering private lake, surrounded by lush gardens.

Beside the bed was a large writing desk, equipped with an impressively high-tech computer tower and several monitors.

Other than that, there was only a row of wardrobes built along the wall.

The rest of the room was wide open.

Perfect.

Elena closed the door.

She needed to work off some of the calories from the ice cream—and, more importantly, get this body back into shape as quickly as possible.

There was no ballet barre, so she used the edge of the desk for support.

She started with a series of basic ballet stretches.

As her body gradually warmed up, she moved away from the desk and began practicing across the spacious floor.

She worked through a series of demanding ballet movements, jumps, and turns, focusing on her balance, posture, and core control.

One sequence followed another, each requiring precision and strength.

An hour later.

After completing the final series of wide, continuous turns, Elena landed steadily and brought the movement to a controlled finish.

She looked as though she had just been pulled out of a swimming pool.

The loose strands of hair across her forehead were completely soaked with sweat, clinging to her flushed cheeks.

Her shirt was soaked through in large patches, clinging tightly to her back and outlining the elegant lines of her shoulder blades.

She braced both hands against her knees, breathing heavily.

She was exhausted to the point that she didn’t want to move even a finger.

And yet, the intense sense of release that came after pushing her muscles to their limits had left her mind unusually clear.

Her phone suddenly rang.

Elena straightened, taking a few moments to steady her breathing before walking over and picking up the phone.

It was Sophia Bennett calling.

She didn’t really want to answer, but she was worried it might be the dorm checking in.

Westbridge University wasn’t particularly strict about students staying out overnight, but when the dorm staff checked on students, they still needed to be able to reach them.

Otherwise, it could become troublesome.

“Hello?”

Elena answered.

There was a brief silence on the other end before Sophia’s voice came through.

“Ellie, are you coming back tonight?”

Elena sat down in the chair at the desk and wiped the sweat from her face with a tissue.

“No. I’m not coming back tonight.”

“Oh?” Sophia hesitated. “Then when are you coming back?”

“Tomorrow,” Elena said matter-of-factly. “I still have class.”

“Oh.”

Sophia acknowledged it, then suddenly asked,

“But why are you breathing so hard? Are you running or something? Or… did something happen?”

Her voice grew louder as she spoke.

Then a burst of abrupt noise came through the phone.

It sounded like a chair being violently shoved aside and knocked over, followed by a rough struggle.

Sophia let out a startled cry.

The next second, an angry male voice came through the phone.

“Elena? Where are you? Who are you with?”

Adrian demanded coldly.

Elena gave a cold laugh.

“Why does it matter to you?”

So Adrian had found Sophia.

That must have been why she had called.

Elena couldn’t be bothered to figure out why.

Maybe Sophia had simply wanted to cause her trouble. Or perhaps she genuinely thought Elena was unwilling to break up with Adrian.

Either way, it was understandable.

The original Elena had a long history of this kind of behavior. She had threatened to break up with Adrian countless times, only to come crawling back every time.

Whatever her roommates thought of her, they had plenty of reason to think that way.

“Beep… beep… beep…”

The call ended.

Adrian immediately tried calling again, only to discover that the number appeared to have been blocked as well.

His face darkened.

A mixture of anger at being ignored and panic over the situation slipping completely out of his control surged through him.

Sophia stood beside him, watching the furious expression on Adrian’s face.

She felt uneasy, and even more awkward.

Adrian had stopped her in the garden and asked where Elena was.

She had agreed to call partly because she was curious and wanted to see what was going on.

Besides, Adrian was handsome, and she didn’t mind having a little more contact with him.

She had hoped to hear something juicy—or at the very least, make Adrian owe her a favor.

She hadn’t expected Elena to react so coldly and decisively, hanging up on them and blocking her number.

Now she was stuck in an awkward position.

“Adrian…”

Sophia spoke carefully, trying to ease the tension.

“Maybe Ellie is really busy. Or maybe the signal—”

Adrian suddenly turned his head toward her.

His sharp gaze was enough to make Sophia swallow the rest of her sentence.

He gave a cold laugh, shoved the phone back into her hand, and said stiffly,

“Forget it. It’s none of your business. Thanks.”

Adrian was still burning with anger and had nowhere to vent it.

He strode away.

After walking more than a dozen meters, he came face-to-face with Victoria Sterling.

“Adrian? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

She had apparently just come from the library, several thick textbooks in her arms.

She was wearing a perfectly tailored ivory dress, her long hair falling smoothly over her shoulders, and a gentle, graceful smile on her face.

There was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Victoria glanced at Adrian, then at Sophia in the distance.

Sophia seemed to recognize her as well.

Her expression immediately lit up with excitement, admiration written all over her face. She looked as though she wanted to go over and speak to her, but didn’t quite dare.

Victoria was already accustomed to receiving looks like that.

She simply smiled faintly.

Adrian’s eyes also brightened.

“You were looking for me? Is this about the competition?”

He desperately hoped she had good news.

The smile on Victoria’s face faded slightly.

She shook her head gently.

“Adrian, I’m sorry. I had my assistant look into it carefully. The organizing committee has already formally issued its decision, and the public announcement period has ended. Everything was handled according to procedure. There’s no room for any changes.”

The light in Adrian’s eyes vanished instantly.

Inside, he cursed the Caldwell family.

And Elena.

It was all that damn woman’s fault!

His mother had been right.

She was nothing but trouble.

Victoria’s eyes flickered slightly as her gaze moved toward Sophia.

“Who is she? What were you two talking about just now?”

Only then did Adrian remember that Sophia was still standing nearby.

Afraid that Victoria might misunderstand, he quickly explained,

“She’s Elena’s roommate, Sophia Bennett. I was just asking her about Elena.”

He paused, deliberately keeping his tone casual.

“I used Sophia’s phone to contact her because I wanted to know whether she was coming back tonight. She’s a young woman staying out overnight without even telling anyone where she was. Naturally, I was worried. But…”

He gave a self-deprecating smile.

“She hung up on me and then blocked Sophia’s number too. I guess I was just interfering where I wasn’t wanted. We’ve already broken up, after all.”

Victoria’s brows drew together almost imperceptibly.

She naturally caught the implication behind Adrian’s words, and her impression of Elena worsened further.

Especially now that she knew Elena had repeatedly threatened to break up with Adrian, only to end up crawling back to him every time.

The thought filled Victoria with disdain.

A woman like that could be beautiful on the outside, but inside, she was rotten to the core.

“Really?” Victoria’s voice remained gentle. “Did she say where she was? Or who she was with?”

Adrian was already irritated and answered casually,

“She probably got picked up by that person again.”

Victoria froze.

“Who?”

Adrian opened his mouth.

“…Someone sent me a photo this morning. It showed Elena getting out of some incredibly rare luxury car. I have no idea whose car it was.”

Victoria fell silent for a moment.

“Do you still have the photo? Can I see it?”