Elara froze, the smile on her lips slowly disappeared, pressing into a thin line as she stared at him for a long ti.
She then looked away briefly, her gaze moving through the displays before stopping at another section.
Walking carefully over to it, her fingers tugged lightly at the side of her clothes in discomfort. When she got there, she stretched out her hand and picked one of the phones randomly.
"This one is fine." She said calmly, her eyes remaining on the device.
Adrian walked toward her slowly, one hand sliding into his pocket. He stopped a short distance behind her before glancing at the phone in her hand.
"No," he said imdiately, his tone flat.
Elara’s brows furrowed at his controlling attitude.
Wasn’t he supposed to be satisfied she had even agreed to accept a phone from him at all?
"Then why did you ask ?" she said irritably.
Adrian calmly took the phone from her hand and turned it over once in his palm before returning it to the display stand.
"Take from those instead," he said, pointing toward another section nearby.
Though the phones there didn’t look as ridiculously flashy as the one he had picked earlier, the mont Elara noticed the price tags, a wave of dizziness nearly washed through her.
"You must be joking..." she muttered. "Who even needs a phone that expensive?"
Adrian remained silent, though his brows had already furrowed in displeasure.
"Do you even know how much those costs?" she asked, turning toward him.
"No," he replied calmly.
Elara stared at him with widened eyes before shaking her head slowly in disbelief.
Before she could say anything else, the manager who had been standing nearby finally stepped forward carefully. His expression looked tense enough that it seed breathing itself required permission.
"Sir... I think I understand the kind of device miss wants."
Adrian gave a small nod.
The manager imdiately disappeared. A few monts later, he returned holding a sleek matte black phone.
Elara paused, the tension in her expression finally easing a little.
At least this one actually looked normal. Simple. Clean. And comfortable. No unnecessary glittering nonsense attached to it.
"It’s okay," she muttered quietly.
Adrian barely glanced at the device before speaking. "Not impressive. Looks outdated."
The manager almost jumped from shock. "Sir, it’s our newest model," he said quickly.
But Adrian acted as though he hadn’t heard him at all.
Finally unable to take it anymore, Elara shook her head tiredly. "I’m sorry, but if this keeps going then maybe I should just continue usi..."
"Take it then," Adrian cut in smoothly. Then after a short pause, his gaze shifted toward her her face. "At least stop using that damaged thing."
Elara imdiately pursed her lips.
What did he an by damaged thing? Her phone wasn’t nearly as terrible as he kept making it sound.
The manager finally released a relieved breath and quickly took the phone away for packaging. When he returned, it had already been boxed neatly inside a small black shopping bag.
He carefully handed it toward Adrian with both hands. "Everything has already been prepared, sir."
Adrian took the bag from the manager before giving a small nod toward Elara. Then without a word, he turned and started walking away.
Elara guessed he had probably settled everything already so she followed after him too, though she made sure to keep a small distance between them.
Before they reached the exit, a voice suddenly called out. "Mr. Vale."
Adrian’s movent slowed a bit, his head turning just enough to glance sideways.
Elara’s gaze also followed the voice instinctively and landed on a man standing near one of the service counters. He was dressed in a formal business suit, a polite smile resting on his face as he looked at Adrian.
Beside him stood another man who looked completely the opposite.
He wore a wine colored shirt half tucked into loose designer pants. Shiny earrings glinted on his ear lobes and a pair of glasses rested low on his nose while he casually chewed bubble gum. His soft looking hair fell ssily over his forehead.
Elara looked away calmly.
But thankfully she did so quickly. Because if not, she would have walked straight into Adrian who had already stopped moving.
"Didn’t expect to see you here," the man said as he approached them.
Adrian’s expression remained calm as he gave a small nod.
Elara guessed he was probably soone from Adrian’s business circle, and not wanting to create any unnecessary misunderstandings, she made to walk past them.
"I’ll wait outside," she muttered calmly. But she had barely taken three steps before a hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist.
Elara turned abruptly, her eyes dropping to the hand holding her before lifting slowly to Adrian’s face.
He was still looking at the man in front of him, his expression composed as if he wasn’t the one holding her at all.
Seeing the man’s surprised expression, Elara gently tried to pull her hand free. But instead of releasing her, Adrian’s grip shifted lower until their fingers slid together naturally. Then he pulled her calmly back to stand beside him.
The man imdiately went quiet, the smile on his face stiffening. "This doesn’t look like Miss Relanie," he said carefully. "I didn’t know you had a sister."
Elara’s lips pressed together more tightly. She could barely breathe properly though her face stayed calm. Adrian’s fingers were still firmly intertwined with hers and he showed no intention of letting go.
A cold snort escaped Adrian’s lips. "Don’t compare unrelated people," he said calmly. "She’s with ."
Elara stared at him from the corner of her eyes, her brows narrowing in surprise at his reply.
With the way he said it so casually, did he even realize what it ant?
"Oh..." the man muttered awkwardly before quickly stretching his hand toward her. "I’m Vaelosorgo Orsino. Most people just call Vael."
Elara nodded a bit and raised her hand to shake his.
But before she could, Adrian smoothly transferred the shopping bag into her outstretched hand instead. Then he turned back to the man calmly.
"Her ankle is injured."
His tone remained flat, as if he had simply stated the most reasonable thing in the world.
"Oh. Right," Vael said awkwardly before withdrawing his hand. He gave Elara a small apologetic bow before turning back to Adrian again.
"Mr. Vale, sorry for stopping you. I was just surprised seeing you sowhere like this randomly. And coincidentally, I’ve always wanted to tell you about—"
"Babe, hurry up. I finally found the one I want." A soft voice interrupted him imdiately.
The younger man who had been leaning against him back at the counter finally walked over with a small pout on his face as he nudged him impatiently.
Vael gave an helpless sigh. "Just wait for a minute."
The younger man shook his head quickly. "No. Absolutely not. If I leave you here, you’ll probably start discussing business until the store closes next week."
Adrian, whose expression already showed he had completely lost interest in the conversation, calmly adjusted the sleeve of his cuff.
"We’ll discuss it another ti," he said flatly. Then without waiting for any response, he turned and walked toward the exit, pulling Elara along with him.
"You can let go of now," Elara muttered as she tried keeping up with his long strides.
The problem was that he walked as if the entire world naturally moved at his pace. anwhile her injured ankle was already starting to ache again from trying to follow him so quickly.
Seeing that he wasn’t reacting, she applied more force to her hand and tried pulling away from his grip. That was when Adrian finally released her. But almost imdiately, his hand slid to the back of her waist instead.
Though there were fewer people outside than inside the showroom, she could still feel several eyes openly staring at them.
"Can you stop doing that?" she said through gritted teeth.
Adrian didn’t reply. He simply continued walking her toward the car calmly. Before they reached it, Elara wriggled out of his hold and reached for the door handle.
But before she could fully pull the door open, Adrian suddenly pushed it shut again and looked down at her calmly.
Elara raised her brows in confusion.
What was this now? Had he suddenly changed his mind and decided to leave her there to find her own ride ho?
She parted her lips to speak.
"You’re struggling to stand properly and still trying to prove a point," Adrian muttered flatly, cutting her words off before they could even co out.
Elara’s mouth remained slightly open for a second, forgetting how to react.
A small snort escaped Adrian’s lips before he pulled the door open himself and looked at her silently. The expression on his face practically says:
What are you waiting for? Get in.
Elara finally entered the car and placed the phone bag beside her on the center console. Not long after she settled properly, Adrian entered too. He adjusted his sleeve before resting one hand on the steering wheel.
"Seatbelt," he said calmly. "You should learn to always use it."
Elara gave a cold scoff at his tone. "I wasn’t aware you got appointed as a road safety officer."
She reached for the seatbelt lazily. But before she could even pull it across properly, the car had already started moving, almost jerking her forward.
Elara quickly finished fastening it before turning toward him with narrowed eyes. "Easy," she muttered irritably before looking away again...
Soon, the car was already back on the road.
Elara stared quietly at the fast moving asphalt outside while several thoughts ran through her head at once.
When her eyes finally started feeling dizzy from staring too long, she slowly looked away from the window. Her gaze landed on Adrian’s hands resting against the steering wheel.
Long elegant fingers. Clean. Sharp knuckles pressing against the dark leather. Even with how calm he looked, the strength in his grip remained impossible to ignore.
Elara frowned imdiately and looked away again.
Why was she even noticing sothing like that?
"You can keep staring if you want." His calm voice suddenly sounded.
Elara froze. Realizing he had caught her staring, heat rushed straight to her face. Her lips pressed together awkwardly as she quickly turned her attention back outside the window.
But then her eyes narrowed suddenly. The scenery outside finally registered properly in her mind.
Her expression changed imdiately as she turned back toward him. "Where are you driving to?" she asked sternly. "Turn back."
She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but this road was leading toward Starfall. No. Not even leading. It was definitely heading there.
Adrian didn’t react at all. His hand remained calmly on the steering wheel.
"I said turn back," Elara repeated, her voice turning colder this ti.
What if this was his plan all along? What if all these sudden acts of generosity were simply his way of dragging her back under Voice again?
"You see, if what you’ve been planning this whole ti is to get back under..."
"It’s not where you think," Adrian suddenly interrupted. His voice sounded slightly annoyed.
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