Eloise put her phone away, glanced at Lucienne and Quintus, then lifted her chin. "Come with me." Though she felt uncertain deep down, she walked with her head held high, exuding an air of confidence and grandeur.
Taking the elevator from the hallway to the top floor, the door opened, and a cool night breeze brushed against her face. A pool of deep blue water rippled under the moonlight, serene and still, like an underwater world.
Beside the pool stood a white sunshade, under which sat a tall man alone in a plastic chair. He hunched his back, elbows resting on his spread knees, smoking a cigarette. As he squinted, his eyes met Eloise's gaze.
Eloise rushed over, giving him a wink along the way. The smell of smoke greeted her first, and she coughed twice, waving her hand in front of her face. "Cough, cough! Isel, you're with Mr. Kingswell, tell me, didn't you see Manager Beaumont getting a bit too friendly with him?"
Isidore extinguished his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray on the table, his gaze shifting to the pair of stunned men and women behind her. Eloise grew impatient, giving his shoulder a shove. "Stop striking poses, just tell me!"
All she needed was one word from him or a reaction. After everything she'd let him do before, was he really going to refuse such a small favor?
Lucienne sucked in a breath, whispering, "Elly..." Eloise turned around with a fierce look. "What? Are you trying to silence someone?" "I..." Faced with such a bizarre situation, Lucienne found herself speechless.
Eloise was stuck in a difficult position, gritting her teeth as she pinched Isidore's arm. "Hey, say something!" Isidore turned his gaze toward her, his eyes gradually darkening.
Lucienne almost blacked out. Eloise was blunt and hot-tempered, a fact that Lucienne was well aware of. She had always assumed that the young girl, just stepping into society, lacked experience in dealing with people, and so she had been patient with her, treating her with the mindset of an older sister. But she never expected her to have the audacity to cause trouble for Mr. Kingswell! If she really angered him, the consequences were beyond imagining.
Lucienne, suppressing her fear of Mr. Kingswell's sudden outburst, stepped forward and grabbed Eloise's arm, halting her action of pinching. She lowered her head and apologized, "Mr. Kingswell, Elly is young and doesn't understand. Please, don't hold it against her!"
The words struck her ears, and Eloise's arm froze like stone. "You called him... what?" She turned her head stiffly, her gaze meeting Isidore's deep, mysterious eyes, her body trembling slightly. "You are..."
How could this be?!
Isidore was the second male lead in the original story. Though he was highly popular, Eloise disliked the character. She found him too cold, too malicious, with a mind as deep as a chasm and methods as ruthless as a predator. Even towards Lucienne, the only person he seemed to have any affection for, he measured his actions with a cold calculation of interests, like a venomous snake forever lurking in the grass.
How could such a person... be the same as the living, breathing Isel in front of her, with a bit of cold humor and a touch of dark mischief? Yet Isidore confirmed the unspoken question in her mind with a silent gaze.
A wave of dizziness washed over her, and Eloise nearly lost her balance, swaying for a moment. Isel... or perhaps Isidore—two men with identities that could never merge in her mind—stood up from the chair and extended a hand toward her.
Eloise instinctively took a large step back. She forgot she was standing at the edge of the pool, and forgot that Lucienne was behind her. Her foot slipped on the wet surface, causing her to knock Lucienne into the pool, and she fell in after her.
With Lucienne acting as a buffer, she landed near the edge of the pool. Not only could her arm touch the hard pool wall, but if she reached forward, she could also grab the metal bar leading into the water. In her panic, she flailed for a moment, then heard a loud splash. Amidst countless rising white bubbles, she saw a tall, black-clad figure swimming towards Lucienne, who was in the center of the pool.
After choking on a few mouthfuls of water, Eloise finally steadied herself, gripping the railing and lifting her head above the surface. She saw Isidore gently lay the soaking-wet Lucienne on the ground, while his own clothes and hair tips were also dripping with water.
Lucienne was afraid of water, having briefly fainted from the shock. Isidore held her shoulders, his face filled with concern, yet he did not spare a glance for Eloise.
Eloise's hair was a tangled mess, plastered across her face, and she couldn't understand—how was it that, having emerged from the water just like her, Lucienne's skin, bathed in moonlight, looked as crystal-clear as snow, like a delicate, fragile mermaid? While she...
As the "villainess," Eloise had done many things, and she had been in worse situations than this before.
But this time, a nameless anger surged within her, perhaps mixed with a sense of grievance that she couldn't quite distinguish. With no time to sort her emotions, she swiftly climbed out of the water, walked over to the still-dazed Quintus, and grabbed his arm, pointing sharply and bitterly at the two figures. "Quintus, look at them! Can you still say there's nothing between them?"
In Quintus's eyes, the usually aloof Isidore was indeed showing an unusual level of concern for his fiancée. He withdrew his arm, holding his emotions in check, and stepped forward, speaking politely to Isidore: "Thank you for saving her, Mr. Kingswell. You can leave Lucy with me."
He extended his hand, but Isidore remained unmoving, his gaze fixed coldly on the solitary Eloise. With a mocking smile, he said, "Didn't you see your Elly also fell into the water? Aren't you concerned about her?" Quintus only saw Isidore holding onto Lucienne, and in his frustration, he repeated, "Please, Mr. Kingswell, hand Lucy over to me!"
At last, Isidore's gaze landed on him, cold as a knife: "Eloise is drenched, her face pale from the cold. Are you blind?" Quintus could no longer hold back, and his gaze turned hostile: "Mr. Kingswell, if you continue to hold onto my fiancée, I will have no choice but to suspect that, as the rumors say, you have improper intentions towards Lucy!"
Isidore wore a mocking smile at the corner of his lips. His words were directed at Quintus, yet his eyes remained fixed on the trembling Eloise. "You need not doubt, I've gotten along quite well with Lucienne these past few days. As for her... I indeed have ulterior motives."
When it comes to Isidore's identity, no further explanation was necessary. The phrase "ulterior motives" was enough to convey the meaning.
Quintus watched as Lucienne obediently nestled into Isidore's arms. His body trembled, his face shifting from pale to green several times, and the veins on his forehead throbbed like crawling worms. In the end, he gritted his teeth, furiously swept his sleeve, and stormed off.
Lucienne let out a soft murmur and slowly opened her eyes. In her haze, she had heard their conversation, and in her haste, she reached out toward Quintus's retreating figure, calling after him in a faint, breathless whisper: "Quintus..."
Quintus paused for a moment but continued walking forward without turning his head. "Quin!" With more to come, Eloise called out "worriedly" and jogged after his retreating figure. "Eloise." Isidore's deep voice rang out.
Eloise turned her head, her expression changing as rapidly as the speed of rocket. She shot him a cold, piercing glance. She shot him a cold glance. Isidore raised the corner of his mouth into a smile. "I've said exactly what you instructed. What's with the attitude?"
Eloise bit her lip, and under his wolf-like, chilling gaze, she left the rooftop.
