Chapter 9

• Elleina's view:
• "Oh, my goodness, whose story is this?" When I saw that there was an Instagram account with my name and a million followers, I couldn't believe it.
• "From a well-known influencer that your grandpa bought for $100,000," Sheila said as she stood behind me and watched me scroll through the Instagram app on her tablet. We were having coffee in the garden.
• "All of her pictures look like me!"
• "Because they changed her face to yours in the editing," she said.
• "They?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
• "Your grandpa paid professional editors and people who know how to hack the internet to make you an overnight social media star. You should look at the other apps for social media that were made for you."
• I did, and it scared me.
• "That old ogre really wanted to ruin me by saying I'm wasting his money on shopping. I had so little money that I couldn't even buy a new pair of slippers. I'm out of money!"
• "You are correct. I have no idea how I could have worked for him up until now. Every morning, he yells at me."
• "Because you're as broke as I am," I told her, and then I gave her back her tablet.
• "Right," she said, twisting her lips to agree with what I said. Then she scrolled down on her tablet and said, "You should hear this. "This is interesting," she said as she kept reading the article, which was written about me by hackers hired by my grandfather. "You dated Charlie Rowe."
• Saying "Charlie Rowe!" "I haven't even met him in person," I said as my eyebrows went up when I heard about the famous and handsome British actor who has won many awards.
• "All right, get ready. "You have a lot of pictures with him, and you both look beautiful in them," she said.
• "Like he'd ever pay attention to me."
• "Who can say? Miss Elleina, don't be too hard on yourself. Anyone would find it easy to love you. You're very beautiful and have a great personality."
• "Which was ruined by my ogre grandpa!" "Where is that old devil?" I asked, clenching my fists in anger. I want to talk to him, or even better, I want to kill him!"
• "He's definitely in the study room by himself, playing chess."
• When I got to the study room, grandpa was sitting at his desk, using his laptop to make a video call. As he talked to someone, his voice was soft and calm.
• I wanted to yell at him, wring his neck like a rooster, or stab him in the back, but he suddenly looked so old as he sat in his high-backed chair and asked the woman how she had been.
• The woman had a soft voice, just like him. She told him about the pain she had to deal with.
• As I moved closer to the screen to look at the woman, my heart tightened a little. I thought it was Mom, and I was right. She had a big smile that went all the way to her eyes. I had never before seen her look so happy.
• As soon as I looked at grandpa, my anger went away. I really wanted to hate him, but now I don't know how I feel about him.
• -----------
• Sheila said, "He's not coming," after talking on the phone with Alexander's secretary.
• "That's great. After making me wait for him for an hour, he just told me he's not coming. As if my time was less valuable than his?"
• The obvious answer to my question was clear from the way she smiled and pursed her lips: "He wanted to come, but he has to go to an important business meeting."
• "You sure? Or he just wants to get back at me for not showing up when we agreed to."
• "Well, he might be," she said with a curious look in her eyes. "Who knows what's going on in that beautiful head?"
• I put down the wedding planner's catalog and leaned closer to her. "He should have asked me, not grandpa, because I was the one he would be having dinner with. I hate it when I'm not asked, because it makes me feel like I don't have a say in anything."
• "I'm sure he knows that already by now."
• "I don't think he cares that much about other people," I shrugged. "The more I learn about him, the less I like him." He is just as bossy and in charge as grandpa."
• "Well, maybe not. Once you know him better, I'm sure you'll change your mind about him."
• "Want to put money on it?" I told Sheila something funny.
• I should've known better. Alexander had no interest in the wedding at all. He never came to meet the wedding planners, not even to say hello or choose flavors for the wedding cake. He was going to Dubai, California, Singapore, and Paris.
• _____:_
• Alexander's Views
• The big day
• "Why the hell is this happening?" I just stood there next to the wedding arch and looked at my bride.
• Elleina walked down the aisle in a provocative all-black wedding dress with a long, sheer black veil. Her dress had a high slit that showed too much of her thigh. She was also carrying a bunch of black roses, which made her look odd.
• I was shocked and couldn't say anything, and so did everyone else in the Grandson Grand Ballroom who had come to watch the wedding.
• She seems to be on her way to a funeral. I wonder whose funeral it was. Mine or hers. Most likely hers. She seems to be telling everyone that she thinks of us getting married as a funeral.
• Then why did she act like a bride who didn't want to be married? She's already embarrassed me by being an hour late, and now she's wearing a black wedding dress.
• "What kind of game is she up to?" I stood straight and wouldn't move. I'm better at games than she is, so she can't play with me.
• Elleina wouldn't look at me. Instead, she kept her eyes on the old minister, as if she were heading toward him. It gave me a chance to look at her face. The bones in her face were finely carved, her mouth was full, and her nose was incredibly small. She had a chin like iron, which made her look very sure of herself and strong.
• The longer I looked at her, the more interesting she became. Even though her wedding dress was black, she was a very beautiful bride. I even had a hard time taking my eyes off of her.
• When our eyes finally met, I smiled at her. She didn't smile back, she just didn't care about me.
• 'Hmm... Let's see how long you're going to keep acting like this.'
• The wedding ceremony was held in slow motion by the old minister. I could feel how bored everyone was. As soon as it was time for the bride and groom to kiss, the atmosphere changed.
• "You may already know to kiss the bride," the minister said over and over.
• I looked at Elleina and gave her a wicked smile. When I smiled, I got a warning look back.
• "Smile, Elleina, and act like you're a happy bride."
• She hissed, "Damn you," which made me raise my eyebrows.
• "I won't let anyone fool around with me and get away with it." Before she could say anything else, I grabbed her and kissed her.