Chapter 10 Be Grateful When Someone Gives You an Out

• After getting back to the Griffith Residence, Elise breathed a sigh of relief. So much had happened today, and she still had trouble making sense of it all.
• While she was in the car just now, she studied Alexander's face closely through the rearview mirror, but it was so dark in the car that she didn't get to see his expression clearly. She had thought a lot about it on their way home, but she still couldn't figure out why he would step in all of a sudden. It would have been more in character for him to just stand by and look on. Maybe he's not one to judge people by their looks? An actual good guy perhaps?
• Without giving it much thought, she went back to her room and changed out of the evening dress. After deliberately putting on a pair of old-fashioned pajamas, she walked into Alexander's study; placed on the desk were a tall stack of documents and several photos scattered here and there. "Here's your suit jacket. Thanks for helping me out just now."
• Alexander shot a glance at the woman standing in front of his desk. Then, he replied expressionlessly, "You don't need to give it back to me."
• Elise replied, "If you think it's dirty, I can send it to the dry cleaner."
• Alexander raised his head to look at her. "I don't want it anymore," he replied slowly.
• Elise felt suffocated for a second before she replied with a sneer, "You're leaving this to me? Then, I'll throw it away." With that, she threw the suit jacket into the trash can.
• After throwing away the suit jacket, she shifted her gaze to Alexander, who was sitting on the couch and reading the document he was holding without saying a word. She felt like she was being snubbed upon seeing this. At first, she had wanted to wash the suit jacket, return it, and express her thanks, but it seemed that she had read too much into his act of kindness. She turned around to leave, only to find Danny standing perfectly still at the door. "Excuse me," she said snappishly.
• Danny furiously shifted his gaze to Elise when he saw the suit jacket in the trash can. "Is this your doing?"
• Confronted by his strange question, Elise replied with a straight face, "Yeah, why?"
• The person before her blew his top all of a sudden. "As expected of a bumpkin from the countryside! Who are you to copy Ashlyn's way of dressing? Hah! I almost laughed myself to death back there. Don't you know yourself? Even the prettiest clothes wouldn't make you look any better. Alexander saved you from embarrassment today, yet you threw his clothes into the trash can after coming back. Do you know how much the suit jacket cost? Pay for it, now!"
• Having had an eventful day, Elise didn't have the energy to quarrel with Danny at first, but she could no longer stand it when he kept calling her 'bumpkin.' She shoved Danny out of her way, took a checkbook out of her bedroom, and tore a check off it. Then, she handed the check to Danny, saying, "Here, take it. Is that enough?"
• Danny took the check and examined it over and over. "This check's not a counterfeit, right?"
• Elise was utterly speechless.
• Thinking that he had gotten something on her, Danny said with a mischievous grin, "Since you're from the countryside, I won't force you to fork out the money. How about this? We'll drop the matter if you apologize to Alexander."
• Had anyone dared to speak to Elise like that at other times, she would've flung the check in their face right away. But now, she was only an ordinary person from the countryside. Shooting a disdainful glance at Danny, she retorted, "Why should I apologize when I've done nothing wrong?"
• Danny bellowed, "Be grateful when someone gives you an out, Elise!"
• …
• Just then, Jonah walked out of his bedroom. He was startled by Danny's shouts of anger. "Apologize? For what?"
• Elise knew that Jonah and Robin had been friends for decades, so she didn't want to make a fuss over it. "It's nothing, Grandpa Griffith. It's just a misunderstanding."
• Thinking that she was wussing out, Danny said, "Grandpa, this bumpkin threw the clothes Alexander lent her into the trash can. I wanted to spare her dignity, so I only asked her to make an apology. But I didn't expect her to be so shameless."
• "Mind your language, you brat!" Jonah gave Danny a noogie.
• "Ouch! It hurts!" Danny uttered before turning to glare at Elise.
• Elise returned the glare. A clean hand wants no washing. I've done nothing wrong! she thought.
• "What's the matter exactly, Elise?" Jonah asked her affably.