Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 135: Chapter 135

Adrian's belt was halfway unbuckled when the shrill ring of his phone suddenly cut through the air.
A flicker of impatience crossed Adrian's face as he pulled his phone from his pocket. When he saw Lucas' name on the screen, he answered the call, "What?"
Lucas said, "Adrian, seriously? It's been over half an hour. What's the hold-up? Planning to hatch an egg in my plane or something?"
Elara was sitting so close to Adrian that she could clearly hear Lucas' words on the phone, and she couldn't hold back a laugh.
Adrian let out a heavy sigh. "On my way."
He let go of Elara and said, "We'll settle this later tonight."
Elara grinned mischievously, "You can hatch the egg on your own tonight."
They got up from the sofa bed, and as Elara straightened her dress, she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders. Adrian had draped his suit jacket over her.
Adrian thought, 'I can't let her wear whatever she wants. It's too conspicuous.'
Adrian took her hand and led her out of the cabin. As they made their way down the stairs, reality finally set in when Elara was back on solid ground.
The sky was still pitch black, but the empty airport was lit up by rows of glaring floodlights like it was broad daylight.
They got into Lucas' car one after the other. Lucas looked absolutely pissed, so Elara quickly averted her gaze and kept her head down.
He was just as intimidating as Adrian, but at least she had Adrian pretty much figured out by now. She hadn't found Lucas' weakness yet.
Lucas dropped them off at the hotel and then went straight to catch up on some sleep, skipping breakfast entirely.
Adrian took Elara to the hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast. By the time they finished, it was already past seven.
He walked her up to his luxurious penthouse suite and said, "I've got court this morning. Why don't you just relax here at the hotel? I'll come back as soon as I'm done."
He pulled a black card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "If you get bored, go out and have some fun. Buy whatever you want with this card."
Elara didn't take the card. She glanced around the ultra-luxurious suite but wasn't really interested. Then she remembered she'd never seen Adrian in court before, so she asked, "Can I sit in and watch?"
"Sure, if you really want to. It's honestly pretty boring," he replied.
Elara wasn't interested in the trial itself. She just wanted to see Adrian in action. "It's fine. I just want to see you in court, Mr. Hartley."
Adrian went into the bedroom and changed into a more formal black suit. When he came back, he held out a tie to Elara. "Can you tie it for me?"
Elara took the tie, and Adrian naturally leaned down, making it so she only had to lift her hands a little to reach his neck.
With the tie perfectly in place and the suit fitting him like a glove, Adrian looked every bit the tall, handsome man he was. Elara nodded in satisfaction. "Mr. Hartley, you really are the gold standard of looks in the legal world."
Elara didn't usually hand out compliments, so Adrian's smile grew even wider. "As long as you like it, that's all that matters."
Adrian was representing J&A Wines in a business dispute. The owner, Jade, was facing a lawsuit involving a whopping 105 million dollars. Today was the second hearing, set for 9 a.m.
Justin was already waiting for them in the underground parking garage. He was sitting in the driver's seat when he saw Adrian and Elara step out of the elevator together. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
He thought, 'What the hell?' He couldn't take his eyes off them as they made their way to the car. Justin turned to look at the back seat as if he'd just seen a ghost.
Justin blurted out, "Elara? When did you get to Namukitts? How did you get here? Did you manage to get a ticket?"
Elara remembered how Justin had deliberately sent her Jade's photo the other night to mislead her, so she didn't feel like talking to him.
With a cold expression, she said, "I'm an angel. I flew here on my wings."
Justin was speechless. Then he said, "Alright, Angel. Where are your wings?"
Elara said, "I've put them away. Wings like these aren't for ordinary people to see, you know."
"Sure, sure. Just make sure you keep those precious wings hidden, or someone like me might end up plucking them bald one day," Justin shot back with a smirk.
Elara fell silent.
Justin teased, "Seriously, though, how did an angel as noble as you end up migrating to Namukitts? So, did you come all the way here just to chase after your angel boyfriend? Not mad at him anymore, huh? Wow, even angels can get lovesick."
Elara didn't know what to say.
Justin said, "Well, well, the noble angel is actually riding in my car? Why not just fly yourself over?"
Elara turned to look out the window speechlessly. "Quit poking your nose into angel business."
Adrian listened to their childish back-and-forth, feeling like there was a real generation gap between them. He was never the type to joke about wings and angels, and Elara never acted so silly around him either.
It was all pointless banter—nothing really funny or meaningful—but those two just loved messing around like that.
Adrian couldn't help but feel like there was a side of Elara he never got to see, a side she only showed to Justin. The thought made him even more annoyed with his cousin.
"Justin, drive," Adrian ordered.
Justin had been ready to toss out another joke, but the second he caught Adrian's sullen expression, he zipped his lips and turned around to start the car without another word.
The hotel wasn't far from the courthouse, and they made it there in just over ten minutes. As they pulled up to the courthouse, Elara spotted Jade from afar.
Jade was rocking a low-cut black dress with a blazer thrown over her shoulders today, but she left it unbuttoned, leaving little to the imagination.
Her thick, wavy hair tumbled down her back, and when she caught sight of Adrian, her big eyes curved beautifully. Standing next to Jade was a man in a suit with a briefcase in hand. He was probably a lawyer, too.
As soon as they got out of the car, Jade hurried over to Adrian, looking a little flustered. "Adrian, something's wrong. It looks like the other side has new evidence."
Adrian's expression didn't change at all. He stayed perfectly calm and said, "Don't panic. Let's go see the judge first."
The lawyer and Jade both nodded in agreement.
Adrian turned to Elara and said, "Just go with Justin to sign in, and then you can watch the hearing. I've got something to handle."
Jade's gaze lingered on Elara for a moment, but she was too distracted by the case to pay much attention, so she quickly looked away.
Elara nodded. "Alright."
Adrian started up the long, sweeping marble steps, with Jade and the other lawyer on either side of him. They set a brisk pace, and Elara just stood there, zoning out as she watched their backs disappear.
Justin waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, Angel, are you that entranced?"
Elara snapped out of it and shot him a sideways glance. "Justin, did you hit the bars again last night? Those dark circles are seriously dragging down the beauty level of us."
After saying that, she headed up the marble steps.
"Damn it!" Justin blurted out. He caught up to her and said, "Didn't you see how bad Adrian's dark circles are?"
"Dark circles? Where? With beautiful eyes like his, who'd even notice?" Elara quipped.
Justin was speechless. "Alright, alright, you two are obviously the closest. Guess I'm just the third wheel here, huh? You guys are so heartless."