Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 96: Chapter 96

"How about I pay you back right now?" Adrian said.
After all, that whole idea of "payback" was something Elara herself had mentioned before. He figured there was no way she'd say no.
If she didn't want to serve him, then maybe he could serve her instead.
Elara blinked, wondering if she heard him wrong. "What?"
"Is it that hard to get? I'll do it. Just once," Adrian said, like he was doing her a huge favor by sacrificing himself.
Elara stared at him in shock. "Adrian, I've never seen anyone ask for a reward the way you do."
"I mean, I'm not losing anything," Adrian said, thinking he might even gain something from it.
Elara was speechless. "So in the end, it's all still about the same thing, huh?"
Adrian looked confused. "You don't want me to serve you?"
He didn't even get anything out of it. He silently grumbled that she was way too hard to please.
Elara asked, "Wait, this is your idea of paying me back?"
Adrian spoke like it made perfect sense. "I owe you so many times that I lost count. What is it now—seven or eight? Maybe more than ten?
"I don't like owing people too much. So today, let me pay one back. Lightens the load on my chest. That's fair, right?"
Elara sighed. "Ten? What are you talking about? It was only four."
"Oh, it's more than that. I just forgot the rest," Adrian said. "You should've counted more in your favor."
Elara couldn't believe this joke had lasted this long—and even more, that Adrian never once fell into the trap. Yet she'd fallen for it over and over again.
She smacked her own forehead, wondering what she'd been thinking when she first joked about him "serving her."
She decided to end it once and for all. "Forget it. You don't owe me anything. That way, your 'emotional burden' is gone, and let's call it even for today."
Adrian looked annoyed. "No way. A deal's a deal."
Elara had no more patience. She brushed past him, heading for the bathroom door. "You're the one who just lumped everything together five minutes ago."
Adrian, the lawyer who was usually sharp-tongued, suddenly had no comeback.
Seeing she was about to leave, he grabbed her slender arm. "Where are you going?"
"It's getting late. I'm going home," Elara said.
"You haven't paid me back yet. Who said you could leave?" Adrian replied.
Elara said, "Adrian, like I said—either I go back and work for you for free, or I give you money and stay far away. Those are your only two options.
"Pick one. If you can't decide tonight, take your time. Just text me when you figure it out."
"No other option?" Adrian asked.
Elara sighed. "If you've got something else in mind, I can consider it. By the way, sleeping with you is not an option."
"I'll think about it," Adrian said. "But you have to wait until I decide."
"Why?" Elara frowned.
"What if you leave and don't follow through?" Adrian said.
Elara stayed silent. When Adrian got unreasonable, he was even harder to deal with than most women. It looked like she wasn't getting out of there anytime soon.
Since there was no talking sense into him, Elara figured she might as well eat something decent while she waited. So she said, "I'm hungry."
Adrian was actually hungry too.
Meanwhile, Victor was at Ruby's place, comforting her while she recovered. Just as he was about to take the chance to win her over, his phone rang.
Like Adrian, he also planned to use this emotional night to his advantage. He picked up the phone with clear irritation, then he saw the call was Adrian.
He hurried onto the balcony and answered the phone with a scowl. "Dude, it's late. This better be an emergency."
"I'm hungry. Bring me some food to Veritasiton Hills," Adrian said.
Victor blinked. "That's it?"
"Hurry up. I want it here in an hour," Adrian said.
"Adrian, you've got all the money in the world. Can't you get someone else to bring you food? Why me?" Victor complained.
Adrian said coolly, "I want food from the restaurant on Maple Street. I'll text you the dishes on WhatsApp."
Victor groaned. "It's late. The chefs are off work."
"You own the place. Just pay them extra to go back and cook," Adrian said. "Tell me the cost later."
Victor was not happy. He'd much rather chase his own happiness than deliver takeout for Adrian.
After hanging up, Adrian turned around and saw Elara coming out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee. She handed one to him.
Adrian took the cup and followed her back to the couch.
After a brief silence, Elara, feeling a little awkward, picked a new topic. "By the way, why did you say that fake voice recording was sent by Zoe? And what did it have to do with your private files?"
Adrian knew Elara had forgotten what she said when she was drunk. "Because the recording was real."
"What?" Elara froze.
"But those words weren't said to Alex. You said them to me," Adrian explained.
Elara was even more confused.
"The night before I fired you, you were drunk and called me," Adrian said.
Elara remembered there really was a fifteen-minute WhatsApp call with Adrian that night, but she had no idea what she'd said. She thought she just cursed him out—but turned out she'd said something way more embarrassing.
Now that the timeline and details matched up, Elara wished she could lose her memory on the spot.
"So you didn't fire me for no reason. It was because of that call and what I said in the recording?" she asked.
"What else could it be? So, do you think I was wrong to fire you?" Adrian shot back.
"Nope," Elara replied right away. She honestly wanted to slap herself. She swore she'd never drink again. It was too embarrassing.
Adrian chuckled, amused by her honesty. "Elara, just admit it—you kind of think you were a player too, don't you?"
She took a sip of coffee and sighed. "I'm not a player. If I were, I wouldn't have let Alex string me along for so many years."
"So what you're saying is, you were only a little bit of a player... to me?" Adrian asked.
Elara explained, "Sorry, I was just mad and drunk that night. I only got close to you because I hoped you'd help Dylan with his case. That's all it was."
"Oh yeah? You didn't want to marry me and get into the Hartley family?" Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"No." Elara answered honestly.
She and Adrian came from two totally different worlds. Even if she did marry into a rich family, she probably wouldn't survive long.
Adrian let out a cold, vague laugh. "So you really did try to use me to piss off Alex?"
After all, drunk words were often the truth. Even if Elara didn't want to marry into the Hartley family, there was no doubt she had tried to use him to get at Nancy and Alex.
"I..." Elara didn't know how to explain.
Back then, she had just wanted to get some petty revenge using Adrian. But instead of upsetting Alex, her drunk rambling ended up being heard by Adrian himself.
Too embarrassed to continue, Elara quickly changed the subject. "So what did you do after firing Zoe? Can your work still go on? Should I just go back and be your secretary again...?"
"For me or for Alex?" Adrian asked.
Elara sighed. No matter what, they always came back to Alex.
"I just don't want Susan to lose her job. And besides, I owe you a favor, don't I? As for whether you help Dylan or not, that's up to you. I don't really care," Elara said, stirring her coffee with a small spoon.
After a pause, she added, "But of course, it'd be great if you could help Dylan."
Adrian's fingers tightened around the coffee cup, his knuckles turning pale. After all that, she was still doing it for Alex.
Seeing he didn't respond and his expression darkened, Elara said, "I don't have to be your secretary. It's your call."
She finished the last sip of her coffee and placed the empty cup on the coffee table.
Then she got up and walked to the laundry room to check the washing machine. Her clothes still needed three more hours to wash and dry. Elara felt tired and didn't think she could wait that long.
"It's late. I'm really sleepy," she said. "Can I go home? Also... could you lend me a white shirt?"
After all, walking out in a bathrobe was not an option.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Elara frowned, unsure who would show up this late. She couldn't help but wonder if it was another woman.