Chapter 83

Julian was the lightest sleeper. As soon as Elise turned on the lamp, he woke. He blinked against the brightness until he could make out his sister standing motionless in the doorway.

“Morning, Ellie,” he said, his voice rough with sleep.

Morning? It was two thirty in the morning.

Elise wanted to laugh and be angry at the same time. They had all lied to her together. Yet instead of going home, they had spent the night on the living room floor.

Her brothers had grown up with every comfort. When had any of them ever slept like this? They were all tall men, and the narrow couches could hardly have been comfortable.

Much of her anger melted away. “Why didn't you go home?”

Julian pushed Adrian, who was draped over him, aside. “You didn't go home either.”

“If you're not there, what's the point of us going back?” Miles asked, rubbing his eyes as the voices woke him.

They had moved back into the house because Elise lived there. Without her, it made no difference where they stayed. Wherever their sister was, that was home.

Julian's shove woke Adrian. The moment he saw Elise, he threw himself at her.

“Ellie, you can hit me if you're mad. Just don't stay away from home again. You scared me half to death.”

Before this, the worst she had done when she was angry was shut herself in her room. This time she had actually left. When Adrian heard she hadn't gone home, he had rushed over as fast as he could.

Theo sat up with a yawn. “Your temper's getting worse,” he said, his voice thick with sleep. “Even if you didn't want to come home, you could at least have called us.”

Elise listened to them all, her feelings tangled. How could she stay angry now?

She wasn't quite ready to admit it, though. Pouting a little, she stepped between their makeshift beds and sat cross-legged on the floor. Her brothers gathered around her, their expressions softening at the sight of her lingering awkwardness.

After a long silence, Elise lowered her head. “I was wrong too. I made too much of it.”

Theo raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“I grew up with Mom Bennett, so I'm used to watching every penny. It's hard to change that just because I moved in with you. But I shouldn't expect everyone else to live by my standards. I can be careful with money, and you can choose whatever gifts you want to give. That's your decision.”

She kept her gaze on the floor as she talked herself through it. Her brothers exchanged looks, their faces full of tenderness.

Julian sighed. “Don't think like that. You're my sister. Of course you can hold us to whatever standards you like. If you're calling this your fault, then I've failed you as a brother.”

“In my eyes,” Adrian said quickly, “anything Ellie does wrong is just another way of being adorable.”

Elise stared at him.

“It's all my fault anyway,” Miles said. “Be as angry as you want, just don't stop talking to me.” He couldn't stop repeating himself. The thought of her shutting him out made him panic. He would rather she got angry and hit him; he could take it.

Theo frowned. “You don't need to blame yourself. We were wrong this time. We're the ones who should be reflecting.”

Someone without anyone to care for them had to keep examining their own faults to fit into the world. Elise didn't have to. Her brothers had the means to love and indulge her, and if anyone objected, they would deal with it. They wanted to spoil her into a young lady nobody dared bully, one who could stand up to anyone else.

Their overlapping reassurances finally made Elise laugh through her tears. How had her brothers become so shamelessly biased when it came to her?

She couldn't keep her serious face any longer. The heaviness she'd been carrying lifted.

“I've decided,” she said. “I'm going to change this habit!”

“Huh?” Miles said.

Elise got to her feet. All four brothers looked up at her.

“Our family has money! We should spend it when we need to. Give me whatever you like. If you dare give it, I dare accept it!”

Theo burst out laughing. How could his sister be so cute?

Adrian's eyes lit up. He wouldn't have to lie about his gifts anymore. The list he'd been keeping in his head was almost long enough to reach the floor, and now he could finally start giving her everything on it.

He jumped up and wrapped his arms around Elise, rubbing his cheek against hers like an overexcited dog. “That's wonderful!”

It tickled. Elise tried to push his face away, but before she could, Miles joined in. He scooped her up sideways and spun her around several times while she shrieked.

Julian watched them, smiling.

Then Theo remembered something. “Miles, you were terrible to sleep next to. You woke me up several times. I nearly tied you up.”

“I've always been a restless sleeper. Didn't you know?”

“I thought you'd have grown out of it, but you're even worse now.” Miles pointed at Adrian. “Anyway, was I worse than him?”

Adrian flushed. He was an idol, after all.

“Oh, please. Julian snores.”

Everyone, including Elise, turned to stare at their eldest brother. Julian snored? It was impossible to reconcile with his usual serious, dignified image.

Julian took a deep breath. A vein twitched at his temple. “Nonsense.”

Adrian said he snored, but Julian had never heard a thing. And did Adrian have to announce it in front of all his younger siblings? How was he supposed to keep their respect?

Adrian showed no concern for his authority. He grew more enthusiastic, describing the sounds in vivid detail, until Julian's face darkened and he grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

The room erupted. Her brothers were all big and formidable, so Elise quietly retreated to the side and watched the pillow fight with a smile. Warmth spread through her chest. They were all together again.

She took her phone from her pocket and discovered a number of messages that had arrived while she slept.

Jade: I heard those guys upset you again?

Jade: Don't waste your anger on them. Give each of them a beating. They'll behave after that and never dare do it again.

Nora: Ellie, don't be upset! Getting angry gives you wrinkles. Ignore them for a few days and they'll realize what they did. Be happy every day! 😘😘

Dylan: Little sis, are you mad?

Dylan: I'll bring you something good to eat on Monday. I'm the best big brother, right?

Elise scrolled through one message after another, all of them offering comfort or asking after her. A smile crept across her face. She had only gotten angry. How had it become such a production, with everyone fussing over her?

Touched, she took the time to answer each one. Only then did she notice a message from Mu Chuan.

Mu: If you're feeling down, you can talk to me. Don't bottle everything up. You'll make yourself sick.

She thought for a moment and typed a reply.

Elise: Thank you~ I'm not angry anymore. Everything's sorted out!

His response came almost immediately.

Mu: Good.

Mu: How do you know this person? [Photo]

It was two thirty in the morning. Was he still awake?

Elise opened the photo. It was Qi Yaqiu.

Elise: I've met her a few times.

Mu: Is she a friend?

Elise considered it. She and Qi weren't friends, were they?

Elise: No. We've only spoken a few times.

Mu: All right.

Mu set down his phone. If Qi wasn't important to Elise, he could stop worrying.

He raised a hand. Pei Yi stepped forward at once. “It seems the staff member was telling the truth. She overheard Miss Whitmore's conversation with Miss Qi. Miss Qi must have had something to do with why Miss Whitmore was upset.”

“The Qi family may have grown tired of their place in this circle,” Mu said mildly.

Pei nodded, though the calm look on Mu's face sent a chill through him. Mu meant to make the Qi family disappear from their wealthy social circle. With his resources, bankrupting them would be easy.

The previous day, Mu had heard that Elise looked upset while speaking to her brothers outside the venue. He had asked Pei to investigate and learned what had happened. Qi had stirred things up in front of Elise and made her unhappy.

Making Elise unhappy was the same as making Mu unhappy, Pei thought. What chance did Qi have now?

After making up with her brothers, Elise went home the next day, and life returned to normal.

At the skate park, she, Jade, and Nora were having a wonderful time. Elise brought her board to a stop and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Jade and Nora were sitting at the edge of the park, talking. She rolled over to them.

“What are you two talking about?”

The girls exchanged a hesitant glance. Jade spoke first. “Ellie, don't you think Mu Chuan is a little too good to you?”

“Is he?” Elise asked, puzzled.

“I didn't think much of it before either,” Nora said. “But Pei Yi said this skate park belonged to Mu. Someone I went to middle school with lives around here, and they said construction only started recently. It was finished right before he let us use it. Isn't that a little too convenient?”

Elise went still. “It was only just finished?”

“Yes, I'm sure. Do you think,” Nora hesitated, “he might have built it especially for you?”

Jade couldn't hold back. “Could Mu like you?”

Both girls had suspected it before, though neither had been certain. Learning about the park had confirmed it for them. They were convinced Mu liked Elise, but Elise herself seemed to have no idea.

The park was new? Had Mu really built it for her?

That couldn't be possible. Could it?

She was about to dismiss the idea when she remembered the look he had given her outside the restroom at the gala: intent, carrying something she hadn't been able to name.

He had given her colored diamonds and called it a gesture of friendship. Miles had hit him for no apparent reason, yet Mu hadn't gotten angry. He had tried every way he could think of to make her accept the diamonds. And then there was the skate park.