Chapter 22: Drunken Nonsense

Elliana Lyle hid in the man's arms, but cried even more fiercely. However, she did not struggle, because this was Norman Bennett, the one who made her feel at ease.

All the way back to the suite, Norman Bennett did not say a word.

However, the little girl in his arms was clinging on tightly, so Norman Bennett had no choice but to keep holding her.

Lana, worried yet perceptive, quietly returned to the nanny's room, ready to take orders at any time.

After a while, Norman Bennett spoke the first sentence: "Have you cried enough?"

The little girl in his arms was still sobbing uncontrollably. Norman Bennett forced her to lift her head: "Look at me, stop crying."

"Ugh~" Elliana's eyes were timid when she saw Norman Bennett's cold face, as if she was truly frightened. She obediently stopped crying but couldn't help but sob.

"Girl." Norman Bennett softened his tone, his big hand smoothing out the messy strands of hair on her small face.

Norman Bennett gazed seriously at that flushed little face, speaking with certainty: "You can't escape now. For the rest of your life, you can only marry me."

"Norman Bennett, I didn't lie... I didn't lie." Elliana was drunk and hazy, seemingly not registering Norman Bennett's words. She stubbornly wanted to know where she went wrong.

"Ugh... Explain clearly, where did I lie? Why did you abandon me? Why do you also bully me, ugh..." The more she asked, the more aggrieved she felt. Elliana was immersed in her own world, lost in grief.

She continued to lament: "Shane Southwell killed my parents. Eleanor Llyod killed my cat, and now you don't want me either..."

"What?" Norman Bennett was obviously taken aback. He remembered the little girl had confidently said it was murder on the day of the aunt's car accident.

"I shouldn't have married Shane Southwell... I finally reincarnated, prevented... my parents' car accident, finally..." Elliana spoke intermittently, striving to confide in Norman Bennett.

These words sounded like drunken babbling. Norman Bennett pressed his thin lips together, quietly listening to the little girl's confessions in his arms.

Elliana pouted, gesturing with her hands: "I bought a cat at Jiajia Pets, it was a white cat, with pink ears... I called it Lilypad."

"But... but later, Eleanor Llyod gouged out its eyes, and Shane Southwell stomped it to death. At that time, I couldn't protect it, Lilypad died, Lilypad died..."

His little girl seemed to have experienced many things, suffered many grievances, and now was trembling with sobs, crying so much that it broke his heart.

"Shh, don't cry, I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you." Norman Bennett held her tightly, letting the little girl's face bury in his chest.

Rebirth is something Norman Bennett didn't quite believe in, but he believed in Elliana.

"Norman Bennett~ Don't leave, okay? Don't leave... cough cough! Cough cough..."

Ugh~

Red liquid was vomited onto both of them. If it weren't for the smell of red wine and the wine bottle by the bay window, Norman Bennett might have been scared to death by this girl.

"Lana, take her to clean up." Norman Bennett had always had a touch of a cleanliness obsession, although he found it hard to bear, he tolerated it because it was Elliana.

Lana, always ready for action, quickly ran over, took Elliana from Norman Bennett's arms, and carried her to the bathroom.

The next day.

"Elliana, how could you drink so much? I was terrified when I got the news." Joy Lyle patiently wiped her forehead, her tone full of concern despite its questioning nature.

Elliana, lying flat on the bed, felt like a dead fish. She didn't want to move, feeling like her brain would scatter with any movement.

She couldn't remember what happened last night, but she remembered Norman Bennett leaving, and scolding her indiscriminately again.

"Sis, I'm thirsty." Elliana licked her lips and said.

"Alright."

Joy Lyle picked up a cup of water, using a small spoon, she took only a little water and slowly placed it at Elliana's lips, the water flowing down her tongue and throat.

"You~ always like a little child, tell me, why did you suddenly drink so much?" Joy Lyle's tone was always gentle and soothing.

The thought of Norman Bennett gave Elliana a headache. Unable to resist, she complained to Joy Lyle: "He suddenly went crazy and yelled at me, said I was lying, and wanted to send me back. I don't even know what I did wrong."

"Lying?"

Joy Lyle's brow furrowed slightly, then she comforted: "Elliana, Norman is not an unreasonable person. Are you hiding something from him?"

"Do I have..." Elliana was about to retort when she suddenly went quiet.

Hiding something... Elliana recalled carefully. It seemed that Norman Bennett's attitude changed after she went to the restroom.

After returning to the room, she saw a message from Shane Southwell on her phone.

...

Could it be that Norman Bennett saw it too?

No wonder Norman wanted to take her to meet the director in the afternoon. It turned out he didn't want her to meet Shane Southwell, but... she hadn't intended to meet Shane Southwell anyway!

Now this misunderstanding is huge!

"Sis, where is Norman Bennett? I need to find him!" Elliana, despite her headache, just wanted to quickly find Norman Bennett to clarify.

"He's outside, hey! Elliana, slow down!" Joy Lyle, without regard for anything else, hurried to follow.

Elliana held her phone, wobbling and running to the living room, and sure enough, Norman Bennett was sitting on the sofa, holding a document, but his eyes were on her.

"Norman Bennett, I'm telling you, I didn't lie." She quickly ran over, sat next to the man, opened her phone, and showed the chat record with Shane Southwell.

"Look!"

Seeing Norman Bennett's face turn completely dark, Elliana quickly explained: "I tricked him. I wasn't going there in the afternoon, really. I knew he was short on money and was afraid he'd find someone else to get money through, so I lied and said I'd arrange money for him, but I wasn't going to give him any money."

The little girl's speech was astonishingly fast, like a tongue twister, but Norman Bennett understood.

"Do you understand?" Elliana looked at Norman Bennett expectantly. If he didn't understand, she could say it again.

...

——North City Central Hospital.

Shane Southwell lay on the hospital bed, wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, his right leg in a cast, no part of his face unscathed.

Yesterday, the bank loan was barely paid off, but today is the last day for payment to the production team.

Cari sat by the hospital bed, watching Shane Southwell with a worried face. She was still in shock, thankful that those people didn't hit her yesterday.

"Vice President, why not... tell the president the truth, otherwise..." Cari was worried, if the payment can't be made today, they risk breaching the contract, and it would cause significant trouble for Roland.

Dong, dong dong!

The hospital room door was knocked, and Cari, thinking it was the doctor, said: "Come in!"

Click!

The door opened, and two uniformed police officers walked in, presenting their credentials to Shane Southwell: "Are you Mr. Shane Southwell? Please come with us for a..." They didn't finish the word "trip".

The two police officers looked at each other in surprise. According to surveillance, this person was smashing things and hitting people in a café yesterday. How could he be lying here today? And so severely injured!

"Officer, what's going on..." Cari looked at the two police officers, puzzled.

"We received a report from the café that you damaged tables and chairs and hit an employee. Mr. Shane Southwell, your actions constitute provoking and causing trouble."

Shane Southwell had already been upset after being beaten up by Norman Bennett's men. Now, with the police causing trouble, he was furious, his eyes practically bulging out.

"Sir, glaring at us won't help. You've already broken the law. Given your current condition, we're going to take your statement here." The police officer said.

Two hours later, Cari saw the police off, promising on behalf of Shane Southwell to pay for damages and apologize where necessary.

"Vice President, it's still best to tell the president. The president must have a solution." Cari advised once again. This fund had already been allocated, but Shane Southwell gambled and bought luxury goods for Eleanor Llyod, spending it all.

Initially, they hoped Elliana would help, but now, it's out of the question. The two of them were in a panic like ants on a hot pan.

"Go, get... a loan, find Tyrant Dragon!" Shane Southwell said with some difficulty.

This Tyrant Dragon was a loan shark, and Cari shook her head vigorously after hearing it: "Vice President, I'll go talk to the president, you rest well."

Cari said this and walked out of the hospital room. She didn't care how angry Shane Southwell would be, because that loan shark was not to be borrowed from, even though she knew Shane Southwell and Tyrant Dragon were close.