Chapter 5: The Coquettish Mistress

Uncle Tommy's words puzzled me, but I knew I couldn't dwell on them. Grandpa's sudden health issue stemmed from his heart bypass surgery, bringing a host of urgent matters to the forefront.

Having previously consulted with Dr. Ryan in detail, the medical team had worked tirelessly to manage Edward's condition. Despite their best efforts, a heart transplant remained the optimal, if not sole, solution.

I had no spare time or energy for Leo's disruptions. Alongside my daily responsibilities, I juggled contacting various hospitals and health organizations in search of a matching heart for Grandpa. These tasks weighed heavily on me. Immersed in work during the day and fielding polite yet regretful rejections over the phone during meals, I persisted in urging them to continue the search for a suitable heart for the transplant.

Leo's pathetic schemes paled in comparison to the urgency of these matters.

Whenever I went to see my grandpa's condition, he always reminded me with a smile. "Don't forget your birthday, darling. Have you chosen what dress to wear for your birthday yet? There's the jewelry as well."

Once met with puzzlement from the nurses, they now regarded me as deserving of Mr. Aesthete's kindness and care.

"Mr. Aesthete, will you be gifting Dr. Hailey a dress and accessories? The selections must be exquisite to complement Dr. Hailey's elegance!" a nurse commented.

Grandpa erupted into laughter, prompting a bout of coughing that required my soothing touch—these moments provided rare opportunities for a smile.

Lily, on the other hand, had always been busy at work after spending a night at the club. I felt that I hadn't seen her for a long time. That was until she appeared before me and dragged me out of my office.

"Don't do this to yourself, Hailey. I don't even have the heart to place you in front of a mirror. Look at how withered you are. I thought you would feel better after that night at the club. You should get some rest when you're not working. Or we could go out together and get some fresh air."

"That's ridiculous! The nurses simply admire how attractive I am. Besides, I have a lot of work to do."

"Work that isn't related to your job doesn't count!" she retorted. "Ever since you became responsible for Mr. Aesthete's well-being years back, you've been fixated on it. Can't you show the same concern for mine, girl?"

"Are you feeling unwell, Lily?" I inquired, feeling a bit nervous.

"That's right. I'm not feeling well at all! You don't know how to take care of yourself at all, Hailey. You're pissing me off!"

I had no choice but to head out with her to get some "fresh air."

Lily took me straight to a shopping center. To her, shopping with her best friend was the second most relaxing thing. The most relaxing thing to do was to find male models (escorts) in clubs.

We didn't buy many things. One was because we couldn't carry that many things, and the second was because we were picky. When we walked past a luxury store, I suddenly remembered that my grandpa had asked me if I had chosen a dress and jewelry for my birthday yet.

Whether it was the dress or the jewelry, I left them all in the Benery Villa in Los Angeles before I went to college.

I couldn't remember if I had signed up for a membership in this luxury store. I didn't know whether to use my name or my grandpa's if I wanted a tailored dress. Lily misinterpreted the look on my face as something else and dragged me into the store.

"I'm so happy, Hailey, you still have something you like. Are you planning on buying some clothes? I can give you some suggestions."

The shop clerk slowly walked over with a professional smile and said softly, "Hello."

The shop clerk asked for our names and then asked us to wait a moment. It was obvious that the store would only serve customers who had made bookings, and the shop clerk would see if our names could be found on the bookings list.

Lily realized this as well, so she felt a little awkward. She kept looking at me and asking me with her eyes if I wanted to leave.

I had already taken a quick look around the store. It was a high-class store that was more spacious than regular clothes stores. There were a few pieces of clothing hanging around the store. What was more was that there were even more pieces of art that represented clothing around the store.

I was just about to tell Lily that the style of this store didn't suit me when I heard a familiar man's voice. "Elisa, you look fabulous!"

That was the only sentence I could hear clearly. I raised an eyebrow and I looked at the source of the voice in disbelief. The person who spoke was indeed my husband, Leo, who had disappeared for almost two weeks.

He was leaning forward and complimenting a woman in a black dress passionately with a warm smile that I had never seen on his face.

"Isn't that Leo?" Lily exclaimed, her eyes growing intense with rage.

My face paled instantly, and I was dumbfounded. The only thing going through my mind was, 'At least I know who Elisa is now.'

It was obvious that Leo saw me as well. His face changed, and he quickly led Elisa somewhere else.

"Let's go. He must give us an explanation!" Lily dragged me towards the direction that Leo and Elisa had gone without hesitation. I knew I couldn't turn down her gesture of kindness.

Seeing that we were following them, Leo began to panic. He wanted to turn and leave, but Lily stopped him. She stood between me and Leo like a mother.

"Leo, do you want to show off your girlfriend that badly?" Lily asked coldly with anger in her eyes.

Elisa, his "latest flame" sported a tight black dress with a low neckline, a familiar silhouette from Leo's Instagram posts. She was unmistakable by the perpetual struggle of her clothing to contain her breasts. The reason that they hadn't popped out yet was because they were pressed against Leo's arm.

She sized me up and down, smiled disdainfully, and then turned around to ask the shop clerk behind her, "If I remember correctly, I asked you when I made the booking if any other customers had booked during this time. The answer I got was that there weren't any. Now, please explain to me why there are dirty tramps here?"

"Please bear with me. We're checking the bookings list right now," the shop clerk replied with an awkward smile.

She had never seen such an unreasonable customer either. She felt that Lily and I were quite ill-mannered.

Elisa's voice was sweet but full of sarcasm. "Oh my god. Is she Hailey? The poor medical intern you told me about? Just like you said, I can't tell she's 28. She looks just like the 58-year-old maid that I have at home."

She then snorted again after saying those words.

"No, she's not. Maids won't come to such a place to humiliate themselves," Leo added as he looked at me.

I almost preferred her directness from our previous encounter at my car. Back then, the sting of her words was piercing enough; now, her foolishness was laid bare.

Leo, familiar with my recently acquired sarcasm, glanced at me and chose to resort to satire first.

"Go home, Hailey. Don't tell me you're going to waste my money again here."

Lily was so pissed that she wanted to slap Leo and Elisa.

I laughed angrily at what they said and found their words ridiculous.

A moment later, I calmed down. After seeing the "passionate Elisa" my husband had talked about, I became thoroughly disappointed in Leo.

"I didn't expect the only daughter of the CEO of the Medicine Group to be someone who loves trash. To be honest, I feel sorry for you. Maybe I should thank you. If you hadn't taken that piece of trash from me, there's no telling how long it would take me to get rid of him."

Elisa's face changed after hearing what I said. She wanted to say something back, but Lily interrupted her.

"I don't think you should thank her. She's just a bitch who ruined your marriage. Even though Leo's just a piece of trash, she should have waited until you had dumped him."

Elisa's face turned red from anger. She clenched her fists, and her knuckles turned pale due to the force she was using. Her eyes turned sharp as if she wanted to cut me to pieces. Leo, who stood beside Elisa, looked helpless. Obviously, he didn't know how to calm the situation down.

"You bitch!" Elisa finally exploded with anger.

Her voice was high and sharp. She was infuriated. When she saw the shop clerk coming over with a cup of coffee, she walked over in high heels, picked up the cup, and poured it towards me.

What happened next wasn't expected by anyone present.

Someone wrapped his arm around my waist. His hand was large, and his arm was very strong. I was pulled back and avoided the hot coffee that was poured at me.

Looking at the coffee stain on the carpet, I wondered who the person who saved me was. As soon as I raised my head, my forehead scraped his lips.

"I think at this moment I should say long time no see, Hailey. But what I really wanted to say is, are you alright?" My neighbor, Ethan, was looking at me with his head lowered.

Without the dark environment of the club and not being drunk, I could see his perfect facial features clearly in front of me.

He even had his arm wrapped around my waist.

'His hand is really warm,' I thought.