The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 202: Under wraps

For the rest of the day, Fil couldn’t even have a proper conversation with Elise. Not that Elise ignored her, but her replies were too short to leave any opening. Hence, Fil didn’t bother her and went by with her day as usual.

Olivia has a point.

Fil should know more than anyone else that words and warnings weren’t enough. Her own brother always dissed Vincent back then, but all she saw was her little brother simply being jealous for getting her attention. But after seeing how Elijah rooted for Jackson, she realized how wrong she used to see things while dating Vincent.

So, Fil realized the more she tried to make Elise see Marcus’s real colors, the more Elise would feel motivated to see him the way she wanted to see him.

"Are you going home now?" Fil snapped back to reality when Elise rose from her seat.

"Yes." Elise forced a smile. "See you tomorrow, Fil."

"Should we —" Fil bit her tongue, stopping herself from offering Elise to eat out. "Never mind. See you tomorrow."

With that being said, Elise dragged herself away from the office while Fil watched her figure. Seeing how Elise’s mood was so down, Fil felt sorry for her.

"Hey." Just then, Kenzo’s voice caressed her ears, making her turn to him. Kenzo smacked his lips and leaned against her desk. "About what I said earlier... I’m sorry."

A short smile turned up on her face. "That’s it? Just sorry? Where’s the peace offering?"

"Don’t push it."

"Hehe." Fil slowly rose from her seat. "I know you didn’t mean everything you said, but they’re still hurtful."

"That’s why I’m taking responsibility without making any excuses."

"I know and I already forgave you before you could even ask."

He also knew that too.

Kenzo quietly watched her gather her things. "So? Are we just going to let Marcus take her as a hostage?"

"We?"

"Yes, we." He nodded. "We are her friends, and you’re my friend slash rival too. It’s clear to me that he’s using her as his hostage to ensnare you with whatever sick game he’s playing. So yeah, we."

Hearing him say that made her feel more reassured. "You know, Olivia told me not to meddle."

"I bet she also told you it’s the best for everyone?"

"Yeah"

"Classic Liv." Kenzo chortled. "But since you’re saying this to me, it means you don’t plan to listen to her?"

The corner of Fil’s lips curled up subtly. "I thought if I hear Olivia’s rational thoughts and advice about it, it’ll change my mind."

"But it didn’t?"

"It didn’t."

"So? What’s the plan?"

"Hmm." Fil rubbed her chin as she pondered about it. After a moment, she offered him a smile. "I’ll tell you tomorrow."

"You don’t have a plan yet?"

"It’s not like I don’t, but I need to confirm something first." Fil pressed her lips and smiled. "I don’t want to repeat the mistakes I did in the past and as much as possible, I want to keep these things under wraps before I get married."

"Get married?" Kenzo snorted. "Well, does that mean you have years to spare in this situation?"

"I’m engaged."

The smile lines on Kenzo’s cheek stiffened as he looked at her as though he didn’t hear what she said. "You, what?"

"I’m engaged and after this week, we’ll plan our wedding." Her cheek blushed slightly, biting her lips to stop herself from showing her excitement.

But alas, Kenzo didn’t react the way she expected him to. He just looked... surprised.

"I’m not joking, so don’t look at me as if you’re concocting your perfect rebuttal." Fil looked at the back of her hand and smiled. "The ring is to follow since a certain friend is upset that my fiance gave me something else. But he said he’d get it done this week."

"Oh." Kenzo rocked his head, studying her visage as she spoke about it.

It wasn’t like he thought she was joking. To be fair, he knew she was being serious. She didn’t have to prove it because that look in her eyes was enough for him to know that Fil was in love. She used to carry that same shine in her back then. Or rather, this time, her eyes were glowing even brighter.

******

Meanwhile...

Elise sat by the bus stop while staring blankly at her phone. Her lips were curved down, unlocking her phone, only to check her message log with Marcus for the umpteenth time.

He hasn’t contacted her all day. His last message was yesterday when he told her he was on the way to pick her up. After that, he didn’t send another one. Not a good night, not a good morning. He didn’t even read any of her messages.

’Why is he suddenly so silent?’ She wondered, thinking it would have been nice if he left her a message to make her feel better.

Elise held her phone with both her hands, typing a long message to vent. But alas, she stopped halfway and deleted it. She replaced it with a short question.

[Did I do something wrong last night?] freёnovelkiss.com

’I know he’s not the type of person to message a lot, but he never went on a full day without at least telling me to have a good day.’ She pursed her lips as tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.

Elise wiped her eyes before it was too late. This was embarrassing, she thought. However, she couldn’t stop her tears. What Kenzo and Fil told her was upsetting, but the fact that Marcus hadn’t said anything to her all day was even more upsetting.

’I know Fil and Kenzo are just concerned about me. I know they said that because Marcus has a history,’ she thought, sniffing hard as she continuously wiped her tears with the bottom of her palms. ’But I also know they won’t do or say anything directly to Marcus.’

So why was her brain having all these malicious thoughts? Blaming Fil and Kenzo for telling Marcus off, which was why he hadn’t reached out?

It was depressing, but Elise had to fight her own rationale because she didn’t want conflict. When she finally calmed down, the sky was already dark, and the breeze was starting to get chilly.

"Uh." She sniffed, looking around the bus stop. "I didn’t notice the time."

Her face slowly turned red, thinking how many people walked past her and saw her crying. She shook her head, slapping her face to keep herself together.

’If I’m going to cry, I’d rather do it at home,’ was what she told herself, standing up from the bench as she caught the bus approaching. But just as Elise stood up and turned to the approaching bus, she saw a sedan parked over to the side of the road.

"Huh?" Elise blinked, gazing at Fil.

Fil was just standing on the sidewalk with a grim expression. Her eyes were on the sedan in front of her. When Elise shifted her gaze to the car and straight to the driver’s seat, she had to squint her eyes to avoid the headlights until she caught the man inside.

"Marcus...? Is he asking Fil if I went home?" Elise whispered, almost jumping in joy. She wanted to sprint towards them, when suddenly, Marcus stepped out of the driver’s seat and jogged to the front passenger seat and opened the door for Fil.

Huh?

"What is..." Elise trailed off, watching Fil get in the car before Marcus jogged back to the driver’s seat with a big smile on his face. It was a smile Elise had never seen before.

"... going on?"