***

Loriel informed Marc that Elise couldn't come to work for several days because she was sick. Marc informed Alex about this so she wouldn't be looking for her assistant.

This, of course, created confusion on Alex's part. Shouldn't an employee call the office to inform them about their medical leave and the HR would notify their supervisor?

In Elise's case, it was the opposite. The big boss himself was the one to inform Alex so she could inform HR.

Elise was too OP, Alex thought to herself.

She had been wondering about the nature of the relationship between Elise and Marc since the beginning, but Alex didn't want to probe Elise about it. She did have her suspicions, but she always kept it to herself.

Alex suspected that Elise's and Marc's relationship was not simple. However, she brushed it off since Elise didn't seem like one of those beautiful women that Marc dated and tossed away after he was bored.

[Elise, I heard you are sick. Please rest well and get better soon. Don't think about work. I'll see you soon after you recover! xx]

After she sent the message to Elise, Alex went back to her work.

***

Loriel took good care of Elise for three days. She slowly recovered her strength. On Wednesday, she thought she could already get back to work, but Loriel insisted that she must take at least two more days rest.

"But, they will cut my salary if I take too long for time off. I have taken Monday to Wednesday off. I should at least go to work tomorrow," Elise protested. "Look, I am better now."

"They won't cut your salary if it's for genuine medical reasons," Loriel shook his head stubbornly. "Besides, I already told Marc if he saw you in office before next Monday, he should kick you out and send you home."

Elise looked at the man in disbelief. She couldn't imagine Marc would kick her out for coming to the office.

But… who knows, perhaps he would. The man seemed to always do whatever Loriel asked him to do. And Loriel was so adamant about wanting Elise to recuperate longer.

"I am really well now. Look…!" Elise wanted to jump from the bed, but since her movement was too sudden, she became limp and lost her balance.

Fortunately, Loriel caught her in time before she fell down. He placed her back gently on the bed.

The man shook his head and gave Elise a stern look. "You know how I'm never angry at you, right? But I will be angry if you compromised your health for some stupid thing like money. Nobody will deduct your salary. You have my word."

Elise looked at the man pleadingly. "I know you can make Marc do whatever you want, for my sake… but I don't want special treatment."

She added, "People already talk bad about me having a secret relationship with Marc that I received preferential treatment in the office… I hate that. That's why I asked you to go with me to the office gala and pretend to be my boyfriend, so I can quench the gossip."

She pursed her lips, trying to show her protest but somehow still ended up looking so adorable.

Loriel felt exasperated by her attitude. This was not the meek wife he knew who would always do whatever he told her to do. She now argued with him and talked back.

He liked this new Elise very much, but somehow he felt like he needed to get to know her more since she was no longer the same woman he married fifteen centuries ago.

This thought suddenly made him feel worried. What if… what if Elise no longer wanted him? If her personality changed.. could she love him again?

What if her standards changed? What if she didn't want to marry him again? What would become of his long wait to see her again?

"I didn't know it's that bad," Loriel said. "Did they treat you badly in the office?"

Elise shook her head. "Not really… but people talk and I don't like it."

"Well.. the company's end-of-year gala is around the corner. I will go with you as your boyfriend and they will stop spreading gossip about you. So, you don't have to worry about special treatment. If you want, I can also ask Marc to just deduct your salary. What about it?" Loriel asked Elise seriously.

"But I need the money…" Elise sighed. "I don't want my salary to be cut, and I don't want special treatment. That's why I have to go to work, now that I have recovered."

"But you have money. You shouldn't worry about it…" Loriel said.

He was very wealthy because he had accumulated mind-blowing wealth throughout his fifteen centuries on earth. Elise had everything she would ever need because everything he owned was hers too.

However, Elise actually thought the man was talking about the York family money.

She shook her head dejectedly. "I am not really Daniel York's missing daughter. Tessa and her family will contest the will and take my father's inheritance for themselves."

"I can make sure they won't get a cent," said Loriel.

"No… please don't do anything. I am not really Madeline York… I am not entitled to her father's wealth," said Elise to explain her reasoning. She, too, felt that she had no right to claim the inheritance left by Daniel York.

"But Tessa and her parents also have no rights to keep your inheritance," said Loriel again. "I will not do anything if you asked me to stay away from it. I couldn't care less about other people's money. But, I am just telling you, they also have no rights."

"Hmm… my father is a really kind man. And he was destroyed by the disappearance of his daughter twenty years ago. Maybe… we can donate the money to a good cause? Like organizations that fight human trafficking, or children's welfare, etc. What do you think?"

Elise really didn't want to touch even one cent of the York's family money. But she thought Loriel was right by not letting Tessa and her family get all the money to themselves.

"I will see what I can do," Loriel nodded.

"Thank you." Elise touched his arm. "By the way… did they bury my father beside his wife's grave? I need to know."

"Yes. I already checked. He is there."

"Ah… thank you. I am happy to hear that."

"Yeah." Loriel got up from the chair beside Elise's bed and asked if she wanted hot chocolate. "I will make hot chocolate for us. Do you want some?"

Elise nodded. "Yes, please."

"All right. I will be back."

Loriel left her to go to the kitchen and made the hot chocolate. He returned in ten minutes with two mugs in his hands. He gave one mug to Elise and sat down on the chair.

"Do you want to watch a movie? I know you're bored, but I won't let you go back to work until you are fully rested and recovered." Loriel took the remote and turned on the big TV on the wall.

Elise never watched TV when she was in her room. She was fascinated by the wall that suddenly turned into a giant screen and showed such amazing clear pictures.

"Ah.. sounds good," she said.

"They have this new show. I read the review online this morning. It should be pretty good," said Loriel.

He turned on a new historical TV show that people were raving about. He thought Elise might like watching this show to distract her mind from work.

Elise leaned on the headboard with her mug and watched the show with interest. Loriel sat leisurely on his chair, next to her bed, also with his mug. He wished he could sit with her on the bed and cuddled her while watching TV.

Wasn't it what couples normally did in the modern days?