REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight

Chapter 198: Orange.

The room went silent.

Mr Vale looked as though he had just heard wrong. He slowly turned toward Elara and raised a brow. "Unfair?" he repeated.

Elara didn’t look away, and this made his eyes narrow immediately. "Elara Veyne, I don’t believe this concerns you," he said sternly.

"Maybe not," Elara replied at once, her lips pressing together tightly.

"Then perhaps you should stop commenting on matters you don’t understand," he said, his gaze growing colder. "Especially after everything the Vale family has done for you."

Elara’s fingers tightened slightly on her thighs.

This was it.

She had thought terminating the Vale sponsorship would free her from the feeling of owing anyone anything. But she had forgotten that some things could never simply be erased. The sponsorship had already happened. No matter who she became in the future, there would always be people who remembered where she started and who had helped her get there.

She bit the inside of her cheek. "The Vale family sponsored me. I was grateful for that," she said quietly, lowering her eyes to the floor before looking back up at him. "But gratitude and agreement aren’t the same thing."

Mr. Vale’s expression tightened. It was obvious he wasn’t pleased by her answer.

Some people simply don’t understand the value of what they’ve been given.

Elara’s eyes twitched as the words echoed in her mind again.

"Maybe I’m wrong," she said after a long pause, choosing her words carefully. "But I don’t think people spend years protecting something they don’t care about."

The key fob in Adrian’s hand slowly came to a stop. For the first time since the conversation started, he looked up properly, his gaze settling on Elara’s face. There was no obvious emotion in his expression, but he looked unexpectedly still, as if her words had caught him off guard.

Mr Vale went completely quiet. For a second, it looked as if he was considering what she had said. Then he suddenly snorted.

"You terminated the sponsorship and now you’re here defending him. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised," he muttered, his expression showing just how hard he was trying to hold back his anger. "It’s just that I never knew you were this kind of person."

Adrian’s eyes finally left Elara and moved toward Mr Vale.

The atmosphere in the office instantly lowered by several degrees.

"You can say whatever you came here to say," he muttered. His voice remained calm, but his eyes had darkened noticeably. There was even a hint of warning in them. "Don’t ever talk to her like that."

Mr Vale froze, his expression turning stiff. He took a long look at Adrian, glanced at Elara, then looked back at Adrian again. A tired bitter laugh suddenly escaped his lips.

"Interesting," he muttered, shaking his head pitifully. "So this is what it is."

Elara pursed her lips in confusion while Adrian’s expression turned several shades colder.

Mr Vale’s nostrils flared and his gaze moved to Elara. Then without saying another word, he suddenly stood up.

Adrian rose almost instantly as well, staring at him with a stern gaze.

Another laugh escaped Mr Vale’s lips. He looked away from Elara and toward Adrian. A mocking sneer appeared on his face. "Don’t misunderstand me, Adrian, I’m not touching her," he muttered. "Not everyone is like you."

Without waiting to see Adrian’s reaction, he turned and walked toward the door. The butler stepped aside for him immediately.

When he reached the doorway, he turned back to look at Elara, a small smile resting on his lips.

"You defend him now. One day you’ll learn what everyone else learned." He said casually. Then he turned away and walked out of the office, the butler closing the door behind them and leaving Elara and Adrian alone in the room.

Elara swallowed uncomfortably, her gaze still fixed on the door. Mr Vale’s words echoed repeatedly in her mind.

Adrian remained standing beside his desk, staring at her quietly. Then he suddenly looked away when Elara turned her head toward him.

Knowing that he was probably furious about everything that had happened, Elara quickly stood up and smoothed her clothes. "I should go," she muttered, moving toward the door.

"Elara."

Adrian’s voice suddenly stopped her in her tracks. Her teeth dug deep into her lower lip. After getting hold of herself, she slowly turned back to him and their eyes met.

"Forget what he said," he mummured in a calm tone.

Elara frowned, her hands tightening unconsciously at her sides.

"And stop defending me," he added, the corner of his lips twitching a little. "You’re bad at it."

Elara’s breathing went still. Then, without another word, she turned and walked out of the office, closing the door firmly behind her.

She didn’t even notice Harris bowing at her. She tried very hard to walk calmly through the corridor but her legs kept wavering every now and then. She entered the elevator which took her down to the first floor.

When she finally stepped outside, she noticed that the sky had already begun to darken. She walked to her car and drove out of the premises.

Her eyes remained fixed on the road, but her breathing stayed heavy no matter how much she tried to calm herself. Feeling increasingly unsettled, she finally pulled over in a quiet district.

She remained sitting there, her heart pounding so loudly in her ears that she could almost hear it. Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against the steering wheel.

A long time passed. Then she suddenly reached toward the glove compartment and pulled it open. After rummaging through it briefly, she found a small box.

She took out a cigarette and placed it between her lips with slightly shaky fingers. Reaching into the compartment again, she took out a lighter and turned on the flame with a click.

She stared at the blue flame for a long time. Then she lowered her head, shielding the flame with one hand, and brought it to the tip of the cigarette.

The end glowed orange...