Bring Your A Game, Mr

Chapter 188 A Non-Expert

Now that Elise was exposed, she could only mumble reluctantly, “I dabbled in it.”

At that point, Cynthia realized that she had had a foot-in-mouth moment. Does this mean Alexander has no idea of Elise’s alter ego? Swallowing, she shot Elise a fleeting, apologetic look and quickly interjected with what she hoped was a dismissive tone, “That was just a thought. I mean, if I have to be brutally honest, Ellie’s not good enough to come up with a brilliant design, so maybe it’s for the best that you let a professional handle it.”

However, even as Cynthia said this, Alexander still held onto the previous statement on Elise’s so-called ‘dabbling’ in wedding dress designing.

When they pulled up at the Griffith Residence, Cynthia was so excited that she practically bolted out of the car and hurtled into Laura’s arms. “Mommy, I’ve missed you so much!”

The Griffith Residence was filled with raucous laughter and even better cheer now that Cynthia was home; Laura and Robin, in particular, seemed to have wide grins permanently fixed on their wizened faces.

The days went by without anyone really noticing them, and in the blink of an eye, everyone was into the sixth day of the new year. That morning, Alexander texted Elise. ‘Come downstairs when you’re done washing up. I’ll be waiting for you by the cul-de-sac.’

Elise blearily searched for her phone when she heard it chime with a new message. Upon reading Alexander’s text, she felt all the sleep drain out of her, and she clambered out of bed toward the window. She pulled aside the curtain and immediately caught sight of Alexander standing by the yard. What is he up to so early in the morning?

Without wasting another second, she washed up and put on a fresh change of clothes, then went downstairs and into the front yard. “What’s going on?”

Alexander’s gaze lingered on her briefly before he reached to open the car door for her. “Get in. There’s someplace I need to show you.”

She stared at him warily, trying to figure out why he was being so mysterious. Nonetheless, she slid into the passenger seat, following which Alexander started the car and drove away from the curb.

the car rolled to a stop outside Brendan’s atelier. As it turned out, the festive spirit of the new year’s arrival did not dampen his workaholic tendencies, given how the

hummed in response. “I’m here

they were looking for Brendan, she replied hurriedly, “Please wait here for a moment

when Brendan walked out from the main atrium of the atelier. “Alexander,” he greeted perfunctorily. His eyes slid over to where Elise stood mutely next to his brother, and while it was

the slight awkwardness that came with Brendan addressing her, but Alexander did not miss a beat as he took her by the hand and guided her into the atelier. This was the first time she saw Brendan’s atelier in all its glory; the space was filled with rolls

led them into his office and swiftly produced a design sketch for Elise’s perusal. “Take a look at these, Elise. These are all the initial designs I came up with for your wedding dress, and there’s even a ready-to-wear piece based on one of them. Just a quick glance will do and let me know if you want to make some tweaks

enough, but he didn’t actually expect Elise to come up with any suggestion for changes to the design. After all, as

up—all that mystery and suspense just so you can bring me here to take a look at

an affinity for stuff like this, so I figured it would be meaningful if you could have some input on the wedding dress

through her when she heard this, and she beamed at him as she quipped, “Thank

that Brendan had a flair for designing. Where some of his designs were clearly imbued with elegance, others were a little quirky; there were

of the sketches and stayed there.

I thought about how you carry yourself and came up with the design, so it suits you best. The ready-to-wear

so accurately guessed her preferences, Elise nodded and said, “Okay, let’s take

atrium next door. A mannequin had been positioned in the center of the room, and a white tarp had been draped over it. Brendan stepped up and proceeded to pull the

flawless silhouette and the opulent material of the wonderfully made dress that she found herself at a complete

to try it on,

had one of his

With a rueful sigh, the former commented, “Elise’s figure is gorgeous enough that she’d carry the dress well, but…” He trailed off, then added with a hesitant dry cough, “I think the make-up artist would need to put in a bit of arm grease to, uh, make her

them grow cold. “Don’t get angry, Alexander. For the record, I’m not trying to badmouth Elise in any way; I just think that women and vanity go hand-in-hand, and I’d