Hiding Behind Her Superficiality by Kyla Olson

Elspeth ran to the bathroom and washed her hands before hurrying to the kitchen to help set the table. After that, she plonked herself down, spooned up the food, and put it in her mouth. “Apart from anything else, you’re pretty good at cooking.”

“Why wouldn’t you notice that I have other strong points besides my cooking?” Arthur complained. Taking off his apron, he placed it aside on the dining table before sitting down to dine with her.

“Sorry, but I don’t really have much of a good impression of you,” Elspeth replied, slurring her words with her mouth full.

Arthur spent a long time poking at the dishes before him without actually picking up any. “I’m speechless.”

Noticing that he seemed kind of unhappy, Elspeth quickly changed the subject. “By the way, Emma has arrived in Eden. Do you know that?”

Arthur paused for a moment. “How did you know about this?”

Elspeth froze before she could blurt out the answer. “Uh, she’s gonna attend some Fashion Week, no? It’s been announced on the news.”

Arthur looked askance at her before picking up the remote control on the dining table and turning on the TV.

The news of Emma attending a fashion show in Eden had just aired on TV right after Elspeth had blurted out her reply. Realizing that the timelines didn’t match up, she had no choice but to make up another lie to cover up the previous one. With a flicker in her eyes, she said, “I read about it on some tabloid website.”

Arthur was in no hurry to expose her lies either. He asked with a calm smile, “On which website did you read about it? I’d love to know that. Its source is so accurate.”

“Is there anything that I’m unaware of? I’m a world-famous hacker, after all,” Elspeth replied. With the world’s best search device in her possession, learning about these things was merely a piece of cake.

if she’s in Eden?” Arthur ate his

touched Elspeth’s face when she saw how calm he looked. “Aren’t you supposed to be excited about her coming here? You

when their feelings for someone don’t get reciprocated.” I swear I’m only saying this to stall her off, he thought

of a sense of justice, “Alright, don’t upset yourself. So what if you’ve been an *ss-kisser? It’s not something embarrassing, anyway. One’s called

in amusement at such a valiant and animated speech. Putting down his cutlery, he looked her square in the face with a smile crinkling his eyes, asking, “Should I

her hand in a fluster without finishing her sentence. “What do you mean? I’m comforting you, so don’t be ungrateful!” Kiss

at her, his gaze unwavering. “But I suddenly

let Emma have the good luck. Not everyone’s lucky enough to be able

word. He asked curiously, “Oh, is that

not, why would she choose

wouldn’t have been wounded by such words. His face fell at once, and

apologized with feigned remorse. Then, putting a drumstick in her mouth, she sneaked straight

him. Then, taking a look at her

…

the job anymore; she unlocked her tablet and began to search for Rayan’s information. It read, ‘Rayan Adler.

racing… Won’t he actually crush his horse to death with his apparent

every weekend. He would get a young lady to go horse racing with him. Then, the two would ride a horse together, going deep into the woods of the stud farm before coming back about an hour later. Naturally, it

disgust through Elspeth, but she