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.

what if she’s in Eden?” Arthur ate his

look of disbelief touched Elspeth’s face when she saw how calm he looked. “Aren’t you supposed to be excited about

“I’m bored with kissing her *ss. One has to stop when their feelings for someone don’t get reciprocated.” I swear I’m only saying this to stall her

if you’ve been an *ss-kisser? It’s not something embarrassing, anyway. One’s called an *ss-kisser when they kiss a woman’s *ss, but if they kiss the *sses of all women, they’re called a feminist ally! Instead of being *ss-kissers of Emma alone,

in amusement at such a valiant and animated speech. Putting down his cutlery, he looked her square in the face with a

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

gaze unwavering. “But I suddenly feel that you’re cuter than her. Can’t I love

refused right away, saying, “I’d rather let Emma have the good luck.

time Arthur heard such a novel word. He asked curiously, “Oh, is that

course. If not, why would

been made between him and Callum, Arthur wouldn’t have been wounded by such words.

a sore spot with you,” she apologized with feigned remorse. Then, putting a drumstick in her mouth, she sneaked straight up the stairs, saying, “I’m going back to my room first, so could you help do the dishes?” With that, she

taking a look at her

…

began to search for Rayan’s information. It read, ‘Rayan Adler.

with his apparent weight of more than 220 pounds? Well, this isn’t part of what I should consider,

Rayan would usually spend time at a racetrack on the second day of every weekend. He would get a young lady to go horse racing with him. Then, the

disgust through Elspeth, but she kept