Chapter 17: The Guests
Moana

When I woke up the morning after Ella’s birthday, I was shocked to discover that it was already eleven o’clock; three hours past my usual time to wake up in the morning. If it hadn’t been for my phone buzzing on the bedside table, I likely would have slept in for even longer.

As I awoke, squinting against the bright sunlight coming in through the large window, I also discovered something else: Edrick and I were cuddling again.

Feeling my face flush hot, I quickly climbed out of bed, taking care not to wake Edrick, and picked up my phone to see Selina’s name on my screen.

“Selina?” I said quietly, walking away from the bed so as not to wake the still-sleeping Edrick.

“Where on earth are you?” she asked angrily, her voice quivering with rage. “You should’ve been up hours ago, and you haven’t answered even though I’ve been knocking on your door all morning.”

I gulped, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me. “I’m so sorry,” I stammered, trying to come up with an excuse as the housekeeper was still oblivious to my new sleeping arrangement with Edrick, and she certainly wouldn’t understand it if I tried to explain it to her myself. “I-I was taking a shower just now. I’ll be out soon.”

up. We have guests who are expecting

Selina abruptly hung up the phone. It was at this point as well that Edrick sat up in bed, wide awake. Had I been talking so loudly that I woke him up? It always seemed that he fell asleep as soon as I did, and woke

I slid my feet into my slippers and shuffled off toward the

the door and poking my head out to make sure

I washed myself up, still groggy and sore from spending my entire day yesterday at the theme park — with a sunburn across my nose to prove it — and then got dressed in clean clothes. I pulled my hair back into a low bun

was already waiting for us in the foyer. We took the elevator down to the lobby to greet these mystery guests. I hid my bashfulness around Edrick in the silent elevator as best I could and avoided eye contact at all costs, as it seemed that we would

ticked down the floors of the high rise building, finally opening with

Ella called when we saw our guests standing in the lobby. I was taken by surprise as Ella ran away excitedly

guests came into focus. One was an older woman with silver hair wearing an expensive-looking dress and a large sun hat, while the other was much younger with an equally expensive-looking

said, bending down to kiss Ella on both cheeks. “Happy belated birthday! Grandma has lots of presents for

Edrick and I approached, eyeing me

hello to Kelly,

looking down at Ella. “Hello, Kelly,” Ella said, sounding much less enthusiastic than she did when she greeted her grandmother. Kelly

eye me, so I decided

Moana,” I said with a slight, polite bow of

Verona said coldly. “I didn’t expect a human, so I was

stepping forward to kiss her on both cheeks. He then turned toward Kelly, who beamed widely at him, but she glared at me coldly over his shoulder as they

elevator as it slowly carried us up to the penthouse. Suddenly, Kelly turned toward me, looking down her

you have the right qualifications to be Ella’s

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255