The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

Not only Erick but also everyone was waiting for her response. Her silence made Erick become more nervous. He was afraid, very afraid that Elle would refuse his proposal.

"No! This shouldn't be happening!"

James heard Selena mumbled beside him. He could understand how she felt right now. Even he, himself, wanted to run in between the couple and break them apart just to stop this.

However, with his remaining rationality, he knew he couldn't do that. It was rude to interrupt those two even if that's what he wanted to. All he could do is watch and wait while clenching his fist and grinding his teeth.

Selena's eyes were filled with jealousy and hatred right now. Her heart broke into pieces the moment she heard Erick's marriage proposal to Elle. Why is it she had to witness this today with her own eyes?

Meanwhile, Elena was anticipating Elle's reply, silently praying that she would say yes. She was so excited and happy for her. She couldn't believe that a simple moment like this could be more special and romantic than the planned and grand marriage proposal she could only see in movies.

On the other hand, Charles's face was now painted with worries and concern as he observed Elle's reaction. He didn't know why but he also started to feel nervous for Erick right now.

'Dude, don't you think this is a wrong move? You are scaring her now.' Charles thought to himself.

'She just took all her courage and took a risk despite the danger of her true identity being revealed by making one step just to confess her true feelings for you and to stay with you.'

'And now, you are giving her so much pressure by asking her to marry you, despite the fact she is afraid that you might hate her once you find out who she really is.'

Charles could somehow understand Elle's feelings about this sudden proposal. He knew that Elle was not yet prepared to take another step.

Elle was having conflicting emotions. Her mind was in a chaotic state right now. She was tongue-tied at the moment, utterly astounded. Confused about what she should do, she moved one step back, away from Erick. 

When she did that, Erick's hope was slowly fading away. He suddenly felt weak as he peered down, feeling the emptiness in his heart.

'Will she reject my proposal? She is still in doubt about her feelings for me. She doesn't love me yet to the extent of wanting to marry me.'

Elle could see the tinge of pain and sadness in his two beautiful brown orbs. She could feel the increasing tension between them. 

'What did I do? What should I do?' Elle was having an internal battle, struggling hard in her mind. Her head was pounding and her heart felt uneasy.

Her dark eyes fell on Erick's face who was having a gloomy expression. The light in his eyes already disappeared, dullness was the one that remained.

The deafening silence was broken by his laughter. He continued to look down as he scratched the back of his head. His laugh was short and humorless, mocking his own self.

"I am sorry for being in a rush and inconsiderate. I think this is not the right time. Please just forget what I have said today." Erick said while smiling at her, however, his eyes were filled with deep sorrow and loss.

When the person you love the most rejects your love, how painful could it be? This was what he was feeling at this moment, trying to conceal his pain with a bright smile on his face.

The spectators on the sideline exchanged glances with each other, having the same thought in mind.

'So does it mean this is a failure in the proposal.'

However, before others could rejoice, they heard Elle spoke up after being silent for a long time.

"Mr. Detective be accountable with your words!" Elle said with her angry tone.

"You can't take it back, seconds after you have said it, and announced it publicly." Elle sounded so serious and mad.

"You should be more responsible. How can you expect me to accept someone who changes his mind right away?" Elle continued to rant at him. The uncertainties in her eyes a while ago were all gone.

This time Erick raised his head to stare at the woman who seemed like scolding him. He glanced at her with a confused look.

A loving smile lit up her beautiful face and her eyes held a glint of joy as she met his questioning gaze. Her bright smile warmed his aching heart and erased the creases between his brows.

Elle started to move closer to him.

"I am betting all my everything on this." Elle softly mumbled while staring intently at Erick. She was referring to their love for each other.

The internal battle was no more. Her inside struggles were long gone. What left was her love and feelings for him. Of course, her fears were still there but they were overpowered by her love towards him.

She took his face in her hands and drew him to her. "This is my answer," she whispered to him.

She didn't say the words 'yes, I am accepting you.' nor the words 'yes, I want to marry you.' Instead, she let her actions speak for her.

She took another step closing the gap between them as she pressed her mouth against his lips, fiercely kissing him.

His hands captured her waist, pulling her closer against his body. He instantly responded to her kiss, hungrily.

For a few minutes, they held on to each other, kissing as if they hadn't seen each other for a decade. Not minding the people around them as they continued to express their feelings to each other through this kiss.

That passionate kiss lasted for several minutes, leaving them both breathless. Bystanders had also witnessed the public display of affection of the couple, gaining different reactions from them.

"Whoah, I thought I could only see this kind of scene in the movies." Elena could not help herself but mumble.

Charles recovered from the shock when he heard Elena's voice. He averted his gaze only to see Elena's blushing face who looked like she was still daydreaming.

Charles sighed deeply as he put his hands to cover Elena's eyes.

"B-Boss Charles… w-what are you doing?" Elena asked him nervously while trying to remove his hands which were covering her eyes.

"Don't be corrupted by this scene. Don't stain your pure and innocent mind yet. Don't you ever try doing this kind of PDA in the future." Charles warned her.

She just nodded at him like an obedient child. Charles's lips twitched in a satisfied smile as he grabbed her hands and pulled her inside the Cafe, leaving the couple behind.

Meanwhile, sensing the several pairs of eyes watching over them, Elle also grabbed Erick's hand as she pulled him away from the eyes of the public. They both ran away to hide while holding each other's hands.

The Arison's siblings were the only people left who stayed rooted on their spot. Both of them were having a gloomy expression on their faces.

The color drained in Selena's face as she felt like a knife stabbed into her heart. She lost all her strengths. She was about to fall, fortunately, her brother was there, catching her as he helped to steady her.

"B-Brother...i-it hurts." Selena began to sob as she clutched on his brother's shoulder. Tears burned her eyes and her lower lip trembled.

"Shhhh… it's alright. Everything will gonna be fine." James said softly as he tried to look calm while comforting his sister.

A blazing flame ignited in James's eyes. His cold lips turned into a bitter smile. The veins on the back of his hand popped out as he continued to clench his fist.

They had no right to be but they were both insanely jealous, mad, and devastated just by watching those two persons they liked kissing each other lovingly in front of them.

Their hope was crumpled just like that as they left the place with a heavy heart. They were both broken.

Phantom had also witnessed the scene from afar. A smile of relief and satisfaction worked its way across his aged handsome face and into his eyes.

"I wish you both happiness. I hope your love for each other can conquer every challenge that might come in your ways. Stay strong both of you." Phantom mumbled as his eyes were fixed on the direction where Elle and Erick had vanished from his line of sight.

Meanwhile, at XXX Crime Investigation Headquarters, Erick's team was wondering why he had not yet returned. 

Unknown to them, their Chief who was just supposed to get some doc.u.ments and a book had already made a sudden marriage proposal to his beloved woman.

And all of that happened because Erick found Elle's goodbye letter in the book which Bryan was trying to borrow.

They were still waiting for their Detective Chief when Marie dropped by their office. She had something to inform the team.

"Hey guys, I have a piece of good news," Marie said to them excitedly.

"Oh! What is it? Tell us." Bryan said eagerly.

"Black Shadow is back. He contacted me again, asking me to meet him for the next few days." Marie showed them the phone containing Black Shadow's message.

"That's great! We can continue to spy on him and monitor his movements." June also said to them cheerfully.

"I wonder what he had done for the past few weeks of going to lay low," Rose commented

"I hope this time we can gather more information about Catseye through him," April said, feeling hopeful.

"Leave it to me guys. I will do my best! Fighting!" Marie told them confidently, reassuring the team.