The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

When his sister and his mother reached them, James formally introduced Elle to them. "Mom, Sis, like what I said a while ago, this is Aliyah Ross, my fiance. Ali, meet my beautiful Mom, Evana Arison and my sweet sister, Selena." Elle slightly bowed as she greeted James's mother politely. She also smiled at Selena. She wished that her smile didn't show any hint of awkwardness, because as of now, she really had no mood to smile in this kind of situation. She didn't know how she would face Erick after this. James used underhanded strategy this time. She was lost in her train of thoughts when suddenly she felt a warm hug coming from Evana. "Though I am quite surprised, I'm happy to know that my son already had someone whom he wants to settle down with. Don't worry, dear, I am not against your relationship. I will completely support you." This time Elle was certain, her lips twitched into a forced smile. She pretended to be someone else's girlfriend before but she didn't feel uncomfortable unlike tonight. '[email protected]! I messed up big time!' Selena was just quiet on the side, giving her brother a questioning gaze. She wanted to talk to him about this but this was not the right time to do it. James's mother continued entertaining Elle. She asked her a lot of questions about herself, her family and her job. But Elle couldn't concentrate since her mind was wandering right now. She was thinking about Erick. Meanwhile, the man whom Elle was thinking was currently talking with Diana and his team. His expression was normal and unreadable. His team didn't know what was running on Erick's mind right now. Although they were thinking that Aliyah was not Elle, they couldn't stop themselves from worrying about their Chief after hearing that shocking announcement. Who would have thought that Aliyah Ross who happened to be a look alike of Elle was James's fiancee? They're wondering why they didn't get that kind of information after they investigated Aliyah's background. 'Were they secretly dating? Is their relationship very private?' "Hey, what happened in your investigation? Why is it you didn't find the relationship between Aliyah and James? If you did, maybe we won't be shocked like this!" Rose whispered to June while complaining. "Well, I don't know. Maybe they are not very open in the public. You know the thing 'private relationship', right?" June said, defending himself. "Hey, lower your voice. Stop gossiping!" April slightly reprimanded the two of them. "Why? There's nothing wrong about it. Besides, Chief Lee doesn't look affected at all." June commented. Bryan hit June on his abdomen with his elbow, telling him to stop talking since Erick could also hear them. Bryan was not sure. At first, he saw the complicated emotions plastered on Erick's face the moment he saw Aliyah. But in just a blink of an eye, his face became blank and expressionless.  'Is he really not affected at all, or he is just concealing his emotions?' But when they looked at him, Erick was acting normal as he conversed with Diana. They had no idea what Erick was going through right now behind his mask. He was enduring it no matter how painful it was in order not to look pitiful in front of his colleagues and most especially to Elle' and James's eyes. Suddenly, the sweet music reverberated in the entire banquet hall. The emcee announced that the dance floor was now open. This part of the program became a tradition to every party, giving the guys the opportunity to dance with the ladies. Soon, the guests made their way to the dance floor together with their respective partners. As much as Selena wanted to enjoy this night together with Erick, she couldn't do it.  Her mood was greatly affected by Elle's presence. She hated that face, the face who killed her father and the face whom Erick fell in love with. She just stayed with her mother, waiting for the chance to confront her brother privately. Because of this, Diana seized the moment to get closer with Erick. She even invited him first to dance with her. Erick didn't answer right away. His eyes took a glance first at Elle who was currently being invited by James to dance with him. When he saw James leading Elle to the dance floor, Erick accepted Diana's invitation. Deep down, Erick was hoping that Elle would come to him and explained that all of these were just misunderstanding.  However, he knew it was just his wishful thinking. Elle even denied him the truth the last time he confronted her. So he was doubtful if Elle would come and try to explain things to him. But, instead of talking to him, she was avoiding him. Elle didn't even glance at him.This was tearing his heart apart, over and over again. Now, the two pairs were already dancing on the dance floor. Elle didn't know how long she could endure this. The moment she looked on her side, she saw Erick and Diana together. 'I should be the one by his side right now, dancing with him.' Elle thought to herself. There was a gleam of sadness in her dark eyes. She couldn't bear to see them together so she immediately looked away. She had no right to be mad or jealous. She was aware of that. Because, in the first place, she was the one to blame with this. Her grip tightened on James's shoulders. He looked down only to see the wan expression on Elle's beautiful face. There was no light in her eyes.  Elle lowered her gaze, trying to hide her face. The tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.  James saw her crying silently. He cursed himself inwardly. Because of his selfishness, Elle ended up being hurt. He started to regret his actions. He didn't want to see her cry. With his conflicting thoughts, James gently pulled Elle closer to him and let her face bury in his chest to hide her crying face. Elle couldn't afford to let others see her tears so she didn't protest. Then her mind wandered back to what happened two years ago, thinking how she ended up in this difficult and complicated situation.