Chapter 8

Selena went straight to the hospital after leaving the cafe. She made her way over to Louisa's ward and gently pushed open the door. Louisa had been scrolling on her phone. Selena couldn't see what she was looking at, but she had been smiling. However, when Louisa spotted her, she immediately locked her phone and burrowed into her blankets, her expression cold. As usual, she showed her back to Selena, refusing to look at her. Louisa had shown her the same reaction every time Selena visited her. Although she had gotten used to it, she couldn't help the way her heart stung every time she looked at Louisa's back. Selena walked over to bed and said softly, "I'm here to visit you, Louisa." Louisa remained hidden in her blankets and didn't say a word. The dejection and regret that had been festering within Selena reached its peak at the sight of Louisa's continued indifference toward her. "I know I wronged you in the past, Louisa," she said in a choked-up and pleading tone. "Can you please give me another chance? I'll love you properly this time. I won't make you sad ever again." Tears streamed down Selena's face as she gazed at Louisa's tiny back. After a few moments of silence, Louisa turned to look at Selena. "Don't cry, Mom," she mumbled. Selena whipped her head up in surprise. "Are you willing to talk to me now, Louisa?" Louisa nodded. Some of the resistance in her eyes had melted away. A relieved smile broke across Cynthia's face as she watched the exchange from the side. "This is great, Mrs. Cole! How wonderful it would be if you and Louisa could remain this way." Selena didn't say anything in response, but she quietly swore to herself that she would protect their mother-daughter relationship no matter what happened. She stayed in the ward for a bit longer, trying to strike up a conversation with Louisa to nurture their relationship. However, Louisa didn't respond to everything she asked. She would only answer if she felt like it. Selena wasn't deterred at all. She was already extremely pleased with the progress that was made that day. After gleaning some information from Cynthia regarding what Louisa liked to eat while she was hospitalized, she decided to personally prepare a meal for her. Unfortunately, she accidentally burned her hand when she added the vegetables to the pan, causing the hot oil to splatter everywhere. The skin on the back of her hand immediately turned an angry red. "Why are you so careless?" Elijah returned home just as Selena was clumsily trying to apply the ointment to her burn. He frowned as he hurried over to her. He then took the ointment from Selena and carefully applied it to her hand. "Why do you insist on testing your limits when you know that you're a bad cook?" Elijah asked in a reproachful tone that was barely discernible. "I just wanted to prepare a meal for Louisa—Oh! Louisa spoke to me today!" she exclaimed happily, immediately forgetting that she had been irritated about his criticisms mere seconds ago. "Just take it slow. Learning how to cook isn't an urgent issue." Surprise flickered in Elijah's eyes upon hearing Selena's words, causing him to pause for a moment before he continued the conversation. His voice was a lot gentler than before, making Selena suspect that her mind was playing tricks on her. "I can't take it slow. I need to mend our relationship as soon as possible. Only then will the kids be willing to leave with me when we divorce. Speaking of which, when do you plan to do that?" Elijah's hands froze for a split second. He raised his head to look at her and said lightly, "Things have been hectic at the company lately. We can talk about this once the dust has settled." Selena stared at him, looking like she had something to say, but she ultimately swallowed her words. "That's right. I need you to accompany me to a banquet in two days. I'll send you a document listing the guests and their connection to us. Memorize everything. Make sure not to make any mistakes at the event." Selena nodded. His request sounded easy enough—except she found herself knocking on his study door later that night. She wore an awkward expression while cradling the thick stack of papers to her chest. "It's too complicated. I can't remember the guests and their connections to us, no matter how hard I try. Can you explain them to me?" Elijah massaged his brow helplessly. He had forgotten that Selena was an abysmal student during her schooling days. Left with no other choice, he nodded and gestured for her to enter the study. They sat down at the desk before Elijah pulled out a random sheet of paper from the stack. "This is Brandon Deacon. He likes to collect antiques. His wife is Aurora Clive. She went to the same school as you." "Aurora Clive?" Selena suddenly raised her voice and exclaimed, "Wait a second! I remember her! She was my junior, and she was really stuck-up when she was a student. She even declared that she would never marry unless her husband was extremely handsome. How did she end up marrying this chubby guy? She clicked her tongue before continuing, "But she went through quite the transformation herself, huh? I wouldn't have recognized her if you didn't mention her by name. It looks like she had some plastic surgery done." Selena's miserable expression had melted away completely, replaced by an excited expression at the opportunity to gossip about the people on the list. She looked much more energetic and animated. "This is Lance Porter. You should know him," Elijah said as he pulled out another sheet of paper and handed it to Selena. "Lance? The same Lance who used to follow Jenny around wherever she went? When did he get so skinny? He used to be quite fat when he was a student. What on earth did he go through?" Selena asked while rubbing her chin. "His father passed away a few years ago," Elijah explained. "He singlehandedly took over the family's maritime business. He started losing weight at an alarming rate when he inherited the company." Selena clicked her tongue again. "Looks like it's not easy to run a maritime business." "This one's Oliver Finch. He's your good friend's ex-husband…" Selena's eyes had widened to the size of saucers even before Elijah finished his sentence. Disbelief was written all over her face. With Elijah describing every person on the list to her, the task of memorizing every guest's profile and connection no longer felt like a chore. Instead, she felt like Elijah was gossiping with her, telling her the latest scoop about what was going on in their circle. As a result, she managed to remember everyone's details, even though Elijah had only described them to her once. "This is too easy! I remember everything now!" Selena exclaimed while clapping her hands, brimming with confidence. "Is that so?" Elijah asked, sounding a little doubtful as he arched an eyebrow at her. "It's so easy to remember," she replied, looking at him with wide eyes. She didn't understand why he doubted her, totally forgetting that she had sought him out precisely because she couldn't commit the information to memory. "Alright then. I'll be looking forward to your performance at the banquet." A small but fond smile stretched across Elijah's lips as he took in Selena's confident appearance. On the night of the banquet, an urgent matter came up on Elijah's end, so he couldn't pick up Selena. He told his driver, Alan Brown, to send her to the venue instead. Sebastian was lounging on the couch, playing video games, when he spotted Selena descending the stairs. She was dressed to the nines, which immediately put him on edge. "Where are you going, Selena?" he demanded, tossing his controller aside and standing up. Selena shot a baffled look in his direction. She continued making her way over to the door as she answered, "I'm attending a banquet with your father tonight." She then disappeared out of the door after saying her piece. "Impossible!" Sebastian exclaimed while staring at the empty doorway. "Dad would never bring her to that sort of event. With the way she's dressed, she must be going on a date with that bastard, Jordan!" Anger boiled within him at the thought. He clenched his fists and muttered, "I can't allow that trashy couple to get their way."