Chapter 164: Chapter 164: Unfamiliar eyes.

Elara’s lips twitched slightly as she processed his question. Before she could even open her mouth to respond, Harris immediately cleared his throat.

"Don’t misunderstand me," he said quickly in a strangely reassuring tone. "It’s not like I was looking for any specific parts."

The moment the words left his mouth, he froze. His lips snapped shut instantly as though he had just realized his explanation somehow made everything sound ten times worse.

Elara’s lips pressed together even tighter, a cold wave of embarrassment washing over her despite the calm expression she kept on her face. She stood there without a word, wondering exactly what he meant by those words.

Any specific parts...?

Was he implying the...

Elara took in a deep breath, her stomach twisting uncomfortably.

The second Harris noticed the expression on her face, he hurriedly waved both his hands. "I only came upstairs because the afterparty is over and everyone is leaving!" he explained quickly. "Your assistant is still downstairs waiting for you. I told her that you and Mr. Vale just went somewhere quiet to discuss the film."

He paused before giving a deep sigh. "I even told her it was a very serious and professional conversation about your career..."

His face turned exhausted as he continued. "But then she looked at me like she didn’t believe a single word I said."

Elara’s fingers clenched tightly at her sides. At this point, she did not even know how to explain that his explanations were no longer helping and that she simply needed him to move out of the way so she could leave.

Meanwhile, Harris continued staring at her face clearly thinking she was deeply considering his words.

"I really thought it would only take a few minutes for you two to finish talking," he said helplessly. "But then ten minutes became thirty, and thirty minutes became hours! It’s already three in the morning now. When a private meeting lasts that long, I just..."

He rubbed his forehead as if carefully choosing his words. "I got worried and came upstairs to check if everything was alright."

From his words alone, Elara already knew he had clearly figured everything out.

"You know what Miss Veyne," Harris said in a voice that sounded as if he couldn’t take it anymore, "I think this conversation would be much easier if you could just help me get boss because I really need to..."

His voice abruptly stopped. The color drained straight from his face as his eyes fixed somewhere directly behind her shoulder.

Elara’s lips curved into a faint frown as she stared at him. "What?" she asked calmly, her brows furrowing in confusion.

Harris opened his mouth. Closed it. Then opened it again. "I suddenly remembered I enjoy unemployment," he muttered weakly.

Understanding finally crossed Elara’s face as she followed his line of sight. Then slowly, while keeping her expression carefully controlled, she turned around. Her eyes landed on the figure sitting on the bed almost instantly.

Adrian was already awake. He sat upright against the headboard silently staring at Harris with cold silver eyes. It looked as if he had been awake the entire time.

Elara’s jaw clenched the second his eyes shifted from Harris to her.

He held her gaze, his expression revealing absolutely nothing. He did not look ashamed or embarrassed that his assistant had clearly saw the situation. He didn’t even bother pulling the sheets higher or hiding the fresh scratch marks running across his bare skin.

Instead, he simply kept looking at her with that same unreadable expression.

Elara wanted to look away immediately but the way he was staring at her felt quite strange and almost suffocating. Just then Harris’ words suddenly flashed through her mind.

Ziva was still there in the ballroom waiting patiently for her.

Elara quietly forced her expression back into its usual calm state before finally breaking eye contact. Without saying a single word or giving him another glance, she turned back to move past Harris who was still standing stiffly in the hallway looking like a man whose soul had left his body.

Not daring to look inside the room again, he quickly stepped aside to let her pass.

Elara walked straight down the hallway toward the direction leading back to the ballroom, her mind in complete chaos. As she walked past the entrance, her eyes slowly moved around the space.

The ballroom was almost empty now except for a few people still moving around. Most of them were staff cleaning the tables and musicians packing up their equipment at the far side of the hall.

Even Carris was nowhere in sight.

Her gaze shifted toward the direction where she and Ziva had been sitting earlier. Just as Harris had said, Ziva was still there. She had already woken up and was now staring down at something on her tab.

From where Elara was standing, she couldn’t see her expression clearly but she knew she would be deeply unhappy.

She took a soft breath and then started walking toward her. She had barely gotten close before Ziva suddenly looked up.

Her eyes narrowed a bit the moment they landed on Elara. Then she slowly straightened her back and rose fully from the chair.

"Elara," she called softly, her eyes dropping to her gown for a small second before lifting back to her face again.

Elara’s steps wavered faintly as she approached her, a tight knot slowly forming in her chest. She didn’t even know what to do, or how she could possibly explain a situation like this.

"I’m sorry for keeping you waiting so long." She finally managed to say.

"It’s fine," Ziva replied flatly, cutting her off almost immediately.

Her eyes dropped back to the device in her hand, her lips pressing into a thin line as she stared at the screen for a few seconds before finally turning it off with a soft click.

"The driver is still outside, let’s go home." she muttered.

Elara stared at her face for a long moment. She was not a fool. She could already hear the displeasure hidden beneath her calm tone so she guessed Ziva was upset about being left here alone for hours.

Ziva quietly packed the remaining items on the table and slipped them into her tote. After that, she finally looked up, directing her gaze back to Elara. For the first few seconds, she didn’t say anything at all. She simply held her gaze before letting out a tired sigh.

"The journalists are completely gone," she murmured, already turning toward the exit doors.

Elara nodded in acknowledgement and gathered the heavy fabrics of her gown in her hands. But before she could follow, her eyes instinctively drifted back toward the entrance she had walked through earlier, the same hallway that led back to the dark private suite.

"The night air is cold. We should hurry Elara."

Ziva’s voice cut through her thoughts again. She had already stopped near the doorway and was now looking back at her quietly.

Elara pulled her gaze away from the dark entrance, swallowing the strange tightness that had formed in her throat. Then she walked up to Ziva and together, they finally stepped out through the exit.

Just as they expected, the car Adrian had sent to bring them here earlier was parked outside, under the big roof of the VIP driveway.

The driver stood beside the rear door with his cap pulled low over his eyes. His head lowered respectfully as he opened the door for them.

Elara stared at him, wondering if he had been standing there the entire time since parking the car, or if he had left and only just returned...

After settling back into the interior of the vehicle, Elara slid into her seat and breathed out slowly, trying to calm the thoughts twisting restlessly inside her head.

She just can’t wait to get home.

Her limbs ached so much right now. To make matters worse, the gown on her also added to the discomfort. She couldn’t wait to finally get back to the apartment, tear the suffocating dress off her body, and just sink into bed.

Not long after, Ziva entered from the other side and dropped on the seat with a tired sigh. The moment the driver settled into the front seat, he wasted no time. The engine started almost immediately.

As the car pulled away from the venue and merged onto the highway, Elara turned her eyes toward the window, silently watching the city lights move past one after another.

Her lips pressed together tightly as fragments of memories kept flashing through her mind.

Beside her, Ziva remained quiet. She was scrolling through something on the tab resting in her lap.

"Did you see Carris before he left?" Elara suddenly asked, turning her gaze toward her.

"Yeah," Ziva replied calmly though she never looked away from the screen. "But before he left, he said he’d be back. He just never came back after that."

She stopped and then looked up briefly at Elara. "That still counts as leaving right?" she muttered before lowering her gaze back to the device.

The corner of Elara’s lips twitched faintly before she gave a small nod and rested her head back against the window.

But suddenly, her gaze stopped.

She slowly furrowed her brows as her eyes landed on the rearview mirror. And in that exact moment, her gaze locked with a pair of cold unfamiliar eyes staring directly back at her through the reflection.

Her brows tightened further in confusion.

Why was he staring at her like that?