Chapter 434 - 434: Elle fainted

The next day, Erick became busy processing the requirements for reopening the Falcon Family Massacre Case. His father, Raymond accompanied him to their prosecutor friend. Everything went smoothly.

The prosecutor said that they could submit this case to the higher court by tomorrow and wait for the court to assign a judge and schedule the trial for this case. The new evidence they had gathered as well as the existence of a witness was a great help for this case to reopen once again.

They would need one week before the higher court could give a response. But the prosecutor was positive that the result would be in favor of them.

Elle, on the other hand, started working again. She already took a lot of leave of absence from her current company. Fortunately, their line manager doted on her and Sandy so much that he never complained about her absences. Besides, Sandy took a cover of her workload while she's out of the office. 

"Ali, where have you been? I miss you so much!" Sandy immediately hugged Elle the moment she saw her.

"Hmm, just doing some important cases," Elle plainly said while smiling faintly at her.

Sandy just lifted an eyebrow, eyeing Elle suspiciously. "I think you mean working on dangerous cases."

Elle just merely smiled at her without responding to her. Then she sat down on her desk while massaging her temples.

"Hey, are you alright? Why are you looking pale? Are you sick?" Sandy asked her worriedly as she noticed Elle's pale complexion.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Just a little bit dizzy. Maybe it's because of lack of sleep." Elle replied nonchalantly.

Sandy sighed helplessly while shaking her head. "I always remind you to take it easy. Don't stress yourself too much and overwork. What if your body suddenly collapses one day because of burn out? Your guardian will scold me." Sandy complained to her.

She was not aware that James and Elle were not in a fake relationship anymore. Sandy didn't know about her true relationship with Erick. She would be shocked once she learned the truth. Then she won't stop bombarding her with so many questions.

'Maybe, I will tell Sandy everything once my family's case will be settled in court.' Elle made a mental note to herself.

"Don't worry too much about me. I was fully recovered. My sickness will not come back. I'm totally fit and healthy," Elle patted Sandy's back who was sitting beside her.

Sandy just nodded at her, feeling reassured because of Elle's words. During lunchtime, Charles came over to visit Elle at her workplace. Sandy didn't know that they already knew each other so she introduced them once again.

Sandy was feeling enthusiastic because finally, she was able to introduce her savior to her friend Ali. This time the four of them, Elle, Charles, Sandy, and Josh, got to eat lunch together.

During lunchtime, they noticed that Elle barely touched her food. She looked like she had no appetite.

"Hey eat more. Why do I feel like you lost more weight?" Sandy's voice was filled with concern for her.

Josh and Charles averted their gaze to Elle, examining her. They didn't know whether Elle gained weight or lost some weight. She looked the same for them. Maybe Sandy was just overthinking.

"I didn't lose weight," Elle insisted. She just felt weird today. She couldn't explain what she was feeling right now. Even she, herself, was surprised that she had no appetite today.

"Maybe, I'm just really tired. Don't mind me, just finish your food," Elle added.

Soon, the four of them finished their lunch. Josh and Sandy went back to the office. Elle and Charles decided to take a nap while talking with each other.

Something was bothering Charles for these past few days. Elle noticed his troubled expression so she asked him.

"Do you have any problem? You can tell me anything." Elle said, urging him to open up with her.

"Yeah. I am still thinking about Elena. I haven't talked to her yet after the night she treated my wound." Charles told her truthfully.

"Why? What happened between the two of you?" Elle asked him curiously.

"She confessed to me that night. She told me that she loved me."

Elle was taken aback after hearing that. After she recovered from the shock, Elle immediately hit Charles on his head.

"What did you do to my little sis? Don't tell me you take advantage of her?" Elle shot him a cold stare.

"Of course not! I didn't take advantage of her. I won't do that to her!" Charles defended himself right away, dismissing Elle's accusation.

"So, what's wrong? Why is it the two of you didn't talk yet after that night? Did you hurt her feelings?" Elle asked him with intrigue.

Charles heaved a deep sigh before answering her. 

"I think I scared her by telling the truth. I told her that I don't deserve to be loved by her because I'm not a good man. I said that she deserves someone better." Charles was saddened as he remembered Elena's frightened expression.

"I told her that I killed someone… that I am a murderer. After seeing her frightened expression, now I didn't know how to face her again." Charles said those words in a low voice so that only Elle could hear it. They were currently in a public place right now. So he needed to be careful.

Elle could understand what Charles was going through right now. She also had the same feeling before. She was afraid that Erick would hate her once he learned the truth about her dark past… about her crimes. 

They had a misunderstanding once. Erick wavered and she thought he doubted her when he shot her before. Fortunately, they cleared the misunderstanding. Erick tried to understand her and he never stopped loving her.

"You fool! This is your fault. Argh… what I'm gonna do to you, Charles? I didn't ask you to do that thing for me. All I wanted is for you to live happily and have a new start." Elle couldn't help herself but scold him.

Elle thought that Elena would be able to accept Charles easily if he didn't kill anyone. She knew that Elena might be in shock right now because of Charles's revelation.

"Charles, I wanna ask you this. Please answer me truthfully. What do you feel about her? Do you love her too? Or you are just using your crime in order to send her away because you can't reciprocate her feelings towards you?"

Charles paused for a moment. He was finding the right answer to that question in his heart.

"I don't know yet. I'm also confused."

Elle shook her head as she looked at Charles helplessly.

"Alright, just give her and yourself time to figure out your feelings first. At least, she already knew the truth about your dark side. Talk to her again once both of you are ready."

"Okay. I understand."

After their small talk, Elle and Charles decided to leave the restaurant. Charles decided to accompany Elle going to her office. They were about to enter the building when Elle felt dizzy and suddenly collapsed.

"Elle!" Charles exclaimed in fright when Elle suddenly fainted in front of him.