4: 4
04
This time Paul's reply wasn't just a cold "Mm."
The chat window kept showing that he was typing.
It was a long while before I heard the message tone.
【Dress properly.】
"Tsk. Such a prude."
I muttered it under my breath, didn't bother replying, lay back on the bed, and was out cold within minutes.
Those two years in prison in my last life had been brutal. I'd never once slept well.
By the time I woke, it was already past noon.
I lingered in bed a while before getting up, because I really didn't want to face whatever new tricks Bridget had cooked up.
But when I stepped out, I found the villa quiet and empty. Not one of the Foxes was home.
This wasn't how things had gone last time.
Was rebirth setting off some kind of butterfly effect?
I said nothing and waited. The Foxes didn't come back until evening.
They all wore pleased expressions, Bridget most of all. Instead of the sobbing act she'd put on the moment she saw me last life, she smiled and greeted me.
It was downright eerie.
Stranger still, in the days that followed, Bridget didn't come after me even once. It made no sense at all.
Right up until the day before her gallery opening.
I braced myself as if for battle.
Last life, this was the very day Bridget invited me to her gallery, burned her most expensive oil painting right in front of me, then framed me for arson.
I expected her to pull the same trick. Instead the day passed calm as still water, and nothing happened.
I pressed my lips together. Bridget, and the whole Fox family, couldn't have just changed their nature like that.
What on earth had happened?
Luckily my confusion didn't last long. That night, I got my answer.
It turned out it was all because of Paul.
The second day after I arrived at the Fox house, Paul had made an announcement.
He was looking for a fiancée, with two requirements.
One, she had to be from their circles.
Two, she had to have just turned eighteen this year.
Not many people fit that, and Bridget was one of them.
So all this time, Matthew and Davina had been dragging Bridget from one social event to the next, trying to get her in front of Paul.
Their efforts paid off. Paul had decided to attend Bridget's opening ceremony.
Which was why, this whole time, Bridget hadn't had a moment to spare for tormenting me.
Today especially, she was frantic.
She'd hired the best styling team money could buy, spending an entire day just trying on gowns and jewelry. To make sure nothing went wrong, she'd had the whole team brought straight to the Fox house.
That was how I ended up learning about Paul in the first place.
Seeing that I already knew, Bridget put on a guilty face, eyes rimmed red. "Sis, it's been so hectic these past few days, I forgot to order you a gown for tomorrow's ceremony. We're about the same size, though. Why don't you wear one of my old ones?"
The words were barely out of her mouth when Ivan strode over, impatient. "Eleanor, what are you kicking up a fuss about now? You came out of the slums. You don't know the first thing about etiquette. What business do you have at an opening?"
Davina chimed in too. "Ellie, tomorrow's ceremony means a lot to Bridget. It's not that Mom doesn't want you there. I'm just afraid you won't fit in. Everyone coming tomorrow is from our circles, and you don't know how things work in that world."
Matthew was even more irritable. "Why are you wasting all this breath on her? Eleanor, tomorrow you stay home and behave. You're not to go anywhere."
They expected me to be unhappy, to be hurt, to make a scene.
But I did none of it. I nodded obediently and went back to my room like a good girl.
The moment the door shut, I rubbed at my eyes, hard, for a good long while.
Once they were rubbed raw and red, I took a pitiful little photo and sent it to Paul.
【Mr. Griffin, the Foxes won't let me go to the ceremony. I won't be able to see you tomorrow.（sad.jpg）】
By now I had a good read on his temper.
Paul seemed to have a real soft spot for my helpless, coaxing act. Every time I did it, he'd say a little more than usual.
Sure enough, his message came a second later.
【Tomorrow morning, someone will come for you.】
I sent back a "love you" sticker and fell asleep with my mind at ease.
Early the next morning I was woken by the sound of Bridget screaming at her makeup artist.
Unable to get back to sleep, I snapped a photo of myself in my slip nightgown, heavy-lidded and sleepy, and sent it to Paul.
【Morning, Mr. Griffin.】
Paul didn't reply.
I wasn't in any hurry.
After the Foxes had all left, a message from Paul suddenly came through.
【Come downstairs.】
I hurried out.
A black van sat quietly at the corner.
Inside was a top-tier styling team.
Two hours later, I was brought to the entrance of Bridget's gallery.
The opening ceremony was a grand affair. Nearly everyone in high society had turned out.
They hadn't come for the Foxes, and certainly not for Bridget.
Every last one of them had come for Paul.
Even from outside the door I could hear them showering Bridget with praise.
"Bridget is so accomplished for her age. Not only does she paint beautifully, she's even caught the eye of that man."
"Mr. and Mrs. Fox were both giants in the art world in their day. No wonder they raised such a fine daughter."
"Oh, if only our own child were as remarkable as Bridget."
Hearing all this, I curled the corner of my mouth and pushed the gallery doors wide open.
