Elias’ Crimes and Punishments of Romance
Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Getting Caught

The night soon fell, welcoming the banquet. “Mr. McCalister, about Winters Enterprise’s infringementcase, I think it’d be better if another lawyer takes over. I might not be the best candidate for this case.”Amanda went straight to the point and told her supervisor. After settling Aiden down, she came to thebanquet, wanting to look for Jackson McCalister, her supervisor, to talk about handing her role tosomeone else. She dreaded handling Winters Enterprise’s case, or Elias might discover her.Meanwhile, Jackson had a glass of red wine in his hand and was surprised to hear that. “Why?Infringement cases are your specialty, so this shouldn’t be difficult.” “I… I have my reasons. I hope youcan understand,” she replied. His eyes swept across her exposed shoulders as she spoke. Jacksonwas a crude man in his forties, and from what Amanda heard, he liked getting handsy with the womenat the law firm. “Oh, yeah? What would that be? You can tell me…” He placed his hand on her ivoryarm. Subconsciously pulling away, Amanda insisted, “Mr. McCalister, anyhow, I can’t take this case.” Atthe same time, Elias arrived at that very banquet. His black suit complemented his upright posture, buthis handsome face seemed encased in a layer of thin ice. Just as he took a glass of wine from thewaiter, his phone began ringing. He glanced at it and saw it was a call from Howard. Frowning, heanswered the call and took a sip of his wine. “What’s the matter, Grandpa?” “You b*stard! I’m warningyou! As long as I’m alive, that clown, Grace Murphy, can never join our family! The only granddaughter-in-law I acknowledge is Amanda!” Right after answering the call, Elias heard his grandfather’s angryroar. He could not help but pull his phone away and wait for Howard to finish his angry rants beforeplacing his phone back to his ear, frustratedly asking, “Grandpa, what’s all this about?” “Today, thatclown revealed to the public that she’ll marry you soon. Where did she get the courage to do that? Ifyou dare to get married behind my back, mark my words that I will break your legs!” With that, the oldman hung up in a fit of pique. Looking at the darkened screen, Elias let out a frown. It had been fouryears since then, but his grandfather only acknowledged Amanda as his granddaughter-in-law. That lefthim flabbergasted as he wondered what was so great about her that she could get all the WintersFamily’s elders to accept her. At that moment, he heard a gentle female voice. “Elias, you’re finally

here. I’ve been waiting for you.” Grace Murphy wore a white halter dress and smiled sweetly as sheapproached him and hugged his arm. Her gaze alone revealed that she was looking at her world. Theman hummed and asked, “Did you tell the press we’re getting married?” The blushing lady whined,“Those reporters kept asking me, so I accidentally made a slip of the tongue. I’m sorry, Elias. I didn’t doit on purpose…” “Let’s talk about it next time. Grandpa won’t agree to it as of now.” Then, he finishedhis red wine in one go. At that, Grace’s sweet smile stiffened. What does he mean by next time? I’veworked so hard to persuade Elias to marry me and even used all kinds of means and tricks, but now,he says we’ll talk about it next time? Even after getting rid of that worthless ex-wife of his, I still can’tget Old Mr. Winters’ approval. Tears began pooling in her eyes. At that moment, Elias inadvertentlylooked at the opposite side of the pool and was stunned once again. It was Amanda! The ex-wife thathad been missing for four years! A touch of surprise and shock appeared in the man’s eyes becausehe had a clear view this time. That woman was indeed Amanda Bailey. His gaze was pinned onto thatslim figure as though afraid she would disappear the next moment. … “Amanda, how about cominghome with me tonight? Then, we can discuss why you refuse to take on this case.” The obsceneJackson kept trying to trick Amanda into going home with him. By then, she was fed up with him. Sheknew going home with that pervert was no different from treading dangerous ground. In that sense, shewould rather take on the Winters Enterprise case! With a polite smile, she retreated a step. “Mr.McCalister, I’ll take the case. I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving now.” The second she wheeledaround, she was stunned in place. Elias was passing through the crowd and storming toward her inrage. That’s right—storming toward me. Why does the universe hate me? What did I do to deservethis?! Amanda’s eyes widened in fear, and she could not help but take two steps back, landing straightinside Jackson’s arms. After helping her replace her footing, he asked, “Amanda, have you thought itthrough? Are you willing to come home with me?” “You’ve mistaken. I was just walking this way!” Shepushed the lewd man away and hurriedly left in the other direction. No, no, no! Please don’t let me getcaught! While pleading inside her heart, she picked up her pace, but her high heels stopped her fromfleeing in success. “Ahh—” She twisted her ankle and screamed in pain. The next moment, Elias’ largehand seized her shoulder before his deep, sexy voice came from behind her. “Amanda! Stop right

there!” She froze, not even having the courage to look back. Her heart raced as a thin layer of sweatappeared on her forehead. As despair dawned upon her, she closed her eyes in utter loss for action.Then, she heard a loud plop from the pool, followed by someone screaming, “Hey, isn’t that thecelebrity, Grace Murphy? How did she fall into the pool?” The man released Amanda’s shoulder andran toward the pool. As soon as the devil’s grip vanished, she finally opened her eyes in shock andturned around, only to see Elias walking away. Phew! With that, she left the banquet and headed forthe parking lot without turning back. It was a painful journey stumbling to her car as her sprained ankleconsumed every bit of her motivation. Just as she was about to open the door, a man’s arm suddenlybanged the door shut oppressively. “Where do you think you’re going?” Raising her head, Amandagazed into Elias’ obsidian eyes. Their proximity allowed her to sniff the clean minty scent of his body.Although her heart raced, she pretended to be calm. “Sir, you’ve got the wrong person. Please excuseme.” My gosh. Just go away. He sneered and pinched her chin with his long fingers. “Do you think Iwouldn’t recognize my ex-wife? You’re questioning my intelligence!” Being pushed against the car, shestruggled while screaming, “Elias Winters! What do you want from me?”