Chapter 117 - 117: That is Her

"What the hell is happening here?'' It was James who spoke up and went to the middle of those two ladies. He looked so unhappy when he saw Elle's ruined wet white dress.

He turned to Chlarice with his angry look. "What did you do to her?"

Chlarice was looking at James with disbelief. 'Why is he treating me like this? I am the one who got hurt here. Why is it he looks like he is favoring Elle?'

"It is not my fault. She is the one who started it. She is the one who is responsible for this. She blocked my way using her feet that's why I tripped and fell." Chlarice said as she blamed Elle.

Erick frowned also when he saw Elle's appearance. He walked towards Elle. He removed his tuxedo and he used it to cover Elle's body.

"What happened here?" Erick asked Elle softly.

Elle was about to say something when Chlarice spoke up. She turned to Erick since James looked like he did not believe her.

"Detective Erick, please believe me. I am the victim here. You should not judge right away! You should look for the truth, right?" Chlarice said with a desperate voice. She knew what other guests were thinking.

"Someone, I guess someone out there saw what happened. If there is a witness who can support my claim please come out now." Chlarice pleaded in the crowd.

But no one stepped up to support Chlarice. Elle was laughing inside. She made sure that no one saw what she did.

"What can you say about this Elle?" James asked her since Elle just stayed silent on the side.

"I agree with her, if there is any witness there please speak up now so that everything will be clear." Elle simply said.

"If there is no witness then it is okay if you want to put the blame on me. Besides I am just no one compare to Miss Chlarice, she is the nation's famous actress here."

Elle successfully got the sympathy of others after saying that. This time Selena spoke up also.

"I think there is no witness so we can just check the CCTV camera to find out who is telling the truth," Selena suggested.

Chlarice's eyes brightened when she heard that. "Right, there is CCTV camera here, you can validate the truth with that. Thank you, Selena."

Erick was not interested in knowing the truth. His primary concern there was Elle.

"Shall we go home? Your dress was ruined and wet. You might catch a cold if you stay like that." Erick softly said to Elle with his concerned voice.

Selena and James both frowned when they heard Erick's suggestion. Chlarice did not want that to happen also. She had not proven yet that this girl was the true culprit.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I apologize for the commotion here. Please continue to enjoy the night" James told the other guests so that they would just forget what happened there and move on.

"Detective Lee, it's too early for you to leave please stay for a while. regarding Elle's dress, she can change for a while. My sister has a spare dress, she can change to one of the hotel rooms here." James suggested.

"Don't you try to run away Elle. I have not proven yet that it's your fault." Chlarice said to her. James was starting to get impatient with Chlarice. She kept on attacking Elle.

"Don't worry I am not running away. Erick, I am fine. Wait for me, I will just change my dress." Elle gave him back his tuxedo. Erick just nodded at her.

"Okay, Selena please assist Elle while I go to the CCTV control room to check it." Then he turned to Chlarice and whispered: "We need to talk later, after this."

Then Elle and Selena left the hall while James proceeded to the CCTV control room. Chlarice was left speechless on her spot.

She was the one who got hurt but James looked mad at her instead of defending her to Elle. She was his girl but why was he doing this to her?

When James arrived at the CCTV control room, he requested the staff assigned there to check the recordings. He watched everything.

Seconds after watching the recordings, a burst of laughter reverberated inside the control room.

"Oh Elle, you never fail to amuse me. I did not know you have a naughty side too." He was grinning widely.

The staff was puzzled when he saw James's reaction.  "Sir, what should I do next?"

"I want you to delete all the CCTV recordings tonight and stop recording further. Made sure that tonight's recording would not be retrieved." James ordered. He needed to erase the evidence.

The man looked at him with disbelief. He did not know what his boss was trying to do. But he needed to follow his instruction besides RZ Imperial Hotel was owned by Arison so James had the right to do whatever he wanted.

"I just did you a favor tonight Elle. Now I need you to compensate me for tonight." James mumbled to himself as a wicked smile appeared on his face. Then he grabbed his phone and texted someone.

Meanwhile, Elle and Selena just entered in one of the hotel rooms near the venue.

"Elle you can wash here. I will get you the dress first. Is it okay if I leave you here for a while?" Selena asked her.

"Sure, no worries. You can leave me here. Thank you, Selena." Elle smiled at her. Selena nodded before she left.

She went inside the bathroom and watched herself in the mirror. Her beautiful dress was ruined but it was all worth it seeing how Chlarice was embarrassed just a while ago. She looked so pitiful.

She shook her head as she laughed at herself. "It is a big mistake provoking me Chlarice."

She heard someone entered the room. Thinking that it was Selena who brought her dress she went outside to see her.

Elle frowned as soon as she saw the person. James Arison was standing in front of her. A mischievous smile appeared on his handsome face.

Elle could not deny the fact that James was indeed a very attractive and good looking man. But still, she did not like his attitude. He was so full of himself and very arrogant.

"What are you doing here Mr. Arison?"

"I saw the CCTV recording."

"So?"

"Chlarice was telling the truth. It was you who blocked the way that caused her to fall."

"Then you should go to her and apologize for not believing her. Clear her name. Why are you here?"

James let out a soft chuckle. "Why are you saying that instead of begging me not to reveal the truth. Just say the words and I will do it for you, Elle."

This time Elle laughed dryly.

"I don't care about that. Besides, I will lose nothing even if the truth will be revealed. I am just no one here. She is famous so she needs a good name and a good reputation."

"Hmm, is that so? What will Erick do if he finds out it was your fault? Are you not concerned about that? His friends are also there."

"I have nothing to worry about. I can just tell him the truth. I did that because of him. I can just say that I got jealous. And a man like his woman gets jealous so I don't think we will have a problem because of that."

James was taken aback by her words. Elle was very unique to all the girls he met before. She did not care about others. She would do what she really wanted.

Now, he was really eager to possess her, and to have her as his own. He envied Erick for that.

"The truth is, I deleted the recordings because I am thinking about you." He said as he smiled at her.

He was relieved that he made the right decision deleting the video. He could not use it to threaten Elle. She did not care about the video.

Elle was a little bit surprised when she heard it. She did not expect him to do that.

"I will be honest with you Elle. I want to get to know you more. But I felt sad why you are treating me so cold." He told her truthfully.

"Why do you hate me so much, Elle?" James asked her with a serious tone.

Elle was not used to having a serious conversation with James like this. After her long silence, Elle spoke up.

"Because of your arrogance and narcissistic behavior." Elle simply said

James burst into laughter. "I am sorry I was raised to be like this. But I am willing to change for you. Just don't hate me, Elle. Give me a chance." He said with a hopeful expression in his face.

Elle just looked at him with disbelief. 'Is the person in front of me really James Arison?'

"Please give me this chance as your birthday gift to me. Elle, I want you to be my friend."

Elle just sighed deeply. "Alright! No need to be so dramatic. I will give you a chance."

James's eyes brightened after he heard that. Then he saw someone just arrived out of the corner of his eye. 'Great timing my dear sissy!'

He immediately pulled Elle into a hug while saying "Thank you, Elle, for giving me the chance. I am so happy. I like you a lot!"

This was the scene Erick and Selena witnessed as they entered the room. James was hugging Elle so tightly while saying those words.

Elle frowned because of James's sudden action.  She did not like it so she pushed him right away only to see two pairs of eyes were already watching them.

Elle's eyes widened "Selena... Erick." She mumbled. She knew something was wrong when she saw Erick's darkened expression.

His expression sank faster than a penny on a pond, his face became icy and pale as white as itself. Every thought in his mind was silenced into denial and grief.

"Thank you, Elle, for giving me the chance. I am so happy. I like you a lot!" these words kept on repeating in his mind while James was embracing Elle.

Erick clenched his fist. There was a momentary flare of anger in Erick's face. Without saying a word, he left the room as soon as possible before he could do something to James.

Selena called for his name but she was just ignored by him. He continued to walk away. Elle, on the other hand, felt puzzled when she saw Erick's reaction.

Without wasting any more time, she ran to follow Erick. Selena and James were left in the room while looking at each other meaningfully. Their plan worked.

"D*mn he walks faster," Elle mumbled with annoyance. She paused for a moment to remove her high-heeled sandals. Then she continued to follow Erick in the hall.

There were a lot of people dancing already on the dance floor. She saw Erick walked out from the other exit.

She ran to follow him when suddenly she bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" She said without looking to the man then she continued to follow Erick.

"Catseye?!" The man blurted out as he stared at the back of the girl who bumped into him just a while ago. Shock and disbelief were evident in his eyes.

He ran to follow her but because of the people dancing on the floor, he lost her from his sight. Everyone was wearing white dresses and he could not identify which one was her.

"I am sure... that person is her. That person is Catseye." Black Shadow said in frustration as he could not find the girl. He scanned the venue desperately searching for her.

"We meet again Catseye. Why are you always doing this to me? Letting me see your lovely face in seconds then you will disappear again in just a blink of an eye." Black Shadow let out a soft chuckle.