Hunting for His EX-Wife

At the bar, amidst the red and green lights, Elliot raised his glass to clink with the man next to him. He took a sip of his drink, feeling its icy chill slide down his throat and into his heart. Underneath the dim lighting, he looked both distant and cold, causing Henry to shake his head in admiration as he stared at him.

“What’s wrong with you? You don’t seem like yourself tonight,” Henry asked.

Henry had initially been rejected by Elliot when he tried to invite him out for drinks at the company. It took him a lot of pleading to finally get Elliot to agree. But now that they were at the bar, and Elliot was just sitting there, drinking alone, Henry found him quite boring.

Henry scoffed, “Why drink alone when you’re in a bad mood? It’s been a while since we hung out, and I came all the way here tonight. We’re not leaving until we’re both drunk, or else you’re not allowed to go home!”

Elliot remained expressionless as he glanced at Henry before finishing off his drink in one gulp. He then poured himself another half glass of alcohol that covered up all the ice cubes inside it.

“I know what you’re thinking about,” said Henry while standing up from their table. “Let’s go dance our troubles away! It’s been too long since we’ve hung out together.”

Elliot didn’t budge from where he was sitting as he continued drinking alone. The golden liquid inside his glass shone brilliantly under the light reflecting off it while many eyes lingered on him.

Henry realized that Elliot wasn’t interested in going anywhere so he sat back down with a sigh. He had brought Elliot out tonight but if Elliot got drunk later without anyone around to look after him, then who knows what might happen? Besides, there were already two women approaching them who had set their sights on Elliot earlier.

“Hello there! Mind if we join you guys?” they asked cheerfully while smiling brightly at them both.

Henry smiled back charmingly but kept an eye on Elliot who still seemed oblivious to everything around him. “Sorry, ladies but my friend here isn’t feeling well tonight, so we’d rather not be disturbed.”

The two women looked at each other and then carefully examined Elliot’s appearance before settling on Henry’s smiling face. “Haha, I see,” one of them said. “Sorry to interrupt, you guys continue…”

They left quickly without causing much of a stir. Henry noticed that the predatory looks from the surrounding women had decreased by half in no time. He turned his attention back to Elliot and said, “Elliot, you never disappoint me. Just sitting here like this attracts so many women…”

Elliot drank his alcohol alone, downing five or six glasses in just a short period of time before emptying one bottle and grabbing another.

Henry was shocked at how much he was drinking non-stop and stopped him from pouring more alcohol into his glass saying, “Don’t drink like this if you’re not feeling well! What are you going to do when you get drunk later? I can’t carry you home.”

Elliot remained silent but waved him off and poured himself half a glass instead while slowing down his drinking pace.

Henry noticed that Elliot’s mood wasn’t as light-hearted as it had been earlier; he took a sip of his cocktail and asked curiously, “What happened? You don’t seem happy even though your wife is back today? Did we come out to drink away our sorrows?”

Elliot suddenly looked up at him.

“What is it?” Henry felt uneasy under Elliot’s intense gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong?”

Elliot remained silent for a moment before finally speaking up with an obscure tone, “My grandfather has returned.”

Henry was completely speechless; he sat there quietly not knowing what to say.

Elliot’s grandfather…

He knew that Elliot’s grandfather never liked Rose; he was stubborn and strong-willed with an opinionated personality who even found Madeleine for Elliot which made their relationship quite strained.

But seeing his friend’s gloomy expression now made Henry feel secretly sorry for him, so he tried to lighten up the mood by jokingly asking, “Is your grandfather still giving you trouble? Can’t believe you’re letting him get to you with that personality of yours.”

All Henry could see were stiff lines on Elliot’s handsome profile.

“He wants me to marry Madeleine, which is impossible,” Elliot said after finishing half a glass of wine. He slammed the glass on the table, making a crisp sound.

Henry was startled. He knew Elliot’s personality well and could tell that he was truly troubled and in a bad mood. So he poured him another drink and said, “I know you’re upset. If this happened to me, I would be even more troubled than you are. Old Mr. Harper is stubborn and if he really doesn’t like Rose, then you might have to choose between them…”

Elliot thought of something that made his dark eyes appear even deeper. He finished his drink again while staring at the ice cubes in his glass.

“It’s all because of me back then… I have to take responsibility.”

Henry felt uneasy when Elliot mentioned what happened back then but looked at him carefully before saying reassuringly, “I know.”

Silence spread between them. Henry finally spoke up after drinking most of the bottle by himself, “But… Rose doesn’t know about what happened back then. What if – I mean what if she doesn’t understand and runs away? What will you do?”

As soon as Henry finished speaking, he noticed that Elliot’s face turned cold instantly; unconsciously raising an eyebrow since it was clear how much Rose meant to him.

“That won’t happen.” Elliot answered confidently with narrowed eyes while slightly curling up his mouth; looking very determined on getting what he wanted.

“I won’t let her leave again,” He continued firmly with absolute certainty in his voice now: “She can only stay by my side.”

He wouldn’t let Rose escape from him again, not this time! As long as he didn’t give up on her, she wouldn’t be able to leave either!

Henry glanced at Elliot in surprise, noticing the strangely confident and even somewhat arrogant tone in his voice. His eyes were dark and bright, standing out under the occasional light. This version of Elliot seemed to be convinced that he was about to achieve something significant.

Seeing Elliot like this, something he hadn’t witnessed in all the years since Rose had left, Henry suddenly felt relieved and laughed heartily.

“Come on! Don’t think about those things anymore! Let’s just drink!” He poured another round for both of them. “I believe in you – where there’s a will there’s always a way! Tonight we’ll get drunk together!”