The News That Came Too Late
“Of course you aren’t dreaming, Grandma. Anastasia and I are officially dating,” Elliot replied with a
smile, though his gaze lingered on the flustered woman whose face was buried in her hands as she
stood to the side.
Anastasia immediately and desperately signaled for him to look her way. She even mimed to tell him to
keep her presence here a secret from the old lady.
One could practically hear Harriet buzzing with excitement on the other line as she quipped, “Alright,
then. I’ll be waiting for you to marry her and make her my granddaughter-in-law!”
“Okay, Grandma. I’ll talk to her about this,” Elliot promised.
“Also, bring her and her child back home in the next few days. They shall be my honored guests.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” he said patiently and indulgently.
“My dream has finally come true. Oh, and don’t let the press snap pictures like those ever again. I don’t
want Anastasia’s reputation to be tarnished.” Harriet was already going into protective grandmother-in-
law mode.
Anastasia was moved to hear this. Elliot, on the other hand, said decisively, “I’ll have those pictures on
the internet taken care of immediately.”
He ended the call with Harriet and turned to appraise Anastasia with interest. “Hear that? Grandma
wants us to get married as soon as possible.”
She felt her heart somersault. We’re moving a little too fast, aren’t we? We only just went public with
our relationship yesterday, and now we’re talking about throwing a wedding?
Meanwhile, over in Hogland, Hayley finally woke up after the surgery. She felt like her bones had been
detached and put together again, and she was in so much pain that she couldn’t help trembling. This
was her first procedure, and she had already arranged for subsequent surgeries that included
liposuction and breast augmentation.
Presently, there was only one person in her mind who became her driving force to go through such
torturous ordeals, and that was Elliot.
She grew excited just from thinking about how she would ‘accidentally’ walk by him and amaze him
with her stunning appearance. She could already imagine the way he would look at her with the same
devotion and love as he did with Anastasia, and the thought of that alone was enough to satisfy her.
She was sure that when the time came, he would be entranced by her beauty.
Now that she had regained consciousness, Hayley was transferred to the normal ward; she would
remain there for the rest of her recuperation period while being tended to by a professional caretaker.
The female manager who had recommended her to the facility, in particular, was attentive to her every
need.
While Hayley’s looks were average at best, she was generous with her money, and the manager knew
that those who had gotten plastic surgery would return for future procedures as well, even if
sporadically. At some point, Hayley would become one of her long-term clients as well.
Right now, Hayley’s face was entirely wrapped in bandages, revealing only a pair of bloodshot eyes.
The sutures on her eyelids had yet to be taken off, and the parts of her face which were still visible
were so bruised up that she looked borderline horrific. She took one glance at herself in the mirror and
grew so despondent that she didn’t want to take another look.
She couldn’t wait for the swelling to go down and for her new face to be revealed. She turned to her
assistant and said, “Give me my phone.”
The assistant did so immediately, and Hayley wasted no time in connecting to the WiFi here. As soon
as she did, her phone chimed incessantly as new texts came pouring in. She saw that most of these
texts were from Erica, and she clicked on the first one at the very top.
‘Hayley, where are you? Did you turn your phone off or something? Have you seen the news of Elliot’s
newfound love life?’
Her mind imploded when she read this. What love life?
She quickly backed out of the text message and clicked into her browser, promptly searching Elliot’s
name. At once, she was greeted by countless articles written about him, but what caught her eye right
off the bat was the title that read, ‘Elliot Presgrave Pictured Kissing Girlfriend in Cafe’.
Hayley’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she clicked into the article to see who Elliot’s supposed
‘girlfriend’ was. That was when she saw the picture, and though only half the girl’s face was captured
by the camera, Hayley could still tell from the delicate side profile that the girl was none other than
Anastasia.
A piercing shriek escaped Hayley as she threw her phone aside in a fit of rage, and she put her hands
over her face. Having gone through such painful plastic surgery, she was supposed to rest, and stress
did not do any good for her at all. However, she was belligerent after reading the news, and she felt as
if she might combust.
“Miss Seymour, is everything okay?”
“My face hurts,” Hayley groaned, though her heart was the one filled with searing pain. She never
expected Anastasia to be so shameless as to be pictured being all loved-up in Elliot’s arms.
Hayley could barely breathe through the pain that came from the incisions and wounds on her face.
She needed to calm down, but the image of Elliot and Anastasia kissing seemed burned into the back
of her mind.
The fiery pain lasted for a while, and even the doctor dropped by to check on her. She was told to keep
calm and maintain a straight face most of the time if she wanted to keep her sutures and wounds from
tearing, which would lead to scarring and disfigurement.
Devastated, Hayley lay in bed and felt resentment wash over her. She had gotten work done on her
entire face, only to have some other woman swoop in and act all lovey-dovey with Elliot. Worst of all,
that woman was her arch-nemesis, the one person she hated the most.
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