Chapter 229: Mixed Signals

Ellis didn’t catch Morty’s reason for asking, and Maya signaled for her to move her bowl forward to make room for the barbecue sticks she was preparing. After shifting her bowl and leisurely finishing her beef roll, Maya responded, “Eating. Let’s not talk now.” Having already thanked him, there was no need for further conversation with Morty. She ended the call and dove into her meal with gusto.

On the other end of the line, Morty mentally cursed Victoria. She was more trouble than she was worth, messing up her own schemes and now interfering with his plans.

As they ate their barbecue, which usually required them to cook their own food, Maya asked while grilling, “Morty called you again, what did he say?”

“Just some unimportant stuff.” Ellis couldn’t be bothered with Morty; enjoying the barbecue was far more important than chatting with him.

“Victoria’s acting fabid; you be careful not to give her a chance to strike at you!” Maya was committed to escorting Ellis to and from work in the short term, but her job wouldn’t allow it long-term.

Ellis pressed her throbbing temples. She hadn’t told Maya yet that Victoria was arranging for someone to hit her behind the scenes. It seemed like Victoria wouldn’t rest until she had retaliated. Then again, Morty had tipped her off about it.

Considering Morty’s tip-off came first, and today he stopped Victoria from hitting her, it could be that he was breaking ties with Victoria as he had claimed. What had Victoria done to make him question her character after so many years as childhood friends; perhaps it was a sudden realization. Additionally, Morty’s behavior in front of her might have been driven by some hidden agenda.

Looking at it from every angle, it didn’t seem like Morty was acting on Victoria’s behalf to her detriment. After pondering for a while, Ellis thought that ‘peculiar’ and ‘strange’ hardly sufficed to describe Morty’s actions.

Seeing Ellis deep in thought, Maya asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“Just trying to figure out what kind of person Morty really is.”

People are multifaceted, and emotions are biased. Morty was becoming increasingly enigmatic, wrapped in layers of mystery that made others want to peel them back to see his true self.

“Two-faced person, like you said,” Maya added some tripe to her bowl.

Ellis raised an eyebrow. “Two-faced person.”

“What else could it be? He pretends to be polite, but it’s unreliable.”

If Maya hadn’t seen Morty directly mocking Ellis and playing those petty schoolyard bully games, she might have been fooled by his decorum, mistaking him for a well-mannered second-generation.

“He hasn’t been sarcastic lately,” Ellis put down her fork. “If he and Victoria were scheming, he wouldn’t have stopped Victoria just now; he would have let her slap me, right?”

“Are you touched because Morty blocked the slap?”

“Not touched, it’s just…” Ellis struggled to describe her feelings. Morty had certainly piqued her curiosity.

Maya, puzzled, said, “You were saying we should stay away from Morty and Easton, and now you’re analyzing Morty? Is this…”

Chapter 229: Mixed Signals

Maya’s words abruptly squashed Ellis’s curiosity. Does it really matter what kind of person Morty is to me? No, it doesn’t! So, she changed the subject. Throughout the rest of their conversation, Morty’s name didn’t come up again.

After filling up, they headed home. Maya immediately rushed to shower, unable to stand the dirty clothes and the lingering smell of barbecue, while Ellis, still feeling full, wasn’t in a rush to bathe. She changed into her pajamas and sat by the floor-to-ceiling windows, alternating between admiring the dazzling night view and checking WhatsApp.

There weren’t many messages that could keep her replying during her precious downtime. Soon, she ended all her conversations and planned to focus on the night view. However, as she scrolled down, two chat bubbles at the bottom of her list caught her eye, belonging to Morty and Edric. They had reached out days ago, but she had ignored them.

Should I clear them out? After some thought and considering many factors, she didn’t silently remove them but instead replied to Edric, “Sorry, I’m not interested in dating or finding a partner right now. The decision my aunt made was without my knowledge.”

Whatever agreement Carly and Edric’s parents had made, Ellis didn’t care. At this stage, she was genuinely only interested in money! Carly would not force her to go on a date against her will!

After another moment, she added, “My friend list is full,” before deleting Edric; she felt it necessary to politely let him know.

As for Morty, there was no rush to block or delete him. Since he hadn’t managed to borrow money or allow Victoria to hit Ellis, and given Victoria’s constant frustration since watching Morty leave the restaurant, which lasted three days, she’d keep him around a bit longer.

When Easton’s assistant applied pressure again, demanding repayment, she could no longer sit idly by.

Send Gifts 2:18 PM