REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight

Chapter 174: Getting a new phone.

"Grandpa, boys are very evil creatures, you know." Zia said with an angry pout.

She was sitting on a small reclining chair beside him while Grandpa sat on a much larger one, a cup of tea with faint steam rising from it resting in his hands.

"All of them?" he asked calmly, staring at her with a serious expression.

Zia quickly laughed and shook her head. "No, Grandpa. You’re not an evil creature. You’re a good boy. And scary suit uncle too."

Grandpa gave a small nod of satisfaction at that. He blew lightly on the tea before taking another sip, quietly listening to her endless complaints.

"There is a new boy in my class," she continued angrily. "He’s very troublesome and has been disturbing everybody since he came. One day he touched my hair and asked why it looked like the hot spicy noodles his aunt cooks for him."

Grandpa suddenly coughed gently into his fist before nodding for her to continue.

"So I reported him because our Royal Conduct teacher said if a boy touches our body, we should report immediately," she said, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

"Yes, that’s a very good thing. You should always do what your tea..."

"Reporting is useless," Zia cut in smoothly. "The teachers will only nod their heads like hungry lizards."

Grandpa’s lips twitched in displeasure at her words.

"The next day, when he touched my hair again, I chased him during break time. He runs very slowly like a sick chicken."

Grandpa had already lowered the tea cup onto the small table beside him, one hand moving to cover his face as a tired sigh escaped him.

"I pushed him into the sand pit and sat on his stomach so he wouldn’t run away."

"Zia, you should stop sitting on people during disagreements," Grandpa tried to say.

Zia crossed her arms immediately. "Then how will they learn?"

"What if he couldn’t breathe?"

"But he was breathing," she argued seriously. "He was screaming very loudly and insulting me, but I remained calm. It was three teachers that came to remove me from him."

Grandpa shook his head helplessly, looking exhausted already.

"Then his mommy came to the school angrily. She came to our class with the principal and asked who the troublesome Zia was."

Grandpa already looked like he knew disaster was approaching.

"I stood up because lying is bad," Zia continued proudly. "I told her I only beat him a little. Then I demonstrated it on the new boy again, but the mommy became even more angry. I felt very bad."

She looked at him with a serious expression. "I’m not wrong right? It’s not good to lie."

Grandpa only sighed again and shook his head weakly.

Zia blinked at him in confusion. Then after thinking for a few seconds, she suddenly tapped his arm. "Grandpa, I know you cannot fight. Don’t worry. If somebody beats you one day, tell me and I’ll beat the person for you, okay?"

Grandpa suddenly burst into loud coughing mixed with helpless laughter.

"Zia..." he coughed, clutching his chest tightly. "You can’t say things like that. You’re sounding like you’re waiting for the day I get beaten up."

Zia simply shook her head while watching him cough again. "Grandpa, when will your cough stop? It’s very stubborn."

Then suddenly, her eyes brightened and she stood up excitedly. "Let me plait your hair for you."

"No, no, no," he refused immediately, shaking his head firmly. "Go home already. It’s getting dark. Your mother will be waiting for you."

He started coughing again, but this time it sounded heavier and longer than before.

Zia slowly went quiet. She stared at him silently for a long moment before speaking again in a much softer voice.

"But I already told you this morning that I want to sleep here and you agreed." She frowned. "If you start coughing again, who will bring you water?"

The old man kept coughing into the handkerchief pressed against his lips.

"This is what I’m talking about. Should I go and bring..." Zia’s words suddenly stopped.

Her eyes slowly widened as she stared at the handkerchief in his hands, her lips pressing together in confusion.

"Grandpa..." she muttered quietly, furrowing her small brows. "Is that blood?"

–

As Adrian had said, he really came the next morning.

Elara had worn a pair of loose flared trousers that covered her bandaged ankle almost completely. Her legs felt kinda better compared to the other day, though the dull ache still returned whenever she moved too quickly.

The car waiting downstairs was one Elara didn’t recognize. Not his usual one. But even at a glance, she could tell it was also painfully expensive.

She had expected Harris to be in the driver’s seat. But instead, Adrian sat there calmly with one hand resting on the steering wheel. He didn’t even glance at her as she opened the passenger door and got in.

Elara quietly fastened her seatbelt, stealing a look at him from the corner of her eyes. Honestly, she still wasn’t sure why she had agreed to this in the first place.

After everything that happened at the premiere, being seen together again felt dangerous. What if people really started thinking something was going on between them?

Well, she didn’t even know what to call whatever was happening between them anymore.

Before leaving earlier, she had calmly told Ziva she was going out with Adrian for a while. And as she had expected, Ziva didn’t react much at all. She had only nodded once and continued with what she’s doing...

Not long after driving through the roads of Solmere, Adrian suddenly turned into the parking lot of a large technology showroom.

Elara frowned immediately, her brows furrowing in suspicion. "Why are we here?" She asked in a stern tone.

"Your phone looks prehistoric," Adrian replied flatly.

That was all.

He parked smoothly, stepped out of the car, then walked toward the building without waiting to see whether she followed or not.

Elara stared at his back in disbelief before scoffing under her breath and carefully stepping out after him anyway.

Truly, this man was unbelievable.

Back at Voice, he had once tried giving her a phone too and she had refused it completely. Why was he suddenly trying again now? And as usual, he wasn’t even pretending to care about her opinion.

The moment they entered the showroom, several employees instantly straightened in alarm.

Adrian ignored every single one of them. He walked calmly toward the display section at the center, his long fingers brushing casually across the glass counters before he stopped.

One of the managers hurried over nervously. "Mr. Vale..."

Adrian barely looked at him. "Open it."

The manager immediately unlocked the display.

Elara folded her arms as she watched him reach inside and pick up one of the phones resting on the platform.

"This one," he said calmly, finally holding it up toward her.

Elara stared at the device in silence.

Of course it looked ridiculously expensive. The edges gleamed under the lights, smooth and polished to the point where it looked less like a phone and more like something locked inside a museum for rich people who had too much money and no stress in life.

She could already imagine herself dropping it once and fainting immediately after.

Elara walked toward him slowly, trying to make her limp less noticeable. Then she tilted her head up to look at his face, her expression displeased. "I never told you I wanted another phone."

Adrian didn’t react. His attention remained on the device in his hand as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

A helpless smile tugged at the corner of Elara’s lips before a small scoff escaped her. "And even if I wanted one..." she sighed, chosing her words carefully, "...it definitely wouldn’t be something like this."

Only then did Adrian’s hand pause. His gaze finally shifted away from the phone before settling on her face again. His expression remained unreadable.

"Then which do you want?"