Page 110 of King of Ruin

She opened her fingers again and instinctively tried to hand them back.

"I can't take these."

Elise didn't reach for them.

Instead, she gently pushed Astrid's hand back toward her.

"Why not?"

"You've been wearing them." Astrid's voice was filled with genuine bewilderment. "They're yours."

There wasn't the slightest hint of greed in her expression. If anything, she looked almost uncomfortable accepting something that clearly belonged to someone else.

Elise couldn't help laughing softly. She looked at the earrings fondly before lifting her eyes to Astrid again.

"I've worn them so many times already." Her smile remained warm and effortless. "They've served their purpose."

Before Astrid could protest again, Elise wrapped both hands around hers, closing her fingers securely around the earrings.

"Now I'd like you to wear them. They'll look prettier on you than they ever did on me."

Astrid hesitated at first, her fingers resting lightly against the silver earrings in her palm. She stared at them for a moment longer than she intended, and despite her best efforts to remain composed, a flicker of genuine liking appeared in her eyes. The delicate design had clearly caught her attention, and the faintest hint of a smile touched her lips before she quickly seemed to realize she had let her reaction show.

Clearing her throat softly, she straightened her back and settled deeper into the chair, carefully putting her usual composed expression back in place as though she hadn't been affected at all.

"They're really beautiful," she said after a moment, her voice calm but slightly softer than before. "I really like them."

A brief pause followed before she added, almost reluctantly, "Thank you."

Elise simply smiled. Picking up her teacup, she took another quiet sip of jasmine tea.

Astrid lifted her own cup and took a small sip, but her attention remained fixed on Elise. The more she observed her, the more she failed to understand her. A woman in Elise's position should have been angry. She should have looked at Astrid as a threat, especially when Xavier's family had brought her into the manor with marriage expectations hanging between them.

Yet Elise wasn't angry.

She wasn't cold.

She wasn't even pretending to be polite.

She was simply... kind.

Astrid took another sip of her tea, but her attention wasn't on the drink in her hands. Her sharp gaze remained fixed on Elise, studying her quietly as though she were trying to uncover something hidden beneath her calm expression.

After a moment, she lowered the cup onto the saucer and raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Why aren't you angry?"

Elise looked at her in confusion.

"Angry?"

"At Xavier." Astrid leaned back slightly, her eyes narrowing. "He brought me home, even though you're the one his family wants him to marry."

She waited.

She expected at least a flicker of jealousy. A trace of irritation. Something that would prove Elise was just like every other woman who wanted Xavier Chen.

Instead, Elise simply shook her head.