<h4>Chapter 25: Jack''s Gift for Elizabeth</h4>


    Elizabeth spent some more time in the old house and received a worried call from Sophia. Only then did she realize it was already eight o''clock.


    She descended the stairs, exited the alley, and before she could even hail a car, a taxi had already stopped in front of her.


    "Professor Lawrence," the window rolled down, revealing Nick''s resolute face, "I''ll drive you home."


    Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, opened the car door, and got in, "Driver, please hurry."


    "Alright."


    Nick stepped on the gas, and the taxi sped off, dancing crazily along the edge of potential traffic tickets.


    Feeling a bit dizzy, Elizabeth warned, "Be careful of the traffic police."


    Nickpletely missed Elizabeth''s point and assured her, "Don''t worry. There isn''t a ticket in the whole country I can''t dodge, or a cop I can''t evade."


    Elizabeth was speechless.


    Elizabeth pulled her hat down, and closed her eyes, seemingly preferring ignorance over witnessing his driving skills.


    Seeing this, Nick quickly shut his mouth, sensibly slowing down a bit to let his esteemed passenger rest peacefully.


    Traffic in Metro City was terrible at night. Elizabeth managed to arrive at the vi right at ten o''clock.


    Before getting out of the car, she noticed that Nick had put on a security jacket, which puzzled her a bit.


    Nick put on his hat and exined, "I''ve applied for a security job around your vi."


    Elizabeth found Nick to be a very dedicated bodyguard and nodded in response, "Okay."


    Head held high, Nick was determined to protect Elizabeth from all angles, a job he had fought hard to get.


    …


    Elizabeth entered the vi and was a bit surprised.


    She found that everyone was there except for Ray.


    Seeing that Elizabeth had safely returned, Sophia couldn''t help but yawn, "Elizabeth, did you have fun today?"


    "It was alright, some interesting things happened."


    Elizabeth replied calmly. Her deep and ink-like eyes nced at Linda but quickly moved away.


    Her gaze was indifferent, devoid of any excess emotion.


    Yet, Linda felt her heart skip a beat.


    "What... what does she mean?"


    "Why did she suddenly nce at me? Does she know something?"


    Linda felt uneasy.


    "That''s impossible. Who would link a bunch of punks to Miss Wilson?"


    She thought that she must be overthinking it.


    Although Linda thought this, she kept nervously picking at her fingers.


    Sophia asked with concern, "Are you hungry? Do you want me to cook somete-night snacks?"


    Elizabeth honestly replied, "No, thanks."


    Sophia nodded. Now that Elizabeth was back, she could also go rest.


    At this moment, Jack stood up and awkwardly handed over a gift bag he was holding, "I thought this would suit you, so I bought it."


    Sophia joked at the harmonious scene between the siblings, "Howe there are gifts only for Elizabeth but none for me? Jack, you''re being unfair."


    Jack was speechless, thinking his mom''s acting was too over the top. Ignoring her, he turned to ask Elizabeth.


    "Do you like it?"


    Elizabeth lowered her eyshes and pursed her lips.


    After ten or so seconds, she finally epted the gift, whispering, "Thank you."


    Jack smiled. It seemed gift-giving was always wee. He felt that his rtionship with his sister might have gotten a little closer.


    The act of Jack giving Elizabeth a gift felt like a needle sharply piercing Linda''s heart, filling her with both hatred and anger.


    Was Elizabeth going to steal not just her parents but also her big brother''s affection?


    There was a soft glow in Elizabeth''s eyes as she was about to look into the bag to see what the gift was when Jack asked her in a tentative tone.