The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

"I should be the one asking you that. Why are you here... Miss Aliyah Ross?" Erick said to Elle apathetically with his cold voice.

Rose: "..."

April: "..."

'What happened to the world or rather the weather? Why suddenly we feel the chill inside this room?'

The two ladies could feel the tension building up in the air as of this moment. Chief Lee's attitude towards Elle turned around 180 degrees, from being warm to being cold.

And this was the first time Erick acted like this towards someone, that's why Rose and April were utterly shocked right now. They were thinking of the same thing.

'Is Chief Lee acting very cold towards Aliyah because he hates the fact that Aliyah looks like Elle?'

'Does it mean Erick already accepted that Elle was dead… and Aliyah was not Elle.'

On the other hand, Elle was also taken aback by Erick's response. She had to admit that she was hurt by this cold treatment.

For the past, Erick didn't usually call her by her name Aliyah Ross nor Ali. He was seldom calling her by that name. But this time, he called her Miss Aliyah Ross, which was too formal just like what he did yesterday.

Elle could feel the bitterness in her heart. However, she was the one to blame for this. She hurt him. Now, she could tell that Erick was convinced that Elle was dead because of that ring.

Erick avoided looking at Elle's face so while he waited for her response, he lowered his gaze, flipping the doc.u.ment in his hand.

"I'm sorry." Elle blurted out.

Erick's hand stopped flipping the doc.u.ment upon hearing her sorry. 'Sorry for what?'

"I'm sorry if I have offended you with my question, Chief Lee. I just thought you will be coming late since you are doing surveillance operations at night." Elle said, trying to sound polite and formal.

"I see. No need to apologize for that. Again, why are you here, Miss Ross?" Erick's tone of voice became normal unlike the coldness a while ago.

Again, Erick didn't look at Elle. April and Rose just stayed quiet on the sides, darting their gaze back and forth between Erick and Elle.

"I-I came here to get an update about Catseye's case," she said but in her mind, she was thinking about a different thing.

'I came here to check on you. I want to scold you and drag you out of this office to bring you back home.'

"Ok. Rose, can you please brief, Miss Aliyah about the progress of Catseye's case? April and I will continue our discussion about Senator Mondragon's case." Erick plainly said, no hint of any emotion at all.

April had to nudge Rose's shoulder for her to recover from her stupor. She couldn't believe it. Every time Aliyah would come to their headquarters, it was always Erick who wanted to accommodate her and talk to her personally. And now, he just ordered her to accommodate Aliyah.

"Y-Yes… Chief. I understand…" Rose finally managed to respond at Erick.

Then she turned to Elle. "Come here Miss Aliyah… sit beside me."

The four of them started discussing separately. After a while, Elle began to sneeze, thus getting the attention of Erick, April, and Rose.

Achoo! Achoo!

"I-I'm sorry about that." Elle apologized to them.

Elle took her handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose. Her sneezing continued.

Achoo! 

Erick and April were interrupted again. Erick simply glanced at Elle who was now sniffing. Her nose and eyes were now red. 

Erick frowned, 'Did she catch a cold too because of yesterday?'

"Miss Aliyah, are you okay? I think you should take cold-flu medicine as soon as possible before it becomes flu." Rose suggested to her while looking at her worriedly.

"Thanks. Don't worry about me. I will try to drop by the drugstore later when I go back to our office." Elle said, simply stealing a glance at Erick.

Her gaze was fixed to Erick's lips. 'I think I got this cold because I fed him medicine last night using my mouth.'

Then Elle shot Erick a sharp glare. 'I stayed up all night just to take care of you. But now, you still have the guts to come for work instead of resting at home.'

When Erick glanced at Elle's direction, he caught her glaring at him. 'Why is she looking at me like that?'

The moment Elle met his gaze, she squinted her eyes at him while pouting. Erick's mouth twitched, he was fighting a smile and suppressing a chuckle.

When he could no longer hold it, Erick stood up and excused himself for a moment, leaving. The three women in his office.

After a few minutes, Erick came back and heard Elle coughing.

Cough! Cough!

Now, this was the early symptoms of having flu. Elle didn't want to hassle the team so she decided to leave.

However before she could say goodbye to Rose and thanked her for the updates, Erick spoke up.

"I think you should call it a day, Miss Ali. Go home and rest. I think you are not in good condition to go to work today." 

Elle looked at him with disbelief. 'I should be the one saying this to you right now.'

Elle shot Erick a cold stare and said, "I think Chief Lee, you should apply your advice to yourself."

Erick: "..."

Rose: "..."

April: "..."

Elle already lost her cool. She felt really sick and she was upset about Erick. She turned to Rose.

"Thank you Agent Rose for these updates. I have to leave now. I will treat you for lunch some other time."

She also bade April goodbye but she completely ignored Erick. Then she marched out of his office.

Erick was rendered speechless. He was clueless about why Elle suddenly looked mad at him.

After a few seconds, Erick ran out of his office to chase after Elle. He was able to catch up with her at the entrance of the building. Erick grabbed her arm and put something into her palm.

"Here, take this." Erick simply said to her before he turned around and left.

Elle looked at him with confusion. She wanted to ask him but Erick immediately disappeared from her sight. Then she looked down only to see the cold-flu medicine in her palm. Erick got it for her from their headquarters clinic when he went out just a while ago.

"I prefer if you will feed me this medicine too, the same way I fed you last night," Elle mumbled as she glanced at the direction where Erick vanished from her line of sight.

Meanwhile, Erick was now going back to his office. He was mumbling something.

"Erick, what are you thinking? She's not Elle. She's not Elle. She's not Elle!" Erick emphasized and repeated the last three words like it was his own mantra conditioning his mind.

Erick was scolding himself inwardly. He didn't know how he should act in front of Aliyah. After seeing the ring, he was convinced that Aliyah was not Elle… that he was just mistaken for thinking that she was Elle.

However, whenever he would look at her, his heart was telling him the opposite. He could still see Elle in her, not only because they both looked alike but there's something in her that could make his heart feel Elle's presence.