SWNOVELS Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Never Judge Someone by His Appearance
Eleanor Basford heard a man’s grunt as soon as she entered the room. The sound came from her bed. Puzzled, Eleanor walked over quietly. Someone was moving under the blanket. Eleanor lifted it. The next second, she was startled by what she saw, her eyes nearly popping out of her forehead. Wesley Laurier was tied to the bed, his mouth gagged with a red towel. Wesley was almost naked, wearing only his underwear. A thick rope cinched his physique perfectly. Two pectoral muscles! Six-pack abs! A strong and well-defined waist! An enticing V-line and oblique muscles! And two long legs… Whoa! Eleanor couldn’t believe she could enjoy such a view without paying for a ticket. This binding was an art! This guy was handsome and fit. It was unknown how long he’d struggled under the blanket, but the sweat on his body gave off a wild charm. Eleanor inadvertently scanned every inch of Wesley’s body, and her body was heated with a weird feeling. “Wesley, what the hell are you doing?” Eleanor asked as she took the towel out of Wesley’s mouth. The next moment, Wesley’s roar exploded in the room. “Eleanor Basford! I’ll kill you!” Eleanor’s eardrums were almost shattered by his roar, so she hurriedly put the towel back into his mouth. Wesley’s eyes were flushed, and his handsome face turned bright red with anger and embarrassment. He glared at Eleanor as he desperately struggled, wishing he could kill her with his gaze. Eleanor frowned and soon figured out the situation. Wesley wasn’t here willingly. He was tied to her bed against his will. Eleanor and Wesley were under the order of their grandfathers to marry each other. They had only recently met, and neither of them had any affection for the other. It was their engagement day today, but Wesley had run away from home and skipped the engagement ceremony. Eleanor didn’t have feelings for Wesley, so she didn’t care whether he showed up at the ceremony or not. However, Wesley’s grandfather, Alfred Laurier, felt guilty and angry. When Eleanor returned, Alfred promised to make amends with a significant gift. Eleanor had never expected that the gift would be Alfred’s grandson. “What are you staring at me for? If you’re so smart, why did you let yourself get caught?” Eleanor teased. Wesley struggled, trying to speak and break free from his restraints. Eleanor continued, “I can remove the towel from your mouth, but you can’t yell again. It’s not like I brought you here to tie you to my bed.” After her words, Eleanor removed the towel from his mouth. Wesley breathed heavily, his chest heaving violently. He snarled, “Eleanor! Close your eyes!” Eleanor had turned her eyes away from Wesley, but his outburst made her turn to look at him again. She disliked his attitude. Wesley wasn’t anyone to her, so he had no right to give orders to her. “I’ll look if I want to. What makes you think you can tell me what to do?” Eleanor snapped. Her gaze once again wandered boldly across his body. Wesley was about to explode with rage. “You are shameless!” “If I’m shameless, what does it make you? Who’s the one lying on my bed in his underwear? I could say you were trying to seduce me!” Eleanor retorted. “Seduce you? You’re daydreaming!” “Daydreaming? It’s happening in reality! Well, your body doesn’t look attractive at all. Your little guy is just the size of a small worm. I doubt you can last more than a few seconds.” Wesley’s cheeks were as red as tomatoes, and he stuttered with rage, “You… You…” “Enough. How do you suggest we handle this? If you keep up this attitude, I won’t untie you,” Eleanor stated calmly. “Do you think I’ll beg? Never!” Wesley snapped back. “Fine, you can stay like this. I’m going to a hotel,” Eleanor replied. As Eleanor turned toward outside, she couldn’t resist making one final taunt. “The metaphor I used earlier is not accurate. Your little guy is even smaller than a worm, more like a microorganism.” Eleanor swaggered out with satisfaction. Wesley’s furious roars echoed behind her, “ELEANOR BASFORD!!” Once outside the room and out of Wesley’s sight, Eleanor patted her chest in relief. She had been nervous a moment ago. Wesley was not only handsome, but he also had a stunning body. Eleanor was thankful for her self-control. Otherwise, she might have pounced on him. *** In the café. Eleanor stirred the bitter coffee she didn’t like, forcing herself to listen with patience as Arianna Grafton told her love story with Wesley. “Wesley and I have known each other for ten years. Our love is unbreakable. I love him, and he loves me.” With curiosity, Eleanor looked up and interrupted. “If your love is unbreakable, why didn’t he marry you?” Arianna’s face turned red with frustration, and she was at a loss for words. She wanted to marry Wesley badly, but he… Arianna couldn’t think of anything else, so she threw a bank card on the table. “There’s 160 thousand dollars in the account. Take the money and leave. You don’t deserve to be with Wesley. Marrying him won’t make you happy. I’m the one who should be Wesley’s wife!” Eleanor leaned back in her chair, amused. “That’s great. You want to marry him while I don’t. If you find a way to make Wesley break off the engagement, I’ll give you 16 million dollars!” “What?” Arianna exclaimed in shock. After a moment, she started yelling, “Eleanor, don’t be kidding. Are you suggesting that you’re forced to engage with Wesley against your will? Look at yourself. If you didn’t insist on marrying Wesley, would he have agreed to the engagement? “Besides, do you even know how much 16 million is? How could a bumpkin like you possibly get 16 million dollars? Let me tell you. I…” Arianna’s voice abruptly stopped. Because Eleanor had leisurely pulled out a bank card and placed it on the table. It was a shining black card with a golden edge. The letters of “Laurier” were glowing on the black card. Apparently, the card belonged to Wesley. Arianna was furious. Eleanor hadn’t officially married Wesley yet, but the Laurier family had given Eleanor a black card with no limit. Jealousy flashed in Arianna’s eyes, and she stood up to berate Eleanor. “Fucking bitch! How dare you steal Wesley’s bank card!” Eleanor was irritated. “Don’t call names. I’ll ask you one last time. Do you have a way to make Wesley break off the marriage arrangement?” Arianna was infuriated and rolled her eyes, thinking, “If I had the ability, would I have come to talk to you?” She thought Eleanor wasn’t asking her but humiliating her on purpose! Arianna shouted. “Why can’t I call names? You shamelessly seduced Wesley, so why can’t I curse you? I will curse you as much as I want! Fucking bitch! Fucking bitch!” There came a series of snaps. Eleanor slapped Arianna in the face over a dozen times. Arianna didn’t even have the chance to fight back, her face swollen. Her mouth was too painful to speak, much less yelling. She could only flop to the floor and sob. Arianna couldn’t wail, because even wailing hurt like hell. Eleanor finally stopped. In a displeased tone, Eleanor said, “You should have stopped calling names when I told you to! You’ve harassed me for several days, and I indulged you. I thought you could convince Wesley to break off the engagement, but you’re just like Wesley, useless. “Let me tell you. You might be crazy about Wesley, but to me, he’s worth less than a milkshake! “If you can make him break off the engagement, I’ll be grateful. If you can’t, stay away from me. I don’t want to see you again!” Eleanor put the black card on the table into her pocket and left. Other people in the café watched in shock. Who could have imagined a girl with such a young and innocent look could slap somebody so hard? Truly, one could not judge a person by appearance. Outside the café, Eleanor still pouted with displeasure. As she recalled the night of the engagement when Wesley was tied up in her room, she shook her head in disdain. Although his physique was impressive, he didn’t seem very bright, not her cup of tea. Eleanor had thought she could make Wesley break off the engagement through Arianna. Had she known that Arianna didn’t have that capability, she wouldn’t have come and wasted her time. Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the café. The noise was followed by billowing smoke.