The CEO's Mischievous Little Bride
Chapter 545 Ellie Takes the Initiative to Contact

Vera rolled in late. The moment she stepped through the door, she spotted Patrick lounging on the bed with a book, and little Theodore snoozing next to him. Patrick glanced up when he saw her but didn't say a word, just went back to his book.

Vera bit her lip, dashed around to her side of the bed, knelt down, and planted a kiss on Theodore's cheek.

"If you wake him up with that kiss, none of us will get any sleep," Patrick finally spoke up.

Vera gave Theodore's cheek a playful pinch and said, "If we hadn't tied the knot, we wouldn't have this adorable little guy."

Patrick acted like he didn't hear her. But when Theodore started wailing, Vera shot Patrick a helpless look. Yep, she'd done it-made the kid cry.

So, that night, they took turns trying to calm down a cranky Theodore.

Next day, Shawn was up and out early. He'd hit the sack late but was the first one up in the morning.

When he got back that evening, he slipped quietly into his room.

He barely talked to anyone all day.

The Morales family was pushing, so Randall didn't waste time. He had Susan pack a few things, grabbed an SUV from the garage, and they hit the road. Before they left, Susan clung to Theodore, showering him with kisses.

Teddy was annoyed but couldn't do much about it.

Randall got pulled aside by Shawn, who asked him all secretive-like, "What you told me that night, were you just messing with me, or do you really wanna marry Susan?" Randall smirked, "Take a guess."

Shawn punched him, and no one knew why.

Susan, still holding onto Theodore, looked at Vera and said, "Vera, why don't you come to my place for Christmas? Bring Theodore. We've got a big villa you can stay in." Vera replied, "Maybe next year."

Patrick loaded the gifts from the Olteran family into Randall's car and reminded him, "Drive safe, take breaks, don't push it."

"Got it," Randall said.

Cindy chimed in, "Be polite when you get to the Morales family. Make a good impression!"

Randall nodded, "I know."

Vera and Molly were off in a corner, whispering, "Vera, look, when Susan comes over, everyone's all excited. When Sebastian comes, it's just me. When Susan leaves, everyone's sad. When Sebastian leaves, it's just me again." Vera nodded, agreeing.

As they were about to leave, Susan reluctantly handed Theodore to Patrick.

Randall had the car running, but Susan still hadn't gotten in, her eyes glued to Theodore.

He finally said, "Alright, stop staring. If you want a brother that bad, go tell Sadie and Ulysses to give you one."

The Olteran family was speechless.

Susan frowned, "Randall, my mom's already forty."

Randall nodded towards Shawn, "So what? Savannah had a kid at over fifty."

Shawn, fuming, raised his cane, "I'll whack you."

Vincent stepped in, "Dad, chill."

Cindy walked over and smacked Randall, "Can you stop with the nonsense?"

Randall grinned, "Sure."

Watching Randall get smacked, Vera just shrugged it off.

Since Randall was always getting knocked around at home, Susan didn't stick around and hopped in the car right away.

She gave a reluctant goodbye to everyone in the Olteran family.

Teddy, being his usual aloof self, just ignored her.

Shawn was fuming, sitting in the living room, cursing Randall out.

Sebastian showed up at the Olteran house a few more times after that. Shawn's attitude softened a bit, though he still wasn't a fan. But his opposition wasn't as fierce as before.

Vincent eased up on Sebastian too, and Patrick stopped giving him a hard time.

Vera and Molly were confused, so Vera sent Molly to dig up the reason.

Molly did as she was told, but Sebastian slyly said, "I'll spill the beans when you marry me."

He was aiming for the toughest catch, and he needed to show off his skills.

Sebastian added, "Leave your family to me, you don't need to stress."

The arson case was still unsolved, and Abby was still holed up at Lilac Manor. The area around the fire was old, with no cameras and a mixed bag of residents. Abby kept denying everything, and Ernest couldn't crack the case. Sebastian would only stay home for a few minutes before heading out. He filled Ellie in on the case.

Ellie was in the study, her fingers tapping, unable to focus on the data on her computer.

"Mom, we need to sort out Abby's mess before the year's up, or Molly won't come back," Sebastian said.

Ellie knew this all too well, "Sebastian, if you weren't a cop and Molly was in this situation, what would you do?" Sebastian went silent.

After Sebastian left in the morning, Ellie called Stella in the afternoon.

At first, Stella didn't dare to pick up. Eventually, Ellie had to use Zoey's phone to call, which also tipped off Abby. "Stella, why didn't you answer my call?" Ellie asked, sounding casual, like she wasn't holding a grudge.

On the other end, Stella was too nervous to speak.

"Stella?" Ellie asked again.

"I'm here," Stella stammered.

"What's up, Stella?" Ellie asked with a smile.

Stella nervously said, "Ellie, I know I messed up. Please forgive us. We won't show up in front of you again."

Ellie was puzzled. Forgive? What had she done?

"Stella, I don't get what you mean. What's wrong with you?" Ellie asked.

"We have no home," Stella replied.

When they bought a house, Stella had borrowed a big chunk of money from Ellie, which she never planned to pay back. Ellie had just given it to her. Everything was fine until recently, when a group came to repossess it, saying the funds used to buy it were shady and needed investigating.

No matter how much they explained, it was useless.

Stella suspected someone was targeting them, and the most likely person was Ellie.

Molly's warning made her too scared to ask Ellie directly, so they'd been borrowing money everywhere, looking for a place to stay.

But Stella found that without Ellie's help, no one was willing to lend a hand.

"Ellie, Harold is your nephew. I messed up, you can punish me, but don't let Harold be homeless," Stella pleaded.

Ellie chuckled and said, "Of course not. I called today for Harold. He's ready to settle down. Got any matches?"