The Bargain Undercover

Luster

After all this time, Eliana could still recognize the figure by the door at just one glance.

She wasn't shocked to see him show up. In fact, nothing could truly shock her at this moment. It felt as if all her emotions had been drained away, leaving her to breathe like an empty shell.

She didn't say anything, turning her head away.

Xander walked over and sat down by her bed.

And then, silence began to fill the room, stretching on for what felt like an eternity. As Eliana remained quiet, Xander did too. Eventually, her patience wore thin, and she turned to look at him.

Seeing her not ignoring him anymore, Xander broke the silence. "How do you feel?"

Eliana answered with a single word, "Hurt."

Xander asked, "What did the doctor say?"

"The doctor said I might not be able to dance again." Eliana felt a heavy weight in her chest as she said this.

Xander didn't react. A while later, he said again, "We'll figure it out after the surgery."

Eliana nodded. "OK. Good night."

She didn't want to talk to him. She wasn't sure where this surge of unpleasantness had come from, but she would rather him leave.

Xander sensed her resistance, but he still had questions to ask. "Who did it?"

Since he asked, Eliana told him the whole story about the stalker.

Xander's expression was extremely serious when he heard the story. Then, he asked, "Do you think it was someone you know?"

Eliana shook her head. "It can't be. He was wearing a mask, but I saw his eyes and heard his voice. I'm sure I don't know him."

"You heard his voice?" Xander frowned. "What did he say?"

Eliana told him, "He said 'sorry'."

Xander raised one eyebrow. "Why?"

Eliana was also confused. "I don't know."

Xander said nothing more, lost in thought.

Eliana implicitly urged him to leave again, "Any other questions?"

Xander saw her stubborn face, and a trace of helplessness flashed across his eyes. "No," he said. "Have a good rest."

Eliana didn't respond. She lay down and closed her eyes, pretending to be sleeping.

Xander stood up and left, closing her ward door gently.

Alone again in the ward, Eliana kept her eyes closed but didn't want to sleep at all.

She was venting her anger at Xander, which didn't make sense. Luckily, he wasn't mad. He came to see her in the middle of the night as soon as he learned that she was injured. He cared about his dancers, and she should have been grateful.

Thinking of this, Eliana opened her eyes.

Would he still care about her once she wasn't his dancer anymore?

She could tell that Xander valued her because of her top-notch technique. Regardless of any behind-the-scenes deals between them, the explicit reason for his rapid promotion of her had to be convincing in the end. However, if her dancing were affected by the injury, she would be of no use to him given his interest-driven nature.

Precious jewels would be abandoned once they lost their luster.

She had a challenging road ahead to keep her luster.

Eliana stayed awake for the whole night, staring at the sky outside the window until it gradually turned bright.

The next day, a few colleagues came to visit her at noon.

Ophelia and Roselyn kept telling her jokes, helping her relax before the surgery. Fiona made sure all the prerequisite procedures were finished. None of them mentioned the winter season or what would happen after her surgery, doing their best to maintain a light atmosphere. However, Eliana could still sense the underlying tension.

She might not come back. Everyone knew it, but no one said it.

Time was ticking, and the surgery was approaching. Ophelia became more worried. "Ellie, are you sure you don't want your parents around?"

Eliana was sure. "Yes. Don't worry."

Ophelia said, "But they could take care of you after your surgery."

Eliana smiled and shook her head. "I can take care of myself."

Sensing her reluctance on this topic, Ophelia and Roselyn looked at each other, not pressing further.

Eliana didn't want to talk about her parents, so she changed the topic. "How is Alex doing?"

Ophelia recalled for a while. "Nothing special. Why?"

Eliana said, "He seemed to be blaming himself for my injury."

Roselyn assured her, "Don't worry. We rehearsed for our duet today. He was fine."

Eliana nodded. Finally, she asked the question she cared about the most, "How is the rehearsal going?"

They were surprised to hear her ask, thinking that talking about the rehearsal would make her upset. But since she asked, they told her, "Exhausting. Director Lane is our main instructor this week. He's much stricter than Mrs. Morse."

Eliana smiled, "I bet. Since I quit, he has to arrange for the new casting as soon as possible."

"Hey, listen to me." Ophelia grabbed her hand tightly. "You will come back soon. I believe you."

It was a far-fetched dream, but Eliana kept hoping it would come true as she was wheeled into the operating room.

***

At sunset, Eliana came back to the ward after the surgery.

The doctor said the surgery was successful and that the next step would be rehabilitation, which would be a long ordeal for her. It wasn't the pain she feared, but the uncertainty of her recovery. She could never know for certain how far she would have to go before realizing whether she would ever be able to return to dancing.

The numbness on her left ankle gradually faded, revealing the throbbing pain.

Eliana lay in bed, her gaze blank. She hadn't been eating since last night, but she wasn't hungry at all.

When it grew completely dark outside, her ward door was quietly opened. Someone entered, walking over with light steps.

Eliana didn't even bother to find out who it was. It didn't matter anymore.

The person stood by her bed for a while. Noticing her wide-opened eyes, he said, "I thought you were sleeping."

Eliana took a deep breath and turned her head, smiling at Xander. "How's the rehearsal?"

Xander glanced at her, not expecting her to bring up this topic. "Busy."

"I heard you were being very strict."

"The faster I ended it, the earlier I could come to see you." Xander put a paper bag on her nightstand and sat down by her bed. "I bought fried rice from your favorite restaurant."

The delicious smell aroused her appetite. She sat up and took the bag. "For me? Thank you."

"And this." Xander handed her a brand-new phone.

Her old one was cracked and totally unusable. She hadn't expected Xander to buy her a new one, but since he did, she took it. "You are so sweet. Thank you."

Xander glanced at her left ankle. "How does it feel?"

Eliana started to eat the fried rice. "Slightly hurt. The anesthesia is going away."

Xander told her, "You'd better tell the nurse. I didn't back then, so I almost couldn't survive the first night."

Eliana stopped chewing. "Yeah... It must have been hard for you."

Almost everyone in the ballet industry knew the story of the talented male ballet dancer who injured his knee during a rehearsal and had to say goodbye to the stage. That dancer was Xander, who was now sitting in front of her.

"It was," Xander said. "But I ended up being an Artist Director."

He seemed to be encouraging her, telling her there would always be a way forward. Eliana thought about it carefully. "But I'm not as well-around as you. I can't choreograph dances, and I'm not good at managing people."

Xander told her, "You can learn. You're smart."

Eliana put down her fork, her eyes lowered. "But I still want to go back to dancing."

Xander heard her.

He said, "Then let's try our best."

Eliana raised her eyes to look at him.

He said "let's". It meant he wouldn't give up on her.

But promises were fragile. He could break it at any time for any reason, just like he did last time; and she was tired of waiting alone, wondering whether he would show up.

So she might as well not think about relying on anyone else, even though she felt extremely vulnerable at the moment.

At the end of the day, it was always herself.

But it didn't mean she couldn't use his help.

She pursed her lips, murmuring, "If worst comes to worst, can you save me a random position in the company? I need to pay my bills, and I have no other skills."

Xander agreed, "You can be my assistant."

Eliana beamed with a smile. "You're the best."

That night, after being stuffed with food, Eliana finally began to feel drowsy and drifted slowly into sleep. A few days later, she was discharged from the hospital, packing her stuff and waiting for Ophelia to pick her up in the ward. However, when the knocks sounded on her ward door, she turned around and saw Alex.

It was the first time he had shown up after her surgery.

"Hey," Eliana greeted him.

"Hey." Alex came in as he rubbed his hands with an uneasy expression. "I told Ophelia I would come pick you up. I'll go gather my things at your place."

"I could mail them to you," Eliana blurted out. But then, she saw the bulky, clumsy walking boot on her left foot and smiled bitterly, "Maybe not. You have to gather them yourself."

Alex also smiled but awkwardly somehow, "In fact, that's not the main reason. Eliana, I have something to tell you."