Chapter 169
The door slammed shut. Harper let out a long breath, pressing a hand to her chest. “Thank god, he’s finally gone.”
Ashton’s voice cut through the air. “What exactly did he see?”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Since when do you care?” She stalked back into the bathroom, yanking up the bathtub cover used to keep the water warm. Your
fiancé left. Time to come out.”
But Alice just curled tighter, face buried in her arms as sobs racked her body.
“Eliana, please help me,” Theodore said.
Eliana swatted his wandering hands away, her cheeks bright red. “Stop it. Behave yourself.”
Theodore actually looked wounded, like a scolded puppy.
Ashton snorted softly. “Looks like Theodore’s at his limit. You should take him home. I’ll handle Zane.”
“Guess that’s our best bet.” Eliana nodded, shoving Theodore aside gently.
She rushed over to Harper and whispered, “Thanks for today. If Ashton gives you any grief, let me
know. Theodore and I have
your
back.”
The last part was barely audible.
In the Rolls–Royce, Eliana kept up a steady stream of reassurances. “Almost there, Theodore. Just hold on a little longer.”
Each time she pushed him away, Theodore looked more dejected. He wondered, ‘Does she find me unattractive? Am I really that bad? Why wouldn’t she touch me?‘
Clearly, their definitions of “help” couldn’t be more different.
As Eliana fished her phone out of her bag to call Samuel, Theodore placed his hand over hers. “It’s no use. There’s no cure for this.”
‘No cure but you,‘ he thought.
At Russell Manor, it was a typical Saturday.
Barbara, home from boarding school, closed her textbook and stretched.
She froze when she saw Eliana half–carrying the “feeble” Theodore through the front door.
She sprinted over, eyes wide with worry. “What happened to
Eliana hedged. “Uh… he’s had too much to drink.
Barbara nodded, buying the excuse. “Let me help you get him
to
O your room.”
Before Eliana could respond, Theodore rumbled, “No need. I only need Eliana.”
Barbara pulled her hand back. “Alright, take good care of him.”
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Chapter 169
‘But he’s dead weight!‘ Eliana thought.
As they moved off, Barbara frowned, wondering, ‘Why did I catch a whiff of Alice’s signature perfume on him?”
Upstairs, Eliana had just settled Theodore on the bed when he yanked her down onto his chest. “Wait, your injury!”
“Felt fine long ago.” His eyes held a sultry glint unlike anything she’d seen. “Eliana, you can’t bear to see me in pain, can you?”
If Alice had been there, she’d have howled. Theodore was straight–up parroting her lines.
The next day, Eliana woke at noon, still dead on her feet.
The door opened and Theodore stepped in with a glass of milk, grinning. “Morning, Eliana.”
‘It’s noon,‘ she thought.
Then she eyed his perky demeanor versus her own exhaustion. ‘He’s a damn energy vampire,‘ she thought.
Theodore sat by the bed. “You haven’t eaten since last night. Drink this milk first, then come down for lunch.”
“Okay.” Eliana sat up, hair falling to reveal love bites on her shoulder.
Theodore smiled as she pulled open the nightstand drawer and pulled out a blister pack of pills.
“What’s that for?” His tone turned sharp.
“Birth control,” she said flatly.
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because you said you didn’t want kids with me.”
Theodore went stone–still, smacked in the face by his own past cruelty.
“If you get pregnant, we’ll keep it. It’s not like I can’t afford to raise a kid,” he said.
After a beat, another thought struck him, his voice going taut. “Or is it that you don’t want kids? Because of who? Your ex?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Eliana shot him a hard look. “Bring up the past again and we’re done talking!”
Her flat denial of any link to her ex put a temporary halt to Theodore’s spiraling. “Fine, I’ll drop it.”
The next instant, he snatched the birth control pack from her hand, popped each pill into the toilet one by one, then hit the flush. With a loud whoosh, the offending pills vanished.
Meanwhile, Alice, who looked wrecked after a night of aimless wandering, staggered back to Russell Manor, only to be ambushed by Lainey.
“Where the hell have you been all night?” Lainey asked.
Alice shuffled past like a wraith, ignoring her
Lainey exploded. “Stop right there. Do you even see me anymore?”
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Chapter 169
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“What?” Alice finally focused, giving a hollow laugh. “Your son set me up last night. He promised to make me the next lady of this household if I played along, and said you’d treat me like before.
“But you know what he did? He brought a reporter to snap pics of me with Theodore, planning to leak them.
“If that happened, I’d be ruined. How could I ever show my face in Covenhill again? He played me for a foolt”
Noticing the servants eyeing them, Lainey barked, “Hold your tongue. You’re the one who hit on Theodore at Zane’s birthday party. Now you’re turning on my son? That’s like a crook yelling ‘stop the thief‘!”
Alice said flatly, “I should’ve realized I was just your pawn–something to discard whenever you please.”
Lainey raised her hand in a rage, but a voice behind her called, “Mom, cut it out.”
She spun to face Anthony. “Anthony, she’s been gallivanting all night and now she’s spouting lies. If we don’t put her in her place, she’ll run amok.”
But Alice knew the secret about Margaret’s coma. Pushing her into a corner would only make her an enemy and invite trouble.
So Anthony stepped forward, softening his tone. “Alice, I owe you an apology for Mom. You made sacrifices for us. Let me take you to rest. Let’s just forget what happened last night, all right?”
Alice pressed, “First tell me, what’s the deal with that reporter?”
Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know there was a reporter with me?”
Alice said bitterly, “Because I was hiding in the bathroom tub. If I’d come out, I’d have been snapped for your dirty schemes–just another tool for you to take down Theodore. Anthony, you weren’t helping me. You were using me!”
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