Chapter 171
Eliana stared, stunned, Gone was the Matthew with his exotic looks and princely air. Now he had raccoon–like dark circles under his eyes, hair was lank and dull, and he looked half dead–like a desperate refugee.
“Don’t come any closer,” Eliana said sharply as he tried to approach. “What do you want?”
“Please, I’m begging you. Leave me alone! Matthew’s voice broke, on the verge of tears.
He was at his limit–completely exhausted. These past few days, he’d been a mess, unable to eat or sleep. If this kept up, he’d be six feet under
“What happened to all that talk about court summons?” Elans frowned, hardly recognizing this pathetic shadow of the once arrogant man.
Matthew opened his mouth to speak, then his eyes widened in terror. “She’s back. Sho’s right behind your”
Before Eliana could ask who, a walt of perfume hit her nose.
A leggy, gorgeous woman sauntered ever, pouting “Honey, you disappeared this morning. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
Eliana’s eyes flickered with understanding. No wonder Matthew looked like he’d been run over by a truck.
“Oh, right, darling, what brings you here?” the woman cooed, suddenly turning her gaze toward Eliana.
Eliana said quickly, “Don’t get the wrong idea. There’s nothing going on between us.”
The woman said with a dazzling smile, “Relax, I know you wouldn’t touch someone like him with a ten–foot pole
Elana nearly rolled her eyes. ‘True as it is, who insults their own boyfriend like that?‘ she wondered.
“Come on, honey, let’s not cause trouble here. Let’s go home,” the woman cooed, reaching for his hand.
But Matthew kept staring at Eliana, his eyes pleading for help.
The woman’s smile turned sickly sweet. “Keep ogling, and pluck your eyes out and use them as marbles.”
Matthew flinched. He knew better than to argue
Elana watched them go, totally confused. “Why is Matthew crying when he has such a gorgeous woman with him? she wondered.
But how could he not cry?
Ever since meeting this woman in a nightclub, his life had turned into a living hell
He’d been knocked out and tied to a dartboard as target practice. Whipped with a bolt, he’d been forced to moan “feels so good” instead of “ouch”
His fingernails had been pulled, his eyebrows singed with a lighter. Once a flower pot fell from nowhere and nearly crushed him on the street.
He’d tried calling the cops, but they wouldn’t take his report. He couldn’t fight her off, and even when he had her thrown out, she always tracked him down. ‘Is she a freaking ghost?‘ he wondered.
After dragging Matthew out of Starlight Media, the woman immediately texted Theodore: [OMG, Mr. Russell, your wife is so adorable! She looked at me and talked to me today. I just want to hug her.]
Theodore, going over files at Russell Group, frowned at the message.
“Since when did Eliana begin to enchant women?” he wondered
Unaware of the drama, Elana threw herself into her work day.
1/3
That evening at Russell Manor, a maid gaped as Barbara walked in after school. “Ms. Russell, you live on campus except weekends. Why comme today?
it’s my house. I come and go as please. Since when do you get to question me?” Barbars snapped, striding into the kitchen
Seeing the chal had portioned out everyone’s evening potage, she ordered, “Get out of here”
“Ms. Russell?” The chel looked confused.
“Did you not hear me? I said get out,” Barbara repeated.
With an irritated huff, Barbara shoord the staff out
She unzipped her schoolbag, pulled out a packet of white powder, and was about to opon it when a voice behind her asked, “What are you doing?”
Barbara trembled, fumbling to hide the packet behind her back.
Relieved to see it was Eliana, Barbara still scowled. “You scared the hell out of mal”
As she resumed her task, Eliana frowned. She’d just returned from work, came to grab a drink, and there was Barbara, acting all shady
“What’s that in your hand?” Elana asked.
“Mind your own business. A classmate got me this stuff. One dose, and it give someone a bad allergic reaction or knock them out cold.” Barbara started dumping the powder into a bowl of potage.
Eliana grabbed her arm. “You came home from school just for this?”
“Alice throw herself at Theodore. I’m doing you a favor?
“How do you know?
“Last night, when you helped him inside, I smelled Alice’s perfume on his coat. It’s not hard to guess what she was up to.”
Barbara had a point, but Eliana said, “I don’t want your help like this.
“Fine, I can’t stand her, okay? Let go
“If I hadn’t walked in, maybe. But I did, so I’m stopping you.” Eliana lowered her voice. “And this is a dumb plan. As soon as Alice gets sick, the chefs will snitch on you.”
Realizing Eliana wouldn’t play along, Barbara glared, then chucked the powder into the trash. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stomped Out.
Eliana sighed and followed her out.
But when the family sat down for dinner, the packet of powder Barbara had tossed in the trash was now in Alice’s hand
Barbara’s face drained of color.
Alice turned to her, a smile playing on her lips, but not reaching her eyes. “Barbie, you want to tell me what this is?”
Anthony looked over. “What’s happening here?”
Alice twirled the packet between her fingers. “Sweetheart, you wouldn’t know. After Barbie got home from school, she snaked into the kitchen to put
2/3
Chapter 171
this in my potage. If the chefs hadn’t been keeping an eye out, I might’ve ended up dead from poisoning
All heads swiveled toward Barbara, expressions ranging from shock to suspicion.
Lainey spoke up, more gently than usual. “There must be a misunderstanding, Barbie has always known right from wrong he’d ever do much a m
Exactly because she’d never pulled a stunt like this, Barbara had left clues. She thought that by stopping herself, others would bet the matter degr
