Chapter 13

Eliana turned around and narrowed her eyes at Laura, who was slowly approaching her. Laura gasped exaggeratedly, “E-Ellie? Is that you? Oh, what brings you here? Could it be...that Aidan had bailed you out from prison just so that you can donate your liver to me?” She then leaned in closer to Eliana and sneered sharply into her ear - “My dear cousin, you must be devastated and heartbroken to be treated like this by the man whom you love the most in this entire world. How pitiful and tragic.” Laura then wrapped her arms around her cousin in a “comforting” hug. Eliana scrunched her face up and immediately pushed the former away - “You’d better get off me and stay as far away from me as possible.” Even though Eliana had not shoved her away that roughly, Laura acted a though the former had just pushed her so hard that she was sent flying across the floor - she let out a cry of agony as soon as she hit the ground, as though she’d been badly injured. A servant who’d been standing at a distance instantly rushed forward to help Laura up. Alas, the latter stayed on the ground as she looked up at her cousin with tears welled up in her eyes - she cried, “H-How could you do this to me, Ellie? I...I just wanted to hug you…after all, it’s been so long since I last saw you...” “You just wanted to give me a hug?” Eliana snorted in utter disbelief at the audacity of her cunning cousin, “I’m sorry, but I have an aversion to filthy beings like yourself.” As soon as Eliana said this, she heard her name being spat out in a sharp and menacing manner - “Eliana.” Before the former knew it, she found herself being shoved onto the ground by Aidan, who’d somehow managed to make his way over to her at top speed. He then walked over to Laura to help her up from the floor. “A-Aidan, please don’t get Ellie wrong,” Laura whimpered in a pitiful voice, “I fell down not because she pushed me, but because I was clumsy and lost my balance - please, don’t blame Ellie for this. I beg you, Aidan.” She then walked over to help Eliana up - alas, just as she was about to do so, the latter got up by herself and took two steps away from Laura. “Don’t touch me,” Eliana said to Laura in a low and warning voice. Laura bit her lip as though she’d been wronged, “Ellie, please, I know that you think that I’m dirty and all - but I really didn’t mean it...I...I hadn’t done what I’d done back then on purpose...please, Ellie, you’ve got to believe me…” Laura couldn’t help but sob slightly as she spoke in a hoarse voice. Aidan sneered at Eliana, “You out of all people have no right to call someone else filth when you’re clearly the filthiest of them all.” Eliana’s heart tightened indignantly at this - she’d been wronged for so long now. Why was she still holding on and letting herself get trampled all over by others? Laura shook her head vigorously as she tugged at Aidan’s arm, “Aidan, please, don’t talk about Ellie like that - it’s very hurtful.” Eliana couldn’t help but scoff internally at this - Why hadn’t I noticed much earlier just how talented and natural of an actress Laura is? She’s so good that she’ll easily clinch an Oscar award...what a pity that she’ll only perform her facade in front of Aidan and no one else. Aidan couldn’t help but frown slightly at the irritated look that Eliana was shooting Laura - he couldn’t believe that she would still be so arrogant and prideful after everything that he’d believed her to have down. Just who did she think she was? “Robert - I want you to lock Eliana in the basement so that she can reflect on just how horrible of a human being she is.” Eliana immediately widened her eyes at this command - “What right do you have to do that?” she argued, “It’s against the law to imprison others against their will, you know.” Aidan scorned as he gripped Eliana roughly by the chin and whispered into the ear, “I have the right to do whatever I please to you so long as I am still your husband - no one else has the right to interfere in our affairs.” Eliana furrowed her brows at his words. “Second Young Master, Miss Harvey hasn’t eaten anything yet…” Robert tried to reason, only for Aidan to retort, “That’s alright, we’ll let her starve. She can eat as much as she wants once she admits to her mistakes.” Robert remained where he stood and visibly hesitated - Aidan frowned in annoyance at his lack of action, “Well, get to it!” Robert shot Eliana a sheepish look - knowing that he was in a difficult position, the latter decided to just go along with it. Just before she followed him to the basement, she murmured under her breath, “Aidan, oh, Aidan - you’re really blind when it comes to the judging of people’s true characters, aren’t you?” … Eliana was hit by an unpleasant and musty odor as soon as they arrived at the basement - she hadn’t known about the existence of such a place over her year of living in Blanchard Garden. “Miss Harvey, maybe you should be...nicer when it comes to Second Young Master…” Robert suggested. Eliana smiled bitterly, “No, it’s useless - he’ll hate me no matter how I may act towards him.” Robert sighed, “But…” Eliana reassured the former, “It’s alright - I’ve spent so much time in prison that this is nothing, really, for me. You may head back now. I’ll be alright, don’t worry.” “Miss Harvey - there’s a phone on the wall. You can use it to call me once you, um...have reflected on your actions and are ready to admit to your mistakes.” Robert informed awkwardly before leaving. And so, Eliana found herself all alone in a room that had instantly plunged into darkness - she reached out to feel for the walls. When she finally did so, she sat down with her back pressed against one of it and wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. She was not afraid of isolation since she was used to be locked up all alone. However, considering recent events - how she’d been deprived of food and forced to work just the day before and had lost a lot of blood when she’d slit her wrists, as well as gotten drenched in the rain - Eliana couldn’t help but feel extremely tired, hungry and sleepy. She couldn’t seem to get any warmer despite how closely she was holding herself - Eliana soon found herself with her forehead pressed against her knees, half-asleep and half-awake. After God knows how long, the door to the basement suddenly opened - Eliana looked up and squinted slightly to see a figure standing there...