Chapter 2

Before Eliana could even comprehend the shock that was running through her body at the realization of what had just happened, the four vicious dogs pounced onto her and began to gnaw at her hand viciously and brutally. Alas, the stinging of her torn flesh couldn’t even amount to a ten-thousandth of the immense pain and agony that was ripping right through her heart. Ignoring her bleeding wound, Eliana grabbed at the mouth of one of the dogs as she began to shake it vigorously as though she’d gone insane. She choked out hoarsely: “No, my child...you idiotic hound, give me back my child! Please, give her back to me...Aidan Nelson, how could you be so cruel! I hate you...I HATE YOU!!!!” Not feeling the slightest bit remorseful about what she’d done, Laura rolled her eyes - she then glanced at the servant who was standing by her side and raised her hand to tell him to take the dogs away, to which he obliged. As soon as the dogs were ripped off of her, Eliana crumbled onto the ground - she was sprawled across the floor as though she was a ragdoll that’d been torn apart, her blood pooling around her motionless and weak body. Just then, Laura stepped forward and planted her foot on Eliana’s hands. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” she scorned, “A pity that these beautiful and delicate fingers of yours are now all chewed up and ruined...I’m afraid that you might never be able to play the piano again.” Laura chuckled wickedly for a moment before she leaned towards Eliana and whispered harshly into her ear, “Oh, that’s right - I forgot to mention to you just how adorable your little daughter was. It’s such a pity that she ended up suffering such a tragic fate when her life has barely even started - alas, Aidan said that she had to die. He said that such an abomination deserved to die - he didn’t want to have anything to do with her because she was your daughter. But do you know what he’s going to do for me? He’s going to pull some strings and adopt a child just for me - hehe, he’s so good towards me…” Eliana said nothing in response - she continued to lay sprawled across the floor, helpless and unable to move. She was frozen, both literally and figuratively. Laura scoffed - just then, she stood back upright and kicked Eliana’s body as though the latter was a piece of garbage. “I’m going to tell you something else right now - in honor of what my sister and I had done for him, Aidan has renamed and rebranded the company from the Nelson Group to the Collins Group.” A smug smile crept upon Laura’s lips as she thought about this - she then continued: “Your father was jailed, one of your brothers had gone missing, and your other brother has become a slave to a woman...and your mother! Guess what happened to her? Well, she died - she committed suicide by leaping off a building! My, what a tragic chain of events…” As soon as she was done, Laura turned and walked right out of the room - “Alright, I’m done with her. There’s no reason why she should continue sticking around - throw her out.” She ordered the servants coldly. Just then, however, Eliana mustered up all of her strength despite her severely weakened and pathetic state to grab Laura by her ankle - she yearned so badly to pin the latter down and tear at her neck. “Laura, don’t you dare…!!!” She croaked out. “Don’t I dare what?” Laura huffed challengingly, not the slightest bit intimidated or threatened by Eliana - she smirked: “Just watch me - you’ll see just what I’m capable of with your very own eyes.” She then roughly tore her ankle away from Eliana’s grip and stalked off. And so, Eliana was dragged away into a car after having the clothes that she’d worn back at the hospital harshly thrown at her. Her mind was a complete blank - she no longer had the strength to even think about or to feel anything anymore. Before Eliana even knew it, the car pulled up at the gate of the Harvey family villa - to her horror, the former realized that Laura wasn’t lying when she said that everyone was gone; it was completely dark inside, and the door had been sealed - the place was as dead as a ghost town. Eliana crumpled up in the backseat and placed her hands over her heart - she was so distraught and devastated that it felt as though it was being ripped right out of her chest. Eliana wasn’t even allowed to exit the car and visit what was left of her family estate one last time - instead, she was taken to the cemetery immediately. Since it was in the middle of the night, the servants did not dare to bring Eliana all the way up into the mountains. And so, they simply threw her out of the car before quickly driving away. Eliana had never been afraid of anything aside from the supernatural, such as ghosts and goblins; alas, she could no longer find it in herself to feel any sort of fear anymore. “Ghosts and goblins can never amount to how evil and vicious Aidan is despite how terrifying and frightening they may be.” Despite the heavy rain pouring down on her bruised and battered body, Eliana remained determined to find a way out - and so, she heaved her entire weight onto the stone path before half-walking and half-crawling into the dark, towards the Harvey family tomb. Eliana fell heavily onto her knees as soon as she spotted the new tomb there - she was in complete disbelief and utter shock. Tears streamed down her face as she inched her way towards the new tombstone. The picture on the tombstone shone clearly under the moonlight - a pang ran through Eliana’s body as she couldn’t help but sob even harder. Eliana reached out towards the tombstone - she gripped it and started to slam her head against it repeatedly. The skin on her forehead broke and started to bleed, leaving trails of blood on her mother’s picture - she had a faint and benevolent smile on her face. She looked contented and peaceful - Eliana couldn’t believe that she was gone for good. “I-I...I’m so sorry, Mom...it was all my fault…” It was all my fault to have fallen for Aidan; it was all my fault to have offended Aidan; it was all my fault that I’d gotten involved with him in the first place...it was all my fault… Eliana stayed kneeling before her mother’s grave for the entire night, completely motionless and still - it was only around dawn that she moved to reach out to caress her mother’s face in the picture with her fingers. “Don’t worry, mom,” Eliana said softly, “I’ll make him pay - I’ll join you and my baby right after I take my revenge on him. Please wait for me until then.” Eliana then struggled to stand back up - as soon as she did, she started her descent down the mountain, slowly but surely… Meanwhile, Aidan found himself tossing and turning in bed all night - he couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He had destroyed the projector in his study and gotten rid of all the gifts that Eliana had given him over the years. It was not until noon did Aidan finally prepare to leave Blancard Garden. However, they’d barely driven off when the chauffeur abruptly brought the car to a screeching halt. Aidan raised his brows when he noticed Eliana standing in front of the car - she was in such a disheveled and disoriented state that it was rather alarming and shocking. What is she doing here? Didn’t I tell the people back at the hospital to deal with her? Eliana glared at Aidan through the window in a frightening and bone-chilling manner - if looks could kill, the latter would probably be dead by now. Eliana looked so haunting and terrifying at this very moment that even Aidan could not help but feel his heart drop - What is she trying to do? That’s it, I’m not having it - and so, Aidan got out of the car and grabbed Eliana by the collar. “Didn’t I tell you that I never want to see your face again? Who gave you the right to stride in so shamelessly and uncaringly? The audacity of you?” Eliana raised her head to look at Aidan directly in the eyes - even though tears were threatening to spill from her eyes, she willed herself not to shed a single tear in front of the monstrosity of the man whom she was facing. “It was my fault for falling in love with you in the first place - I had been so blind. You don’t deserve me at all.” Aidan’s eyes instantly turned cold - he growled, “What did you just say?” Eliana scowled, “You know what? Since I was the one who’d made the mistake in the first place...it’s only right that I am the one to fix it.” “Go to hell, Aidan Nelson.” Just then, Eliana raised her hand to reveal a sharp knife that she’d hidden under her sleeves - she proceeded to send it down, flying towards Aidan’s heart; alas, the latter swerved clear in time such that it only managed to plunge into the latter’s shoulder. Blood started to gush out as soon as the knife had been planted firmly into his collar...