Chapter 27

The little boy stared back at Eliana and didn’t say anything in response. He was silent for a long while before he suddenly sat down on the soft carpet on the ground - he then fished out a Rubik’s Cube from his pocket and began playing with it. He showed no sign of leaving and simply sat there, minding his own business and not paying Eliana any sort of attention at all. Instead of feeling turned off, Eliana chuckled lightly as she got out of bed and walked over to the child - just as she knelt in front of him and was about to ask him where his parents were, she realized that something was off… Hang on a second, something’s not right...this is Blanchard Garden. Aidan hates children and would never let a child onto his property - where has this child come from and what is he doing here then? Unless...this is the child whom Aidan had adopted for Laura. That’s right - this little boy is probably Laura’s adoptive son. A bit scary how strikingly similar he looks to Aidan, though… Aidan treats Laura so well, huh...adopting a child for her when she told him that she wanted a child of her own… Just then, Eliana couldn’t help but think about her poor stillborn daughter, whom she’d barely gotten to know before she’d been so cruelly and viciously fed to some dogs - my poor, sweet daughter...she would probably be around the height of this little boy should she still be alive… ...I wonder if she would’ve looked more like Aidan or me… Just as Eliana was deep in thought, there was a shout at the door followed by the abrupt barging in of a figure - it was Laura, who’d stormed in swiftly and grabbed the child roughly by the collar as though he was a mere ragdoll and not a living human being. Caught off-guard by the sudden action, the child extended his hands to steady himself, dropping the Rubik’s Cube that he’d been fiddling with in the process. Just as he’d regained his balance, Laura huffed before wickedly shoving the child, such that the latter fell forward - she growled at him, “You little nuisance, who said that you could come here? You really love pushing my buttons now, don’t you?” “Laura…” Eliana frowned in disapproval at the way that her cousin was treating the little boy. Before she could say anything, however, Laura raised her hand and sent a tight slap across the little boy’s face - a loud smack sounded throughout the room. Alas, despite the clearly painful and harsh hit, the little boy did not shed a tear - he simply held his head high and looked back at the latter vacantly. This little boy is Laura’s adoptive son - this is between the two of them. I don’t want to get involved with this...but then again, I can’t just stand there and do nothing as I watch Laura mistreat and torment this poor little boy… And so, Eliana angrily stepped forward to grab Laura by the wrist and pull her away from the little boy - she furrowed her brows, “Have you gone out of your mind, Laura?! He’s just a child! How could you treat a little boy like him so roughly and harshly?! Don’t you know that’s child abuse?” “Child abuse?” Laura scoffed, “This good-for-nothing little rascal who seems to be incapable of saying anything isn’t even much of a child in the first place - calling everything that I do to him child abuse wouldn’t be right now, would it?” Laura rolled her eyes before she continued, “Besides, it’s not like he can tell on me - after all, he’s nothing but a dumb and mute piece of garbage!” Laura then sent a hard kick to the little boy’s side - “Tell on me if you wish - but after everything that you’ve done, do you really think that Aidan would believe you? Ha, I can guarantee you that he wouldn’t - he wouldn’t have thrown your stupid stillborn baby to the dogs if he did.” Eliana’s heart sank at the mention of her late child - even though it had been two years, she couldn’t help but feel as though the memory of her poor stillborn baby being mercilessly ripped to shreds by the ruthless hounds was still fresh in her mind. Laura taunted, “You know, now that I think about it, the dogs had devoured your stupid stillborn baby so viciously and fervently that there was nothing left of it - heck, there wasn’t even a single bone left. It’s almost as though your child had never existed…” Eliana got so worked up by Laura’s provocation that she lurched forward, raised her hand, and sent a tight slap across her cousin’s face - the latter immediately cupped her cheek and glared back at the former, “How dare you hit me?!” Alas, Eliana was not the slightest bit intimidated by or afraid of Laura - she pounced onto the latter and wrapped her hands around her such that she was choking her. “How could someone be so vicious and evil - Laura, are you even human?” Eliana choked out, unable to conceal the shudder in her voice. Laura grinned at her maliciously before her expression suddenly transformed - she sobbed in an almost pitiful and helpless manner, “Ellie, please, don’t do this - the child is innocent! He has done nothing wrong.” As soon as she’d cried out, a woman came running into the room - upon seeing what was going on, she shouted, “Aidan, quick, come and take a look at what’s happening - Eliana is beating Laura up! Please, help!” The woman was Megan Briggs, the daughter of Priscilla Nelson, the eldest aunt of the Nelson Family. The latter, along with her husband, Frank Briggs, were such evil and vicious people that all of their children turned out the exact same way as they had. Megan had been unkind and hostile towards Eliana ever since she was a little girl - the former had come to taunt and poke fun at the latter when she’d been sent to the mental institution against her will. Aidan came sprinting into the room with Robert following closely behind him as soon as he heard Megan’s voice - upon seeing Eliana straddling Laura, the former surged forward to shove Eliana so hard that she was thrown back and crashed hard into the nightstand. She couldn’t help but groan as the pain from the impact shot up through her body. Just as Aidan looked like he was about to hit Eliana again, Laura got up from where she’d been tackled and stood in between the two of them - “No, please, don’t do this, Aidan,” she cried out, “Ellie didn’t mean it - she’s just not herself since she has been in rather poor health.” She then turned to her cousin, tears brimming in her eyes as she spoke - “Ellie, I don’t blame you for hitting me because I know that you are still mad at me - but please, don’t take the anger that you feel towards me out on the poor and innocent child! He has done nothing wrong, there’s absolutely no reason why he should be getting involved in this!”