Chapter 72

“I want you to serve me,” Aidan said lowly as he gripped Eliana by the chin - he sounded so sinister and menacing that Eliana felt goosebumps rise on her skin. She couldn’t help but feel utterly helpless and powerless at this very moment. It was almost as though all the fight that she’d put up against the former had been for nothing. Eliana swallowed before she asked, “I’m fine with that as long as it means that my father and brother will be alright.” Aidan furrowed his brows as he shrugged, “Hmm, I guess that’ll have to depend on your performance.” He looked down at Eliana contemptuously one more time before turning to leave. Eliana couldn’t help but close her eyes as soon as Aidan left - This is it. I’m doomed. I’m as good as dead. I’m as good as a zombie. A zombie who’s numb to pain. … As soon as they’d returned to Blanchard Garden, Aidan turned to Robert and ordered, “I want you to give Eliana a set of overalls before sending her to wait on Laura in the backyard. If Laura doesn’t have any use of her, she can pass the time by cleaning the toilet.” Robert couldn’t help but glance nervously at Eliana at this, as though he was afraid of how she might react - alas, instead of kicking up any sort of a fuss, the latter simply pursed her lips and nodded, “Alright, I’ll do it.” And so, Robert went to get Eliana a set of overalls - after he’d passed them to her and she’d changed into them, the former proceeded to take the latter to the guest house, where Laura resided. Laura gaped as she listened to Robert explain to her what Eliana was there for - “What? No, how can I allow this? That’s atrocious, I don’t want my cousin to serve and wait on me! My sister and I were the ones who took care of her when we were living with the Harvey Family…” Eliana couldn’t help but scoff internally at Laura’s blatant lie - it was her family who had taken care of Laura and Hannah after the demise of the Collins Family, and not the other way round. Eliana couldn’t believe that her cousin would do this to her after everything that her family has done for her. Eliana and Laura found themselves alone together as soon as Robert left - the latter crossed her legs on the sofa as she smirked at the former. “Shouldn’t you be following Aidan’s instructions to go and clean the toilet now?” Laura drawled. As Eliana was turning to leave for the toilet, Laura tutted, “My dear cousin, there’s no need to be so eager - fret not, my toilet is well-maintained and cleaned. There’s no need for you to do anything to it. I want you to go and clean the servant’s toilet instead.” Eliana did not say anything as she walked out - she didn’t care about whatever task that she had to do so long as it meant not having to see Laura’s revolting face any second longer. Laura smirked as she followed Eliana out, her phone ready in her hand - she couldn’t help but feel amused when she saw that the latter was actually washing toilets and started to secretly film her. “What would your father and brother think if they were to see you doing such a thing…” Laura mused. Alas, before she could even finish her sentence, Eliana suddenly whipped around and held a toilet brush against her cousin’s chest warningly. Laura couldn’t help but yelp and step back at this, “Eliana, what do you think you’re doing?” she seethed, “You’re asking for trouble!” “Don’t you dare bring my father and brother into this,” Eliana gritted out, “Or I’ll make sure that you regret it.” Laura clicked her teeth, snatching the toilet brush away from her cousin before using it to jab the latter several times with it. “What makes you think that Aidan wouldn’t do anything to protect me, hmm? Oh, my dear cousin, Aidan would make sure that you regret your actions if you dare cross the line…” Alas, Eliana didn’t look the slightest bit intimidated or threatened by Laura - in fact, she looked almost bored. After all, she’d long grown used to her cousin’s tendency to run to Aidan whenever she encountered difficulties. Seeing that Eliana was unaffected, Laura couldn’t help but feel disappointed - “You know what? Just hurry up with the cleaning - I want you to bathe Evan after you’re done.”