The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 33

[33 – The Pretense of Sympathy – I]
Elijah walked inside his room and locked the door behind him. Drawing the curtains close, he went to his walk-in closet first to put the duffle bag back in the secret drawer. After that, he changed into comfortable clothes and sat on the bed with his laptop as he searched for the information about Grayson and Sullivan scandal that the news anchor was talking about.

As he typed in Caroline’s name and clicked on search, a series of videos and articles showed up on the web page. Hesitating for a second, Elijah clicked on one of the videos to watch.

He listened to the news anchor report about Caroline and Ethan’s sex scandals, and even drag their families into this mess. He could not believe that Ethan and Caroline could do something like that. He didn’t want to believe but it was hard considering that there was so much proof against either of them

He stopped the video when they began showing compromising pictures of Caroline with several men. Elijah decided to read the articles instead. The more he read, the more shameful he felt.

Elijah had always believed Ethan to be loyal towards Caroline, he used to believe that his younger brother was a principled young man, admirable and a true gentleman but the events of his engagement party caused a crack in Elijah’s belief.

As for Caroline, Elijah had always viewed her as the sweet, innocent, and kind little girl who was crazy about strawberries. In his memories, Caroline had always been an angelic child. That’s why it was hard for him to believe that she could ever be involved in such a scandalous affair.

Putting his laptop aside, Elijah laid down on his bed, feeling the weight of the world pressing down on him. His mind drifted back to his childhood as the memories of Caroline flooded his thoughts.

He still remembered the day she was born. His parents had taken him to the hospital to meet the newborn baby. Elijah recalled peering over the edge of the crib to see her face. Even as a child, Elijah had felt an overwhelming urge to protect her for she had been so tiny and delicate.

Elijah would spend hours playing with her, making her laugh with silly faces, and taking care of her in the way only an attentive 5 years old could. Those were the days when he would spend most of his time at the Sullivan’s place instead of his home.

He chuckled recalling the love and fascination Caroline had with animals, a passion that she had inherited from her mother. Elijah remembered vividly, how Caroline and Aunt Emily would rescue strays together, nurse them back to health and find them their forever loving homes.

The sweet, innocent Caroline he knew seemed worlds apart from the person splashed across news headlines today. Her scandal only deepened his sense of disconnection that he had been feeling since the revelation involving Ethan.

Elijah couldn’t help but wonder how the people he had always loved starting feeling like strangers?

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Elijah stepped down the bed and walked towards the door to open it.

“Dad?” Marcus was standing at the door, his expressions somber and serious.

“I just wanted to see if you are okay.” said Marcus. He placed his hand on Elijah’s shoulder and added, “I know what you must be going through now but son, we don’t know if these photographs and videos are even real.”

“What do you mean?” asked Elijah, walking back inside his room and sitting on the bed.

Marcus followed Elijah and came to stand in front of him, “It could be a disgusting scheme of our rivals who want to destroy our reputation. We have already discussed about this, Elijah. I am damn sure that someone is targeting us.”

“But Dad -”

“No, listen to me. We have sent these photographs and videos of Ethan and Caroline to a lab to get them tested. Once they are proven fake, everything will be fine!” Marcus explained, hoping Elijah would buy his explanation.

Elijah could not deny the fact that he too was hoping for this scandal to turn out to be a sham, a plot designed by their rivals to destroy them. Elijah too, had a suspicious person in mind, “Dad -”

“Hhmm?”

“Blake might be behind this.” Elijah revealed to his father the troubling suspicion, “He is still out there, somewhere.”

Marcus’s face paled hearing that name, “Blake? You mean Blake Anderson?”

Elijah nodded and didn’t say a word. He failed to notice the subtle change in Marcus demeanor as he managed to say, “That’s a possibility.”

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Meanwhile, at The Seraphina Atelier, Chloe was dealing with her own fallout from the scandal. She had to listen to her co-workers whispering and gossiping about Ethan and Caroline’s scandals, their misdeeds, and so much more half of which wasn’t even true.

Their cruel words regarding her family, questioning her upbringing, felt like she was being stabbed again and again with small but sharp needles. Overwhelmed, Chloe was on the verge of crying when Jaxon arrived to take her to lunch.

“So, where would you like to go? Company’s cafeteria or somewhere else?” asked Jaxon with a smile curved upon his lips.

The murmurs around Chloe died down because of Jaxon’s presence but Chloe did not dare look up at him with her tears filled eyes.

“Hey!” Jaxon placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder and asked, “Are you okay?”

Seeing her visibly distressed, Jaxon squeezed her shoulder lightly, “You can take the day off if you are not feeling well. Go home and rest.”

Leaning closer, Jaxon said in a low voice, “The reporters will just make things worse, if you stay. I have discussed with Seraphina and she agreed that you can work from home for the time being.”

“Thank you.” grateful, Chloe sniffled and accepted his offer. While she was packing her stuff, Jaxon offered to drive her home secretly, keeping her hidden from the reporters waiting outside.

Chloe nodded her head, thanking him profusely for all the help. Jaxon led her to his car and opened the door to backseat for her. Apologizing for the mess in his car, Jaxon told Chloe to lay down on the car floor so that the reporters would not be able to spot her.

Scrunching her nose at the mess, Chloe reluctantly agreed and laid down on the car floor trying her best to remain hidden. Jaxon smirked seeing Chloe in that situation and slammed the car door close.

He drove her home, and once she was safely inside, Jaxon’s face darkened with disgust. He immediately drove to a car wash and left his car there for a deep clean and took a cab back to the company.

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William barged inside the Grayson mansion like a raging bull with an intention to kill and destroy. Marcus, who was having lunch at the moment, froze on seeing William so furious.

His doubts were confirmed when William began yelling, calling out for Ethan. Marcus realized that William must have found out Ethan’s involvement in Caroline’s scandal.

Though he was not sure if William was more angry because his daughter’s reputation was ruined or was it because he too lost the chance to have a share of the massive fortune that was on Caroline’s name.

“William.” maintaining his cool, Marcus stood up and stepped forward, “We need to talk.”

Eyes ablaze with anger, voice deathly calm, William leaned closer and said, “Of course, we do. But first, I want to see that imbecile and foolish son of yours.”

“Where. Is. Ethan?” he asked, emphasizing on each word, “Where is your son, Marcus? Tell me damnit!”

“Behave, William.” Marcus said in a warning tone, “Let’s go to my study and talk. I have a plan to deal with this mess.”

William glared at Marcus, anger seeping from every pore of his body. But he said nothing and followed Marcus to the latter’s study because their first priority is to suppress these scandals. Everything else can wait.

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Some time later, Elijah came out of room to grab a snack from the kitchen but he paused outside his father’s study when he heard his father and William arguing. The door to his father’s study was open slightly and he could see and hear the conversation between Marcus and William.

“What’s done is done.” Marcus said, “Now, we need to control the narrative.”

“But how?” asked William. He looked just as frustrated, and tensed as Marcus.

“If we can prove that the leaked photos and videos are fake, then it would automatically prove that the scandals concerning Ethan and Caroline are fake as well.”

“Many high profile men have been dragged into this scandal. They would do anything it takes to suppress the news and prove that they are innocent, that they are being framed.” suggested Marcus.

Understanding dawned upon William, and he added his own insights, “We might be able to bribe the news channels, and other concerned parties to turn this whole thing around.”

“Yes, and then after a few months we would host the engagement party as planned.” commented Marcus.

Elijah’s heart sank as he overheard the exchange. His mind and heart raged a battle of conflicts. He wanted to believe that Ethan and Caroline did no such thing but after listening to his father and William talk about bribing people, of taking help from the men that have been exposed in Caroline’s scandal – all this was forcing him to face a reality that he had no idea of.

That evening, Elijah’s unease finally reached a boiling point. Feeling suffocated in his own home, he decided to go for a long drive to calm himself down so that he could think rationally. He sped through the city, the roar of the engine barely drowning out the chaos in his mind.

Without any destination in his mind, Elijah drove through the city streets. After a few hours of driving, he finally stopped and to his surprise, Elijah found himself in front of Seraphina’s house.

“What the hell?” Elijah muttered to himself, his brows drawn together in confusion as he wondered aloud, “Why did I come here?”