The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 39

[39 – Shadows of the Past]
Seraphina looked extremely distressed and apologetic while standing amidst the wreckage of what had once been a perfectly crafted breakfast. Her eyes traced the broken pieces of the glass mug, splashes of coffee, and then torn apart omelet and pieces of ceramic scattered across the kitchen floor. The sight brought her a strange sense of satisfaction, whereas Elijah stood opposite her, his brows ceased with concern.

As the initial shock of the incident faded away, Elijah rushed beside her and held her by her shoulders, “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.

“I’m so sorry, Elijah. I didn’t mean to drop it.” Seraphina murmured, her voice tinged with a mix of regret and something darker.

If Elijah wasn’t so concerned about Seraphina’s safety, he would have caught onto that but he did not, “Why are you sorry? This was just an accident.”

He began checking her for any injuries, while Seraphina deliberately stepped over a piece of glass and pretended to fall down and hurt herself, “Ah!” she winced as she sprained her ankle hurt the palms of her hands.

“Oh God, Seraphina!” Elijah bent down and helped her stand, he noticed that a few shards of glass had pierced her skin but they wound on her foot was bleeding badly. His concern levels increased, and Elijah wasted no time in picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the living room.

He placed her down on the couch and asked her, “Where’s the first aid kit?” his face pale with worry.

Her face contorting in pain, Seraphina replied to Elijah’s query, “The corner cabinet, second drawer.” she replied while picking on the glass shards stuck in her palm using her fingernails.

“Ouch!” she flinched while picking a shard only to be glared at Elijah who was taking out the first aid kit from the cabinet.

“Don’t do that!” he scolded lightly.

Seraphina lowered her eyes and willed herself to cry. These small wounds were nothing in front of what she had experienced in her life so they did not hurt at all but she pretended to be hurting to gain Elijah’s sympathy and concern.

Seraphina took shallow breaths, pretending to be in pain. She sniffled seeing Elijah return with the first aid box in hand. He knelt beside her, his movement gentle as he wrapped his fingers around her ankle softly, “Let me take a look.”

Seraphina nodded and let Elijah examine her injury. He cleaned the deep laceration on the side of her foot, “It’s definitely sprained as well. We should go see a doctor after this.” commented Elijah while applying anti-septic on her wound before wrapping a bandage around it.

Seraphina watched him tending to her wounds. She let him hold her hands as he used a pair of tweezers to pick out the shards of glass from under her skin. His fingers deftly removing the shards, then cleaning the dried blood and tying bandage of her left hand that had a deeper cut.

Seraphina continued to stare at him with a detached curiosity and a smug satisfaction filling her heart. “Thank you, Elijah.” she smiled as Elijah put everything back in the first aid kit and put it aside.

She tried to get up from the couch but winced louder because of the pressure on her sprained ankle, “Sera!” Elijah shouted and rushed up to Seraphina, and held her before she could fall back on the couch.

“What do you think you are doing?” he scolded in response to which Seraphina pouted like a child and replied in a soft whisper, “I was just going to the kitchen to clean the mess.”

Elijah glared at her and made her sit on the couch, “Just stay here.” he said.

“But – ” Seraphina tried to protest but was interrupted by Elijah who said, “No buts, you just stay seated here and rest. I will clean up this mess.”

“But Elijah – ” Seraphina tried to argue but stopped when Elijah remained adamant, and even Seraphina did not stop arguing.

With a sigh of frustration, Elijah bent down and scooped Seraphina in his arms and brought her to the kitchen. He placed her gently on the kitchen counter, “Now, you will stay here where I can see you and you can see me. You stay seated and guide me on how to clean this mess. Will that be enough?”

Seraphina nodded with a smile on her face. She leaned back against the wall and watched Elijah Grayson clean the mess that she had created in her kitchen. Seeing him, Seraphina’s mind drifted back to her childhood, of the time when she was Caroline and was staying at William’s mansion in captivity.

She remembered the constant chores, the endless cleaning, and the brutal punishments that she had to go through for three long years. They treated her like a maid and would make her do all the household chores. She would only get to eat something if she did what they told her to do.

The would hit her every other day but would always be careful to avoid her face. The only reason they kept her there was because of the lawyers and trustees visiting her at least once every month to make sure that she was alright. Seraphina’s fingers tightened around the edge of the counter as she recalled the bruises and cuts hidden beneath her clothes, but the pain was a constant reminder of her captivity.

William would always lurk around whenever someone came to visit her. Seraphina remembered those false smiles, and the silent threats that made her young self shudder in fear. William’s looming presence would always stop her from trying to tell anybody about her reality.

And the one time she managed to say something, managed to tell the lawyer’s assistant about how she was being treated at the mansion, but then she had to watch William mercilessly murder the assistant using a poisonous injection.

Elijah’s voice brought her back to the present, “Though I have done the first aid, but we should go see the doctor as well.” he said gently, while wiping the floor with a kitchen towel.

“Huh?” Seraphina didn’t know what he said but still nodded positively and hummed in agreement.

“Just a ‘hhmm’ won’t work. Once I am done with this -” he stood up and threw the dirty towels in the dustbin, “I am going to take you to the doctor by myself!” he announced.

“No, it’s fine!” Seraphina exclaimed now realizing what Elijah was talking about. She cursed herself mentally for not being alert in Elijah’s presence, “I just want to rest for a while and will go to see the doctor in the evening.”

Elijah frowned, he wanted to push further because he was worried that Seraphina’s wounds might get infected. He was about to say something but stopped when his cell phone started buzzing.

Elijah cleaned his hands and went to answer his phone, “Hello, Dad.” it was Marcus on the phone.

“Elijah, where are you? You said that you will come back early this morning but you haven’t yet.” was Marcus’s response.

“I am coming, Dad. I just woke up late today.” informed Elijah, “Anything urgent, Dad?”

“Yeah, actually we just received the report from the forensic experts regarding those photos and videos of Ethan and Caroline. It’s been proven that all those are fake.” Marcus said, his voice had hints of relief and happiness.

Elijah brightened up hearing that, “What are you saying?” he asked grabbing Seraphina’s interest.

“Yes.” Marcus responded, “We have the proof now, so William and I have planned a press conference to reveal the truth. You have to be here with us for that, so come back home as soon as you can, alright!”

Elijah nodded, “Yes, of course, Dad. I am on my way.” he exclaimed before ending the call.

Seraphina looked at him with raised brows silently questioning the reason behind his wide smile, “Sera, I have to go. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind?” asked Seraphina with a chuckle, “It must be something important and something happy?”

“Yeah, it is a good news and you will not about it soon.” said Elijah but then his smile dulled slightly, “I won’t be able to take you to the doctor.”

“It’s alright! I told you I would go see one in the evening.” responded Seraphina, “Go!” she said with a smile on her face and gently pushed at Elijah’s shoulder.

Elijah couldn’t stop himself from caressing her cheek lightly before picking her up in his arms, “What are you doing?” asked Seraphina, her arms wrapping around his neck.

Elijah said nothing and carried her back to the living room and made her sit down on the couch, “I don’t want you hopping around and hurting yourself. So just relax here, I will be back in the evening to take you to the doctor.”

Elijah didn’t want to leave Seraphina alone but this conference was important for him and for his family. That’s why he had to leave but if that wasn’t the case, he would have stayed beside Seraphina.

“Just take rest, alright.” said Elijah.

“I will.” Seraphina responded.

After Elijah left, the smile on Seraphina’s face turned cold. She stood up without wincing and locked the main door before taking out a pair of scissors from the cabinet’s drawer and cutting the bandages that Elijah had tied around her hand and foot.

Throwing them in the dustbin, she went to take a shower. She was curious about what news did Marcus have for Elijah that made his smile so brightly. She decided to work from home for the day and grabbed her laptop and sketchbook.

She started working on her sketches while watching the live footage from the Grayson mansion on ger laptop. She had an idea that what this could be about but Seraphina made no move to counter her enemies plans because she had something bigger planned for them.