The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 44

[44 – The Mind Games]
After getting Seraphina’s wound treated by the doctor and purchasing the medicine that he had prescribed, Elijah carried her all the way back to his car instead of using a wheelchair. In his concern, he did not notice or even think about the fact that after such an important press conference, there could still be reporters following him and his family around to make sure that there isn’t any hidden detail left in this scandalous mess.

But Seraphina was aware, and she also noticed that a not so random white car had been following their trail. She noticed the car when they were driving out of her mansion. She had her doubts about the two men in that car being reporters and that doubt turned into confirmation when she spotted one of those two men, holding a camera and capturing a picture of Elijah carrying her inside the hospital.

Why wouldn’t she notice when she had been trained to take notice of such things so as to avoid any kind of inconvenience in her game of revenge. She very well spotted them but did not tell Elijah about this. Instead, she made sure to give them the juiciest scoop they were looking for.

The subtle tightening of her arms around his neck, the shyness in her gaze when she looked up at him, Elijah’s concern when for her when she cried, his support when she was being injected, and finally pretending to be tired and burying her face in the crook of his neck; everything!

Seraphina pretended to be pitiful, in distress, and weak to make sure that the reporters would get the nicest of the shots that would communicate it to the public that how much in love Elijah Grayson was with Seraphina Vale.

Seraphina closed her eyes, her lips curved up slightly in an innocent, soft smile that did not match with the thoughts inside her mind. She pretended to be feeling sleepy after the dose of the injection and gently rubbed her face against his neck before letting out a sigh of contentment and pretending to be have fallen asleep.

Because her eyes were closed, she missed the sweet smile on Elijah’s lips, the fondness in his expressions and the amusement in his eyes that were a testament of how much he adored the woman in his arms.

Unlocking his car, Elijah placed her on the passenger seat and adjusted the seat into a reclining position before putting the seatbelt around her. He closed the car door gently, careful to not make any sudden noise and wake her up.

After that, he walked around his car and with just as much gentleness and care he opened the door to the driver’s seat and sat in. Adjusting the car’s air conditioner, Elijah drove them back to Seraphina’s mansion, oblivious to the fact that the Grayson family was once again going to be the topic of the town but the subject was going to be a different Grayson.

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Marcus, William, and Daniel were having drinks in the basement of the Grayson family mansion that served as entertainment and game room. the massive space was divided into various sections dedicated to different games, it had a spacious lounge area with a restaurant like bar, a home theatre and even an indoor swimming pool.

The three business partners and partners in crime, were discussing about the recent misfortunes and setbacks that they have experienced with a span of a single month. Everything that has happened so far made them feel like it was intentional instead of being an unfortunate coincidence.

They were sure that there was someone out there who wanted to cause them harm and has been using such dirty tricks to make their lives difficult but they had no idea who that person could be.

“I agree, all this cannot be a coincidence. Even after using all of my power and our combined power and influence, we still have not been able to locate the other driver who caused Ethan’s accident and also the person who leaked his sex tapes in public. This means that the enemy is more powerful and influential than us.” commented Daniel while taking a sip of whiskey.

“Even Caroline has been acting weird. She’s been saying that she is seeing things and feels like someone is watching her all the time.” added William while pouring another drink for himself.

“What?’ Marcus did not know about this and neither did Daniel, “What made her feel like that? Was it because of the photos and videos that Ethan handed over to the media?”

Daniel made a point to mention Ethan’s name in conjunction with Caroline’s scandal and in response was subjected by similar glares from Marcus and William.

Raising his hand in surrender, Daniel continued to drink his alcoholic beverage while Marcus asked the same question that Daniel had earlier, “What made her feel like that? Did she mention something particularly suspicious or definitive?”

William did not care if Marcus thought that Caroline was started to loose her mental stability because he knew that Marcus was not going to be concerned about getting his son married to a girl who seems to be on the verge of insanity.

Marcus wanted one thing and that was money. Money, that Caroline had so William did not hesitate to tell Marcus and Daniel, “She says that someone has been leaving her certain messages and gifts without her knowledge. And when I went to check on, there was nothing. It is as if someone is playing with her mind.”

Daniel hid his smirk behind the glass of whiskey while Marcus frowned, his grip tightening on the glass in his hand, “We need to find this person before they create another unfortunate mess for her. I have a feeling that it is going to be bigger and crazier that this one.”

Sighing, he leaned back on the couch and tilted his head backward so that he was staring at the ceiling, “I feel like this is just the teaser, the whole picture is yet to be released.”

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While Ethan was in his room, locked up like a criminal, jailed in his own house. Marcus did not even let him keep any of his electronic devices except for the television and music player in his room, Caroline, on the other hand had deliberately locked herself up.

She still had not come out of her room and remained buried under the comforter. She was beginning to feel suffocating, the heat was killing her but she did not remove the comforter, afraid that she would find another message calling her fake.

But when it became unbearable for her and she was not able to breathe properly, Caroline finally made the choice to take the comforter off, She clutched the sides of the comforter with her hands and was about to lift it off but her movement stilled when she heard someone trying to unlock the door to her room from the outside.

Panicked, she hid back again and started yelling, “Who is it? Please go away!”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks unabashed, “I have done nothing wrong so please don’t hurt me! Just go away!” she yelled.

“Caroline, it’s me!” she heard a familiar voice from the other side, “It’s me, Asher, your brother. Open the door, Caroline.” he said while slapping his hand against the door.

“Asher?” Caroline called his name in feeble voice, as if she was trying to assure herself that it was indeed her brother who was calling out for her, “Asher?” she said his name again but in a louder voice and finally took the comforter off her.

Stepping down from the bed, Caroline walked up to the door slowly and asked, “Is it really you, Asher?”

“Yes, Caroline. It is me and I am really concerned for you so please open the door.” Asher responded in a gentle, comforting tone because he did not want to scare his sister, not after what had happened this morning.

Caroline did what she was told to. She opened the door slightly and let Asher come inside. Seeing the condition of the room and his sister, Asher decided to not question her and instead focus on taking care of her.

“It’s okay.” he kept of muttering like a chat as he approached his skittish sister, “I am not going to hurt you and I am not going to let anybody hurt you as well.”

Caroline’s eyes watered hearing her brother’s kind and protective words. Along with many other things, she had also lost the bond she had with her elder brother while transforming into the perfect Miss Caroline Mae Sullivan.

“Ash!” she exclaimed and stepped forward to hug him, “You believe me right?! You know that I was not imagining things and that I was not lying?” she asked for she badly needed someone in her life who would understand her condition, her situation and not judge her without knowing the truth.

“Sshh, relax!” Asher wrapped his arms gently around his sister and began to stroke her sweat soaked hair, “Yes, I believe you, I know that you haven’t been lying.” he murmured softly, “Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine soon.” he assured her.

“Really?” Caroline asked for confirmation while hiding her face in her brother’s chest feeling protected and safe for the first time in the past few days.

“Really.” responded Asher in the same gentle tone but as Caroline wasn’t looking up at him and no one else was in the room except for the two of them, nobody saw the sly smirk curving upon Asher’s lips and the hint of amusement in his eyes.