The Heiress's Revenge - A Bloody Affair - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: [66 – The Seed of Doubt]
After comforting Seraphina and making sure that she was not crying, Elijah began inspecting her of any injuries and noted with burning anger the scratches on her arms that were definitely nail marks. There was dried blood at the corner of her lips, her cheek red in color and swollen slightly. Seraphina’s hair were messed up, a clear indication that someone had tried to pull her back by her hair.

Elijah bit the inside of his cheek, trying to reign in his anger because right now Seraphina needed him and she also needed his love, care, and attention the most and not his anger. Simmering down his rage, Elijah smoothed her hair as much he could using gentle hands, “Feeling better?” he asked, his soft tone laced with concern.

Seraphina nodded, her arms still lopped around his waist and her head resting against his chest, “Better.” she replied but did not move away from him.

Elijah wanted to remain like this, holding her close and safe in his arms but her wounds needed to be tended to otherwise they might get infected. Slowly and vey tenderly pushing her away from his. Seraphina looked up at him, her brows drawn closer in a frown not liking be pushed away from him.

Elijah cradled her face in his hands and said, “Sera, I need to apply medicine on your wounds and for that you have to let me go, okay. I will just go and grab the first aid box and be right back. Okay?”

Seraphina nodded, still frowning. Elijah ran his fingertips over her frown, soothing it away before he leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering there for a few seconds before he finally pulled back.

His gaze met Seraphina’s and he knew that he could not leave her here, not after what happened with her in this particular, dingy room. He sighed and unbuttoned his jacket only to drape it over Seraphina’s shoulder covering her exposed front.

He made a quick call to Ethan and told him to book a room in his name as quickly as he can. While Elijah waited for Ethan to arrive with the key card, Seraphina continued to watch him, observing him keenly.

For some reason that she could not comprehend, Seraphina felt her heart flutter after seeing the softness in Elijah’s eyes for her, the tender way that he touched her and took care of her. It did not seem to be pretentious or fake.

In fact, his care, his behavior felt so genuine that it disturbed her to the core. She had not expected this for she believed that she meant nothing but just another plaything to Elijah. Seraphina had a strong belief that Elijah was only interested and intrigued by her at the moment and that is why he was with her.

She was of the opinion that once Elijah had his full, that once he became bored of her, he would leave her on his own. And this is exactly why she was planning to rush up a few things to make sure that she has him in her control, his strings in her hand before he grows bored of her.

But now, from God knows where, a tiny seed of doubt had began to establish its roots in her mind.

It was perhaps after she heard him tell about all the good things about his family. She did not know if actually believed in that or if he was lying but the conviction with which he had spoken, and since that day continued to tell her about all the good deeds that his family had done, made Seraphina think if Elijah was really not aware of the true colors of each of his family members.

There were things and points that implied towards this, like, Elijah being away from his family for the most years of his life. He was not around when her family was murdered and she was taken into captivity.

Secondly, all the proofs that they had against Elijah only claimed that he was at fault but nothing was proven. She did not get to actually meet his victims to confirm if these claims were true. The only information she had was from the police files, the court proceedings, the reports from investigating journalists, the suicide note of one of the victims, and a few confessions.

But was that really enough?

Seraphina did not know why she was questioning herself. Why now? What changed?

She might not have witnessed Elijah being a part of all the crimes that have been registered against him but that does not mean that he did not do that, right?

‘But it also does not mean that he actually did it.’ a voice in her head said.

Feeling perplexed, Seraphina decided to reinvestigate everything after eliminating the assumption that Elijah was evil because he was a Grayson. The time that she had spent with Elijah so far made her feel otherwise and Seraphina wanted to make sure that she was right about Elijah being a bad guy.

Only after that would she able to quieten these voices in her head that favored Elijah and spoke for him. Seraphina was so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice when Ethan came to hand over the key card to Elijah.

All of them were still attending the New Year’s party, keeping the incident with Seraphina a secret so as to not create a panic or a ruckus amongst the guests and to avoid being in the headlines once again.

After Ethan left, Elijah turned to look at Seraphina who was lost in her thoughts but Elijah assumed that she was in shock because of the sexual assault attempt. Not wanting to scare her, Elijah approached her carefully, and called out her name, “Sera?”

His voice snapped Seraphina out of her thoughts. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes that triggered an old memory of Elijah’s. Suddenly, he was back in that forest behind the farmhouse that belonged to the Sullivan family.

He was standing in front of the 5 years old Caroline who had gotten lost in the forest because of Ethan and was found by him sitting under a tree. Elijah recalled that Caroline had looked up at him exactly as Seraphina did just now.

The similarity between Caroline and Seraphina’s eyes and their gaze resurfaced in his mind once again, asking him the question that he had almost forgotten about.

Shaking these irrelevant thoughts off his mind, Elijah placed his hand on the side of her head and asked, “Let’s go from here, hhmm?” he needed her permission first to touch her, to hold her and to take her with him.

He did not want to scare her because he had seen how Emma had reacted in the initial years after that altercation with Blake that left her mortally wounded.

Seraphina nodded her head, giving him the permission that he needed. Elijah smiled and bent down to wrap his arms around her body. He asked her once again if she was comfortable with this and only after she nodded positively, Elijah pulled her up and in his arms in a bridal carry.

Seraphina’s arm looped around his neck on instinct, her gaze never leaving his face while Elijah walked out of that bloody room. He walked through the corridor, to the private lift, and all the way to the penthouse suite.

All the way, Seraphina could not move her gaze away from Elijah. She was astonished by the utmost gentleness and concern that he was handling her. This was not how the criminals treated their victims, this was not how a molester, a rapist, or an abuser would treat their victim.

Elijah’s actions, his reactions, and his behavior matched more of a savior. His actions reflected such concern that could only be seen in those who help victims of abuse and assault. Her heart pounded in her chest, beating at an unnatural pace that told the story of the complicated emotions that had her doubt herself.

Did she make a mistake in recognizing Elijah?

Did she wrongfully accuse him of being a criminal, a culprit just because he is her enemy’s son?

Was she too quick to judge him?

Seraphina could not tolerate being bombarded by all these questions that shook her belief system. They made her doubt herself and it was not a good feeling. Unable to understand her emotions, and unable to comprehend what was happening with her, Seraphina chose to remain quiet and let Elijah do what he wanted to.

She just continued to observe him and his actions when he chose to stay right outside the washroom while she changed. She tried to develop an understanding of him without any bias as he treated her wounds, wincing every time he would touch her wounds, or apply medicine on them.

It seemed as if he was in pain while she was the one who had those physical wounds. Unable to hold it any longer, Seraphina placed her hand on Elijah’s cheek, grabbing his attention and asked, “Who are you?”

“What?” asked Elijah, looking at her with concern shining in his eyes along with the tears that had made their way there on seeing the wounds on Seraphina’s body.