Chapter 104
Chapter 104
From the darkness Simon asked, voice low and deep, “Then whom do you remember? Who is it you keep in your
heart?”
Elena felt they were speaking entirely different languages, so she simply fell silent.
Simon didn’t return to the office until the following morning.
Before leaving, he arranged for a housekeeper named Mrs. Lewis to look after her.
The morning was blessedly quiet–until just before noon, when Victor Whitmore appeared.
He stepped inside with a wicker basket brimming with fruit swinging from his fingers, fixed his gaze on her and asked, “Feeling any better?”
Elena Bennett frowned. “What are you doing here?”
Victor Whitmore set the basket on the table with a heavy thud and said, “Elena, don’t treat a kind gesture like poison. Pick something–whatever you want–and I’ll peel it for you.”
“I’m bleeding internally; fruit is off–limits.”
Victor stared at the untouched basket, embarrassment flashing across his face.
“Sorry, I forgot. Tell me what you can eat and I’ll go buy it.”
“No, thank you. Did you come for something in particular?”
“Do I need a reason to see you?” Victor asked. “In your eyes am I some heartless monster?”
A derisive curl appeared at the corner of Elena’s mouth.
Elena scoffed inwardly, ‘Heartless? He’s far more terrifying than that.‘
“You’re visiting the wrong patient,” she said coolly.
Victor’s eyes darkened. “Elena Bennett, you really don’t know what’s good for you!”
“Even your own parents are too disappointed to show up,” he continued, voice laden with reproach. “I came because I pitied you, and this is the thanks I get? You’re simply not used to anyone treating you well, are you?”
Elena met his stare without blinking, “Please, who am I to deserve a personal visit from President Whitmore? I’m afraid the honor is wasted on me. You’d better go check on your fiancée instead.”
Victor narrowed his eyes. “Are you jealous, Elena?”
She stared at him, genuinely baffled as to how he could possibly interpret anything she’d said as jealousy.
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Chapter 104
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“Even now you refuse to repent! Because of you, Annie’s living in absolute misery. You only suffered a bit of flesh- wound pain, but her entire future is ruined!”
His accusation sent a surge of rage roaring through Elena’s chest.
A mere flesh wound?‘ she echoed silently.
“A mere flesh wound?” Elena all but shouted. “How about I give that ‘flesh wound‘ to you, Victor? I may loathe Annabelle Bennett, but I would never stoop so low as to hurt her that way!”
“So you’re saying you didn’t leak the video?”
Elena’s eyes turned as cold as a winter gale. “Why don’t you investigate properly, President Whitmore? I had nothing to do with it. If her future is ruined, she brought it on herself. She tried to trap me first–now she’s caught in her own web!”
Victor frowned at her as though seeing a stranger.
He shook his head. “You’ve changed, Elena. You never used to be this vicious. Annie wandered alone for twenty years before reclaiming the life she deserves, and this is how you treat her? How can you be so heartless?”
Elena laughed softly.
‘Changed? They have no idea who forced me into becoming this way,‘ Elena thought, bitterness rising like bile. Anyone else would have died long ago, abandoned in that freezing doghouse; I survived–even if it meant choking down swill–just so I could watch every one of them weep.’
“Exactly–I’m vicious,” she said with a jagged smile. “So why are you still here? Listen carefully, Victor Whitmore: I don’t just hate Annabelle. I hate you, too. I wish you pair of mongrels would both drop dead!”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.