Previously
Eleanora intervenes when a persistent suitor named Borker harasses Clara at her shop, leading Clara to claim she already loves someone. Later, Clara teases Eleanora about her trust in Julian, nearly prompting Eleanora to confess her own hidden feelings before Clara abruptly ends the conversation.
Owen jerked upward, looking as if he might leap out of his skin in shock.
Owen was a kind man, but he was hardly the sort to act with such familiarity toward someone in his employ.
Even Owen had harbored that suspicion for a fleeting moment.
In the end, Emily burst into tears. Owen’s face went even paler.
Owen kept repeating that it wasn’t what she thought, but he couldn’t offer a convincing excuse. How could Emily possibly believe him?
When he finally saw her weeping and pushing his hand away, his heart twisted with anxiety.
This was a time when she needed to be exceedingly careful; what if she collapsed from the strain?
Owen squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Miss Eleanora, I’m sorry.’
He had promised to keep it a secret until he died. But he had no choice.
Her eyes swollen from crying, Emily looked at him in shock.
Before her gaze could sharpen into one that accused, ‘So you really were betraying me?’, he laid everything out.
Emily asked with a face full of disbelief. Owen nodded.
Hearing that low voice out of nowhere, Owen spun around in panic.
Killian’s sunken, exhausted eyes gleamed terrifyingly.
( ‘Oh, heavens.’ )
The moment Owen let out a gasp, Killian demanded sharply,
When Owen failed to give a clear answer, Killian turned without hesitation.
He stormed off with furious strides that bordered on a run.
When Owen rushed to catch up, Killian threw a sharp glare over his shoulder. Owen froze where he stood, while Killian pressed on.
Emily covered her mouth with both hands, fidgeting anxiously.
He wasn’t angry with Emily, but thinking of what would happen next made Owen’s head throb.
At the sudden knocking on the door, Eleanora hurried over and pulled it open.
Eleanora had thought that if she ever faced him again, she would be too mortified to speak, but unexpectedly, she felt no embarrassment at all.
She was simply stunned. In just a matter of days, he looked utterly ruined.
His hair was disheveled, and his fine linen shirt was so rumpled it looked like an old rag, its original form barely recognizable. The buttons were only half-fastened, openly revealing his broad chest.
Yet what shocked her far more than his disheveled appearance… were his eyes.
He had always looked at her as if she were a nuisance, but never before had he fixed her with a gaze that seemed ready to devour her whole.
As Killian moved to step into the clinic, Eleanora quickly stepped aside.
He entered, slammed the door shut behind him, and looked around as if confirming whether anyone was truly there.
Killian simply shifted his eyes, looking down at her.
He exhaled a short breath, then spoke.
Eleanora’s expression froze instantly, cutting short the irritation rising over his rudeness.
Killian ground out each word as though crushing it beneath his teeth.
Eleanora’s bewildered green eyes shook violently.
She didn’t answer, but her reaction was answer enough.
The Adam’s apple in Killian’s throat bobbed. His bloodshot eyes burned with blazing fury.
The veins stood out starkly along Killian’s neck. Eleanora’s eyelids fluttered.
Eleanora shook her trembling head.
Eleanora could say nothing.
Killian’s harsh voice rang through the small clinic. Eleanora remained silent for a long time, while the sound of his ragged breaths filled the cold room.
When his breathing finally began to quiet, she lowered her head.
Killian’s eyes widened.
She drew a labored breath, then went on.
Killian could not tear his eyes away from Eleanora as she stood with her head bowed.
Her voice trembled faintly, yet her hunched back did not shake.
No… she was fighting with all her might not to tremble.
That was why she had always dreaded being exposed.
Yet in the end… what she had feared had come to pass.
Meaning whether he handed her over to the military police or did anything else, she would not blame him and would accept it.
With trembling fingers, Eleanora clutched the hem of her dress, waiting for his answer. Yet no matter how long she waited, she heard no sound from him.
Creeeak—
The clinic’s aged door opened, then closed again.
Eleanora lifted her face, bathed in cold sweat. Staring at the empty spot where Killian had stood only moments before, she released the breath she had been holding.
Then she sank to the floor, collapsing in a heap.
Her mind was crowded with thoughts.
How had Killian discovered the truth in the first place?
Had Owen truly told him? And why would Owen suddenly reveal such a thing to him?
( ‘Lord Blackwell… spoke as though he knew “Elliot”.’ )
The questions were endless.
Yet amid all her doubts, one question drowned out all the rest.
From here on…
‘What does he intend to do with me?’
Just then, the sound of raindrops pattering against the windowpane broke the silence.
Eleanora lifted her head and looked outside.
Shhh—
The rain was coming down in sheets.
And the pouring downpour only gathered strength.
As if intent on drowning the entire world.