The First Draft

Chapter 17

The guy named Aiden looked at Spencer and then Eleanor. He said,"Eleanor! Long time no see. Who is this friend with you?"

Eleanor was still shocked to answer. So, Spencer answered,"I am Spencer. Her colleague."

Aiden simply nodded. This time,Eleanor spoke,"You are back! I thought you went to Vietnam."

He smiled sadly,"I have some work here."

She asked again,"How are you? How is my sister?" His expression changed to anger,"Shouldn't you know that? Allison is your sister, Eleanor. Oh, wait! How would you know that when you ousted her out of the house?"

Eleanor felt guilty but still she was not someone who would show her weakness infront of others."I didn't oust her out. You know that well. Allison went out of the house because she wanted to."

Spencer did not have a clue about what was going on. He was looking back and forth." Should I even be here? Should I leave?"He thought. "But, right now, I need to stay beside Eleanor." Despite feeling uncomfortable, he stayed.

Aiden rolled his eyes,"Sure.." But before he could say anything else,Eleanor cut him off,"Just shut up! Don't say a word! Only i will speak." She made a close your mouth sign with her hand as if she was closing a zip. Her eyes were burning with anger .This was enough to make Aiden scared.

She took a deep breath,"You were the one who told my sister that you will give her a deal. You told her that you will make her a model." She airquoted the word model."You were the one who helped her escape. So, don't you dare blame me! You are the culprit. And now you have the audacity to show yourself before me. I thought you were my friend."

Spencer was confused,"Model? But Eleanor told that her sister was an artist. What's going on?" He remembered that he asked Eleanor about his siblings once. He was sure that Eleanor mentioned that her sister was an artist.

Aiden tried to defend himself,"Listen that.."

Eleanor stopped him again,"I am not finished. Then, you manipulated my brother and made him do a risky work. He's still in rehab! Not only that, you also worked with Henry."

Aiden said,"I am sorry, Eleanor. I am really sorry. If you would just listen to me.." She put her hand up and made a stop sign.

But Aiden didn't listen,"No. I actually wanted to say sorry to you and your parents." She replied,"Then, maybe you should go to my parents first."

She didn't realise before that Spencer was still there. She grabbed his arm and started to walk in a different direction. She whispered,"I am so sorry you had to witness that." He said in a soft voice,"Things happen... its alright." He looked at her hand. She immediately removed her hand from his arm.

It was almost evening now. Spencer turned to her,"So, I guess it's time.."

She said in a low voice,"No. Can we just.. not go home now? There's somewhere I need to go." He simply nodded. She was feeling down but he had no idea what to do.

She took him to a park .The sun was nowhere to be seen. The moon was hidden behind clouds. It was completely dark now. The only source of light was the lightpost beside the park. The entrance was closed with chains. She simply jumped over the chains. He did the same. It looked like she had done this before too.

She sat on a swing and gestured him to sit on the swing beside her. He sat on the swing next to her. Cold wind was blowing . They kept silent. Suddenly, she spoke,"I am sorry."

He looked at her. Being hurt, he asked,"Why?" He felt betrayed. He couldn't understand why she would lie.

She took a deep breath. She started speaking,"I didn't lie about the whole inheritance thing. But, I lied about my sister Allison. She didn't want the inheritance. She wanted to be a model but my grandmother was against it. I talker to her- I really did." She stopped. A drop of tear fell from her eyes.

She continued,"But..but she didn't listen. My uncle,Henry used this as his advantage. He used my best-friend Aiden," Spencer understood her hatred from the way she said Aiden. "He helped my sister to run away. He helped her to turn her back on us. Not only that, Henry, my uncle bribed him to harm my brother. My brother,Andros, was a state level swimmer...." Eleanor couldn't control her tears anymore.

She started crying. Spencer looked at her with hurt in his eyes. He had no idea what to do.

She wiped her tears with the sleeves of her dress and continued,"Aiden tampered with Andros's equipment. He became severely injured. He is still in rehab now. My sister doesn't even talk to us anymore. She has cut all of her ties with us."

Her expression changed. Though she was still crying, it seemed like she was burning with anger. Her eyes seemed like fire. She said,"All of this is because of Henry. That's why, I have decided on my 28th birthday...I will.. I will expose him. I will tell everyone what he did. He did money laundering in our company.His corrupted nature will be revealed to all. I will destroy him."

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her hand. She realised that it was Spencer. He looked at her with a soft look in his eyes. She caressed her hair. She couldn't control anymore and started crying. He slowly patted her head.

In a gentle voice,he said,"You are really strong, very strong."

This made her break into tears completely. She started crying badly. He continued to pat her head. She tried to wipe her tears but it didn't work.

She said,in a weak voice,"Stop patting my head, it's making me cry more."

He smiled softly. "Sometimes,you have to let it go,Eleanor."

The way he said Eleanor gave a kind of reassurance to her. She was not alone anymore.