When the Everdeen family went bankrupt, I fled from debt, working three jobs a day, barely eating or sleeping, yet still being beaten by creditors. After a phone call, I returned to Kyoto. But it was right when Adrian Collins was about to get engaged. Everyone thought I hadn't given up on Adrian and was back to ruin his engagement with Clara Thorne. “Eleanor, you still haven’t given up?” “Adrian never liked you; he’s always loved Clara.” The warnings, the unprovoked beatings, I could barely catch my breath. And Adrian Collins, the man I once loved beyond measure, merely watched it all, his eyes burning with hatred for me. I sneered, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth. “You’re overthinking it. Not long ago, a mystic told me I’m a lone star, destined for no marriage.” His hand, however, trembled slightly. 1 The train arrived in Kyoto. Stepping out of the station, I immediately saw the tall, imposing figure of Adrian Collins beside a Maybach. He looked impatient waiting. I walked over. “Adrian.” The handsome man paused, surprised. I lowered my head, clenching my hands. I knew he hadn’t expected the thin, impoverished-looking person before him to be Eleanor Everdeen, once the young lady of the Everdeen family. Facing his cold gaze, I forced a smile. “Are you really… Eleanor,” Then, he impatiently corrected himself. “Taking a train instead of flying.” After we got in the car, the compartment remained quiet. He drove in the front. I sat in the back. Three years ago, I used to talk a lot, constantly wanting to be around him. He always wore a cold expression. He disliked me greatly. Now, I rarely speak. Given the chance, I’d rather just curl up and sleep for a while. The car was clean and spacious. In the passenger seat, there was a tiny, small plush toy tucked away. I turned to look out the window. If I wasn’t mistaken, that seat now exclusively belonged to his fiancée, Clara Thorne. When I first got in the car, I had intended to sit in the passenger seat, but realizing my mistake, I immediately retracted my hand. 2 I pursed my lips tightly. I don’t know when it started, but I was always afraid, so afraid that even my own breathing felt like it might disturb someone. “Don’t you have anything to ask?” I turned my head, meeting Adrian’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I…” Ask what? I really don’t seem to have anything to ask, or rather, I’m not interested in anything anymore. “Adrian…” He immediately cut me off. “Just call me by my name. We’re not that close. You’re only back because Grandma is seriously ill and wants to see you. Don’t try to claim kinship.” My lips froze in mid-air. Soon, though, I nodded. “Is Grandma Collins very ill?” He didn’t answer, but his expression tightened a little, the meaning clear. I clenched my hands, wondering, are all the people who genuinely cared for me in this world leaving? 3 When I arrived, Grandma Collins was in a deep sleep. I sat beside her, numerous machines attached to her. I held her hand, warming it with my body heat. She finally showed a slight reaction, gently squeezing my hand back. “Grandma Collins.” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. “Butler, take her to wash up first.” After being on the train for over thirty hours, Adrian was clearly tired of seeing me like this. Looking at the spacious bathtub, I lost myself in thought. “Miss Everdeen, you can take off your clothes now.” I was startled. “Aunt Sarah, please step out for a moment.” The memory felt distant. Aunt Sarah was good at scrubbing backs; as a child, I often pestered her to help me. She closed the door behind her. My hand, reaching to remove my clothes, paused. “Young Master, Miss Everdeen said she'd wash herself, no need for me to scrub her back.” “Hmph, keep an eye on her. She looks like she crawled out of a mud pit.” I was stunned for two seconds. I took off my clothes. The mirror immediately revealed the crisscrossing scars on my body. My hand slowly moved down, resting on my waist, on the centipede-like knife scar. It still hurt a lot. After all, a forced liver transplant had been performed here. A shabby clinic. So much pain. So much pain. 4 After washing, I walked out, almost colliding with Adrian. I quickly stepped back and looked up. He looked down with cold eyes. “Don’t you have any better clothes? Eleanor, are you deliberately dressing so shabbily so Grandma will pity you when she wakes up?” I was momentarily dazed. “Sorry, I didn’t bring any better clothes, but these are very clean.” Aunt Sarah was surprised. “These clothes don’t look too big, Miss Everdeen. How do they look so oversized on you?” I looked up. Adrian also watched me coldly. I smiled. “I overdid my diet a bit. I’ll regain the weight in a few days.” Aunt Sarah was astonished: “Dieting, you mean?” Just then, Adrian’s phone rang. He took it out. We both glimpsed the caller ID: Clara. A gaze instantly fell on me. Adrian had already answered. “Adrian, do you want to have dinner together tomorrow night?” “Tomorrow night, fine.” I stepped out, heading down the hallway. Only a few sconces were lit, the light not very bright. Standing there, however, I felt more at ease. Once upon a time, I preferred dimmer places to bright ones, as if I could hide myself, remain unnoticed. Inside the bedroom, the call wasn’t over yet. Compared to how he used to barely answer my calls, or how cold he was when he did, Adrian was completely different with Clara Thorne. But all these things happened three years ago, and still, whenever I think of them, I feel a chill run through me. I didn’t understand. Three years ago, I was desperate, my head bleeding, yet he refused to even temporarily take me in at the Collins family home. With my father’s nearly ten million in debt, I was pushed into an endless abyss. Unable to live, unable to die. 5 Adrian walked out. Our eyes met. His gaze pierced through me. “Ever since you came back, you seem to be heavily preoccupied. Are you really planning something, incapable of changing your ways?” “What?” I completely didn’t understand what he was talking about. “You’re overthinking it. I’m just wondering which room I’ll be sleeping in tonight.” “Indeed, you’ll never change. If I can’t see through a liar like you, then I don’t deserve to be the CEO of Collins Group.” His eyes were fiercely intense, capable of seeing through everything. I took a step back. “Adrian, can I still call you Adrian? I don’t mean anything else; I just feel it’s a respectful way to address you.” “And I hope you can rest assured, whatever I might be thinking, it has nothing to do with you, nor will I yearn for what I shouldn’t.” He closed in on me, grabbing my throat. “Is that so? You used to be very good with your words, only to turn around and cause trouble for Clara.” “Eleanor, you’re the most two-faced person I’ve ever met.” I struggled to breathe, falling into extreme agony. I was only released when my eyes rolled back. “Cough…” I leaned against the wall, watching him with red-rimmed eyes, wanting to say, did you really investigate? But what came out was merely. “Perhaps I should stay elsewhere. I’ll come see Grandma tomorrow.” I leaned against the wall, heading downstairs, my legs weak. After a few steps, I was pulled back. “What’s with the act? When Grandma wakes and sees you, you can leave when the time is right.” He strode downstairs, quickly leaving the old mansion. 6 The next day, Grandma Collins was lucid for a while. She held my hand, repeatedly calling out, “Sweetheart.” I turned my head, wiping away tears. “Grandma, you must get well. You haven’t accompanied Eleanor to watch the sunset yet.” Grandma just smiled, offering no response. Soon, she fell back into a deep coma. Grandma didn't wake up for a long time. My body couldn’t hold up, so I went back to my room for a nap. I was woken by a commotion in the hall. I came out. Facing away, a perfect couple, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, stood in the hall. “Adrian, where’s Eleanor?” The man turned sideways. Clara Thorne looked at me, stunned, “Eleanor?” She came over and took my hand: “Eleanor, it really is you. You’re so thin now.” I looked down and saw the emerald green imperial jade bracelet on her fair wrist. This was the Collins family’s heirloom bracelet; Grandma Collins passed it to Adrian’s mother, who had now given it to Clara Thorne. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you speaking?” Suddenly, a sharp, warning gaze shot my way. Adrian had always been unwilling to let her suffer even a little grievance. I forced a smile. “Are you going to see Grandma Collins? She’s upstairs.” She looked up. “Okay, I’ll be down later. Adrian and I have a restaurant booked tonight. You should come with us too.” Clara Thorne went upstairs with hurried steps. In the hall, I turned my head away, avoiding that warning gaze. But still, I couldn’t help but ask. “Are you getting married soon?” He sneered: “You’re quite concerned about these things, still claiming you’re not plotting anything?” “Eleanor, I’m warning you, if you dare to hurt Clara again, I’ll make sure you die without a burial place.” My breath caught, even feeling painful, but in the end, I just said lightly. “You really overestimate me; I don’t have that capability at all.” 7 In the evening, I didn’t go to dinner with them. Instead, I told Aunt Sarah I was going out to work. Penniless. The debt collectors, if I didn't pay them for a day, I would be brutally beaten. I had no choice. I went to a bar and worked as a server. But just as I left the bar, the debt collectors caught up to me and snatched the money. “Leave me some, I need to take a ride.” I grabbed the person leaving. He turned, kicking me viciously. “You earned so little, and you want me to leave you some?” I lay on the ground. My whole body convulsed with pain. “Pah.” “Don’t forget, we let you come back to borrow money from the Everdeen family to pay off your father’s debt to us.” “Otherwise, you know, you wouldn’t have made it back alive.” Another kick landed on my face. I lay helplessly on the ground. At this moment, I truly wished I were dead. 8 By the time I walked back to the Collins family estate, it was three in the morning. Aunt Sarah, woken from her sleep, opened the door for me and gasped: “Miss Everdeen, what happened to you?” I raised a hand to cover my face. “Nothing, I fell.” Exhausted, I was about to go back to my room to sleep. But a tall figure came down the stairs. I had already sensed who it was, and just wanted to quickly retreat to my room. He hadn’t stayed here last night, why was he here now? “Stop.” I tried to stand in the dimmer light, turning back. “Is there something wrong?” He narrowed his eyes, then took a swift step forward. I was held. “What happened to your face?” His presence was too overwhelming; I grew very nervous and dared not look at him. “I… I fell.” “Fell? Where did you run off to late at night, and you’re only back now, almost dawn?” His grip was strong, and his gaze was menacing. He wore only a black silk pajama, yet it exuded a chilling, captivating aura. I struggled, but he wouldn’t let go. I was already in so much pain, and with him not letting go, I felt like I was being crushed. I don’t know where I found the courage, but I stood on tiptoes, leaning closer to him. “Adrian, are you worried about me? Are you concerned?” His eyes suddenly narrowed. Before I could open my mouth again, I was shoved away. “Shut up, a scheming person like you, is anyone worth caring about?” I was thrown against the wall, my back hitting it again, feeling like my bones were coming apart. I stood in the shadows, watching him turn and stride away. My eyes filled with confusion.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "410877", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel