Chapter 28 TRIP TO PARIS

         The chauffeur drove Ethan and Eleanor back home, and they sat in complete silence inside the car. As they sat there, El couldn't help but take glances at him now and then as she wondered what ran through his mind. He sat still, and calm and had his normal cold expression on his face. She couldn't tell if he was still upset at the incident that took place at the party, or not, but she didn't dare to ask. She had seen his reaction then and saw the anger in his eyes, but now she couldn't see anything in them anymore, and it made her confused. Should she let her curiosity have the best of her? No! She can't take any chances by saying anything to this man. What she had learned from her short stay with him, was that whenever he was angry, it is best to leave him alone and not involve yourself because if you do, there will be a transfer of aggression.

      Even though she was too afraid to talk to this man, she had many questions to ask him. Questions about Christopher. Is he dead? No! She refuses to believe that. She had to stay positive, and calm. Christopher wasn't dead, she could feel it. There was no way Ethan could've killed him in such a short while. He derived pleasure in torturing people, so he wouldn't just kill Christopher if he wanted to, and he hadn't been out of sight for long, so there was no way he could've tortured him in that short while. She took deep breaths as she tried to clear the negative thoughts from her head and she stared at the moving road outside the car. It also helped to calm her. 

       Soon, they arrived at the mansion, and the chauffeur stopped right in front of the building. The doorman who stood in front of the building waiting for them opened the door to the part of the car on which she sat, and she got out of the car. When she got out, she looked at Ethan who still sat comfortably inside the car without looking in her direction with a 'aren't you getting out of the car' look, before stepping aside for the doorman to close the door. She walked to the stairs that led to the building where pennywort and other maids stood waiting for them but turned in the direction of the car when she heard the engine turn on to see if Ethan had already alighted the car, but instead saw the car drive off with him still sitting inside. 

       She was confused as she stared at the moving car until it was out of sight. She couldn't tell how she felt at that point. Relieved? Angry? Well she knew there was some tension between them and she couldn't afford to stay under the same roof with him for the night, but was she so irrelevant to him that he couldn't even tell her that he wasn't going to spend the night at home? Even if he was mad at her, at least he should've said something.

       She stopped staring at the car when it was out of sight and walked into the building. El went straight to her room and when she got inside, she fell on the bed with a slight thud. All she wanted to do at this point was to sleep. She was exhausted from everything that happened this evening, and she couldn't wait for the day to be over. When she looked at the clock close to her bed, it was a few minutes past eleven, 11:02 pm to be precise. She sighed as she closed her eyes, and fell asleep unconsciously after a while. 

        A black BMW arrived in front of a hospital, and Ethan got out of it with Max behind him as they walked into the building. Without looking at anyone including the nurses at the counter, he walked into the elevator with Max. A nurse who saw him walk into the building dialed a number immediately. "Sir, Mr. Grayson is here, and he's headed upstairs as we speak," she said when the person picked up. "Thank you for the heads-up," the person on the line said before hanging up.

        The elevator door opened on the first floor of the building, and Ethan got out with Max behind him. Unlike other floors of the building, this floor was built with only one room, with all the hospital facilities inside that single room. "Mr. Grayson," a doctor greeted when he stood close to the door, making Ethan pause as he stared at him walk toward them.

      "Logan," Ethan called out nonchalantly. 

       "It's good to see you again, Sir. I've been expecting your visit for a while now." Logan opened the door for them, and they got inside.

      The place looked like a five-star hotel room. Spacious, well equipped with different branded furniture, and different rooms other than a bedroom, including a beautifully built bathroom. The living room was well decorated in pink colors, alongside all the pieces of furniture inside the room. One wouldn't be able to tell that it is a hospital if the person was blindfolded when coming up here.  

       When they walked to the bedroom, rather than a bed and other beautiful furniture, it was loaded with different machines connected to another tube-like machine shaped like a bed. Blue lights reflected from the machine which is dimly lit to show it was on, and when they got close to it, something or someone rather was inside. It was a girl.

        Her black hair was spread slightly on what looked like a pillow inside the machine. Her eyes were shut, and a glance at her will tell you she is asleep, or maybe unconscious, but she looked peaceful and innocent as she lay inside the tube. Even as she lay there unconscious, she was drop-dead gorgeous. She had beautiful long straight lashes which could be seen clearly as her eyes were shut and a well-defined nose. Her beautiful facial features complimented her well-sculpted round face, making her look so perfect. 

       "Any improvement so far?" Ethan asked as he walked to the machine she lay inside, staring at her.

       "Not yet, Mr. Grayson. Let's just keep hoping that one day, she'll finally respond to treatments, and wake up. That's the only thing we can do for now, Sir," Logan said, standing a few feet away from him.

      Ethan sighed in disappointment. "How long am I gonna keep waiting?"

     "I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that question, Mr. Grayson. I'll be outside in case you need me." He added before walking out of the room. He wasn't dumb to know that Ethan needed some privacy, so he created one for him. Max also bowed and left the room.

        Ethan stood close to the machine as he stared at the girl inside. He hated coming here because he couldn't forgive himself for what he did to her. It was all his fault that she was here, in this hospital room, lying unconscious inside this machine. She never liked hospitals, but now she had spent almost all her youth in this place. She was an adventurous person who liked to travel and try new things every day, and they had planned a whole lot of things to do together, but all their plans were destroyed because of him.

      As he stared at her, memories of everything that happened back then flooded his mind, and he closed his eyes as he massaged his forehead with his thumb and middle finger. He was feeling pain, that excruciating pain in his head again, and he walked to the couch close to the machine on which he sat. He had heard people say time changes everything, and heals past scars, but why wasn't it the same in his case? It still felt like it happened yesterday when many years had passed. Frustrated by how he felt, he walked out of the room.

       When he walked out, the girl's forefinger slightly moved once. 

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      At 7:00 am, Eleanor woke up to her usual routine. It had been three days since Ethan left the house without a word, and he hadn't been back yet, and it was also three days before her engagement party. She stretched her hands in the air as she stared at the four maids who stood close to her bed. 

      "Good morning, Miss Eleanor," they greeted in unison with their usual matching outfits, and she responded with a smile. Standing up sluggishly from her bed, she walked to the bathroom to take her bath, after which, she was dressed by the maids. As they did her makeup, she stared at herself amused at how she had changed. A few weeks back when she lived alone in her suite, she hated invasion of privacy and liked to do things by herself, in her way. She never knew she was going to be this way, waking up with maids to serve her, dress her up just to have breakfast, and she had started enjoying it which is surprising to her. If she was going to go back to her own life after she leaves Ethan, she was going to have to learn to cultivate her old habits back, and it may take a while because she was going to live with Ethan for more than a month, and it takes 90 days to form a lifestyle, and 21 days a habit.

      When they finished applying the makeup on her face, they led her downstairs to the dining room. On arrival, she saw him. He was there, sitting at the table gracefully as he had his meal. Chloe was also there, but she ate in silence. On seeing El, her face lit up. "You're finally here," she said with a smile as she stared at El who felt a little anxious about seeing Ethan but forced a smile. 

       "Good morning Chloe," she greeted as she walked to where she normally sits on the table and sat on it. As she stared at Ethan, he didn't even care about her presence in the room, as he just continued eating his breakfast without even looking at her. "Ethan," she greeted and he looked at her face. Without saying anything to her, he continued having his breakfast as if she didn't exist, leaving her embarrassed as her gaze shifted to her meal, and she started eating it.

       "Won't you at least say hi to her, Ethan?" Chloe asked, making everyone's head at the table turn in her direction. "You left without a word for three days, and you can't even say hi to her? Is it that difficult for you to respond to her greeting? Even you despise her, a simple hi won't kill you, will it?" Chloe added ignoring the signs El gave her to stop talking. She decided at the party after their aunt humiliated her with Vanessa and she didn't stand up for her that she would always speak up for El, even if it cost her her life because if she was in El's shoes, she would have done the same for her. Not standing up for her then was one of the things she regretted not doing in her life, and she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

        "Chloe, it's okay. I'm fine," El said in a very low tone that could only be heard by Chloe, as she touched her arm. Chloe's eyes shifted from Ethan's face to her friend who pleaded with her with fear and concern about what Ethan could do to her, and she walked out of the room hurriedly. El stared at her back as she walked away. She had never seen Chloe that upset before. Her eyes shifted to Ethan, as she stared into the fearful eyes of the man sitting in front of her. She could tell that Chloe's words made him angry, but there was no emotion in his eyes. He still sat calm and graceful as always as if nothing happened, but she wasn't a fool to know that behind that calmness was a raging beast. She stood up from her chair, her eyes still on him as if daring him to do something, earning a smirk, an evil smirk from him, before walking out of the room in search of her friend.

      When she was sure that she had gotten very far from the room and someone in the room couldn't see, or hear anything she does, she let out a deep breath as she tapped continuously on her chest softly. What has she done? Did she just dare the devil? What was she going to do if he decides to punish her? She could hear her heart pounding against her chest. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, and when she looked by her left, she saw Chloe's eyes directly on her and she jerked in fear. 

       "How long have you been there?" 

       "Long enough to see you display your little scared act. You stood up to him, didn't you?"

      "Well, it was more like a daring stare."

       Chloe sighed disappointedly. "Honey, I know my brother can be a jerk at times, but I don't want you to take the things he does to you to heart, because if you do, you might end up hating him. I'm not also his fan, but I don't want you to kill the beautiful light you have shining inside of you because of him. Trust me, I've lived with him for so long to know he isn't a nice person, but I just have this feeling that you can make a difference in his life, one he can't overlook because you're Eleanor, one of the best people I've ever met on my life."

       Tears welled in El's eyes as she heard the beautiful words Chloe said to her. She walked to where she stood and hugged her. She had never felt this happy since she got here. It was as if the universe had brought someone to comfort her at a time like this, and for the first time since she got here, she felt she had someone, someone who cared for her and can do anything for her too. Chloe was a blessing to her, even if she hadn't known her for long. She had always known this since they became friends, but now it was confirmed. 

      "Thank you, Chloe. I love you." 

      "And I love you too." She released El from her embrace and smiled at her which El returned. 

      "I'm sorry for the interruption Miss Eleanor, but the young master wants to see you in his room," pennywort interrupted them as he stood inside the room with both his hands placed behind him. 

      El's heart raced as she heard the information. Why was Ethan looking for her? Did he want to punish her for glaring at him that way? She looked at Chloe terrified and her gaze shifted back to pennywort who waited for her to come with him.