Chapter 7: A lady called Eloise

“ Woah! He looks scary,” the doctor heaved a sigh as soon as he stepped out of the ward.

“ But he is so handsome,” one of the nurses cooed, blushing, earning a side eye from Dr. James.

He made to reply to her when he saw one of his patients’ relative dashing towards him. He smiled and made to greet her, but she dashed right past him without sparing him a glance. James's smile vanished as he turned back to see her race towards her grandfather's VIP ward.

With her heart racing faster than her legs, she ran towards the ward and pushed the door open. Her legs halted on getting to the room, and tears gushed out of her eyes. Lying on the bed motionlessly was her grandfather.

“ Pa!” she cried out and walked briskly to fall on her knees right by the side of the bed. With the mixture of joy and relief, she cried out of her eyes.

“ He's alive, he's still alive,” she chuckled bitterly as she gazed towards the heart monitor and held his warm hands for more confirmation. Her mind remembers how cold they felt against her palm, but now, they feel warm.

The doctor and a nurse strode in just then.

“ Miss Eloise, I mean, Mrs. Cormac,” Dr. James called, smiling as he remembered she was now married.

Eloise turned to look at him, her eyes full of tears, and she remembered the smiling face of Dr. James, who had looked dejected while telling her about her grandfather's death. Another round of tears streamed out of her eyes.

“ You must be so overwhelmed with joy,” he said, smiling.

Eloise nodded, weeping, even though what the doctor meant differed from what Eloise was thinking.

“ I didn't even know the nurse had called you, I was about to call you myself.”

“ Really?”

“ Yes, though it was briefly but I think that's progress, the fact that he was woke up and was awake for about ten minutes is a good sign,”

“ Grandpa woke up?” she asked, looking surprised.

James looked at the nurse and back at her, “The nurse told you.”

She shook her head, sniffling and not letting go of her grandfather's hand.

“ Either way, he woke up, and he left you a message, more like he woke up to tell you something,” Dr. James said, grinning and hinting at her that her grandfather must have missed her as much as she missed him.

“ What did he say?”

“ He said that there's only one second time, make good use of the gift.”

The message sank into her mind, and she covered her mouth with her palm, whimpering.

Seeing her break down that much, the doctor figured that she might need her privacy, but he halted in his tracks and turned back to her.

“ Sorry, Mrs. Cormac, have you perhaps taken his wristwatch? We noticed it was no longer by the side table.”

Eloise looked up at him, slowly bringing her hand down from her mouth.

“ You can't find the watch?”

The doctor nodded.

Not understanding why the watch was suddenly missing, it had never gone missing before, always by the bedside table till the day he died, and it was given to her.

“ Um, I'll check for it, maybe it's with me,” she said, hoping that would dismiss the doctor.

After they left, she turned back to her grandfather, “ Was that a gift from you?” she asked, letting the tears flow out freely, “Was that you saving me?”

She held his wrist tighter and bawled out of her eyes.

“ They took everything from me, Pa, they lied to me, made me love a child that wasn't mine, unable to mourn mine, he betrayed me, he ruined me in every way possible,” she voiced out all her pain, “ I loved the wrong person, I trusted the wrong person.”

She felt her heart shred into pieces as she remembered when she first met him, his charming smile, and jovial personality. It started off as a distant admiration, gradually developing to her heart skipping each time she caught him staring at her, especially when she walked past his desk. And sometimes, when he makes her feel seen.

(Flashback)

Late night in Penafort's private office after a failed board meeting. The media is tearing her apart over a scandal on a failed product, and the board is preparing a vote of incompetence. She was alone, deep in thought, while she bit the tip of her pen until he walked in.

Eloise sits behind her desk, the city skyline cold and distant through the glass. Her hands shake, barely noticeable, except Mason notices everything.

“ You haven't gone home in three days,” he said worriedly,

Without looking up, she replied, “There's no time for weakness.”

Mason walks closer and drops a confidential folder on her desk—proof that a board member she trusted tampered with the product.

He said with a smile, “You were never weak, and I'm always here to help; all you need is to call me.”

“ I don't need your help,” she replied coldly.

Mason knelt on a knee beside her, gently placing his hand on hers.

“ Everyone needs help at some point, even queens.”

The silence stretches. Her voice, when it comes, is quiet, strained.

“ I'm on the verge of losing my company, I…”

“ Shh…you're not losing your company.”

She looks at him, getting wrapped with the warmth that melts her heart, and for the first time, Eloise lets someone see her scared. After she opens the folder, her heart opens a lock towards him.

(End of Flashback)

Eloise shut her eyes tight, her memories now tainted with schemes and betrayal. She wept as she remembered another memory, which was when he saved her life.

( Flashback)

At a worksite, she visited to inspect the progress on a major project when a pile of iron fell from the second floor, targeting her. While everyone jumped out of the way, it was almost too late by the time she saw it, but Mason jumped, pushing her out of the way and nearly getting struck.

Later, when they were safe alone by the car, with her body still a little shaken up by the incident, she stared at him in surprise and concern.

“ Why did you do that? You could have gotten hit,”

“ But I didn't,” he said, smiling, “ and I couldn't watch you get hurt,”

“Why?”

“ I just couldn't.”

( End of flashback)

‘ But all that were lies,’ she muttered as she whimpered beside the bed and let out a bawl in her eyes for almost an hour till there was nothing to shed anymore.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her eyes got darker, her lips tightened, and her hands curled into a tight fist.

“ But it's not over,” she gritted her teeth, “ this is my chance, my opportunity, to make your life a living hell. For the loss, for Alisha, for the betrayal, for the lies.”

Her eyes flared with fire, with rage, and a taste for vengeance. Her fingers dug into her palm as she said,

“ I promise you, you'd wish you'd never met a lady called Eloise Stewart.”