Chapter 64 Lost Your Mind?
When Eleanor returned, she was carrying a bag.
“What’s this?” Tyler asked.
“It’s the ointment,” Eleanor said. “You should give it to Chris. It’d be better coming from you.”
Tyler didn’t take it right away. He looked at Eleanor for a moment before asking, “Is this what you went out for?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Don’t get the wrong idea. If we don’t deal with this, they’ll just keep coming back. The instructions are
in there too. The pharmacy was happy to help once I paid them. Making the ointment is the biggest hassle; they even offer pre–made decoctions usually. If I went, it would just cause more drama. So, it’s better if you go.”
Tyler looked slightly annoyed. “Meddling.”
Despite his comment, he took the bag from Eleanor.
Tyler found Chris and tossed the bag to him. “This is from Eleanor. Handle your own problems from now on. Stop bothering her.”
Chris stared at the containers of ointment, his expression unreadable. “Tyler,” he said, “just tell me, is Eleanor making you play along with some act?”
Tyler laughed. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you don’t like her, and she doesn’t like you,” Chris insisted. “She’s only pretending to care about me like this to get my attention. Tyler, tell me you two are just pretending. She still loves me, right?”
Tyler scoffed. “Chris, you know what they say- ‘Affection shown too late is worthless.‘ No, maybe it’s not even affection. It’s your ego. You can’t accept that Eleanor doesn’t want you anymore.”
Chris clenched his fists. Even if that thought crossed his mind, he’d never admit it, especially not the flicker of regret he felt.
“Tyler, go tell Eleanor that whatever games she’s playing, I won’t fall for it,” Chris declared. “I don’t regret marrying Serena. Don’t think anything she does will make me regret it. Never gonna happen.”
Tyler stared at Chris like he’d grown a second head. “Chris, I seriously think you should go get a brain scan.*
Chris looked back, confused, not understanding what Tyler meant.
Tyler didn’t hold back. “Get checked out. See if you’ve lost your mind or maybe had a minor stroke or something. How else could you possibly think that?”
“It’s because everyone knows Eleanor wouldn’t break up with me,” Chris retorted, clenching his fists again. “Everyone around me always said she loved me, that she’d do anything for me.”
“So that gave you the right to treat her like dirt?” Tyler shot back coldly. “Do anything‘? That’s putting it mildly. Sounds more
doormat, no self–respect, just taking whatever crap you dished out.”
like being a complet
Chris lowered his gaze, unable to meet Tyler’s eyes. “So Eleanor told you? Figures. She just wants revenge. Doesn’t she know why I treated her like that? If she hadn’t kept bullying Serena, I wouldn’t have started hating her!”
“Whether Eleanor actually did anything or not,” Tyler countered, “even if she had bullied Serena, what business was it of yours? What exactly was your relationship back then?”
Faced with Tyler’s sharp question, Chris seemed to deflate.
“You’d already moved on,” Tyler continued relentlessly. “In your eyes, everything Eleanor did was wrong. Even things she didn’t do, you pinned on her just because Serena said so. After all that, how can you possibly expect Eleanor to stick around?”
“It wasn’t like that!” Chris protested weakly.
“Then how was it?” Tyler demanded.
“I couldn’t tolerate my fiancée being such a cruel person,” Chris said, nodding as if convincing himself. “Yeah, that’s it. Even if it wasn’t Serena, if Eleanor treated anyone else like that, I wouldn’t stand for it.”
Tyler scoffed again. “Which brings me back to suggesting you get your head checked. And no, Eleanor isn’t acting. She’s just done with you.“Eleanor Donovan
“Tyler, I know it’s your business,” Chris started, shifting tactics, “but haven’t you considered that Eleanor might have ulterior motives for marrying you? Besides, she’s still tangled up with some other guy. Tyler, I don’t want to see you get played.”
Tyler just shook his head. “Chris, you really have lost your mind.”
When Tyler returned, Eleanor asked casually, “Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah,” Tyler said. “I really don’t know what you ever saw in him.”
Eleanor looked surprised. “Did he get under your skin?”
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Chapter 64 Lost Your Mind?
“He’s so arrogant, always thinks he’s right, Tyler replied. “How did you put up with someone like that for so long?”
“That’s why I cut my losses,” Eleanor said. “Thinking back, I don’t get what I liked about Chris either. Maybe it was just the whole childhood sweethearts thing, the engagement tying us together. But speaking of that, why didn’t you make a move back then? If I’d had another option, maybe I would have reconsidered
“I agree, I held back too much,” Tyler admitted. “But I have my pride too. What would people say if word got out 1 stole my nephew’s girlfriend? Wouldn’t look good, would it?”
Eleanor laughed. “Since when do you care about appearances?”
Tyler chuckled softly. “You know I don’t.”
“On another note,” Tyler continued, “having Angust stay here… an outsider in the house… it felt a bit awkward. So gave him a key card and moved him out.”
“A key card? To one of your company’s hotels?” Eleanor asked.
“Yeah,” Tyler confirmed. “I told him it was all on the house. According to the hotel manager, he actually stuck to the deal the first day. But I’ve already had the bill forwarded to his mother.”
Eleanor knew a little about Angust’s family, but not the details. Just that his mother was the daughter of someone important in the Capital, had gone into business, and was a well–known entrepreneur. His father was in politics, having worked under that important figure in his younger days.
She’d picked this up from Angust’s own bragging. He’d even said, “If you guys ever run into trouble, just come to me. There s nothing I can’t handle.”
No one had bothered to check if Angust was telling the truth or just full of hot air. They’d just laughed it off at the time.
“I also told his mother,” Tyler added, “that her son was constantly bothering my wife, and that Eleanor was too polite to tell him off. I suggested she might want to rein him in.”
“You said that?” Eleanor asked. “What if she’s fiercely protective of him? Won’t that just backfire on me?”
“It’s just a probe,” Tyler explained. “I want to see what kind of person she is. That way, I can anticipate if she might cause trouble for you. Angust has a fiancée, you know. A good match, socially. The girl’s an actress, but from a prominent family. Her name is Lila Vance.”
“Oh, I know her,” Eleanor said. “She’s pretty famous, but very selective about her roles – no kissing scenes, nothing too revealing. There were rumors about her background being serious, that no one dared to try any funny business with her.”
“From what I hear,” Tyler said, “Angust isn’t actually into her.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Eleanor said dismissively, then paused as realization dawned. “You don’t think… he’s trying to use me as some kind of shield to push her away, do you?”
