Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Eleanor that Chris a frosty look. “Don’t use that tone when you talk to me
Chris just stood frozen for a moment, then shook his head slowly. “Ha way. If you were that good at chese, why did you hise 117”
Tyler chimed in with a macking tone, “Chris, you always thought the chess club president didn’t like you because she was my fangirl But actually che went to Fleanor and asked her to join the club. But Eleanor refused for your sake. She didn’t want to expose her skills because the knew it was furt
your pride”
He tilted his head. “That president… wasn’t she also your class president? What was her name again?”
“Aileen Miles
“Yeah, that’s her. You guys have a class reunion coming up, right? Chris, you’re going, aren’t you? Why not ask her then why she didn’t like you?”
Chris looked surprised for a split second, but quickly pulled himself together.
“None of that matters. The past is the past,” Chris said quietly. “Eleanor, I only ask that you don’t hurt Serena ”
“Sure, as long as she doesn’t try to mess with me first,” Eleanor replied. “Is her life worth more than mine?”
“You can’t just throw out accusations without proof,” Chris snapped. “If what she said was real, why didn’t you report it to the police? Because you knew it couldn’t count as evidence. Eleanor, I’m not that easy to manipulate.”
Not wanting to stay a second longer, he turned and left.
Eleanor scoffed, “Just goes to show, the truth doesn’t matter, it’s whatever he thinks is true that counts.”
“Don’t mind him. No one will bother us now. Time to get some sleep,” Tyler leaned in.
“No.” Eleanor pulled Tyler back over to the chessboard. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you going easy on me. You just want Chris to find out what happened back then. Too bad, he still won’t believe it.”
“I’m not letting you win, seriously. You’re just better than me.” Tyler put on a humble face. “You have no idea. Back when you didn’t join the chess club, your class president ran into me and totally chewed me out.”
“She scolded you? Why?” Eleanor looked surprised. “You were a campus celebrity back then, and half the girls had a crush on you. Why would she go after you?”
“She said the Langford family must’ve produced an idiot, and blamed me for not doing my job as your elder.” Tyler’s expression turned serious. “She could tear into someone when she wanted.”
Eleanor nodded. “Yeah, that’s her all right.”
She remembered that Aileen once thought she was gold–digging by clinging to the Langford family. Then Aileen found out Eleanor’s background, and it made her angrier.
She said, “You’re smart, you’ve got a good family. Even without Chris, you could have any guy you want. And honestly, do you even need a guy?”
“She told me,” Eleanor continued, “if I kept indulging Chris, I’d regret it one day.”
“After that, Aileen couldn’t stand how I kept spoiling Chris, so she stopped talking to me for a while out of pure frustration.”
“If I ever get the chance, I’d like to meet her,” Tyler said. “Maybe I’ll come pick you up from the reunion and thank her in person.”
“Thank her?” Eleanor asked casually. “For scolding you?”
1/3
Chapter 111
Preah. She scolded me awake, Tyler said. “The told me all Langford’s men were either idiots or cowards, if you live center for my te kan girl end up with a loser ?”
Cleaner had been absentmindedly fiddling with her fingers, but when she heard that, she snapped her head up to look at Tyler what real paullo –
“She saw right through me. I thought I was hiding it so well, Tyler admitted. “She’s not the meddling type. Otherwise, you’d have kinen kov s tem au you ages ago,”
Eleanor thought for a moment. “That does sound like her. Straight to the point, never one for small talk
She recalled Alleen’s angry words when she couldn’t convince her: “I shouldn’t try to change someone’s mind. They need to come to it themselves. Your regret this one day, Eleanor.”
“If I’d listened to her back then…” Eleanor smiled wryly. “She was right. Unless I figured it out myself, nothing would change. I just wasn t ready before
Meanwhile, Chris stumbled back to his room in a daze. Staring at Serena sleeping soundly on the bed, he suddenly found her a little scary. He remembered a story from his childhood–something about a dad turning into a wolf. Now, Chris couldn’t shake the feeling that Serena might turn into a big, bad wolf at any moment.
“Get a grip,” Chris muttered, smacking himself on the head. “I can’t let this mess with me.”
He tried to convince himself that this was all Eleanor’s setup, just to make him regret everything. She and Tyler were just putting on a show–Tyler was only going along with it because she’d saved his life. And that wedding was just a front. If it were real, why not use a hotel? Why go through all the trouble. of setting up an outdoor venue? Because their wedding was never going to happen.
He walked to the bed and bent over, brushing Serena’s cheek with his fingers. “Serena, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind: ‘She’s just a liar. How long are you going to keep lying to yourself?‘ The thought startled him.
No. He hadn’t made the wrong choice. He hadn’t been fooled all these years!
Serena was woken up by Chris’s fussing. Half–asleep, she mumbled, “What are you doing?”
All she got in response was silence.
Serena woke up a bit more, sensing something was off with Chris. “Chris, what’s wrong?”
“Serena, I’m scared,” Chris whispered. “What if all of this is just an illusion? You wouldn’t lie to me, right?”
A flash of irritation crossed Serena’s eyes, but she quickly softened her expression and hugged him. “Of course not. Chris, I really can’t stand Eleanor. Why don’t you ask them to move out? Or we could move out instead. Didn’t we talk about that before?”
Chris sighed and lay down beside her. It was almost laughable–he was the Langford family’s young master, but he didn’t even have a say at the company, let alone enough money to buy a house.
“It’s fine living here,” Chris said. “If you don’t like Eleanor, just tell them to leave. Tyler has his place, he doesn’t need to be here with us.”
Hearing that, Serena clenched her fists under the covers, nails digging into her palms. The pain helped her keep her cool, so Chris wouldn’t notice anything was off.
Serena was jealous of Eleanor. In the end, she had to watch Eleanor marry even better than she did. She couldn’t stand that. But soon, she’d never have to see that woman she hated again.
“Forget it,” Serena said sweetly. “Even if Eleanor and Tyler moved in on purpose, we’re the younger ones, we can’t go against them. I can put up with it.”
Chris squeezed her hand and whispered, “Serena, you’re so kind. I knew I made the right choice.”
“Of course you did,” Serena replied. “I ran into some old classmates the other day, and they asked about Eleanor. You know, it’s embarrassing… She married your uncle right after breaking up with you. What kind of person is that?”
2/3
vigy
Chapter 111
“Yes,” Chris muttered, trying to convince himself again. “I made the right choice.”
Early the next morning, Eleanor was in the dining room reading the newspaper when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see Chris and Serena walking in, hand in hand, laughing and chatting together. “Chris, you left your watch in Tyler’s room yesterday.”
