Eleanor's Demise ✔️

Chapter 12: Dishonesty

Max knew what was up- or at least attempted to piece the puzzle together. He sensed her by the glint in her eye when she was lying; the second she lied about not knowing he was the driver. Anyone could see that by the way he was dressed, but that wasn't the only dead giveaway.

He could tell that it was Eleanor because of the way she furrowed her eyebrows when she thought of a lie, maybe lots of people did that though. Her voice was almost identical to Eleanor with a hint of a British accent. Her teeth weren't as white as Eleanor's either, her teeth were sparkling, but a light beige seemed to cover them- enough to realize this girl wasn't rich enough to have her teeth bleached regularly.

But she played her role well and would hide her true identity to the best of her ability. Max contemplated flat out asking this girl if she was Eleanor again and asking for an honest answer. He didn't want to seem like a creep, however.

No matter how hard he tried to push away the fact that Eleanor Carnegie was dead, his mind kept wandering to how similar the name Elena was to Eleanor and that they may be related, perhaps long lost cousins. He glanced at her through the rear view mirror. She was as stunning as Eleanor with the same perfect nose and jaw, but this woman had green eyes instead of blue, this woman was British instead of American. Maybe a long lost relative perhaps. Or merely a doppelgänger.

They weren't very different, but what did he know, he was just a driver.

Max slowed to a stop as traffic picked up. They were about an hour away from home and Mr. Carnegie was delibrately being standoffish. For a second Max missed the old smiling Adam Carnegie. The one who hadn't pushed everyone out of his life and became a merciless, uptight businessman. He was almost as bad as his father, but no, Adam was soft, he was a kind man. He was...

But that Carnegie died along with his wife- and father. He had lost too much, becoming a shell of himself was the only other option left. And he became awful. He now looked like the tall brooding womanizer that everyone had assumed would become of a gentleman like Adam Carnegie- but he had only ever been with 3 women, including his most current Magdalene.

Adam sat now beside a beautiful girl who called herself Elena yet he wouldn't dare glance in her direction. They'd picked him up and he hadn't spoken another word to either of them.

Eleanor's fingers suddenly landed on his and his brain finally registered that simple fact moments later. She was touching him, the soft sensation of warmth on his hand made him glance down.

He looked at their intertwined fingers for a second, the feel of her fingers on his hand reminded him of Eleanor. Her long lean fingers, soft to the touch rubbed against his skin. He had hope that she was still alive. He felt a strange spark- a tingling in his spine and his heart started to race. He felt a weird connection to this girl and knew it would be best to avoid it. He had Magdalene to worry about.

He moved his eyes from her hand to the face of the green eyed woman beside him. She was pretty, her cheeks were slightly sunken and her eyes were a brilliant green. But the only eyes he wanted to see were Eleanor's ocean blue ones staring into his own. He scanned her just-brushed red hair, the color made her blushing cheeks look redder.

He pulled his hand away. He didn't want to slip up and be caught cheating on Magdelene somehow. There were bound to be cameras hidden at any location he went. He had seen her around the house recently, but hadn't bothered to ask why she was there.

He had too much on his plate already.

Adam looked at her for a second longer, forcing his eyes to move away from her lips. Soft lips that weren't too big or too small reflected in his mind. Eleanor's lips. He couldn't push the thoughts away- the memories away- as the girl began to speak.