Eleanor's Demise ✔️

Chapter 14: The Ring

"I think I will take that flight to England Mrs. Carnegie, my family needs to hear from me and I need to see them. Thank you for your kindness, but I just can't stay here a minute longer." Eleanor said, her eyes down cast as the green seemed to reflect off the tile floor.

Her mind kept wandering to earlier that day, her short time with Adam in the limousine and the way his bitch of a fiancé had just thrown his ring down the drain. There was nothing she could do but cry for a few minutes, clean up her act and hide her eyes as Max drove them to Adam's house.

In short, Eleanor was sad. No, she wasn't, she was devasted and angry. She had overstayed her welcome and no longer wanted to remain in New Jersey. The entire United States sickened her now.

"Why Elena? I thought you were going to help us?" Eleanor didn't respond. She merely kept her head down and waited for Mrs. Carnegie to agree.

It took a few minutes of tense silence before Zac walked in and made an attempt at lightening the mood.

"I. O. U. That's what Bree left for the Josiah guy and its in the same handwriting as the girl who claimed to be Eleanor and left the ring t..." Zac stopped talking, sensing that nobody was even listening to him.

"Maybe you should just drop the case!" Eleanor finally burst, "whatever clues you're finding must have been planted. Maybe someone collected her body after she died and buried it. Did you think of that?" Eleanor glared at Zac, "Adam's wife is dead and you're all just wasting time dwelling on it! Get over yourself Zac, you're not a good detective or investigator or whatever. All the clues you found lead back to someone who planted all this because Eleanor is dead. They matched her blood. You'd have better luck finding her in the dirt near the woods than assuming she might be alive!"

"Elena, I think you should be going now." It wasn't Mrs. Carnegie or Zac that spoke these words. It wasn't someone she had even noticed enter the room until her blazing green eyes met the motionless brown ones of Adam Carnegie. It hurt her the most to have him hear this, but this silly search for Eleanor was too much. She didn't want to be found, even if momentarily she wanted to be near him. Her wish had been fulfilled and she needed to go back into hiding.

She turned to Adam now, ready to unleash her anger on him. She was upset that his idiotic fiancé had thrown away the last thing that linked them together.

But Eleanor had wanted this right- he had to move on eventually. Adam was still young and absolutely stunning, but he was hung up over a dead girl. Along with the ring in Magdelene's luxurious sink.

"You need to stop this!" She glared at him, feeling more powerful than she had been in almost a year. She wanted to shake him until he realized she was Eleanor, "Eleanor is dead okay, you need to move on. Magdelene was right to toss the ring away. You need to get over her. It's been a year!" Eleanor sputtered in her accent as all eyes were on her.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?!" Adam glared violently, his fists clenched and unclenched as he held her eyes in his. He was clearly furious, not wanted to believe that she was gone. There were a few stages of grief, however Adam was still pretending Eleanor wasn't long gone, and maybe her being harsh to him now could get him to the next step. Acceptance.

"I've seen the news Mr. Carnegie, the whole world did. Eleanor was suicidal for a long time, she probably finally got the guts to do it when you lied to her sorry ass. But I've barely been here for two days and the mood is intolerable. Brighten up, you have a new woman in your life- and you're marrying one soon. Honestly, Magdalene is the perfect girl for you. Get over Eleanor." Even though it pained her, Eleanor knew he needed to hear those words.

Adam glared at her for a minute longer, unblinking as a lone tear strode down his face and be finally looked away. He was barely holding on and wanted to fall on his knees and scream.