Eulalia’s lips were ghostly pale. After rattling off a string of words, she seemed to be running on fumes. She robotically put her clothes on."Percival, we could’ve wrapped up this marriage without a fuss, but since you’re being a pain, I guess I’ll have to slap you with a domestic abuse charge. See you in court.”Eulalia was one tough cookie. Even when she got the short end of the stick, she’d shed a tear or two and bounce back like nothing happened. Percival was stumped for the first time; he didn’t know how to deal with her.You know what they say, once bitten, twice shy.Eulalia was now bold enough to stand up to him, probably because she had the Shen family as her safety net. But without them, she’d be lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.He wasn’t keen on buying out the Shen family business, but now he thought, if he could make the Shen family go belly-up, Eulalia would have to dance to his tune and be his obedient little blood bank.Percival chalked up his twisted posses
The room, as big as a barn, suddenly went dead silent. So silent that Evadne could hear Percival flicking the ash off his cigarette, the tiny embers falling from his fingertips like shooting stars.Evadne hardly ever saw Percival smoke. Or, to be more precise, he hardly ever smoked in front of her, probably because he knew she was a bit of a delicate flower.A wave of unease washed over Evadne. She was on cloud nine today, all because she had stumbled upon a text message on Percival’s phone last night.Eulalia wanted a divorce from Percival.She knew Percival had gone to see Eulalia this morning. Evadne thought he couldn’t wait to get the divorce, but his gloomy face now suggested things didn’t go as she had imagined."Percy, grub’s up,” Evadne tried to pep herself up, telling herself not to chicken out. After all, she was the one Percival had loved for years, not that bossy Eulalia.Percival snapped out of his daze, stubbed out his cigarette, and sauntered over to the dining table, e
Eulalia was locked in her bedroom for three days. She couldn’t get out, and her phone was outside, so she couldn’t call for help.The first day was bearable, but as time went on, she felt worse and worse.The tap water wasn’t filtered, but she was so thirsty she drank it anyway. When she got hungry, she chewed and swallowed toilet paper. When the pain got too much, she took stomach medicine and painkillers.To conserve energy, Eulalia stayed in bed. She was sweating buckets, then getting cold, then sweating again. Her face was as pale as the wall behind her. She felt like she was fading away.Three days felt like an eternity. She had never felt time drag so much, especially at night, sitting in the dark, time seemed to stop.She closed her eyes, her mind in a fog. As a cancer patient, her body was weak. She felt feverish and touched her forehead. She didn’t have a thermometer, but she could tell her temperature was rising.Her eyes were dry and sore. She couldn’t sleep, and as time pa
Eulalia felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Her whole body was shaking, and it felt like there was a thorn stuck in her throat that she couldn’t swallow or spit out. It was like a chokehold.The courtroom was packed. All the relatives, who usually couldn’t be bothered to show up, were there. Their faces were a mix of expressions, but all Eulalia could see was mockery.Her brother, Benedict Cleaerwater, who was sitting up front, glared at her with a look of pure hatred. The moment he saw her, he jumped up and slapped her across the face.The slap was so hard that Eulalia’s head snapped to the side, her ear ringing. She felt like her mind had left her body.“Where the hell have you been these past four days, Eulalia? How dare you show your face here? You ruined our dad! Wasn’t it enough that you killed our mom? Now you have to take down dad too?” he yelled.The slap had drawn everyone’s attention. Dozens of eyes were now fixed on Eulalia, making her feel like she was being skinned
Eulalia was walking alone when suddenly, the reporters who were hesitating earlier swarmed her like bees to honey, shoving microphones in her face and firing off tricky questions.Caught in the crowd, Eulalia felt like a tiny fish in a sea of sharks. Her frail body was being pushed and pulled every which way. She was already feeling under the weather, and the piercing gazes and questions made her feel like she was being torn apart.Amidst the chaos, there was a loud “BAM!” Someone’s camera smacked right into Eulalia’s forehead. The sharp edge grazed her skin, leaving a cut.Blood trickled down into her eyes, painting her vision red. She had to close her eyes because it stung so bad. When she finally opened them, the reporters were still in her face, relentless. One of them blurted out, ”Ms. Clearwater, we heard that Mr. Percival Dunraven had a fiancée four years ago, and you swooped in and stole him away. Is that true?”The crowd went wild. Eulalia and Percival had been married for fo
Eulalia was head over heels in love with Percival. She had been cradling this love delicately in her heart for sixteen years, like a fragile treasure, and nobody had a clue.Suddenly, she looked up, her face a canvas of laughter and tears. She reached out to Percival, but before her hand could touch him, he recoiled in disgust.Her hand grasped at thin air as raindrops fell on her palm, their coldness seeping into her soul.In that moment, she felt an abyss between them. He seemed light-years away, and she realized that even if she spent her entire life trying, she would never be able to reach him.Just like the rain slipping through her fingers...She looked up at Percival’s icy face and choked out, ”Percival, my heart aches so bad…”Percival just scowled. He didn’t believe her. He knew Eulalia well; she was averse to pain and hardship. But she was just kneeling for half an hour; it wasn’t the end of the world.“Cut the drama, Eulalia,” he snapped. “You’re acting like you’re at death
Outside the operating room, Percival was like a man possessed. His heart was in a vice grip, a sudden dull pain hit him so hard he had to double over, clutching his chest through his shirt.He scowled at the operating room door, feeling like something precious was slipping away from him.Just then, the operating room doors swung open and a nurse hurried out. Spotting Percival, she dashed over and asked, “Are you family? The patient’s hanging by a thread! We need you to sign the surgery consent form and a critical condition notice!”Percival’s head was buzzing, he couldn’t make out what she was saying. He stared at her, his voice stiff, “What do you mean Eulalia’s not gonna make it? What the hell happened?”She just got drenched in the rain, knelt for half an hour, hadn’t eaten in four days, maybe... just maybe she was a bit weak and coughed up some blood...How come the moment she’s in there, they’re telling him Eulalia’s knocking on heaven’s door?The nurse looked at his dazed face a
Orion rushed in, his coat all messed up, “What’s the scoop?”“Oxygen levels took a nosedive, she’s out like a light, heart’s playing hooky... Things are hanging by a thread.” The worse things got, the cooler the head needed to be.Eulalia’s face was ghostly pale, lips a nasty shade of blue, no pulse, no heartbeat...“Get the defibrillator!”Orion sucked in a pained breath; he had never seen Eulalia this wasted. If only he had been there for her, maybe she wouldn’t have ended up like this.Despair crept up from the depths of his soul, like a drop of ink spreading through a glass of water, turning it pitch black.During the painstaking resuscitation, Eulalia’s heartbeat gradually came back, like the calm before the storm. She somehow managed to pry her eyes open a sliver.Her oxygen mask was fogged up, everything was a blurry white, which freaked her out. But when she caught a glimpse of Orion, she felt a tad better. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t have the strength.Pain ha