***
Edric felt like his world was spinning. Part of it was due to the onslaught of blows that was delivered to his face. But he wasn’t quite concerned about that.
“What happened to Ellie?”
“I take it by your surprise that you didn’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Beat Ellie.”
“No. God no.” Edric shook his head. “I would never lay a hand on her. Ever. No matter what she did to me. Cassie, what happened? What happened to Ellie?”
Her eyes teared up and she shook her head. “I don’t know. She was attacked. It’s pretty bad.”
He walked over to his couch and buried his face in his hands. After a few seconds, he took his hands away and stared at them. They were covered in blood. His blood. He quickly wiped them on his suit jacket.
“How bad?”
“She was found at around midnight in some back alley. Um. Her face…her face is all cut up.”
Edric didn’t want to hear anymore after that. He wanted to block the words coming out of Cassie’s mouth but he had to hear them. “Her arm is broken along with four of his ribs. Her lung is punctured and she’s unconscious because her head…her head was kicked in.”
The CEO was silent. He bit his lip. Suddenly, his own injuries didn’t seem so bad.
“She’s…alive, right?”
“Yeah, she’s alive.”
He breathed a sigh of relief.
“Will she be okay?”
“I think she will be. I mean, she’s been through worse. Much worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“About Ellie’s childhood. I thought that she told you.”
He shook his head. “No she didn’t. Look, I have a lot of questions and, after everything that’s happened, I think I deserve some damn answers.”
Cassie looked at her watch. “All right. But I want to be back at the hospital in an hour to see if Ellie wakes up.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“I thought that you two were broken up?”
“Yes, we are broken up. As angry as I am with Eleonore, I didn’t want this to happen to her.”
Cassie took a seat on the leather sofa next to the bloodied businessman. “She never meant to hurt you, you know.”
Edric laughed bitterly.
“Right after you hired me to track down Owen, Charlie Logan hired me to find out information about your upcoming invention. Offered me five million to do it.”
“Let me guess: you took it.”
“Bingo. And I asked Ellie to come onboard to work for your office.”
“And she took the information and gave it to Logan.” He finished.
“No. I did that. Ellie was reluctant to apply to your office at first because… Well, you know her personality. She’s shy and unassuming. She was supposed to work for a homeless shelter. El promised me that she would only get involved if I give half the money to charity and if she thought that you were plagiarizing off him. If you were a good person, she didn’t want to hand your info off to Logan. She also said that we couldn’t do anything for three months too.
“After Spots got hit by a car, she told me that she wanted no further involvement because she thought that you were a good person. I said all right to that but asked her not to stop me from doing my job. She reluctantly agreed.
“At the gala, I took photographs of your blueprints when Ellie was crying in your office. I gave them to Logan. So, don’t blame Ellie. Blame me. It’s my fault. I spied on you. All Ellie did was know about it.”
“I sure hope that five million was worth it.”
“I didn’t do it for the money.”
Edric leaned over and looked at Cassie to study her face. She looked a bit embarrassed. An unusual look to her. “Then what did you do it for?”
“Charlie Logan.”
Edric chuckled and stared straight ahead. “So, you’re Logan’s latest mistress. I’m surprised I didn’t figure that out.”
Cassie crossed her arms. “What are you talking about?”
“You never did a background check on your own lover?”
“No, it seemed intrusive.”
He chuckled again. Their conversation reminded him of how Ellie didn’t want to look him up online because it seemed like an invasion of his privacy.
“He’s a good man. He accepts me for who I am. Do you know how hard that is to find? I was going to do whatever it takes to keep our relationship going.”
“I understand that one.” Edric mumbled.
“Logan accepts me and he does love me for me.”
Edric pursed his lips. He leaned back and looked at Cassie. He felt a bit of compassion for her because he felt the same way about Ellie. Before this, he thought that she actually did love him for who he actually was. He knew he would screw over a stranger to stay with Ellie, he wouldn’t even think twice about it. And apparently, Ellie wouldn’t think twice to screw him over too. Edric frowned.
“Cassie, I don’t know how to tell you this…”
“Tell me what?”
He stared straight ahead and looked at his empty assistant’s desk. “You’re Logan’s seventh mistress.”
Cassie buried her face in her hands and let out a shaky sigh. Edric could tell that sigh was covering up a cry. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to love someone and have them not love you back—to find out that they’re with you for some other reason that you’re just fucking tangential to.”
“Is that why you’re telling me this? To twist the knife? To spite me because you’re pissed at my sister?”
“No. I’m telling you this because you’re Logan’s seventh mistress. You can look it up yourself.”
“Fuck.”
“I know how you feel.”
“No. No, you don’t.”
“Oh really? I don’t know what it feels like to be used by someone, friend?”
“Sorry.” Cassie mumbled under her breath. “Sorry for your…” She pointed at his face lackadaisically. He raised his hand up and touched it; he forgot about his injuries for a bit until she pointed at him. “Sorry for stealing your blueprint too. It was stupid. I was stupid.”
Edric chuckled lowly. “We’re a lot alike, you and I. Granted, I’m livid because you screwed me over. But, I understand why you did what you did. You were doing your job. Besides, I would have done the same for Ellie when we were together.”
“So, we’re cool, Scrooge?”
“I suppose so. You’re not my favorite person in the world right now but I’ll get over it. You do owe an apology to my sister. She does consider you to be a close friend and I hope you weren’t using your friendship with her to get to my blueprints.”
“No, Violet’s my friend.”
“Well, make sure she knows that.”
Silence fell upon the pair until Cassie spoke up.
“Are you going to make up with Ellie?”
“No. I’m not. I understand why you did what you did. But I can’t forgive Ellie. She knew that you were spying on me and said nothing to me and did nothing to stop you.”
“But I spied on you. Ellie didn’t.”
“You never claimed to love me.”
“Ellie does love you.”
“Then why would she do this? She knows how much this company means to me and she let you steal my blueprints right under her nose and hand them over to the person I hate most. That she knows I hate. I just…”
“Look, Edric, it’s complicated.”
“Well, enlighten me then.” He seethed through gritted teeth.
Cassie bit her lip. Her leg was twitching nervously. When she didn’t speak for thirty seconds, Edric started to get irritated.
“Come on, out with it.”
“Ellie was abused.”
This time Edric was silent. He looked at her empty desk, exhaled slowly, and then looked at the drie
d blood on his hands.
“It was bad. When I turned sixteen, I found out about it and moved out with Ellie. Dropped out of school to take care of her.”
“So, what happened?”
“Look. Edric.” Cassie said with closed eyes. “You should really talk to Ellie about this. The only reason why I’m saying this much is so you’ll cut her some slack. Sure, she wasn’t honest with you, but she did it for me—because I asked her to and she feels like she owes me. It’s not like this situation would ever come up ever again.”
“It’s like I don’t even know her,” he mumbled.
“What do you mean?”
“She knows everything about me. I’ve told her everything; my past, my hopes, my dreams. But then I find out about all this. I should have been suspicious from the start.”
“Oh, come on.”
“No, it’s true. I always thought that I loved her more than she loved me throughout our entire relationship. Christ, I poured my heart and soul out to that woman and she didn’t trust me enough to do the same.”
“Oh, come on. Now you’re just being petty.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. She trusted you and you got closer to her than most people. She talked about you all the time.”
He scoffed.
“You know what? You’re being an ass. You just found out that she was abused and your first reaction is being angry that she didn’t tell you about it? Take a look at yourself right now and maybe you’ll see why. You treated her like shit when you first met.”
“You know what?” Edric snapped. He then paused and sighed. “You’re absolutely right. Christ. What am I doing? I should be at the hospital with her right now.”
“Let’s go. Ride with me, I’ll drive.”
Cassie pulled out the keys from her leather jacket pocket and dangled them in the air. The ride down the elevator and the trip to the detective’s car was awkward. They didn’t talk about too much. He wasn’t exactly in the mood for small talk and neither was she. He spent most of the car ride looking out the window. He functioned on autopilot when he followed Cassie down the hall to Ellie’s room.
When he heard about Ellie’s injuries, he thought that they were bad, but he brushed them off. He couldn’t imagine the happy, smiling, Ellie that he had come to love lying in a hospital bed. He could picture her lying down in his bed, smiling lightly, clinging to his arm, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. Or he could picture her lying on the couch with her head on his lap as they watched movies together and she commented about the dumb and unrealistic things the characters did. But he couldn’t picture her in a hospital bed.
Ellie looked rough. Her usual light, slumbering smile was replaced by a light frown and shallow breathing. There were tubes in her nose and she was covered in bandages. Edric instinctively took a step back in shock and bumped right into Cassie.
He couldn’t stop himself from crying. He thought that his heart was broken before when he found out that Ellie was the mole, but he was wrong. Seeing her unconscious in a hospital bed actually broke his heart. He slowly took a few steps forward and sat down by her bed.
“This is all my fault. I should have kept my temper in check. I should have noticed that she forgot her car keys and figured out that she was walking home alone. Or I should have given her a ride or…”
“Don’t go down that dark road, Edric.”
“God. She just…I didn’t think that she would be injured that badly.” He reached out and stroked her white hair as gently as he possibly could. “Ellie, come on, Ellie, wake up. I’m sorry for last night.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There must be something I can do.”
“She needs time.”
“I can pay all her medical bills. I could bribe the doctors—”
“Scrooge, doctors don’t take bribes. And Ellie has health insurance.”
“I’ll get her flowers.”
“Flowers aren’t allowed in the ICU.”
“I’ll get my maids to take care of her dog. That’s something.”
Cassie smiled weakly. “Sure. That’s something.”
He stared at the unconscious woman for about ten minutes, not saying a word to Cassie.
“Scrooge, why don’t you go home and clean yourself up. You’re covered in blood and you’ll freak Ellie out if your ugly mug is the first thing that she sees. It’ll make her think that she went to hell.”
Edric could hear the pity in Cassie’s voice. It was odd to feel pitied. He was a handsome billionaire and she was a private detective who barely made ends meet and yet she pitied him.
“I want to be there when she wakes up.”
“Just go home, Edric. I’ll tell you what: I’ll call you when she wakes up.”
“I’m going to pick up Spots and drop him off. I’ll pick up some crossword puzzles for Ellie to do when she wakes up. She likes those sort of things.” Sure, he had people he could pay to do those things, but he wanted to do something for her personally.
Just when Edric stood up to leave the room, a nurse entered. She took one look at him with his bloodied face and her eyes widened.
“Long story.”
The nurse ignored Edric’s comment and looked at Cassie. “We just received the medical records.” She held up the large stack of papers. “Does your sister still stop breathing occasionally? This is important because of her punctured lung.”
“No, she’s fine.”
“What is it about Ellie and lung problems?” Edric asked in disbelief.
“She doesn’t; she’s fine.”
“What do you mean about—” Cassie held up her hand. Edric shut his mouth.
“We’re also concerned about the multiple surgeries that she has undergone with—”
Cassie held up a hand to the nurse. “She’s fine.”
“What about the—?”
“Edric, could you excuse us for a bit?”
“Sure.” He said flatly as he stormed out of the room. After Edric left the room, he felt more confused than before.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ellie woke up with a splitting headache and sharp pains all over—particularly in her torso.
So, this is what Edric must feel like when he gets a migraine.
She frowned. Edric.
Ellie remembered her last encounter with him—how he told her to leave and she scrambled out the room, only to get beaten up by a strange man in some dark alley.
She tried to push herself up into a sitting position but her ribs hurt too badly. She looked down at her arm—it was in a cast.
Finally, she took a look at her surroundings; recognizing the dim fluorescent lighting and all the machines that she was hooked up to and could tell immediately that she was in the hospital. Her heart sank. She hated hospitals. Looking to her right and saw her sister curled up in a chair with her head resting against the wall.
Should I wake Cassie up? She’s asleep but maybe she’s concerned about me.
“Cassie?” Ellie quietly whispered. Her throat felt so hoarse.
Cassie lightly stirred but still remained asleep.
Wasn’t meant to be.
Ellie looked at the table next to her. She saw a very large stack of puzzle books and a note from her sister. Ellie used the remote control from her hospital bed to push herself into a sitting position so she could access the note. Plus, she felt sore from laying down for so long.
If you wake up and I’m asleep. Wake me up.
-Cass
“Cassie?” Ellie said in a much louder tone. The red-head jolted awake.
“Thank God. I was so scared that you were never going to wake up.”
“How long was I out for?”
“About twenty-nine hours.”
“What happened?”
“You have a punctured lung, four fractured ribs and a broken arm. Although I should be asking you what happened. If you don’t mind telling me.”
Ellie looked down at the white bedspread dejectedly. “E
dric broke up with me and I tried to walk home but some guy tried to rob me and when I didn’t have any money, he beat me up.”
“Um…did anything else happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“Were you…did the man do anything to you besides try to rob you?”
She shook her head. “No. Just beat me up.”
“Okay, good. Sorry to bombard you with questions up but I just have one last question to ask you: did Edric hurt you in any way?”
She bit her lip and stared head dejectedly. Cassie clenched her hands into a fist.
“That bastard!”
“No. Edric wouldn’t hurt me. But I hurt him.” Ellie cried. “I hurt him bad. I think he hates me. I detest myself for what I did to him.”
“Ellie, it’s okay. Edric doesn’t hate you. He visited you three times yesterday. He wanted to stay here overnight but I sent him out at seven-thirty on an errand so the doors would be locked when he tried to reenter.”
“Why did you do that?”
Cassie laughed. “You know Edric. He’s the most type-A personality in the world. If I left him in here with you alone, he’d be dousing water on your head trying to get you to wake up.”
She chuckled.
“Look at all these balloons: he wanted to send you flowers but when I told him that flowers aren’t allowed in the ICU, he started bringing all these balloons. If he brings any more, I swear to God the hospital will fly away.”
“Can I see him?”
“Of course. He wants me to call as soon as you wake up. But seeing as visitation doesn’t start until eight and it’s six now, I’ll give him a call in an hour.”
Ellie’s hands started to shake. “Do you think he’ll forgive me?”
“He’s pretty pissed. Honestly? I don’t know.”
The petite woman looked at her bedspread and started to sniffle.
“I think you need to talk. Have a long, honest, conversation with him. I’m surprised that you never told him about your mom and dad.”
Ellie went to hug herself but her ribs stung too much to do so. Instead, she held her hands together. “Did you tell him?”
“Only the bare bones.”
A Sibling's Dilemma Page 25
