Eleanor lunged forward and snatched the collar of the person on the ground. With a sharp tug, she ripped off the helmet.
Beneath it—just as she’d suspected—was Ivan Murray’s face, a mask of innocence that couldn’t hide its defiant smirk.
WHAM!
Eleanor slammed her fist into his face, connecting squarely with the bridge of his nose. Blood instantly gushed out.
Ivan Murray clutched his nose, staring at her in disbelief.
"You... How dare you hit me?"
Eleanor’s fingers tightened on his collar, and she hauled him closer. "What? Wasn’t last time’s lesson enough to knock some sense into you?"
"Brother Miles, help me!"
Ivan Murray shrieked for help.
Almost simultaneously, someone grabbed Eleanor’s arm and yanked it back. Miles Grant’s voice, full of blame, rang out. "Eleanor! What are you doing! Stop it!"
Ivan Murray took the opportunity to collapse on the ground, curling up into a ball. With a sob in his voice, he said, "I know... Eleanor doesn’t like me... but you already pushed me into the water last time, and I didn’t hold it against you... Why do you still have to..."
"Eleanor, you’ve gone too far!" Miles Grant’s brows were tightly knitted. "I just saw he was bored cooped up with Grandma and brought him out for some air. How is that any of your business? Did you have to drag him off the bike and attack him?"
Eleanor: "..."
This scene was all too familiar. Every time Ivan Murray started trouble, Miles Grant would blame her.
It was always, "He’s just a kid, he doesn’t know any better."
Or, "He didn’t do it on purpose, can’t you just let it go?"
Or, "You’re too fierce, you scared him."
...
In short, Ivan Murray always had an excuse for everything he did.
And no matter what she did, she was always in the wrong.
Heh!
Eleanor suddenly raised her hand—
SMACK!
A crisp slap landed squarely on Miles Grant’s face.
Miles Grant, struck mid-sentence, froze. He stared at Eleanor in astonishment. "You..."
"Miles Grant, you listen to me!" Eleanor said coldly. "Don’t let me see this animal again! I’ll beat him every single time I see him!"
"Eleanor Crawford! You go to Baros for a bit and come back this savage?" Miles Grant’s voice was filled with disapproval and disappointment.
Eleanor ignored him, glaring at Ivan Murray. "Aren’t you going to get lost? Or are you waiting for more?"
With that, she bent down, picked up the helmet from the ground, and raised it as if to smash it down on Ivan Murray.
Miles Grant rushed to stop her. "Eleanor Crawford, are you crazy!"
Eleanor twisted her wrist, swinging the helmet at Miles Grant’s head instead. "I can get crazier. Want a taste?"
"You’re violating regulations!" Miles Grant warned.
Sophia Shaw had been watching from a short distance away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ivan Murray secretly pull a silver needle from his sleeve.
Her gaze sharpened. She slammed on the accelerator and sped right toward him!
Ivan Murray was scared out of his wits by the suddenly accelerating car and stumbled backward, falling pathetically to the ground.
Sophia Shaw leaped out of the car and took the helmet from Eleanor’s hands. "Eleanor, don’t move. I’ll do it! I’m just a civilian. He has no authority over me, and I don’t have any regulations to follow!"
"Faye, why are you joining in on this nonsense!" Miles Grant said, his face a mask of disapproval.
Sophia Shaw turned a deaf ear to him. She lifted the helmet and swung it at the hand Ivan Murray was using to conceal the silver needle.
Terrified, Ivan Murray flinched and opened his hand. A handful of silver needles CLATTERED to the ground.
Miles Grant stared in shock at the silver needles scattered all over the ground. "H-How... where did these come from..."
"He had these ready all along. He was planning to ambush Eleanor. If I hadn’t noticed in time, she would have been hurt!" Sophia Shaw said coldly.
Eleanor picked up one of the silver needles from the ground and held it up to the light. A moment later, the corner of her lip curled into a sardonic smile. "Miles Grant, what a poisonous snake you’ve raised!"
Miles Grant still tried to make excuses for Ivan Murray. "It’s just a few silver needles. He’s only a kid, he got curious and was just playing around with them."
"’Just playing around?’"
Eleanor repeated softly, her cold smile deepening.
She took a menacing step toward Ivan Murray. "Since you like playing so much, why don’t you try getting stuck with one?"
Ivan Murray’s face turned pale, and he hastily backed away. "No, I... I’m afraid of pain."
Eleanor turned to Miles Grant, her eyes mocking. "He doesn’t dare. Why don’t you take this needle for him?"
Before Miles Grant could react, her wrist dipped, and the silver needle pierced his arm.
Pain made Miles Grant’s brow furrow, but he endured it without pulling away. His tone was laced with a hint of resignation. "Eleanor, I know you’re angry. If taking this needle makes you feel better... Ugh!"
Miles Grant couldn’t get another word out. His face twisted into a bizarre expression.
He even twitched several times.
Miles Grant finally realized something was wrong. He looked at Ivan Murray in shock. "These needles, why are they..."
Ivan Murray panicked. "Brother Miles, quick, to the hospital!"
Ivan Murray scrambled to help the barely-standing Miles Grant onto the motorcycle. The engine roared, and they fled in a panic.
Sophia Shaw walked over to Eleanor’s side and looked at the silver needles on the ground. "What were the needles coated with?"
"Nothing lethal. It just causes a burning pain on the skin for a few hours."
Sophia Shaw: "..."
This wasn’t the first time she’d witnessed Ivan Murray’s viciousness, but it still sent a chill down her spine.
Miles Grant had spoiled Ivan Murray so much that he was completely out of control!
After a brief exchange, Eleanor remembered the person who had just saved her.
She looked all around, but the person was nowhere to be seen.
’Maybe my ferocity scared him off.’
She felt a twinge of regret. ’I didn’t even get to thank him properly.’
Then again, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
’This whole ugly business is humiliating enough. If he hadn’t left, it would’ve been so awkward.’
"Eleanor, when did you get back from Baros?" Sophia asked.
By her count, the two of them hadn’t seen each other for two months.
Eleanor had sent her a message before she left for Baros, so Sophia knew about her trip.
"The mission just ended a couple of days ago. I had just gotten off the plane and was on my way to see you, but I didn’t expect to run into this mess," Eleanor said truthfully.
She was noticeably thinner and tanner than she had been two months ago.
Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. The dullness that had once clouded her eyes, as if their light had been wiped away, was gone. Now, they held a vibrant spark.
Sophia took in her transformation. "Everyone says Baros is a terrorist hotbed, but you look like you’ve absorbed its life force or something. You’re a different person."
"Isn’t it?" Eleanor said, flicking her ponytail as she got into Sophia’s car at her gesture.
As the car started moving, Eleanor continued, "The conditions there are harsh. There’s war every day, people dying every day. Countless refugees are waiting to escape, and our evacuation mission was incredibly difficult."
"But without all this petty drama, everyone’s minds were completely focused on how to save people! Every day was about solving problems, and every day we were filled with fighting spirit."
"In that environment, I felt truly alive, like my life had value!"
Just listening to Eleanor’s description, Sophia could imagine the hardships involved.
But even in such a harsh environment, Eleanor had clearly thrived.
She wouldn’t have felt that way if the pain Miles Grant and Ivan Murray had caused her wasn’t so profound.
Sophia couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for Eleanor and gently took her hand.
Eleanor looked down at the warm hand covering her own. Her eyes suddenly burned, and a single, unexpected tear fell.
Sophia’s silent comfort made her realize that she was important, that she deserved to be cared for by others.
After living with Miles Grant for so many years, she had been a tool for him to repay a debt, a plaything for Ivan Murray to vent his twisted emotions on, and a sacrifice for the death of Claudia Murray.
She was everything but her own person.
’From now on, those two bastards can forget about ever bullying me again!’
Eleanor Crawford’s phone rang. It was Miles Grant.
She glanced at it once, not bothering to answer.
The caller was persistent and kept trying.
Eleanor simply silenced the call.
She turned to Sophia. "Faye, next month is Grandma’s birthday. Will you go?"