A Second Chance at Forever ( Eleanor Shultz )

Chapter 23 

Eleanor dashed home in the rain, stripped off her fancy dress, took off the diamond necklace around her neck, and tossed it in the box. 

She’d send all this crap back to Josef tomorrow, his stuff sickened her, and she definitely wouldn’t keep it. 

After closing the box, she went into the bathroom, turned on the tub faucet, and climbed in. 

She scrubbed her face and back hard, so hard that her skin got red, then looked at herself in the mirror. 

With makeup off, all that’s left was sickly paleness, no spirit, and lifeless eyes. 

She couldn’t see the light or feel the warmth. 

Like a dirty little bug, trampled all over. 

Yet, she once had dignity…. 

“Dignity.” 

Eleanor chuckled sarcastically. She had lost her dignity when she sold herself to Bernard. 

She dried her hair, lay in bed, and fell asleep exhausted. 

The rain had 

My her 

Undition, and Eleanor slept straight until the afternoon. 

had worked all night, slept from morning to afternoon. After making meals, Eleanor still hadn’t woken up. 

knock on Eleanor’s door and called her twice. With no response, she realized something was wrong. 

Hailey quickly pushed the door open and went in. When she saw her flushed face on the bed, she immediately touched Eleanor’s 

was 

hot… 

She quickly lifted the covers, propped Eleanor up and said, “Eleanor, you have a high fever. Get up, I’m going to take you to the hospital.” 

In her delirium, Eleanor’s instinct kicked in when hearing the word ‘hospital‘. “No hospital…” 

“You’re very sick, we have to go!” 

Hailey wouldn’t let Eleanor refuse, picked her up, and raced to the hospital. 

After some emergency treatment, she was on an o 

and breathing machine. 

Eleanor had a congenital heart condition which Hailey knew about. 

If she had a cold or fever, oxygen shortage would become an issue. 

Hailey was worried Eleanor couldn’t take it, so she asked the doctor to use a breathing machine. 

Around midnight, Eleanor’s fever finally began to subside. 

Hailey breathed a sigh of relief, asked for time off from work, and sat silently by Eleanor’s bedside. 

two of them were adopted by the orphanage at around one year old. They were each other’s closest people after the head of the orphanage. 

Hailey raised her hand, touching Eleanor’s pale face and sighed with a heartache. 

Eleanor had met two playboys who drained her youth and left her scarred all over. 

With a high fever, Eleanor slept restlessly, seeing a young man with bloody hands stretching towards her. 

His face filled with pain as he tried to speak, but Eleanor couldn’t hear him. 

She approached him, “What did you say?” 

The boy stopped talking, staring intently. 

Heavy rain suddenly poured down, washing the blood off his face. 

Only then did Eleanor recognize him, rushing forward anxiously, “Garett!” 

The scene suddenly flipped, and Eleanor knelt in front of a nightclub. 

A man with a black umbrella approached and condescendingly asked, “are you a virgin?”

Embarrassed, she nodded and gently placed her hand in his palm. 

As he grasped her hand, it turned into bloody hands. 

He too changed into a monstrous young man, angrily roaring at her, choking her neck: 

“Eleanor! Why did you sell yourself to him? Why did you betray me? Why did you do this?”

Eleanor shook her head desperately, it wasn’t like that…. 

She yelled, explained, but the boy cruelly pushed her away and left. 

Eleanor chased after him, grabbing his clothes and shouting through her tears, “Garett, don’t go, please!”