Chapter 42 ENGAGEMENT PARTY VII
Everyone gathered in the living room of the mansion including Isabella, all except El. They had all been informed about the supposed family gathering a couple of hours ago, which would have begun some minutes ago if not for the absence of El who didn't seem bothered about it.
El sat on top of her bed in her room, staring at the floor. She had been informed by her maids about the meeting many times, but she had purposefully ignored them every time they informed her. She was still furious about what Isabella had said to her earlier, and more furious at Ethan for putting her in that situation. She wouldn't have been insulted and even threatened by anyone if not for him and his useless decision, but above all, she was more furious at the useless fate life gave to her.
If not for her stupid fate, she wouldn't have been born into the family she was born into, and Antonio wouldn't have sold her to the Graysons in the first place for her to witness any of the things she was going through now. She would have never met Ethan or Isabella, or even Vanessa and Aunt Amelia.
As she sat there, she wondered how her life would've been if she was born into another family. It would've been way better than being in this family. That thought made her angrier.
There was a knock on her door, and her attention was suddenly pulled from her thoughts to the noise that came from the door. She moaned annoyed. Why wouldn't these maids leave her alone? She had instructed them not to bother her, that she wasn't interested in attending any gathering, because Aunt Amelia and Vanessa always use these gatherings as excuses to attack her.
Her presence always irritated them, so what was the use of revealing it to them? To make them more irritated and make her angrier than she already is? She was doing them a favor by not attending the meeting, and herself more favor by not ruining her mood even more.
"Go away," she ordered before the girl could say anything.
"But Miss Eleanor, the meeting started over thirty minutes ago, and everyone's waiting downstairs for you." The maid pleaded as she stood outside the door, trying to make El understand her from her perspective to make her job easier.
"I said go away."
"But it's a direct order from the young..."
"I don't want to hear another word from you. Go. Away." El interrupted with a voice of finality, and the maid left her door to go report the update to Ethan and the rest of the Graysons with a trembling body.
She was afraid of what the young master would do to Eleanor for defying a direct order but more afraid of what he could do to her if he transfers the aggression to her. He already seemed upset when he had asked her to inform El for the tenth time about the gathering, even if he didn't show it, and now that El had once again refused to come with her, she wondered what her fate would be. She could even lose her job.
When she got into the meeting room, everyone's eyes fell on her. From the way they stared at her, she could tell they had expected Eleanor to be standing in front of them, instead of her. She stood in front of everyone with a bent head as she entwined her fingers which seemed to be her coping mechanism for the fear she felt at that point.
"Young master," she started with a trembling voice "miss Eleanor refused to come with me. She instructed me to leave her alone."
"What sort of nonsense are you blurting out from that useless hole in your face you call a mouth, you fool?" Amelia who is furious at El's absence asked the maid with a frown on her face, making the girl jolt in fear. "Just who the hell does that girl think she is to keep everyone here waiting? Has she lost her mind or something?" Amelia fritted.
Ethan stood up from where he sat and walked out of the place they were gathered. As he walked past the maid, she closed her eyes, waiting for what he would do to her, but when she heard his footsteps behind her, she sighed slowly in relief. She had expected this man to do something dreadful to her just like he always did when his orders were defied, but thankfully he wasn't in the mood.
On getting to the door of El's room, Ethan pushed open the door and got in. He was furious, yet his expression was as calm as still water. He looked at the tiny person who sat on the bed, staring at the floor and he frowned slightly at the sight. He couldn't believe she had defied a direct order and had refused to participate in the meeting just to sit idly on her bed.
"What are you still doing here when we're supposed to be gathered downstairs for a family meeting?"
El looked up to see him standing a few feet away from her but she didn't utter a word. She had been aware of his presence since he had walked into the room, and she had imagined the look on his face when he had walked in to see her sitting on her bed. As she stared at him, the anger she felt increased but she stopped herself from showing it.
"Answer me, Eleanor," he ordered with narrowed eyes, but she just kept staring at him.
She could see the anger flicker in his eyes as she stared into them, but she didn't care. She knew what this man hated most was being ignored, but at this point, she didn't care what this man would do to her. She wanted him to have a taste of his medicine, to taste what it feels like to get provoked by a person.
He walked closer to her as his eyes narrowed even more. El had never seen this man this way before, and somehow, she trembled inside her. He looked different and she could see anger in his eyes. She moved backward slowly on her bed, but before she could move further, his hand already held one of her legs, and he pulled her so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Her heart beat wildly against her chest as she stared at his face. This time, he didn't hide the anger from reflecting on his face, and she felt like vanishing into thin air. He looked like an angry lion that his tail was stepped on. What had she brought upon herself? She had been warned severally about this man, but somehow she always let her anger get the best of her.
Before she knew what was happening, she was lifted from the bed and her face was already close to his face. His hands were on the clothes of her dress in her chest area, and she was slightly lifted from the bed with just that little piece of her clothes in his hand.
"Who do you think you are to defy my orders and ignore me at the same time?"
His words rang in her head, and her heart hammered even more. She had never been this scared in her life. From the look in his eyes, she knew her punishment this time was going to be grievous, not like the other ones where he teased her. Her back ached from the way he held her clothes, but she didn't care.
All she could think of was how to get away from this man and the trouble she had caused herself. She closed her eyes when she could no longer contain the fear of what he would do to her and she waited for what he was going to do to her, but that only made her situation worse. Her fear consumed her more as she anticipated his torture, and she began to tremble.
"I'm sorry, Ethan." She said the first words that came to her head, with her eyes still closed. "I'm sorry for ignoring you." She added with her eyes still closed.
Ethan stared at the figure who trembled under him, stunned. Once again, this woman had surprised him. He never knew she had this side in her, this helpless side, and hearing her say those words to him as she trembled slightly, suddenly dissipated the anger he felt.
She opened her eyes slowly with tears in them as she stared at his face which had become calm once again. Slowly, he released her and stepped away from her.
"Be downstairs in the next five minutes," he ordered before walking out of the room.
El fell to her feet when he closed the door behind him and held her chest which was still beating wildly. Her body still trembled and for some weird reason, she felt like she had no strength in her anymore.