Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System
Chapter 67: Tiffin Box

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Tiffin Box

Eleanor sighed, reaching over to pat his hand gently. "Oh, sweetheart..."

Alex shook his head.

"I know, I know. She’s busy. She has a lot on her plate. But is it really that hard to just... just remember I exist?"

Eleanor didn’t answer right away. She was quiet for a moment like she was thinking carefully about her words.

Finally, she said softly,

"People are complicated, Alex. Sometimes, they make mistakes. Sometimes, they don’t even realize the pain they’re causing."

Alex scoffed. "That’s a nice way of saying she just doesn’t care."

Eleanor squeezed his hand. "I don’t believe that. And I don’t think you do either."

Alex looked away, his jaw tightening. He didn’t know what he believed anymore.

Eleanor smiled a little, even though there was sadness in her eyes.

"Trust me, Alex, maybe...just maybe...everything you are seeing currently is not true. Maybe she truly cares for you but just can’t express it?"

Alex remained silent. If it was earlier maybe he would have agreed with Eleanor but now...

Eleanor didn’t press further and gave him the tiffin box,

"Here."

Alex took the tiffin and opened it with familiar movements.

Seeing his favorite Taco, his mood improved, and he smiled,

"Thank you, Eleanor."

He hugged her with a huge beautiful smile, his ocean-blue eyes seemed to have lit up.

Eleanor smiled along him with. Suddenly her eyes fell on a figure hidden behind the rack.

A glint appeared in her eyes before she patted Alex’s back and moved away,

"Now eat it and don’t sulk. I still have some other matters to attend."

Alex nodded.

Eleanor walked away and reached the corner where she had seen the figure.

"How long are you planning to look at him from the shadows? Staying in shadows for a long time, will might as well one day make you invisible."

No response.

Eleanor sighed and called out softly,

"Mary I am talking to you."

Mary pursed her lips,

"Sometimes it is better if one remains unseen. If their efforts are known they might only lead to a disastrous ending."

Eleanor shook her head.

"And what kind of thinking is that Mary?" she asked softly.

"Hiding won’t fix anything. It only makes things worse."

Mary leaned against the bookshelf, her arms crossed. Her face was calm, but her fingers clenched slightly.

"You don’t understand," she murmured.

Eleanor sighed.

"Maybe I don’t. But what I do understand is that boy sitting over there, eating tacos like it’s the only good thing in his world. And I know he feels abandoned."

Mary flinched. She lowered her gaze, her lips pressing into a thin line.

"I never wanted him to feel that way," she admitted.

"Then why are you letting him?" Eleanor asked gently.

Mary’s hands curled into fists.

A few memories that she didn’t want to think about flashed in her mind.

The rim of her eyes turned red and she muffled the sob escaping her mouth.

Eleanor felt helpless. She knew Alex was Mary’s weak spot.

Mary was offered a promotion. One that would uplift some of her financial burdens.

But she refused.

Reason?

The boy, who had black hair and blue eyes similar to Mary. The lonely boy who tried to hide from the cruelty of the world using books.

Mary would hide every time he visited the branch, and wait for him to leave. It was as if she was avoiding the boy named Alex.

But in between she would ask Eleanor to pass him snacks, lunch box, and comforting words.

She would then pull Eleanor to one side and ask about Alex’s day.

Alex thinks that Mary loved the children from her second marriage more but only Eleanor knows the truth.

Mary was in fact more attached to him.

She hardly ever prepared lunch boxes for her own children but each day she would bring one for him.

She hardly ever spent birthdays with her own children, but she stayed extra time for Alex’s words.

She cares for children, but not enough to accept the promotion and leave Alex.

To Eleanor, Mary was biased toward Alex.

And the only person after Alex and Adam she ever had so much concern about was Aurora.

Eleanor sighed again, looking at Mary with a mix of pity and frustration.

"You love him, Mary," she said softly. "More than you let yourself admit."

Mary wiped her eyes quickly, turning her head away. "That doesn’t matter," she whispered.

"It does matter," Eleanor insisted. "You’re hurting yourself, and you’re hurting him, too."

Mary swallowed hard.

"Eleanor, please..."

Eleanor sighed and gave up. She decided to tell her what Alex had told her,

"He saw you in the hospital today."

Mary stiffened before asking in an almost low whisper, "And?"

"He thinks you love Aurora more." Eleanor continued.

...........................

Hospital

"Do you think Emily might be lying all along?" Olivia asked.

Lucas, Adriana, and Theodore remained silent.

"Hm...maybe...but that would still not explain how she can give away more than 5kg of gold, right?" Theodore said cautiously.

Aurora looked calm and seemed to be listening to their conversation with excitement but only she knew how much she was panicking in her heart.

’Is my cover finally going to blow off? Will they know the truth? Will Emily point at me and tell them everything? So can I then tell them about the existence of the rebate system?’

She shook her head internally and cursed herself,

’What are you thinking? Did you forget about the consequences? No...oh god! Please, please help me cover up!’

Adriana suddenly said,

"Maybe I think...I understand everything."

"You do?" Olivia, Theodore, Aurora, and Lucas looked at her.

Adriana nodded hesitantly.

"Maybe...maybe Emily wasn’t lying about the part that she is wealthy. The problem might be...she is hiding her marital problem.

Maybe she was some rich heiress and ran away from her home for her husband. As she had told before after marriage she was mistreated by the mother and son pair.

She never cleared as to why she didn’t leave them till now and even scooped so low to act like their personal maid when she was a rich heiress in reality.

So I think, she was ashamed of returning and afraid that her father might not be ready to accept her back.

However one day she came to know that her father was on the verge of death and hence she returned to him, to see him one last time.

Her father might have left a huge some of inheritance which the mother and son duo came to know about, hence they started to pester her to spend it on them.

Emily refused and they started to think of ways to deal with her. Her mother-in-law Margret, started to pressure Emily into giving the inheritance to her and mistreated her even more.

When Emily refused she sent thugs to scare her. She never thought that Emily would run away.

After 5 days they suddenly received a divorce agreement which made them desperate. So they decided to ruin Emily’s reputation and hence kept on accusing her of cheating.’

Lucas frowned. "That... actually makes sense," he said slowly.

Theodore looked at Adriana suspiciously,

"Well, that’s just a theory, right? We don’t know if that’s what really happened."

The others glanced at each other.

"True," Olivia admitted. "But it does explain a lot."

Lucas still looked doubtful.

"Then what about the gold? If she was just trying to escape, why give it away like that?"

Aurora tensed.

Adriana shrugged.

"Maybe... maybe she felt guilty? Like, she had all this money, and she knew other people needed it more."

Theodore nodded.

"That could be it. Or maybe she wanted to make sure the people who helped her were taken care of before she disappeared."

"I never knew married life could be such a hell," Olivia muttered.

Aurora, on the other hand, heaved a sigh of relief.

The story said by Adriana was quite feasible. She hid in her blanket and messaged the story to Emily and asked if she was okay.

Emily gave a thumbs-up to Aurora’s message and said she was fine.

Aurora thought for a while and asked Emily if she wanted Sophia to handle the matter of Emily and George’s divorce.

Emily was silent for a long while before agreeing.

Aurora put away the phone, unaware that her message had moved Emily to the point of tears.

Emily stared at the message and her tears kept on falling.

All this while she was truly afraid. Afraid that Margret and George would harm her baby and her.

Afraid that they would return and forcefully take her away.

Afraid that the custody of her unborn child would be given to George.

Emily wiped her tears, her hands shaking a little.

She had been strong for so long, but seeing Aurora’s message made her feel less alone. She took a deep breath and held her belly.

"Don’t worry, baby," she whispered. "Mommy will protect you."

Meanwhile, Aurora stretched and put away her phone.

She felt a little better now that Emily had agreed to let Sophia handle her divorce. She just hoped everything would go smoothly.