Daughter-in-law Strikes Harder

It was so hard for Ellen to maintain her initial body posture and mien, the moment she sighted the tall figure that was standing by the entryway. The one that could never be mistaken for another.

She almost missed her steps which could have led to an embarrassing trip, as her mother who was to come down from the car next held her slightly to balance.

Her entire body began to intensify on an instant pressure, on seeing that her brother who was absolutely meant to be up the tower, was outside the building just at the time that they had arrived. His assistant was not with him, there was no car in sight and there was no Hailey too.

The emboldened spirit that her mother had breathed confidently into her minutes ago, just dissipated into air when she realized that their plans could have flopped.

‘Oh dear. If this goes wrong, I would just act oblivious to what mother has done, and pretend like I don’t know anything. That is what I should do.’

Mrs. Eleanor Miller who noticed how awkward her daughter was acting on the spot, walked closer to her side elegantly, and gave a tight pinch by her hip side to ignite in her a proper reasoning on how to act.

Her eyelashes flickered up as she flashed a beautiful smile at her son, and walked ahead of her daughter to take the lead about whatever was going to happen.

“We arrived later than we should have. Ellen had a problem ordering the perfect dress for the event. Is everything okay that you are standing here?” Eleanor asked her son smoothly in a comported manner, like she had not the slightest clue of what could have put him in a foul mood.

She was indeed gorgeous in her emerald green dress, that her stature would give her away for a lady in her mid twenties.

“Not at all.” He replied to her curtly, and immediately turned to Ellen who was just walking right on time to meet up with their mother, “Why did your friend come in the assigned car that was sent to the mansion today, Ellen?”

It was as though the icing and chilly breeze of Antarctica hit Ellen, the moment her brother turned to ask her the question she knew she would fail. If she didn’t know anything that had ensued in the past few hours, denial and even a flawless drama to act dumb would have been perfect.

But there was no way that Ellen was going to try and act normal, in the intimidating presence of her brother who was asking a question she could never say the truth to.

She would end up telling the truth anyway, which would cause a huge catastrophe. Neither could she keep her mouth shut, or open it to speak out any words.

“What car? The one that picked Hailey up this evening?” Mrs. Eleanor came to her daughter’s rescue, before she would soil her spotless plans into oil.

Dalton’s brows subconsciously arched up in irritation at the fact that his mother was returning questions with questions, as his eyes trailed back to the watch that was wrapped around his wrist.

He almost cussed out when he saw that they had less than twenty minutes, and that the new order for dress was still on its way from miles away.

Without any doubt, someone would have to receive a transfer of aggression from the cold billionaire.

“Why was Aria not in the car, that was sent to the mansion? Why did someone have to come in place of her?!” Dalton demanded again this time, which made Ellen’s heart lose oxygen and blood again for a few seconds.

Her brother wasn’t playing games with them as he needed a valid answer immediately, and questioning her was the wrong move to make.

‘Was it because they were friends?’

“Was it for Aria? I thought it was for darling sweetheart, Hailey. Alex should have given a heads up, called, or done something to inform, so that this kind of mess up wouldn’t have to happen again. And I have not seen Aria all day since you left the mansion. No one would have thought it was meant for her. I mean, such has never happened in the past, since the package had the ‘Millers’ on it. There was no way to know,” Mrs. Eleanor almost rushed all her anxious words in a scrambled manner, forgetting how relaxed she had been when she started the conversation with him.

“Where, did, she go to?” Dalton’s voice was dangerously angry this time. How could they not have seen her all day?

Ellen had begun to cry inwardly when certain thoughts began to occur to her, that she was the one who had started the entire thing by collecting the package, and taking it to her mother’s room.

She was also the one who called Hailey and also made her face up, in which her mother could easily whisk her way out of the entire situation leaving only her.

‘She should have known better not to trust Mrs. Miller!’

“So you go ahead and assume that, the dress, and heels, that were purchased were for Ellen’s friend, right? Then a car would be sent to the mansion to bring this same lady, to the tower party and to meet Mark Miller? Really?” Dalton’s voice was a bit solemn and slow, to express the deep level of his disappointment to guts.

His eyes were so dark and angry and scary, with many thoughts going through his mind. He was searching for the right words to say at that time to his mother and sister, but could not even think of any other thing to utter out than malicious words.

There was never any reason for a problem of such in the past between any of them, but yet it seemed like Aria would be a beginning for family clashes.

“Ellen, you should fix how you imagine things and think foolishly. Mother, you should help Ellen think better and not just dwell on her dumb assumptions. Some things really had to be fixed instantly,” Dalton murmured his last sentence, and tucked his left hand into his pants as he stalked away from their sight. The notification for the dress and accessory arrival had rang.

~~~~~•••••“••||||••“•••••~~~~~

Alex could hear the erratic hammering and beating of his own chest, as he ran out of the control room unable to ask any other thing, to prevent further time waste. If Aria had not left the mansion all day, then she just had to be somewhere she could probably be for a long time.

Dividing the major and minor segments of the buildings and infrastructure of where she could be in, would take millions of years if he was to start checking everywhere one after another. He decided to use Madison.

The maids were running, moving in twos and threes on orders, to search everywhere around the huge compound and mini buildings for Aria, while Alex would check the most likely places inside the mansion.

He ran to search from the main house kitchen, to the secondary one that was for the maids, to other rooms that were not in use, and also the wine cellar even if he was sure that they were all locked.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

From the gym room, to the basement, to the underground parking lot, storage room and swimming pool, were the places they all checked round for her whereabouts.

It was after he had ran around without organizing his thoughts and jumbled mind, that his brain could recollect the footage he had sent to Dalton days ago. The place she had gone to for two consecutive days.

On getting to the door of the library, Alex felt relieved when he tried to push the door backward and found out that it was locked, to indicate that she was inside the place.

He began to shout on top of his voice for her to open the door, with the knowledge that the helicopter that was to transport her back to the tower through faster means, had arrived.

“Mrs. Miller!! Mrs. Miller!!!! Can you please open the door! Mrs. Miller! Are you in there?” He barged the door more frantically this time, in a partial attempt to break it down if it was possible. Time was running fast.

“Who is that?” Aria’s sluggish voice asked first, before her hand found the knob and turned it open.

She had woken up suddenly from her slumber that was deep into scary nightmares, and made her way quickly to the door when she heard the knockings that jolted her back to life.

She came face to face with Alex who was staring at her in disbelief, as his eyes stylishly narrowed down to her entire appearance before him.

The long, white dress that she was wearing was a complete turnoff, and even the manner at which she leaned on the door looked like she would fall anytime soon.

Her hair was extremely disorderly and tangled in different straight directions, as he could almost weep when he saw the state of her face. The bags she had under her eyes were sizes of black little nuts, as her eyeballs looked so weak beyond keeping them properly open.

‘Just how were they going to fix her up in minutes, enough for a presentable look for Dalton’s grandfather and everyone present?!’