Chapter 4: Go Back to the Old Manor and Fetch Me Some Clothes!

Eleanor nodded, serious. "I've thought it through. For five years I couldn't make him see me. Why keep insisting?"

"Okay! Whatever you decide, I'm on your side!" Chloe threw her arms around her. Then she asked, "What about your job at Blackwood Group? Are you staying?"

Eleanor barely hesitated. "No. I'm not staying. I'm writing my resignation letter today."

She had poured her whole youth and every ounce of her energy into Alexander and the Blackwood family. Now that she was preparing for a divorce, she wouldn't hold on to anything connected to him.

Chloe studied her best friend's gloomy profile and patted her shoulder.

She had watched Eleanor since their college days. Eleanor had fallen for Alexander after hearing him give a speech, a brilliant, commanding man at the top of the business world. After graduation, she had won a place at Blackwood Group and climbed, step by step, until she stood at his side.

Then came the marriage, and the child.

Chloe had seen exactly how deep Eleanor's love ran. All she could say was that the man didn't deserve it.

"Fine! I'll support you either way! What's so great about that rotten Blackwood company anyway? All they know how to do is work their people to death! Look at my little Ellie's face. You must have stayed up late again!"

Chloe cupped Eleanor's cheeks with exaggerated concern. "Big sister will heal you!"

Eleanor slapped her hands away, laughing, and told her to stop talking nonsense.

Chloe had slept in and hadn't eaten yet, so the two of them moved to the kitchen island.

They had spent so long on Eleanor's troubles that she realized she hadn't asked about Chloe in ages. She remembered Chloe had signed an online influencer last month and had been going to her events lately. Last week they had chatted, and Chloe had been accompanying an artist on a film shoot at Starlight Studios.

"Has your artist finished filming?" Eleanor asked.

Chloe sighed. "Almost. I've let my assistant go with her."

"What's wrong? Not going well?"

"It's so-so. Her acting instincts aren't great. The schedule slipped, and the director isn't happy." Chloe's tone said it all. Eleanor could guess how many kind words she'd had to say to that director. She was a talent manager, after all.

"Then why did you sign her?" Eleanor asked, curious.

Chloe propped her chin on her hand. "She has a huge following on the short-video platforms, and she's not bad-looking."

Eleanor nodded. These days, many influencers pulled in more traffic than some actual actors. "Take it slow. Maybe she'll get the hang of it in a while," she said gently.

Chloe took a sip of coffee, set it down, and suddenly turned to stare at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Chloe grabbed her hand and winked. "Best friend of mine, why don't you be my artist!"

"What? Me?" Eleanor nearly choked.

"Yes! You've been around this business before, and with your face, you can totally handle it!" Chloe grinned.

Even after having a child, Eleanor's face was still lovely. Her eyes and brows were dark and clear, her lips softly curved. If someone said she was a girl fresh out of school, people would believe it.

Eleanor coughed twice. She had done a few magazine shoots for Chloe in the past, and had even served as her back-view stand-in once.

But...

"Back then, all I had to do was stand there and pose. I definitely can't handle filming now."

"I'm not asking you to act!" Chloe said quickly. "Our company's modeling department is short on people." She looked Eleanor up and down, then wrapped an arm around her slender waist. "You'd be perfect for it!"

"I know you hate the spotlight. If you go the modeling route, you can skip most of the social events. When you have no shoots, you'll have plenty of free time."

Chloe hugged her and rubbed her face against Eleanor's chest, whining. "Please, Ellie, save your dear sister! My boss said if I can't sign anyone, he's letting me go!"

Eleanor said nothing.

"Besides, you just quit. You don't have a job. Isn't it perfect?"

That last line hit home. Eleanor truly had no idea what she would do after resigning.

She looked down at Chloe's pitiful, put-on expression and hesitated for a few seconds.

"Give me some time to think about it..."

"Okay! Think about it!" Chloe grabbed her face and kissed her cheek, bubbling over. As Eleanor's best friend, she knew that when Eleanor said that, the matter was already half decided!

---

That afternoon, Eleanor sat in the guest room typing her resignation letter. She also checked flight tickets and planned to fly back to Ravenmoor the next day to settle things.

Chloe went to her office that evening after hearing that something had happened to one of her artists.

Not long after she left, Eleanor sat out on the balcony, enjoying a rare stretch of quiet. She was halfway through a book when her phone rang.

She saw the name on the screen, and her brows knitted without her meaning to.

She didn't want to answer. But it rang twice, and just as the second call was about to end, she pressed the button.

"Why are you so slow to pick up?"

The moment the call connected, the complaints began.

Eleanor asked directly, "What do you want?"

On the other end, Isabelle Blackwood glared at the stack of papers on her desk, and her tone grew even more impatient. "I heard you're back. Come to the manor."

She hung up.

Eleanor didn't want to go to the old manor, not from the bottom of her heart. And since she'd already decided to divorce Alexander, she had no reason to keep pleasing his sister.

But then she thought of the old lady. Grandmother Blackwood was the only one in that family who had ever treated her with sincerity. She hadn't visited her in a while. After the divorce, she might never get the chance again.

After thinking it over, Eleanor decided to go.

A quarter of an hour later, she had changed and headed out. An hour after that, her car stopped before the Blackwood family's old manor.

She went in carrying a gift box. She didn't see the old lady, so she asked a servant and learned she was in the garden.

Just as Eleanor turned to head over, footsteps sounded on the stairs behind her.

Isabelle came down, yawning. "Ms. Hayes. It's really not easy to get you to come home even once."

Ever since Eleanor had married Alexander, Isabelle had never given her a pleasant look, and sarcastic remarks were routine. Isabelle believed Eleanor had used despicable means to steal her brother away from her beloved Vivian.

But that was the way it was. Isabelle was Alexander's sister, and she was younger than Eleanor, too. So all these years Eleanor had turned a blind eye and swallowed her rudeness without end.

Now, there was no need.

"You called me back just to run your errands. Is it really necessary for me to come rushing over?" Eleanor said quietly.

Isabelle froze for a moment. When she understood what she'd heard, she didn't even bother with her fake politeness.

"Eleanor Hayes, have you lost your mind? How dare you talk to me like that?" She pulled her robe tight, stalked over, and raised her hand.

Before it could land, Eleanor stepped aside.

"Miss Blackwood, aren't you afraid of damaging your image by hitting someone?"

Isabelle cared more about her image than anything. She clenched her fists. "Fine! I won't! But you were rude to me today, and I won't let it go! Go and get me some clothes and a new bag, then..."

"I'm sorry, I'm not your servant. These things aren't my business." Eleanor cut her off.

Maybe it was to vent Vivian's anger for her, but whenever Eleanor was in Silverhaven, Isabelle ordered her to do this and that. When she was in Ravenmoor, Isabelle sent her homework now and then and made her summarize courses for her. Anything the eldest young lady couldn't do, or didn't want to do, was dumped on Eleanor.

Thinking back on all the cold treatment she had endured over the years, Eleanor nearly wanted to slap herself awake.

"You...! Eleanor Hayes, you've defied me again and again today! Aren't you afraid I'll tell my brother?!"

Eleanor had heard that line countless times. Whenever she had refused in the past, Isabelle had used it as a threat. Back then, she had wanted so badly to mend things with Alexander that she had given in, over and over.

But now, whoever wanted to play the wronged one could take the job.

"Then go ahead."

Isabelle was stunned again. She looked at Eleanor's mild expression.

Something was different today. In the past, the moment she threatened to tell her brother, Eleanor's face would go pale with fear that Alexander would be angry. So why was she so indifferent now?

Not only had she refused to back down, she had even dared to threaten her.

"If the famous Miss Blackwood is a grown woman who still runs to her brother every day like a giant baby," Eleanor said, crossing her arms, "I'm sure your friends would love to hear about your glorious deeds, don't you think? Shall I spread the word for you?"

Isabelle was left speechless in the face of her sharp tongue.

Then she looked up and saw a figure coming up the stairs. The next second, she shoved Eleanor aside and ran over.

"Grandmother! Eleanor bullied me!"