“No, Elliot-I want you to go to the hospital with me,” Hayley pouted as she clutched onto Elliot’s sleeve
tightly like a child terrified of losing affection.
“I can’t go with you because I still have stuff to do. Be good and let Rèy take you to the hospital,” Elliot
cajoled patiently.
“No. I want you to go with me, or I won’t go at all,” she whined stubbornly.
He frowned pensively. Given that she was still in shock after the accident, it made sense for him to take
her to the hospital and stay with her throughout the check-up. However, just as he was considering this,
Anastasia suddenly snorted. “So don’t go to the hospital then, Hayley. President Presgrave and I still
have things to do. Come on, President Presgrave, we have to get going!”
Hayley’s chest rose and fell erratically when she heard this, and she started trembling as she groaned,
“I feel dizzy, Elliot!” With that, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her legs buckled under her. It
was only because Elliot moved quickly enough to catch her that she did not collapse onto the ground.
He swept her into his arms and carried her into the backseat of the car, saying, “I’ll get you to the
hospital now, Hayley.” He then addressed Anastasia, who stood firmly in place, “Could you get a ride
back to the company?”
Anastasia watched as his car sped out of the parking lot, leaving her behind. She heaved a sigh and
headed back to the company.
Over at the private hospital that was run by the Presgrave Corporation, Hayley had gone through
several tests, and it was concluded that she was fine aside from the shock and the concussion that
came with the accident. The doctor also mentioned that she would be fine after a few days’ rest.
Elliot was presently seated by her hospital bed. Taking in the bump on her forehead and her pale face,
he consoled her by saying, “Don’t worry, you’ll just have to stay here for a couple of days for
observation purposes.”
“Elliot, what were you doing with Anastasia? Were you both going out for work or something?” Hayley
asked as she lay demurely in bed, feigning curiosity.
He shook his head. “I was going to bring her to the Presgrave Residence to meet my grandmother.”
Hayley was in shock as she asked, “Why do you want her to meet your grandmother?”
“I was kidnapped once when I was only a child, and it was Anastasia’s mother who sacrificed her life to
save mine. My grandma’s been waiting to repay the deed ever since,” Elliot explained frankly.
“What? You were the kid Anastasia’s mother saved back in the day? Anastasia and I were classmates
throughout elementary and high school. I heard about how her mother had died while on duty, but I
didn’t think you were the person she saved. Her mother was a selfless woman,” Hayley pointed out
with admiration. “I’ve always looked up to her mother.”
“Did something happen between you and Anastasia?” Elliot asked curiously. He could tell that
Anastasia harbored enmity toward Hayley to the extent that her hatred for the latter was unmistakable.
Hayley had long since thought of an answer, and she lied with a sigh, “Anastasia came to save me
once when I was being taken advantage of, but in the end, she ended up getting assaulted instead.
She’s been holding it against me ever since.”
“Assaulted?” He blanched at this, wondering if Hayley was perhaps referring to some other kind of
assault.
“Yes. Some gigolo ended up violating her. It was because of me that she had to suffer something as
horrible as that,” Hayley went on to say as tears of guilt glistened in her eyes. She buried her face in
her hands and muttered in anguish, “I could never make it up to her, not even if I were to spend the rest
of my life trying to atone for my faults.”
Elliot felt his heart leap to his throat. Anastasia was assaulted by a man before this? “Are you sure she
was.” The words died on his tongue as he fixed his gaze on Hayley, unwilling to accept what he had
just heard.
Hayley’s tears streamed down her face as she nodded firmly and said, “Yes, her chastity had been
cruelly taken away from her that night against her own will. That was her first time and I… She was
assaulted because of me, and I can’t ever make it up to her. She’s hated me since that horrific ordeal,
and I deserve it. I deserve to be loathed by her for the rest of this lifetime.”
Just as she was saying this, Hayley thought darkly, I just need to let Elliot know that Anastasia isn’t
some virtuous and pure lady. Now, regardless of how pretty she is, she will forever be tainted goods to
him!
Elliot, on the other hand, felt as if he was caught in the aftershock of an earthquake. He was so
stunned that his handsome features seemed frozen in place, and his eyes were wide as he
contemplated what he had just learned.
“It’s only right that she hates me. There is nothing I can do to atone for this sin of mine, Elliot. I know
that I had the same experience as she did, but I was lucky
Anastasia, though; she met a scoundrel who slept with her and abandoned her as soon as the deed
was over.”
“Does that mean the kid belongs to that gigolo?” Elliot pressed in a low voice, his fist clenching where it
rested atop his knee. I can’t believe she went through something like that.
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