Tangled Temptations

Once she finished speaking, Eloise hung up the phone. She directed the workers, and in less than half a day, a suite was ready.

Everything was arranged, and Eloise took a breather on the couch.

In the afternoon, she didn't see anyone. She was in her private space, going through the diary that Harvey had left her, her eyes moist.noveldrama

She missed him. She missed the love they shared ...

At four in the afternoon, a black Bentley slowly pulled up, and Harvey stepped out.

Parker and Pauline had left the house with their children, the mansion now eerily quiet for the holiday season. Harvey asked a maid, his voice slightly hoarse, "Where's Eloise?"

Knowing they had quarreled, the maid hesitated before replying, "She's upstairs."

Harvey nodded and slowly made his way upstairs. He was still wearing the same clothes from a few days ago, unwashed. He was usually very neat and would have showered first, but he was too eager to see Eloise.

Harvey easily found Eloise. Under the dim light, she was fast asleep on the couch, looking soft and peaceful.

Approaching her, he noticed a glisten at the corner of her eyes. Had she been crying?

Feeling guilty, he leaned over to kiss her.

Eloise woke up. Her long eyelashes fluttered, then her gaze met his. After a moment, she sat up and softly asked, "You're back?"

Harvey detected a note of indifference in her voice. Looking around, he noticed the warm and snug decor of the room - clearly, it was meant for a long-term stay. He murmured, "You're mad at me, but you can't bear to leave me, can you? You haven't moved out, which means you still care about our marriage."

Eloise slowly closed the diary. Her expression was icy as she chuckled coldly, "Attorney Horigan, you are overestimating yourself. I stayed for Linda. Surely you haven't forgotten about Linda's condition, have you?"

Harvey was taken aback. Linda had autism, so Eloise was only maintaining this marriage for their child?

Eloise's voice was soft, "That's it. You can leave now."

She was treating him like a stranger. Just a few days ago, she was in his car, asking him for a kiss with a dreamy face.

Harvey didn't leave. Instead, he grasped Eloise's wrist to prevent her from escaping. He wanted to kiss her, but Eloise turned her face away as he leaned in.

"Don't touch me."

Despite Eloise's fierce resistance, Harvey tried to kiss her again. Suddenly, she froze and extracted a long, thin hair from his shoulder.

The black hair was clearly not Eloise's.

Harvey frowned. He hadn't been involved with any other women, so the hair couldn't be from some mistress. The only possibility was that it came from the time Monika suddenly hugged him at the hospital when he was caught off guard.

Was it from that time?

Eloise scoffed, "How disgusting."

She knew this was Monika's ploy to drive a wedge between her and Harvey, but Harvey had given Monika the opportunity. She was tired and didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Seeing the fatigue in her eyes, Harvey patiently comforted her, "I don't know when it got there. Trust me, I haven't done anything to betray you or our children, okay?"

He was clever, subtly bringing up their children. Eloise smirked coldly.

Harvey found her smirk unbearable. He wanted to kiss her again, not wanting to see her look so dismissive, as if she was giving up on him.

A slap echoed in the room. Eloise's palm was stinging. She had had enough and commanded, "Leave."

Harvey was stunned. When he came to his senses, his face darkened. He sternly said, "Eloise, that's a life we're talking about."

Eloise closed her eyes, exhausted. Her voice was soft, almost ethereal, "So her life is a life, but mine and Linda's aren't? Harvey, do you think I'm heartless? Fine, let me tell you what I really think. I wish she were dead. If she were dead, she wouldn't..."

"Eloise!" Harvey's voice echoed sharply. He wouldn't let her finish.

But Eloise didn't seem to care. In the gentlest tone, she voiced the harshest words, "She better not have any more ill intentions, or else... Attorney Horigan, I wouldn't mind testing the law."

Harvey, to some extent, understood her meaning. He stared at her, his heart pounding. After a while, he murmured, "Eloise, is this the real you? Look at you now, where's your softness?"

Eloise threw a magazine at him. "Then consider me a bad woman."

Harvey clenched his jaw. He left the room, slamming the door behind him.

First, he went to his master bedroom to shower. He moodily took off his coat and, seeing the stray hair, threw it into the trash without a second thought.

When he absentmindedly opened the wardrobe, he noticed that half of it was empty. Only his suits and shirts remained, and Eloise's beautiful dresses were gone. She had moved all her things.

At that moment, Harvey realized that Eloise wasn't joking. Physically, she was still living in the Horigan home, but in her heart, their marriage was over, and only their children remained.

While shaving, Harvey stared at his face in the mirror. He couldn't help but wonder, "What did Eloise feel when she looked at this face?"

They lived under the same roof but rarely saw each other.

Eloise intentionally avoided him. When he spent time with Linda, she would retreat to her own room. Even when nursing Darrien, she would politely ask him to leave, as if he were a stranger.

At night, Harvey took the initiative to prepare milk for Linda. Upon entering the room, Eloise looked serene under the soft light. Linda was nestled in her mother's arms, clutching her tightly while listening to Eloise read a fairy tale.

Eloise had a soothing voice, soft with a hint of huskiness. It reminded Harvey of those intimate nights when she would plead under him in a voice barely above a whisper.

His Adam's apple moved involuntarily as he handed the milk bottle to Linda, who clutched it and began to drink. Halfway through the bottle, she started getting sleepy, and her little head bobbing up and down.

Eloise's voice became softer. In the dead of the night, she patted Linda's shoulder, softly humming a lullaby.

Harvey leaned in, whispering, "She's asleep."

Eloise carefully set the little girl down, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaving the room. She then went to check on Darrien.

Darrien now had his own nursery, with two nannies rotating through the night shift. As Eloise left the room, Harvey followed closely behind. In the empty corridor, he grasped her hand, gently pinning her against the wall.

"Eloise, how long are you going to give me the cold shoulder? Nothing will happen between her and me."

Eloise leaned against his shoulder, pushing him away as she headed toward her bedroom.

Harvey caught her wrist once more. "Let's talk."

Eloise paused, her slender figure appearing even more delicate under the dim light. In just a few days, she seemed to have lost weight. How could you ever tell that she had given birth just two months ago?

Eloise's voice was hoarse. "What do you think we have left to discuss? Ever since Monika's appearance, I've shown nothing but rejection and disgust. If you had any feelings for me or truly saw me as your wife, you wouldn't have made this decision."

With that, she walked straight into her bedroom. The soft sound of the bedroom door closing echoed Harvey's despair.