"We weave tales like tapestries, deception is our thread "
Chapter # 10
"Last night, I received a call from Dad," she said, holding two bundles. "He mentioned that he urgently needs money, so I'll be sending this to my family."
Edward sarcastically commented, "They've always been in urgent need of money."
Adeline glared at him, causing him to quickly nod in agreement.
"Adeline, why do you send your hard-earned money to your greedy family?" he asked. Yes, of course, it's hard-earned money. So what if they earned it by stealing? Stealing also requires hard work. Therefore, it's their hard-earned money.
Adeline lowered her gaze, avoiding eye contact with him. "Because they are my family, and anyway, I send one-fourth of the money I earn to them, and the rest I spend on myself," she replied. Her voice carried a hint of brokenness, as if an old wound had resurfaced.
Edward frowned. "What kind of family is this? They never treated you as part of their family, except when they needed something from you . You're saying you send them only one-fourth of your earnings, but in reality, you keep one-fourth for yourself and send the rest to your family." Edward's frustration was evident in his tone.
"Dee-Dee, I'm the eldest daughter of my family. It's my duty to support them. No matter how they are, it's still my duty," Adeline responded.
"Daughter? duty? What are you talking about? And they have no duty? They didn't even let you complete your education, which was their most important duty. There are many duties that they never fulfilled. They wouldn't even remember that you are their daughter. Only their two daughters and a son are important to them. What was the name of their pet cat?" He scratched his head, trying to remember the name of the cat.
"Oh yes! Lili. For them, Lili is more important than you. If they had to choose between you and Lili, I'm sure they would choose Lili without hesitation. You're just a money-making machine to all of them," he said, seething with anger towards her family. If any of them were present here, he would have torn their heads off by now.
She raised her face and looked at him with teary eyes. Her worn-out expression revealed how much her family's behavior had shattered her from inside. "Are your backup plans ready?" she asked, changing the subject and indirectly indicating that she didn't want to discuss this topic further.
Edward sighed, muttering "Stupid family" to himself, and decided not to dwell on the topic any further. She was his dear friend, more important than anything else. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't either. "My backup plans are always ready," he assured her.
" Good " She replied with a single word
Edward regretted how foolishly he had ruined her mood. He mentally scolded himself.
"Well, go to sleep now and sleep like humans. We have to wake up early in the morning, and I won't come to wake you up. Anyway, I'm very sleepy. I'm going," he said, taking a deep breath. He quickly got out of bed and stood four steps away from her, checking his surroundings as if making sure he was in a safe position.
Her ears perked up as she recalled his words. "Excuse me, Mr. Edward, what do you mean by 'sleep like humans'?" she asked through gritted teeth. She had forgotten their previous conversation and was now very angry with him.
"Yes, you sleep just like animals. No, in fact, animals sleep very alertly. You look no less than a dead body when you sleep. It's like you're not sleeping but dead. Every morning, I have to wake up two hours earlier than my usual time just to wake you up," he innocently explaining, while Adeline's face was turning red with anger.
"You!" she exclaimed. "Just wait here. You dumbass!" she said, and she ran after him, but once again, he managed to escape from her hands.
Like every morning, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. It had triumphed over the darkness of the night and was now spreading its radiant light far and wide, announcing its victory. As the sunlight filled the surroundings, people began their daily routines, but that lady was still sleeping peacefully who had to do a very important thing today.
"Ahh…..Mommy!" she screamed as Edward splashed a jug of cold water on her face. Startled, she jolted awake, her heart racing. For a moment, she thought it was raining inside her room. She looked around and her focus zeroed in on a strange creature ( Edward) , who was standing near her bed.
Her ears turned red as she noticed him placing an empty jug on the bedside table. "You... Idiot!" she yelled, throwing every pillow that was on her bed. He definitely deserved it!!!
"Are you out of your mind?" Edward exclaimed, picking up the pillows from the floor and arranging them back on the bed.
"You dumb! Is this how you wake someone up? Don't you have any manners? You could have gently woken me up. I was sleeping, not dead," she yelled back
"Oh, I thought you were dead," he said with that expression, as if he genuinely believed she might have been. Then he switched back to an angry face. "I've been trying to wake you up for an hour, but you didn't budge. So I did what came to mind, and voila, it worked!"
She wanted to say a lot, but she decided to keep quiet, knowing that she was a heavy sleeper. Her gaze fell upon the pillows he had neatly arranged on the bed. "Nicely done," she muttered to herself, and once again, she flung all the pillows at him. That was all she could do at the moment.
Edward glared at the pillows, then glared at her. "As a friend, let me give you a piece of advice. If you're going to live among humans, learn to behave like one and understand their habits. Otherwise, if this continues, people will suspect that I'm harboring a strange creature disguised as a human in my house," he snapped, arranging the pillows back in their proper places. Before she could respond, her attention was caught by the wall clock. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, quickly getting out of bed and rushing toward the bathroom.
Edward prepared breakfast in the kitchen, paying special attention to cleanliness. He was the type of person who valued tidiness and kept things as bright as silver pins, all shiny and bright.
Adeline was now standing in the disguise room, checking herself in the mirror. Her milky-white skin was tanned now.She was dressed as a nurse, her short, curly red hair tied back in a ponytail . She had a faded burn mark on her right cheek and her eyes looked small which she must have made with make-up. No one could recognize her now; she looked like an ordinary nurse.
After taking a final look at herself, she came down to the dining area. Edward was setting breakfast on the table, he looked up at her and asked " Are you completely ready, my pineapple??? "
" Yes, I'm all ready, Dee-Dee" Adeline replied, pulling a chair to sit. Edward took a seat beside her then they both started having their breakfast.
"Well, in the next trap, I'll give you the role of either a chef or a butler,you cook very delicious" she mentioned casually during breakfast. Edward glanced at her while sipping his juice and retorted, "Even though that's your job but you just sleep all day! "
"It's not written anywhere that it's solely my job. Besides, all these trap processes and planning require a peaceful state of mind," she replied, calmly enjoying her breakfast. Edward finished his juice and quietly observed her as she continued to eat her meal in silence.
"Am I looking prettier today?" she asked without turning her gaze towards him. He quickly averted his eyes and responded, "Who's looking beautiful?" He exaggeratedly scanned the area, as if searching for the person she was referring to.
"Do you have something to say, Dee-Dee?" She asked as he stared longer at her face silently.
"Did you truly have feelings for him in your heart?" He scratched his head and asked in return hesitantly.
she narrowed her eyes in confusion and responded, "Feelings for whom?"
"Alex." He replied
"Alex!!" She repeated and gazed upward at the ceiling, as if trying to recall who Alex was. Then, as the memories flooded back, she looked at Edward with a surprised expression. "Oh no! That was a trap, a heiress-trap and nothing else. Alex was nothing more than a gold-digger who targeted wealthy women or girls from affluent families. He used them and manipulated them for money under the guise of love. And we did the same to him. By the way, you played the role of the wealthy old dad remarkably well." With that, she finished speaking and returned to her breakfast.
"But you were really crying standing outside the Night-out restaurant that day."
She blinked and replied, "Oh, those tears were fake. I used artificial tears."
"I had artificial tears with me that day," he said, gazing at her with eyes that want to know something, something that is going inside her.
Their eyes met briefly, but she quickly looked away. "So what?? I can shed tears without artificial tears"
But he continued to gaze at her like that, as if waiting for her to say the truth. Eventually, he lowered his eyes and spoke softly, "Adeline, I know I hurt you that day. My words were too harsh, and I shouldn't have reacted that way." His voice carried a sense of remorse.
Adeline's face turned pale. After finishing her breakfast, she dabbed her lips with a napkin. "We need to hurry today. We must put an end to this oppressed lady-trap, no matter what." She changed the subject.
"I... Your words were very unexpected. I didn't intend for things to turn out this way," he said in a conciliatory tone.
Adeline stood up from her chair and picked up her worn-out handbag from the table. Just as she was about to leave, she spoke firmly, "I will transfer the money to you as planned, or else I'll resort to the backup plan. Those people will bring out the money from the clinic in two days, and we'll make our escape before that."
"Adeline, I'm not talking about the plan right now.." He sighed " I never meant to treat you that way on that day, but you said something that I couldn't able to tolerate!"
Adeline slammed her hands on the table, frustration evident on her face. " This is not the first time you behaved with me like that and moreover, whatever I said was damn right."
" You shouldn't have say that!!" he replied, his voice and expressions hardened all of sudden. He wasn't looking like cutiee Dee-Dee anymore.
"Then tell me what should I say , huh!! Whatever I said was right Dee-Dee. Have you ever look at yourself, you are getting hard not only on yourself but others too!! you're torturing yourself and shedding tears for the person who left you alone sixteen years ago, you don't care for the people who are alive and care for you, Edward." Adeline said, pointing at him with her index finger.
However, Edward averted his gaze and stared blankly at the table. His face turned red, and a vein appeared on his forehead, as if he was struggling to control himself from saying something hurtful.
"Y-You're my friend, more than a friend. You're the only person in my life whom I care about the most . It pains me to see you slowly destroying yourself for someone who isn't even in this world. Edward, it hurts me. Don't I have the right to be concerned?" Her worry for Edward was evident in her words.
But he remained motionless, saying nothing. He then picked up his car keys. "Put all these dishes in the sink and come out. I'm waiting for you in the car," he instructed, without even looking at her, and left.
Adeline closed her eyes tightly. All he wanted was to apologize for his harsh tone. It was clear that he didn't want to discuss this topic and never would.