Chapter 3 Love Too Deep To Last

The passageway built especially for her was choked with clutter, and it took Eliana a great deal of effort to finally reach the CEO's office door.

Ethan's furious voice thundered through the heavy wooden door, "Lucien, fire that intern and apologize to Eliana-otherwise, don't bother calling me your friend."

The sickening thud of fist meeting flesh made teeth ache just to hear it.

Lucien spat a mouthful of blood to the floor, "A friend, and a friend's sister-you don't think you're meddling a little too much?"

The scuffle fell silent, and Ethan's voice shook with disbelief, "Eliana saved your life! She can never walk again because of it! During the hardest days of your start-up, it was Eliana and me running everywhere to raise money and find investors for you! When Lane Enterprises was hacked, Eliana stayed up night after night to hold the line. Her body was frail to begin with, and she nearly died coughing blood from pneumonia! Lucien, do you even have a conscience left?!"

A violent crash shook the door before her.

Lucien, holding back his fury, said, "I repaid the money, and I cared for her for ten years. As for the pneumonia, wasn't it because Eliana was fooling around and got her wheelchair stuck in the snow? Aren't you sick of dragging out the same old debt over and over?"

Eliana's hand froze on the door handle.

All sound seemed to vanish with Lucien's words.

The air was deathly still, and she heard her already fractured heart shatter all over again.

The excuses she had invented to spare him worry-he had believed them, and now he had even turned them into evidence against her, each word a blade driven into her.

Eliana shoved the door open, "Enough."

Ethan's eyes were bloodshot, his face mottled with bruises.

Lucien fared no better, clutching his stomach and barely able to stand upright.

Eliana didn't spare him a glance. She wheeled forward, pulling her brother away.

Lucien bellowed after her, "Eliana, I'd rather you had never saved me-"

Her fingertips trembled ever so slightly.

Lucien had once said those very words to her.

Back then, his tears had fallen in heavy drops onto her legs, drenching them.

He had asked her, "Does it hurt?"

She shook her head.

There was no feeling at all.

But he had only cried harder, "Eliana, I wish you'd never saved me. My life wasn't worth the cost of your whole future."

She had laughed and called him a fool-how could a life ever be weighed against a pair of legs?

Now, he was proving it with his actions.

His life was never worth her sacrificing her own.

When they reached the lobby, Vivian blocked their way with a mocking tone, "Well, well... the Walker family's two bloodsuckers are back again. So young and already so calculating, using those crippled legs to tie our Mr. Lane down for life. If you ask me, I bet you set that fire yourself."

Eliana said nothing, simply rolled her wheelchair right over Vivian's foot.

Vivian let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Lucien rushed over at the sound, his eyes blazing at Eliana, "Eliana, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Eliana didn't even lift her gaze, "A smart dog knows when to step aside."

Lucien clamped down on her shoulder with frightening force, "Apologize."

A sharp crack came from her shoulder blade.

Eliana gritted her teeth and shot him a sidelong glance, "Figures-you really are a dog. Can't understand human words, only know how to keep barking."

Just as Lucien was about to speak, Vivian suddenly covered her face and burst into tears, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault... Lucien, don't let me ruin things between you and Eliana. I'll just leave."

Eliana watched her limp away-then a sudden violent force slammed into her wheelchair.

Caught off guard, she was thrown from the chair, tumbling across the floor until she slammed into the wall, pain tearing through her as if her body were coming apart.

Lucien's voice came cold and commanding, "I said, apologize."