It only took three days for Arthur Vance to finish what he had started since the night of Victoria's return.
That afternoon, the sky outside the window looked cloudy and gray. Elena was standing in the kitchen, staring blankly at a teacup from which a thin steam exhaled, when the sound of arrogant footsteps was heard approaching.
Arthur walked into the dining room, followed by Victoria Belmont behind him. Without uttering even a single word, Arthur threw a thick, dark blue document folder on top of the marble table. The sound of the folder's impact echoed loudly.
"Sign that," Arthur said without small talk. His voice was flat and cold. "That is our divorce papers. I have already asked my lawyer to finish it as quickly as possible."
Elena stared at that blue folder. Not a single tear fell from her eyes as she faced them. Her look was instead empty, staring straight toward the sheet of paper that would end three years of her life. The pain in her chest was so dense to the point of making her eyes feel dry.
"Arthur..." Elena finally voiced, staring at her husband with an erected voice, though it felt hollow. "Why this quickly? Does three years of our marriage possess not even the slightest meaning to you?"
Arthur snorted cynically, folding both of his arms across his chest. "Do not act as if you are shocked, Elena. This marriage from the beginning was a mistake. I am not giving a single penny of marital assets. Besides, your family has already obtained plenty of profits from me!"
"Profits?" Elena repeated that word with a forced bitter smile. "Then what about the remainder of my life? During these three years I always obeyed all of your wishes. I looked after this house, I withheld all my ego, I tried to be a good wife to you even when you ignored me. Why do you have the heart to treat me like trash?"
Victoria stepped forward a step, throwing a thin smile full of triumph. "Oh, Elena. Do not be naive. You are only a replacement wife because of a ridiculous will. Arthur never loved you. Hurry up and sign, do not waste Arthur's valuable time."
Elena ignored Victoria. Her eyes were still pointed at Arthur, demanding an answer from the man whom all this time she had served with her whole heart. "Arthur, say something. Are all my sacrifices all this time truly of no value in your eyes?"
"You came to this house without bringing anything, so you also must leave without bringing anything," answered Arthur cruelly without hesitation. "Victoria and I will immediately formalize our relationship next month, and I do not want any past matters hindering my way."
Elena stared at Arthur who stood sturdily in front of her. That very second, a bitter awareness hit her mind.
'Everything is in vain. All my struggles to touch his heart, all my patience facing his cold attitude during these three years... never possessed a meaning. He is not a rigid man or one unable to cherish. He was only waiting. He was only keeping watch to see Victoria return. And I am merely a heap of stumbling stone currently ready to be kicked out by him.'
That extraordinarily deep feeling of heartbreak instead froze her tears. Elena did not want to show her weakness in front of that woman.
"Quickly take that pen and sign," interjected Victoria while tapping her nails on top of the marble table. "Don't tell me you are deliberately stalling time so that you can extort Arthur for more together with your greedy adoptive family?"
Arthur nodded, agreeing with Victoria's utterance. "The true nature of the Miller family indeed has never changed. Always opportunistic and using you as a tool to dig up profits from my company. Quickly finish this, Elena. My patience has already run out."
Elena lowered her head. With a hand that felt stiff yet certain, Elena took the pen on top of the table. Every scratch of her ink felt like the end of her foolishness. As soon as that signature was finished, Arthur directly snatched the folder without looking at her again, then took steps leaving together with Victoria who laughed contentedly.
Right after the front door closed tightly, the phone inside the pocket of her house dress vibrated very violently. The screen lit up brightly, displaying the name 'Adoptive Mother'.
Elena slid the green button and answered with a weak voice. "Hello, Mother..."
"Elena! Where are you right now?!" screamed Sarah Miller from the other side of the phone, full of a panic mixed with anger. "You must speak to your husband right now! Arthur's assistant newly sent an official email that Vance Group is suspending the entirety of the bailout funds and investments for our eastern region expansion project! What actually did you do in that house until making Arthur furious, huh?!"
Elena drew a short breath that felt suffocating. "Mother... Arthur just divorced me. I... I newly signed it."
"What?! You already signed it?! Are you crazy, Elena?!" Sarah's voice exploded far more hysterically. "The Miller family business is currently on the edge of a horn! Next month's grand project is our last wager! If Arthur withdraws the entirety of his investment right now because of this divorce, our company will be completely ruined and we will go bankrupt!"
"I possessed no choice, Mother... Arthur was the one who forced me," chirped Elena faintly.
"You must possess a choice, foolish child!" snapped Sarah cruelly. "Listen well, Elena! You came to the Miller family house as an orphan from a squalid orphanage! We were the ones who gave you food, bought you clothes, put you through school, and gave this honorable position to you! Now is the time you return the favor for all the money we have spent to raise you!"
"Mother, please... I too am currently ruined right now," Elena cut in faintly, begging for an understanding she would never obtain.
"There is no word of please!" cut Sarah without mercy. "Return to Arthur! Kneel in front of his door! Crawl at his feet if necessary! Beg him to cancel that divorce, or press him to remain the main investor of our grand project! Remember Elena, if you chance to fail doing this and make the Miller company ruined, do not ever dare to step your foot in this house again! You are no longer a part of our family!"
Click.
The phone connection was disconnected unilaterally. Elena lowered her phone slowly, then released it just like that until the object lay on top of the floor.
Both of her knees suddenly turned weak, making her slowly collapse and sit on top of the cold marble floor. Inside that quiet and hollow room, the defense she had built stubbornly since earlier finally collapsed completely.
Elena's chest felt very suffocated, like being struck by a large rock making it difficult for her to breathe. Every exhalation of her breath felt torturous and triggered an extraordinarily intense stinging pain in the pit of her stomach. The beads of tears which since earlier froze on her eyelids now finally broke, dripping one after another passing her pale cheeks, then fell wetting the marble floor.
Elena did not shout, nor did she scream. Her crying broke without a sound, only consisting of a sob restrained in her throat that made her entire shoulders and slender body shake violently on top of the floor.
While hugging her own knees, Elena reflected inside a dense despair. She felt her life had never truly meant anything. Let alone to Arthur or the Miller family, even to herself, her presence felt like a mistake that should not exist in this world.
The Final Limit of Utility Value
That night, the wall clock had only just pointed to eight o'clock, but for Elena, the remainder of her life was as if it had already stopped. In the living room of the Vance residence, Arthur stood arrogantly while inserting the blue folder containing the divorce papers newly signed by Elena into his briefcase.
"You possess thirty minutes to pack your items and get out of here," Arthur said without even slightly looking at Elena's face. His voice sounded flat, as if he were driving out a stranger who had mistakenly entered his house.
Elena stared at the back of the man whom for these three years she had served with her whole heart. Even though knowing everything would be in vain, there was an extraordinarily deep disappointment demanding to be let out.
"Arthur," called Elena, her voice trembling yet sounding clear in the silent living room. "Three years I endured in this house, withholding all your insults, throwing away my entire self-esteem merely to be a good wife to you. Is there not even a slight sense of humanity in your heart to not throw me out onto the streets like this?"
Arthur stopped his movement for a moment, yet he did not turn around. "I already said it earlier, Elena. This marriage is a mistake. You possess no right to ask for anything from me."
"I am not asking for your wealth, Arthur!" cut Elena, her voice rising withholding the stinging pain in her chest. "I am only asking, where is your conscience? You let Victoria trample upon me, and now you drive me out as if I am a heap of trash dirtying your house. Are all my sacrifices all this time truly of no value at all?"
Victoria who stood beside Arthur snorted lazily. "Enough, Arthur, do not listen to this woman's wailing. She only wants to bring down your morale so that you feel guilty."
Arthur finally turned his head, staring at Elena with his grey eyes that were as cold as ice. "Save your tears, Elena. You knew from the beginning I never wanted you. To me, you are only a part of the past that I must immediately erase. Leave before I ask security to drag you out."
Hearing that answer, Elena formed a bitter smile. Her tears did not even want to come out anymore. She turned around with stiff steps toward the small room near the kitchen—the room she had been using all this time to sleep because Arthur forbade her from entering the main bedroom. There, Elena only inserted several pieces of simple clothes into a small, worn-out suitcase. She did not touch a single piece of jewelry or luxury dress that had once been bought by Arthur's late grandmother for her.
As Elena walked back to the front room pulling her suitcase, Arthur and Victoria were already waiting near the door. Victoria crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Elena's worn suitcase with a mocking smile.
"Good if you know your place not to bring items that are not your right," Victoria sneered curtly.
Arthur opened the front door, exposing the outside sky which had already turned black with raindrops beginning to fall. "From this very second, you are no longer my business, Elena. And my assistant newly sent the document revoking the entirety of Vance Group's investments from the Miller company. Our relationship is completely finished."
Slam!
The front door was closed roughly precisely in front of Elena's face. Elena stood frozen on the terrace of that luxury house for a few moments, withholding her breath which felt suffocating. She pulled her suitcase slowly, penetrating the raindrops which grew increasingly heavy, walking on foot toward the highway to search for a taxi willing to bring her home to the only place she knew: the Miller family house.
One hour later, the taxi stopped in front of the gate of the Miller family residence. The rain outside had already changed into an extraordinarily heavy storm. Elena got down from the taxi with a body beginning to grow wet, dragging her suitcase drawing closer to the door of the house.
However, before Elena chanced to knock on the door, that large door leaf was already opened roughly from the inside. George Miller and Sarah Miller stood there with faces that were crimson red, their breaths rushing due to a peaking anger.
"Damn child! How dare you step your foot here after what you did!" screamed Sarah, her voice shrill overpowering the thundering sound of lightning in the sky.
Elena jolted, holding the handle of her suitcase firmly. "Mother... Father... Arthur drove me out from the house. I possessed no choice but to return home here—"
Slap!
One hard slap from George Miller's hand landed on Elena's left cheek before she chanced to finish her sentence. That jerk was so powerful until making Elena stagger onto the wet terrace floor. Her small suitcase was released, rolling to a corner of the wall.
"Do not call me Father!" snapped George, pointing at Elena's face with a finger trembling due to fury. "You know what newly occurred?! Vance Group newly disconnected the entirety of the fund flow and canceled all contracts with us unilaterally! Our grand project in the eastern region collapsed this very night! The Miller company is on the edge of total bankruptcy due to the piling debts, and that is all because of you!"
Elena held her cheek which felt hot, thumping in pain, and fishy from the blood beginning to come out from the corner of her lips. She looked up, staring at her two adoptive parents with a view of disbelief.
"I already tried to beg Arthur, Father... Mother... but he did not care. He brought Victoria back," chirped Elena, her tears finally falling mixed with the splashes of rain water driving into the terrace. "Please let me enter first... outside is very cold."
"Enter? You want to enter into this house?!" Sarah laughed cynically, a laugh that sounded extraordinarily cruel in Elena's ears. She took steps forward, staring at Elena with a view full of disgust. "You think for what we took you from that squalid orphanage in the past, huh?! Your utility value for this family was only your marriage to Arthur! We let you use the Miller name so that you could become a tool binding funds from the Vance Group! Now after you are divorced and their funds have vanished, you are nothing more than just useless trash to us!"
"Mother, I beg you..." Elena crawled drawing closer, ignoring the pain in her cheek. She held the tip of Sarah's shoe with a trembling hand. "I do not know where else to go... I do not possess anyone in this world besides you. Please do not drive me out..."
Sarah roughly jerked her foot, making Elena's hand release. "Do not touch me with your dirty hand! We are not willing to bear the shame of possessing a failed child who brings a jinx to the family business!"
George stepped forward, took Elena's small suitcase, then threw it with all his strength toward the house yard which was submerged in rain water. That suitcase opened, making several of Elena's simple clothes come out and get soaking wet on top of the soil.
"Get out of here! Starting tonight, your relationship with the Miller family is officially severed. You are no longer a part of us. Whether you die of starvation or rot in the street gutters, we do not care!" shouted George coldly without a burden.
Before Elena chanced to beg again, George pulled Sarah's arm entering inside the house and slammed the front door extraordinarily hard. The sound of the key being turned from the inside sounded so final in Elena's ears.
Elena was unbalanced and fell to a sitting position on top of the wet terrace floor. Her chest felt so suffocated, as if the supply of air around her suddenly vanished. The people whom all this time she considered as protectors turned out to have the heart to trample upon her as cruelly as this.
While hugging her body which trembled heavily in the midst of the onslaught of the night wind and rainstorm, her tears slowly fell. That night, beneath the sky that was pitch black, Elena realized that herself had been truly thrown away to the streets without a remnant. Her life was ruined, and she was at the lowest point in her life.
The Turning of Destiny's Wheel
Elena's consciousness slowly loosened as the coldness of the rain water began to numb her skin. Her view blurred, leaving the streetlights looking like a faded glow of dim light drawing away. In the midst of the thundering storm, she faintly heard the screeching sound of car tires braking sharply, followed by footsteps approaching in a hurry.
"Miss! My goodness, Miss Elena!"
"Quickly call a doctor! Prepare the medical car right now!"
That panicked and authoritative baritone voice became the last thing Elena remembered before her world completely turned pitch black. The man was Robert Harrington, the legendary conglomerate owner of the Harrington Group. Along with his procession of tight bodyguards, Robert directly carried Elena's freezing, slender body, bringing her away far from the streets heading toward the grand Harrington mansion which was tightly isolated from the public.
Three days later, Elena woke up in an extraordinarily vast bedroom with a high ceiling adorned by a crystal lamp. The soothing aroma of sandalwood replaced the fishy smell of the rainstorm which chanced to linger in her mind.
Elena blinked her eyes, trying to adjust herself to the room's light. She stayed silent for a moment, observing the silk sheets enveloping her body. This was not the Miller family house, let alone Arthur's residence.
"Thank goodness you have woken up, Child."
The voice made Elena turn her head slowly. Beside her bed, sat a middle-aged man in a neat suit. The lines of his face radiated an extraordinary authority, yet at this moment, his eyes appeared red and glassy staring at Elena.
Elena tried to sit up, even though her head still felt a bit dizzy. "You are... Mr. Robert Harrington?" she asked hesitantly. Of course she knew this man. Who in this city did not know Robert Harrington? The man was a business legend respected even by the Miller family and Arthur Vance. The Harrington Group was a giant that could never be touched by their companies.
"Yes, that is correct," answered Robert, his voice trembling withholding emotion. The old man reached for Elena's hand with an extraordinarily gentle manner, as if Elena were a valuable object that was easily broken. He then put forward a thick, black leather folder. "Read this. This is the answer to all my searching all this time."
With a hand that was still a bit trembling, Elena opened the file. Sheet after sheet she turned, trying to digest the series of medical sentences inside it. Until finally, her eyes were fixed on a sheet of DNA test result paper. There, a match was clearly written with an absolute probability of ninety-nine point nine percent.
"When you donated your rare blood for me at the hospital a few months ago, the medical team realized a match impossible to occur between strangers," Robert explained, tears finally falling wetting his wrinkled cheeks. "You are my lost biological granddaughter, Elena. My flesh and blood."
Elena was stunned. Her eyes widened staring at the writing on top of that paper, then shifted to stare at Robert. Her heart beat rapidly, pumping blood quickly to her whole body. Her hand squeezed the edge of the folder until her knuckles turned white.
The Miller family adopted her from a small orphanage on the outskirts of the city. She had always been taught that herself was an useless outcast child, who was only fit to receive crumbs of affection and be turned into a business pawn. Yet now, the most powerful man always hailed by her adoptive father and feared by her ex-husband instead sat crying in front of her, calling her 'granddaughter'.
The shock was too grand, making Elena mute for a long enough time. There was no refusal, there was no denial. She only... did not expect it. The series of suffering she experienced all this time felt too contrasting against the reality currently displayed in front of her eyes.
Slowly, the extraordinarily deep feeling of heartbreak from Arthur's and the Miller family's betrayal was as if becoming the fuel tempering her soul. Instead of crying lamenting the past, Elena's pair of eyes which in the past always lowered sorrowfully now radiated a different flash. There was a newly lit fire of determination there. She closed the folder, let out a long exhalation, then stared straight toward Robert.
"Grandfather," called Elena with a voice that was still a bit hoarse, yet far firmer than the Elena of the past. That word slid out just like that, feeling unfamiliar yet strengthening. "I... I am still trying to understand all of this. But if this indeed is my destiny, I ask you one thing."
Robert wiped his tears, shocked as well as relieved seeing his granddaughter's calmness. "Say it, Darling. Grandfather will give anything."
"Please keep my identity and presence a secret from the public. Close all access of information about me for a temporary period of time," said Elena with a cold look. "I do not want the Miller family nor Arthur Vance to know that I am still alive, let alone being here. Let them think I am already ruined."
Robert nodded firmly. "Then, what is your plan?"
"I want to learn, Grandfather. Teach me the entire ins and outs of the Harrington dynasty business. I want to build my own strength from behind the shadows. The weak and obedient Elena died that night," she answered resolutely.
A few weeks passed. In front of a large mirror inside the mansion's dressing room, Elena stood upright staring at the reflection of her own self. The worn-out house dress had now changed to a black formal blazer suit with sharp and elegant cuts. Her hair which was usually let to fall messily was now in a neat bun, displaying her strong jaw and a pair of eyes full of authority.
She touched the mirror surface. With this, she officially cut the entire chains of her past.
Elena turned around and approached Robert who was already waiting for her at the threshold of the door.
"I swear, Grandfather," said Elena, her voice sounding so final. "If one day later they come knocking on my door with regret, that door is already tightly closed. There is no more forgiveness, what remains is only ruin for them."
Robert smiled proudly, seeing the soul of a true Harrington had been born again inside his granddaughter. "The time has arrived, Elena. They must know with whom they are playing."
Elena took steps with certainty, tracing the long corridor heading toward the main meeting room of the Harrington Group. The grand double doors made of luxurious teak wood in front of her opened wide, displaying the line of directors who directly stood up to welcome her presence. Today, for the first time, Elena entered not as a discarded wife, but rather as the legitimate heir and the shadow leader ready to take over control.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the city, Arthur Vance was celebrating the smoothness of his new project together with Victoria. In a different place, the Miller family was busy fighting quarreling over the remnants of their ruined assets. They all lived the day with arrogance, without ever knowing that the greatest storm which would collapse their world was preparing to strike from behind the grandeur of the Harrington Group.
