Taken By My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Elsie took a deep breath to suppress the raging anger inside her. Rolling her eyes as a plan formed in her mind, she deliberately staggered forward, feigned a fall to the ground, and looked up at Eugene with a pitiful gaze.
Eugene turned a blind eye, his face cold and indifferent, while his gaze was full of affection for Lorraine. Elsie dug her nails deep into her palm. She had thought she could win Eugene's sympathy with this pitiful act, but clearly, it wasn't working.
Elsie nervously wondered, 'Does Lorraine know about that matter? Or has she already told Eugene? Otherwise, why would his attitude toward me have changed so drastically?'
Propping herself up on the floor, she pretended to get up twice but failed. In a pitiful voice, she pleaded, "Lorraine, could you come to help me?"
Elsie forced herself to hide the jealousy and hatred in her eyes, making her expression look even more pitiful. She bit her pink lips until they turned white around the edges, appearing utterly frail and vulnerable.
Zackery had long since dismissed all the servants. Lorraine eyed Elsie's pitiful state, a wary glint flashing in her eyes.
Not wanting Elsie to keep playing the damsel in distress in front of Eugene, Lorraine stepped forward and pulled her up.
As soon as Elsie stood up, she deliberately slumped her full weight onto Lorraine, clutching her stomach with a pained whimper. "Lorraine, help me to the restroom—quick!"
Before Lorraine could even react, Elsie had already half-dragged her out of the dining room.
Eugene stood rooted to the spot, a slight frown creasing his brow as he was about to follow after them. But before he could take a step, Zackery returned and grabbed his arm.
"Mr. Moore," Zackery said, "let the girls handle their business in the restroom. Come on, let's just enjoy our meal. No need to worry about them."
Leaving the dining room and passing through the living room, Elsie leaned heavily on Lorraine as they made their way down the hallway toward the restroom.
The moment they turned a corner, she abruptly flung Lorraine's arm away, straightened up, crossed her arms with a cold sneer, and looked down at Lorraine with ridiculous arrogance.
Lorraine pulled her aching arm back, fixing Elsie with a cold, silent stare.
Elsie sneered, her crimson-nailed hand suddenly swiping in front of Lorraine as if crushing something invisible. "Lorraine, if you know what's good for you, you'd better get out of Eugene's life. Or you'll regret it. Ending you would be easier than squashing an ant."
"Is that so?" Lorraine paused thoughtfully before responding in a measured tone.
Elsie's eyes gleamed with malice at Lorraine's dismissive attitude. Without hesitation, she lunged forward to grab a handful of Lorraine's hair.
Lorraine swiftly stepped back two paces, putting distance between them. "Elsie, look at your wretched state. Do you really think Eugene would want someone like you?" A spark of defiance finally surfaced within her. With a cool glance, she turned to leave.
"Stop right there, you little slut! A washed-up divorcee like you has no right to judge me," Elsie snarled, seizing Lorraine's wrist in an iron grip, holding her tight.
"Eugene only loves me. I have the key to Silverlake Villa, given to me by his own hand. I'm the most important woman in his life. I'm the only one he truly loves."
"So what?" Lorraine forcefully shook off Elsie's hand but didn't leave. Her bright eyes carried a chilling aloofness, faintly mirroring Eugene's imposing aura. She looked at Elsie and said, "Only insecure people constantly flaunt what they have."
Elsie twirled a finger around her wavy curl, laughing with exaggerated mockery. "Ha! Insecure? You're calling 'me' insecure? That's hilarious," she sneered.
"Eugene has done countless things for me. It's obvious I'm the one he loves. Who do you think you are? Trying to steal him from me? Watch out, or Dad will break your legs."
Zackery had always been the ultimate weapon to control Lorraine. No matter how many times it happened, just the mention of his name would send her body into instinctive tremors. It was a muscle memory carved by years of pain, a primal fear of pain she could never erase.
Elsie smirked triumphantly. "You know what? Eugene's given me tons of expensive jewelry and designer outfits, plus free access to his Silverlake Villa. Has he ever spoiled you like that, huh?"
Her self-assured voice, blissful expression, and triumphant eyes—all formed the perfect picture of Elsie's delusional happiness.
Lorraine paused, her head tilting slightly, a puzzled look on her face. After pondering for a long moment, she finally spoke. "He hasn't bought me... anything, it seems."
Elsie's smug grin widened as she was about to mock Lorraine again, only to be completely blindsided when Lorraine's gentle, almost tender voice suddenly cut through the air, wiping the triumph right off Elsie's face.
Lorraine said softly, "He never bought me those things. But he'd personally cook meals with me and share them, just the two of us.
"When it rained and we couldn't find an umbrella, he'd put a plastic bag over my head to keep me dry. And when there was broken glass on the ground, he would carry me in his arms to protect me from getting hurt."
Lorraine's gentle, honeyed voice, laced with subtle satisfaction and sweetness, made Elsie burn with jealousy, her chest tightening painfully. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white, flames practically dancing in her eyes.
The first two things Lorraine mentioned, Elsie knew nothing about and could pretend were lies. But she saw the broken glass incident herself and she knew it was true. She would never forget that scene.
"Lorraine, don't get too cocky!" Elsie yanked Lorraine toward her, raising her hand to strike. But then she spotted reporters lurking outside. She remembered the pool behind her and her eyes narrowed as a vicious scheme flashed through her mind. She gave Lorraine a hard tug.
Lorraine felt a jolt of alarm as Elsie suddenly seized her wrist. Before she could even cry out, she heard Elsie's fake, theatrical voice right beside her ear.
Elsie cried out dramatically, "Lorraine, what are you doing? Don't push me. Oh no! Lorraine, don't kill me."
As they plunged into the water together, Lorraine heard Elsie hiss venomously in her ear. "Go drown, you little bitch."
With a loud splash, both plunged into the water, sending up a waist-high spray that shimmered under the dim golden light. Camera flashes kept popping in the distance. Then, their desperate cries pierced through the night, drowning out all other sounds.
"Help! Save me!" Elsie cried, thrashing in the water with practiced strokes, feigning panic. Though her voice quivered with fake terror, her eyes stayed locked on Lorraine, who was truly struggling and sinking nearby, with unmistakable triumph gleaming in.
Lorraine, a complete non-swimmer, instinctively grabbed Elsie's arm. She knew Elsie could swim.
But Elsie had already anticipated this. She shoved herself backward violently, and then thrust her leg out and delivered a brutal kick to Lorraine's lower back, sending her flailing away from her.
"Help! Eugene, help me!" Lorraine screamed, thrashing wildly in the water. She flailed against the surface, desperate for Eugene to notice her.
But she felt herself sinking, her limbs growing heavier and harder to move. The icy water rose to her neck, terror flashing in her eyes as a numbing chill seeped through her whole body.
Several servants rushed over at the commotion, all frantically scrambling to save Elsie, while Lorraine, the one truly in need of help, was completely ignored. The malicious, triumphant grins cast her way from across the water were grotesquely distorted by the rippling waves.
"Eugene, save me! Please, save me!" The icy water crept up, swallowing Lorraine's neck, then her chin. As she cried out for help, water rushed into her open mouth, drowning her in suffocating despair.
While taking a call in the dining room, Eugene was suddenly hit by a sinking feeling. He immediately stood up and, phone still pressed to his ear, strode toward the living room entrance.
A faint, desperate cry reached Eugene's ears. He turned toward the sound. What he saw made his blood boil with murderous rage: Lorraine had fallen into the pool, and she couldn't even swim.
Still clutching his phone, he broke into a run toward the pool, striding wildly, all traces of his usual composure gone.
Everything around Eugene blurred into the background as his eyes stayed fixed on Lorraine, unblinking. It felt as if, the moment he so much as blinked, she would simply vanish. In that instant, his heart pounded frantically with panic.
Zackery and Raquel rushed out of the living room. As they turned the corner, Eugene's icy voice cut through the air. They quickened their pace and glared at the servants, who were frozen under Eugene's intimidating aura. Zackery bellowed, "You useless fools! Get Lorraine out now!"
Elsie was the first to be pulled from the water, drenched and passed out beside the pool.
By the time Eugene arrived, the servants were already dragging the choking Lorraine toward the edge of the pool. Disgusted by their sluggish pace, he plunged into the water, scooped her into his arms, and swam her to shore himself.
Through the haze, Lorraine felt herself being scooped into a warm, protective embrace. Instinctively, she clutched at the fabric of his shirt, her whole body trembling with raw terror. Her vision was blurry, her throat burned from the water, and every breath was a struggle.
Had Eugene arrived just a moment later, Lorraine might have drowned.
"Lorraine, are you okay?" Eugene's voice was urgent, tinged with barely noticeable worry. He wiped the water from her face, and then pressed a finger against one side of her nostril. "Blow it out quickly!"
Lorraine obeyed, following his instructions one by one, but her fingers remained tightly clenched on his shirt, not daring to loosen even a single finger.
Raquel cradled Elsie in her arms, cooing, "my darling, my precious," her worry plain to see. Elsie, eyes squeezed shut and nails digging into Raquel's arm, seethed inwardly, 'I wish Lorraine would just drop dead.'
The reporters' camera flashes went wild outside the wall, but Eugene paid them no mind.
Even after getting out of the pool, Lorraine couldn't stop trembling in Eugene's arms. Her eyes were filled with terror; she was absolutely petrified.
She was soaked, and a gust of wind could easily make her catch a cold.
Taking the blanket from the servant's trembling hands, Eugene bundled her up tightly, and then shot the rest of the Shaw family an icy, intimidating glare before commanding, "Explain yourselves. I want the truth now."