Unveiling the Lost Heiress: Secrets of New York’s Elite

The day Eleanor Shen discovered she had contracted HIV was also the day that Ryan Mitchell got married. She opened TT and saw a live stream with a headline that caught her eye: “Ryan Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell Enterprises, and his wife Emily Chen: A Fifteen-Year Love Story Finally Comes to Fruition!” Eleanor lay on the bed in her dingy rented apartment. The place was as drab as a rat’s den. This was her home, a rundown flat in a crowded urban village. Just twenty square meters. The walls were covered in mold, emitting a faint musty smell. She had HIV. No employer wanted her. She could only scrape by collecting discarded water bottles and cardboard. Despite having little hope left, she mustered the courage to pick up her phone and dial Ryan Mitchell’s number… “Hello?” A voice answered, but it wasn’t Ryan’s. It was Emily Chen. Eleanor gathered her resolve and said, “Emily, can you please pass the phone to Ryan? I need to borrow some money…” Her health had deteriorated, and without money for treatment, she endured daily suffering. At thirty-one, she looked like someone in their forties. Hearing Eleanor’s voice, Emily’s tone became sharp. “Another request for money? How much have you borrowed already? Isn’t it enough?” “I’m ill and need money for hospital treatment.” “You brought this upon yourself. You got HIV and now it’s our problem? Does Ryan really owe you?” “I didn’t bring this upon myself!” Eleanor pleaded, “Emily, please. I know Ryan loves you. I’m not trying to interfere anymore. I just need a bit of money. I’m barely hanging on…” She knew she was at fault. If she hadn’t been so obsessed with Ryan, giving him her father’s company just to marry him, she wouldn’t be in this situation. Emily let out a derisive laugh. “Ryan’s already given you plenty of money over the years. He’s not going to support you forever.” Eleanor replied, “He only gave me a few thousand dollars at a time. All that adds up to less than what I used to give him in a month. Ryan’s company was my father’s. When we first met, he had nothing. His father was my family’s driver. I supported him.” “Supported him?” The voice on the other end was now Ryan’s. “Ms. Shen, your father has been gone for years. Why are you still dreaming?” “You were the worst student in class, and I helped you with your studies. That money was for tutoring, not for your support. How did you come to think you supported me?” His cold, disdainful words made Eleanor reflect on her past foolishness. Ryan was indeed talented, but she had insisted on him being her tutor rather than hiring a top-notch tutor from an elite school. Ryan had always belittled her, saying she was too dumb to learn anything. “And what about my father’s company? You said if I handed it over to you, you’d marry me. Now you’re marrying someone else, and I’m just asking for a bit of money…” She no longer hoped to marry him. She just wanted to survive. “You still have the nerve to mention the company?” Ryan scoffed. “If it weren’t for me, your father’s company would have been ruined under your watch. And as for marriage, if you hadn’t been diagnosed with HIV before the wedding, wouldn’t I have married you?” HIV was her vulnerability, and Ryan used it to berate her. Eleanor couldn’t understand how her life had fallen apart so completely. If Eleanor Shen hadn't handed over the company to Ryan Mitchell, she could have lived comfortably for the rest of her life, even if she sold it. Instead, she finds herself in her current dire situation, with no chance for a do-over. Lying on her bed, barely clinging to life, Eleanor musters the courage to ask, “Ryan, did you ever have feelings for me?” “Feelings for you?” Ryan’s cold response shatters her last hope. “Who would ever be interested in someone as dim-witted as you? Eleanor Shen, asking me this is an insult to my intelligence. These years of being harassed by you have been nothing but a nightmare!” Desperately, Eleanor pleads, “I’m dying. Can you at least come and see me?” “No!” Ryan’s voice is filled with disdain. “You don’t even deserve me to take care of your remains.” With that, Ryan hangs up. Eleanor’s vision blurs as she drifts closer to unconsciousness. Hours later, her phone rings again. It’s Emily Chen’s voice. “How are you holding up?” At the sound of Emily’s voice, Eleanor’s tear-streaked face brightens with a glimmer of hope. Could it be that Emily has a change of heart and is offering financial help? “Did Ryan send you to call me?” Eleanor asks, her voice weak. “Of course not!” Emily’s tone is dripping with superiority. “I called you myself.” Emily, now the vice president of Mitchell Enterprises, continues with a tone of mockery. “I just couldn’t stand seeing how clueless you are. Why do you still cling to hope for Ryan? He never cared about you. Can’t you see that?” “I know,” Eleanor replies. “He only has eyes for you…” Emily laughs condescendingly. “Have you ever wondered how you contracted HIV?” “What… do you mean?” “It was intentional,” Emily reveals coldly. “Ryan didn’t want to marry you, so he made sure you received a contaminated needle. That’s why it was so easy for him to dismiss you. It’s a pity you still haven’t figured this out, which only proves how naive you truly are.” The old red phone slips from Eleanor’s hand and falls onto the damp floor. Emily hangs up, leaving Eleanor alone with her thoughts. As she lies in bed, she reflects on the years she sacrificed for Ryan. She had given everything, only to find her heart unreturned. --- In her final moments, Eleanor’s consciousness fades in the hospital, where a soldier in uniform brought her in. She looks at him with confusion. “Who are you? Why are you helping me?” Without his help, she might have died unnoticed in that room. The man looks at her sincerely. “It was our commander who sent me. He’s on his way now…” The mention of the name Zhao reminds Eleanor of the man her father had arranged as her suitor, the one she had rejected for Ryan. She had spoken harshly to him at the time, only to realize now how foolish she had been. “How has he been all these years?” Eleanor asks. The soldier replies calmly, “He’s been busy with his duties and hasn’t married. He still says you’re his fiancée…” Eleanor, unable to endure the pain of Ryan’s wedding day, finds her memories drifting back to her final year of high school. She wakes up before midnight, back in a time when Ryan had awakened her early to help Emily. Exhausted, she slumps over her desk, only to be roused by Ryan’s voice. “Emily’s stomach is upset. Go get her some medicine and fetch food from the cafeteria. Get extra meat—she needs to build up her strength.”