THE HEIRESS BEHIND GLASSES

CHAPTER TWO — LITTLE SPARROW

The apartment door stood slightly open.

Taking one final steadying breath...

Eliora climbed the stairs.

Completely unaware...

That behind the apartment door...

Her entire life was about to shatter.

The faint sounds became clearer.

A woman's breathless laugh.

A man's low groan.

Each step felt heavier than the last.

Her heartbeat pounded painfully against her ribs.

"Ethan?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

No answer.

She reached the bedroom door.

It was half open.

Then...

Everything stopped.

Time.

Breath.

Thought.

Ethan.

Vanessa.

Entwined on the bed.

The anniversary gift she had spent months saving for sat unopened on the bedside table.

The silver bracelet.

Still wrapped.

Still carrying the tiny handwritten note.

"Forever."

The irony almost made her laugh.

Ethan looked up first.

Instead of panic...

Instead of guilt...

He merely sighed.

As though she had interrupted something unimportant.

Vanessa slowly turned her head.

The moment their eyes met...

A victorious smile spread across her face.

"So you finally came."

Her voice dripped with satisfaction.

She made no effort to cover herself.

Instead...

She wrapped an arm around Ethan's neck possessively.

Almost proudly.

Eliora stood rooted to the floor.

The cake slipped from her trembling fingers.

It crashed onto the ground.

Cream splattered across the polished floor.

Chocolate scattered everywhere.

Silence.

The only sound was the rain beating against the windows.

Her lips trembled.

"...Why?"

Just one word.

Barely audible.

Ethan leaned lazily against the headboard.

"I was going to tell you."

Vanessa laughed.

"No, you weren't."

She stood up slowly, straightened her clothes, then walked toward Eliora.

Every step was deliberate.

Calculated.

Cruel.

"You really believed he loved you?"

She laughed again.

"Oh, Eliora..."

"You've always been so easy to fool."

Eliora's fingers slowly curled into fists.

Her voice cracked.

"You... are my sister."

"Adoptive."

Vanessa corrected casually.

"And honestly?"

She tilted her head.

"I've always hated you."

"You were smarter."

"The teachers liked you."

"The neighbors praised you."

"The boys noticed you."

"So I decided..."

She smiled sweetly.

"...to take the only thing you thought belonged to you."

Eliora slowly turned toward Ethan.

Her eyes searched his face desperately.

Looking for denial.

Looking for regret.

Looking for anything.

She found nothing.

Only indifference.

"Ethan..."

"Were those three years..."

"...real?"

He looked at her quietly.

Then shrugged.

"I liked spending time with you."

"But love?"

He chuckled softly.

"I never promised that."

Those words hurt more than the betrayal itself.

Three years.

Three birthdays.

Three anniversaries.

Three years of believing someone had finally chosen her.

Gone.

Just like that.

Vanessa picked up the unopened bracelet.

She admired it briefly.

Then laughed.

"You bought this?"

Without waiting for an answer...

She casually dropped it.

Her heel crushed the tiny silver box beneath her foot.

Crunch.

Something inside Eliora shattered.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

Quietly.

Like glass breaking underwater.

She looked at the ruined bracelet.

Then at the ruined cake.

Then at the two people standing before her.

Her breathing slowly steadied.

Oddly...

She wasn't crying anymore.

That frightened Vanessa far more than tears would have.

Because Eliora's eyes...

Had changed.

The warmth inside them disappeared.

Leaving behind something calm.

Something frighteningly quiet.

She bent down.

Carefully picked up the damaged bracelet.

Brushed the dirt from it.

Held it tightly in her palm.

Then she looked at Ethan one final time.

"I hope..."

Her voice was soft.

"So soft it almost sounded gentle.

"...one day..."

"...you remember this moment."

Without waiting for either of them to respond...

She turned around.

And walked away.

Neither Ethan nor Vanessa tried to stop her.

Neither of them realized...

They had just destroyed the last innocent part of Eliora Reed.

The moment Eliora stepped outside...

The sky finally gave in.

Rain poured without mercy.

Within seconds, her clothes were soaked through.

Cold drops clung to her hair, slid down her face, and mixed with the tears she could no longer hold back.

She walked.

Without direction.

Without destination.

People hurried past beneath umbrellas.

Cars splashed through puddles.

The city continued as though nothing had happened.

As though someone's entire world hadn't just collapsed.

Her phone vibrated.

She ignored it.

It rang again.

And again.

Finally...

She looked at the screen.

Unknown Number.

For a long moment, she simply stared.

Then she answered.

"...Hello?"

Silence.

Then a familiar elderly voice spoke gently.

"Little Sparrow."

Eliora stopped walking.

Her breathing caught.

"...Master?"

A warm chuckle came through the phone.

"My Little Sparrow."

The tears she had been fighting finally escaped.

Not because of Ethan.

Not because of Vanessa.

But because someone had recognized her voice.

Someone knew something was wrong.

Master Orion Vale.

The man who had raised her whenever she visited his mountain estate.

The legendary physician who had taught her medicine.

The only person who had ever praised her without expecting anything in return.

The only person who had looked at her and seen value instead of usefulness.

His voice became quieter.

"...You've been crying."

She quickly wiped her face.

"I'm fine."

"A terrible lie."

Despite herself...

A tiny laugh escaped.

Master Orion sighed.

"What happened?"

Eliora closed her eyes.

The broken cake.

The crushed bracelet.

Vanessa's smile.

Ethan's indifference.

Every image replayed in painful clarity.

"I..."

Her voice cracked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

He didn't pressure her.

He never had.

Instead, he asked only one question.

"Are you hurt?"

Eliora froze.

Such a simple question.

Yet no one had ever asked her that before.

Not her adoptive parents.

Not Ethan.

Not even herself.

"I..."

She swallowed hard.

"I don't know."

The old man was silent for several seconds.

Then...

"Come home."

Her brows knitted together.

Home.

The quiet mountain estate where she had spent every school holiday.

The place filled with herbs, old books, laughter, and peace.

The only place that had ever truly felt safe.

"I will."

"But..."

She hesitated.

"Why now?"

Master Orion released a slow breath.

His tone became unusually serious.

"Because..."

"I've found your family."

Everything around her disappeared.

The traffic.

The rain.

The people.

"...What?"

"You heard me."

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

"My... family?"

"For nineteen years..."

"They've never stopped looking for you."

Eliora's heart pounded violently.

She had always known she was adopted.

But she had buried that truth long ago.

Searching had felt pointless.

She already had a family...

Or so she believed.

Until tonight.

"They're... looking for me?"

"Every single day."

Her throat tightened.

"Who are they?"

"You'll meet them soon."

Before she could ask another question...

Master Orion spoke again.

"Go home."

"Pack only what matters."

"I'll send someone for you tomorrow morning."

Then, after a brief pause, he added softly,

"And Little Sparrow..."

"No matter what happened tonight..."

"You were never the one who lost something valuable."

"They did."

The line disconnected.

Eliora stood motionless beneath the rain.

His words echoed over and over inside her mind.

They did.

She slowly looked up at the dark sky.

For the first time since leaving the apartment...

She inhaled deeply.

The pain was still there.

Raw.

Unbearable.

But beneath it...

Something new quietly took root.

Hope.

----------------------

Far away...

Inside Blackwood Manor...

An entirely different storm was unfolding.

Several internationally renowned doctors stood in complete silence.

No one dared speak.

No one dared breathe too loudly.

At the center of the room...

A beautiful woman lay unconscious on the bed.

Machines beeped steadily around her.

Her face was pale.

Fragile.

Helena Blackwood.

Cassian Blackwood stood beside her.

Perfectly tailored black suit.

Expression unreadable.

Hands resting quietly in his pockets.

One doctor finally gathered enough courage to speak.

"We've exhausted every treatment available, Mr. Blackwood."

No response.

"We... don't know what else to try."

The room became deathly quiet.

Cassian slowly lifted his eyes.

The doctor's voice immediately died.

One glance.

That was all.

Yet cold sweat instantly formed across the doctor's forehead.

Just then...

The bedroom door opened.

An elderly couple entered.

Augustus Blackwood.

Eleanor Blackwood.

Cassian immediately straightened.

"Grandfather."

"Grandmother."

Augustus looked toward the unconscious woman.

"Any improvement?"

No one answered.

Because there wasn't any.

Moments later...

Another man entered.

Dr. Adrian Vale.

Cassian's closest friend.

He quickly reviewed Helena's medical reports.

Minutes passed.

Then he finally looked up.

"There may be one person."

Every eye in the room turned toward him.

Cassian spoke first.

"Who?"

Adrian answered quietly.

"Master Orion Vale."

Augustus frowned.

"He refused us years ago."

"I know."

Adrian nodded.

"That's why we won't ask him."

Cassian's gaze sharpened.

"Explain."

Adrian placed another file onto the table.

"Master Orion accepted only one disciple."

Silence filled the room.

Everyone knew what that meant.

The legendary physician had rejected thousands of students.

Yet he had personally trained one.

Only one.

Adrian met Cassian's eyes.

"If anyone can save your mother..."

"It's her."

Cassian didn't hesitate.

"Find her."

END OF CHAPTER TWO