Chapter 6 Eleanor Comes of Age for Marriage and Matrimony

Eleanor still lived in the apartment she rented after graduation, even though she'd moved into a house that Aaron bought for her.

She kept the rental for convenience's sake, and only a few people knew she was there.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see her mother, Victoria, on the phone with her.

"I thought you hadn't returned from your trip yet?" Victoria said, ending the call, eyeing her with a look that seemed to read her mind.

She barged past Eleanor, into the house, toting along a Brand C bag that Eleanor had seen online—it was the latest model, costing over twenty thousand.

"Mom, why did you buy another...?"

"Enough with the backtalk, Eleanor. I'm your mother; don't try to play games with me. I'm only doing this for your own good," Victoria interjected, shoving a shopping bag into Eleanor's arms.

Inside was new clothing, effectively halting any thoughts Eleanor had of making herself look less appealing.

Victoria kept an eye on her makeup from start to finish, eventually taking over when Eleanor deliberately dawdled.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Eleanor's heart sank at the sight of the building with its retro charm.

Eleanor Tower.

Aaron's place.

Victoria had mentioned it during their previous call, but Eleanor, preoccupied with thoughts of refusal, hadn't paid attention.

She nervously glanced at Aaron's exclusive parking spot.

Empty.

A wave of relief washed over her.

But as she redirected her gaze, a Bentley slowly approached from the street.

As twilight fell, the shimmer of headlights cut through the misty drizzle.

It wasn't Eleanor's sharp eyesight that caught the attention but the car's license plate that was strikingly familiar.

Here, within the borders of Nan City, all roads were open.

She hastily tugged at Victoria, attempting to leave, but Victoria saw it too and pulled her back, whispering low, "That must be Aaron."

The sound of a car door closing carried over, and Wesley stepped out, opening the back door.

Eleanor looked away, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the man stepping out of the car. He'd just left the office—his black suit formal and imposing. He must have been on a call; his expression was stern, his demeanor aloof.

With one hand, he removed his Bluetooth earpiece and handed over some documents to Wesley, murmured something, and then turned toward them.

"Auntie."

Aaron greeted in a deep voice.
Even so, Victoria, often the outcast in the Quinn family, was pleasantly surprised. "Hey, Aaron, are you here for dinner too?"

Aaron was noncommittal as his gaze idly swept past Eleanor, who refused to look at him. A mocking smile touched his lips. "How about Auntie ?"

Eleanor clutched the hem of her dress, while Victoria, seemingly oblivious, cheerily said, "Setting Eleanor up with a date,they're meeting here for dinner."

Aaron spoke: "Eleanor is indeed old enough to get married."

Chills ran down Eleanor's spine, her own name sounding sweet from his lips yet oppressively suffocating.

The last time she had expressed regret for getting involved with him, Aaron, ever prideful and accustomed to adulation, wasn't one to easily bow to a woman.

The two had parted on bad terms and hadn't been in contact for days, an unspoken agreement to separate and untangle their lives.

Now, as they met, he was composed, while she wished the ground would swallow her up.

Victoria glanced back at Eleanor and snorted, "See, even Aaron says so. How long are you planning to wait?"

Her gaze shifted back to Aaron, momentarily carried away, she smiled, "How about you join us later? It could be good for you to vet the guy for Eleanor."

"Mom!" Eleanor, at the end of her patience, protested. "Stop it, he's... busy."

Aaron casually twirled his wristwatch, his eyes sweeping over Eleanor's flushed face, "I do have dinner plans, but perhaps I could spare a moment to see just how suitable Eleanor's suitor is."

His last words struck Eleanor hard.

She could hardly breathe, grabbing Victoria, she made to leave.
Victoria had just taken a few steps away when she began to chide Eleanor. "You could at least say hello, you know. The Quinns pull the strings in this town. They'll remember if we're not polite, and then what will we do if they have a grievance against us?"

Eleanor muttered under her breath, "They've had it out for me for a while now."

"What was that?" Victoria asked, but before Eleanor could respond, the door of a private booth swung open.

"Ah, there you are, Mrs. Vaughnr; we've been expecting you," came the voice of an opulent-looking middle-aged woman who emerged, her tone laced with calculation and leaving something to be desired in its sense of comfort.

Victoria approached with an obliging smile. "My apologies, Penelope; the traffic was atrocious today."

Penelope, adorned in luxury, exchanged pleasantries with Victoria, then turned her penetrating gaze to Eleanor, her eyes betraying a momentary spark of astonishment and intrigue.

She advanced with unabashed familiarity, seizing Eleanor's hand. "And this must be the young MissSo dewy-faced."

Technically, Eleanor, being the sixth grandchild, should have been referred to as a Quinn Miss. However, she didn't bear the Quinn surname, nor did anyone in the family call her by that title.

It was all a show to butter up Victoria.

Eleanor instinctively wanted to withdraw from Penelope's overfamiliar grasp, but the woman's hold was assertive, pulling her toward the booth while continuing to speak.

"Miss Patterson, you should have plenty in common with our youngest, Peter. Come say hello, Peter."

Eleanor lifted her eyes to see a trendily dressed man with a buzzcut and an earring, his thumbs dancing across his smartphone which momentarily hid the tattoo peeking from under his sleeve.

At the sound of his name, Michael cast a lazy glance their way, a smirk on his face that dissipated the moment he caught sight of Eleanor. His attention piqued, he pocketed his phone and rose to his feet.

"Hello, Miss. Peter Vaughn," he said with a grin, extending his hand, the tattoo of a glossy black snake now fully visible on his wrist.

It was a black mamba. Eleanor, with a slight furrow of her brow betraying her fear of snakes, reluctantly touched his hand in a brief greeting before quickly retracting her own. "Hello, you can just call me Eleanor."

"How's that spelled?" he asked.

"Just 'Eleanor.'"

Peter pulled out a chair, his eyes resting briefly on the faint hint of pink gracing Eleanor's earlobes. "Please, Miss Patterson, take a seat."

Eleanor had intended to sit further away, but he insistently drew the seat beside him farther out, indicating for her to sit there.
Victoria saw right through her, pushing her back into her seat with a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her seated, and said with a laugh, "You young people have so much to talk about. It's better when you're sitting close to each other."

Peter, being considerate, took special care to serve Eleanor, offering her dishes and soup with a tender hand. Now and then, he'd ask if the food was to her liking, or if she wanted to try something else.

However, Eleanor was preoccupied, her mind wrestling with how to explain to him that she had no intentions of getting married.

Victoria set her napkin down, "Well, I think we've eaten plenty. Eleanor, Penelope and I are off to play mahjong, so you'll be heading back on your own later, alright?"

Penelope, quick to catch on, chimed in, "Hey, Peter why do you here give Miss Eleanor a ride?"

"No problem at all," Peter promptly agreed, leaning back leisurely, his arm casually resting on the back of Eleanor's chair.