A MAZE OF GREED

The feeling of someone's eyes constantly following her every action whenever she stepped out of her building had turned Ruth paranoid. Walking on the streets with that feeling on her mind, she had turned multiple times to see if her fear was a reality or a delusion to find no one.

She had turned sceptical towards every stranger around her, that any person walking around her made her heart race in fear. She had stopped going out after the dark and avoided the short routes to her destinations that were isolated.

She had tried everything to confirm her suspicion- taking a sharp turn, hiding behind a wall or a chariot, using mirrors, everything. But none of them came useful.

Who must it be?

She tried to rummage through her memory lanes to see if she had offended someone knowingly or unknowingly, and the only name that flashed in front of her eyes was Edwin O'Dell.

She had insulted him twice on the same day. The man was everything but forgiven as per her knowledge. She was expecting a jab from him to avenge those insults, but that never came.

After the day that had parted her from her every friend, her life had turned into a mess. And she forgot about her clashes with him. But now that she thought about it, she wondered why he didn't retaliate.

"Ruth! What are you doing? The milk spilled out of the vessel, look." Mrs Payne rushed to her side, and with the help of thick cloth, removed the utensil of milk from the stove.

Ruth's eyes widened. "I am so sorry, Mrs Payne. I didn't realise that." She immediately ran to grab a cloth and some water to clean the mess.

She has told to boil the milk by Mrs Payne while she helped Mr Payne with his medicines. But Ruth's disturbed mind led to this.

Instead of getting angry, Mrs Payne looked at Ruth with concern. "Dear, I see that your mind is occupied with something. Do you want to share it with me?"

Ruth bit the insides of her cheek, considering telling her about her worry. But the old lady had enough served on her plate and didn't need more load. Shaking her head, Ruth tried to dismiss Mrs Payne's worry.

"No, Mrs Payne. There is nothing to worry. I was just thinking about Mr Payne's health. Though he is feeling better than before, I think we should call the physician one more time to confirm his improvements. What do you think?"

Mrs Payne paused for a moment. "But Ruth, he will charge the visit. You have already exhausted all your money. Then-"

Taking her hand in hers, Ruth assured her. "I will talk to the physician, Mrs Payne. I will pay him after getting this month's salary."

"But-"

"Please, Mrs Payne. Stop overthinking it."

Ruth had only one hope of getting money, and that was Mr Cooper. After she was left with no money, she had asked Thea for some help, and her friend had gladly helped her. Now Ruth had no one to ask for the money, not even Thea even though she would not have mind helping Ruth again.

But asking Thea for financial help time and again didn't feel right to Ruth, especially when she and Rees were about to decide their wedding date.

'It's okay, Ruth. You don't need to worry. At the end of the month you will get your salary.' She assured herself.

After a couple of minutes, her mind again drifted back to the cerulean blue eyes. And a tiny part of her heart told her that, whoever was following her, was the same person with those mysterious eyes.

The very thought made her limbs go cold. At this rate, her brain would blow with this incessant thinking. She needed to speak with someone- her best friend Thea.

Only she was the right person to advise her correctly.

*

*

*

"Milord!"

Rees bowed in front of Lester, but he ignored it.

Two days after the mess Edwin had created, the air in 'the great manor' had become thick with tension. The family lunch and dinners were awkward and silent.

No family member spoke light-heartedly in between these walls. Everyone had a frown cemented on their faces. Elsie was recovering steadily, but her broken bone in the back needed some more time to heal.

Lester, on the other hand, had to go through a lot of pain. The venom of Edwin's claws had spread in his lower leg. Many of his veins and muscle fibres were broken by his sharp claws. Even with Lester's werewolf power of rapidly healing, the wound would take about a week to heal.

Rees understood Lester's anger. He would have done something reckless if Thea was in place of Elsie. Edwin had already told Rees about Elsie and Lester- that they were mates.

In these past days, when Edwin had lost himself in the pits of aloneness and pain, he had entrusted Rees with Elsie's care.

But Rees had failed at that. He couldn't help Elsie at the right time. When he reached her, she was already hurt by Edwin.

Sensing that Rees had not moved from his spot, Lester's lips twitched in irritation. To show his upset mood, he scolded the maid changing his bandage.

"Do it properly. Are you doing this for the first time? Why everyone is adamant of upsetting me?"

Rees understood that those words were meant for him and not the poor maid who looked pale at Lester's outburst.

"You can leave it to me. I will change his bandage." Rees told the maid and took the charge from her hand.

She looked at him thankfully for saving her from receiving Lester's harsh words. Not wasting time, she ran out of the chamber. Lester's irritation had reached its optimum level, but he didn't say anything.

Rees sat on the small stool and started working on cleaning Lester's nasty wound. He didn't begin right away. He gave Lester some moments to breathe and calm down his aggravated nerves.

Hearing his heartbeat reaching normal, Rees took the opportunity to speak.

"Please, forgive me, Milord. I am your and Master's sinner!"

Lester tightened his fists but didn't interrupt Rees.

"Master had entrusted me with Lady Elsie's care and I failed. I had avoided her meeting Master for many times. But that day when I was out for some work, she went to meet him even after my warnings. As soon as I got to know about it, I rushed to Master's chamber. But it was already late and the damage was done."

Lester inhaled deeply through his nose to control his anger.

"Milord, I am ready to accept whatever punishment you want to give me. I will do anything that you say but- but please talk with Lord Augustus. Young Master…. He needs your help."

That made Lester broke his silence. "Help him? You are asking me to help the attacker of my mate?" His green eyes turned a shade darker in rage.

But that didn't affect Rees the way Lester expected. "I know what Master has done was wrong. His actions have hurt everyone, especially you. But Milord, he is your best friend. You know how much he loves Lady Elsie."

"Leave before I cut your throat Rees." Lester growled in warning.

Unbothered, Rees stood his ground. "You can kill me if it satisfies your anger and I will not utter a word. But before that ask your heart- Would Master have hurt Lady Elsie if he had even an ounce of control in his hands?"

Lester kept glaring at Rees, who had his head bowed down, his fist placed in the middle of his chest- a gesture of submission.

Lester and his wolf were at war with each other, with their opinions about the situation. He didn't know what was right when at the same time, he knew what was wrong.

Minutes passed in the stress, none of the men uttered a word.

"Milord!" A servant came knocking on the door, and Lester immediately moved his head away from his direction to hide his animalistic eyes.

Rees straightened up and asked the servant. "Come in!"

"Milord, Lord Augustus has commanded your presence in the meeting room." He conveyed the message with a bow.

By this time, Lester's eyes had turned back to their natural olive green colour. He was puzzled at the message. The meeting room was the same room where they had a meeting with the Council some time back.

Why would Lord Augustus call him there out of the blue?

"Meeting room? Why?"

"Mr Ripon has arrived a half an hour ago and wants you and… Young Master present there along with Lord Augustus." The servant paused before mentioning Edwin as he had also heard about Edwin's mess though he didn't know the truth.

Dismissing the servant, Lester looked at Rees. They both shared the same feelings.

"Ripon's presence at this time cannot be a mere coincidence." Lester commented.

"But how does he know that you are here, milord?" Rees wondered.

Sighing, Lester replied, "Barret Addington has eyes and ears everywhere Rees. Don't underestimate that man. If Ripon is here then it must be Addington's plan."

Rees tensed considerably hearing that. "But milord, you cannot go in front of him with the injured leg."

If Ripon got to know about Lester's injury, then it would not take him much time to put one and one together. He was not Addington's right hand for no reason!

"Then it's best that he is a human and not a supernatural creature."

Rees didn't argue more because he knew only Lester was able to handle the situation in the absence of Edwin. He hurriedly wrapped Lester's wound with the bandage. Lester covered it with his loose pants.

He stood up but hissed at the pain.

"Milord, are you sure about this? Your injury needs time to heal. It is given by our leader. If Ripon finds out about it-"

"That will not happen, Rees. I will take care of it. You go and check on Edwin. Make sure that no one from the servants and guards leak the news of what happened two days ago to Ripon or anyone."