A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth stood in front of Lady Theodora's chamber with fidgeting fingers and biting her cheek. She contemplated knocking on the door or just aborting her mission of getting Ida's gift from her chamber.

"Miss, if you are here to meet Lady Theodora then she is not in her chamber." A guard stationed outside her chamber informed Ruth.

She was relieved after hearing that. An idea struck her mind, and pulling a confident face, she said, "I know. My Lady has sent me to collect something from her chamber."

She hoped the guard would believe it, and fortunately, he did. Nodding his head, he opened the door for her. Feeling confident, Ruth entered the chamber with a victorious smile.

Lady Theodora did not need to know that she was here. She would just pick the gift and leave before anyone got a whiff of her presence. Simple!

Now the only task at her hand was finding the gift. That was the first time that she had ever come into Theodora's chamber. Ruth took a minute for admiring the large chamber, although she had much less time in her spare.

She had seen many rooms in 'the great manor', but this room was way lavish and beautiful than every other room she had seen. Ruth's jaw dropped at the sight of marvellous paintings painted by famous painters, expensive wooden furniture, metal objects and everything that reeked money.

Stunned, she had to recall why she was there in the first place. Shaking her head to get her mind out of the lavishness of the chamber, Ruth started searching for the gift. She searched the outer section, but it was not there.

She then remembered that Ida had told her about towels. Ruth moved the curtain made of beads and small, colourful pebbles aside and entered the inner part of the chamber where were two doors. One led to the bathroom, and the other door was another exit from the chamber.

"Where is it?" Ruth whispered while looking for the gift, and, finally, she found it.

"Thank God!" Ruth blew out air from her mouth.

But her relief was only short-lived. Her body froze when she heard the opening of the door, followed by the sound of footsteps. Ruth immediately hid behind the wall and slowly peeked from behind it, to see Theodora walking into the chamber.

Ruth's eyes widened in fear. What if she saw her there?

Theodora would definitely prove her as a thief!

Panicked, Ruth looked around, and her gaze fell on the other door. With another quick glance outside, Ruth made sure that Theodora was unaware of her presence. She picked the gift and lifted the flare of her dress to tip-toe towards the exit when her foot remained in mid-air.

"Theodora!"

Ruth heard a man's voice and what surprised her was the command it held.

Who could command Theodora O'Dell? She wondered. She had a chance to escape, yet curiosity won over her rationale, and Ruth took her advanced foot back.

"Why are you here?"

She heard Theodora asking. By the tone of her speech, it was clear that she did not want this man's presence near her.

But why?

"What do you mean why I am here? I am here because I miss you, Theodora!" The man said earnestly. The emotions that his words held tugged at Ruth's heart, and her curiosity only heightened more.

Theodora scoffed. "Miss me? Why do you miss someone who you never valued in the first place?"

Ruth did not know why she was so bitter with this man. She knew Theodora was a two-faced person. The one that she showed the world- kind and polite- was only a facade. Her real face was arrogant and merciless. Then what did this man do to make her so bitter about him?

"I always loved you and you know that!"

Ruth's eyes widened. What?

Theodora, who was standing with her back towards the man, turned around sharply to glare at him. Now that they faced each other, Ruth could see their side profiles clearly.

"Love?"

A dry and humourless laugh- that was mixed with taunting- reverberated between the four walls. And when it stopped, Ruth was taken aback by the amount of anger Theodora's eyes held for the man.

"You do not know what 'love' means. You do not know! Because if you did then my life would have been so different!" She spat, her hazel eyes spitting fire of fury.

"Theodora! Stop it! It is been more than two decades now."

"And yet every time I see your face, I am reminded of that beautiful life that I deserved and always want with the man I loved. You could have given me that, but you did not! You were driven by your ego and that fake prestige of your family name.

You ruined everything I held dear to my heart! You ruined everything that I dreamed of. You ruined my whole life father! You ruined it!"

Unable to control herself anymore, Theodora yelled at the man's face. Tears of hot anger trailed down from her eyes.

Ruth's lips made an 'o' in astonishment. The tall man with platinum blonde hair, and moustache was Theodora's father- Ralph Longhurst!

"For God's sake, Theodora! How many times should I tell you that I did all that to save your life from that thug?! That bastard could never keep you happy and provide you with such a life of comfort. I did that because I wanted to see you happy!" He was also losing his temper by now.

Ruth sensed the tension rising in the room like a gurgling volcano. Her mind was showing a red flag, screaming at her to just get out of that room. But her curiosity knew no limits. It kept her rooted in her place.

Theodora gave a disgusted look to his father. "Really father? And how did you wanted to make me happy by separating me from my child and lover?"

Ruth's hands shot up to cover her agape mouth. Theodora was in love with someone and also had a child?! Was she married to someone else before Lord Augustus?

As if hearing her unspoken questions, Theodora started blaming her father for his every past action.

"If you wanted to see me happy then why did you part me away from Gerald? Why? We loved each other father! He was the only person who understood me and cared for me more than anyone!"

Gerald?

Ralph was now bubbling with anger. "You think that that hooligan cared for you more than your father? I can not believe that you are still living in that delusion! Theodora, he was a thief, a thug. He was everything that a father never wants in a man who his daughter chooses for herself!"

Even in that serious situation, Ruth could not stop a taunting smile hearing that Lady Theodora, who was so proud of her wealth and title was once fell in love with a thief. How ironic!

"yes, he was a theif and he never hide his identity from me. I fell in love with him knowing all his flaws. And he loved me for everything that I was. How could you told me that such a man left me alone after you offered him bags of gold coin?"

"Theodora-"

"And not only that but you also took away our baby from me- the symbol of my and Gerald's love. And what did you tell me? that the baby was already dead when it born. How could you push your tongue to say such a cruel lie to a mother?"

Ralph clenched his jaw. "You know she was dead in your womb. You saw it by yourself!"

"Stop lying father! After years, please stop lying! I already know the truth. Zerith told me everything before he died. he told me what you did with my baby. He told me what happened with Gerald. He told me everything that you done to snatch my happiness!" Theodora was now crying hysterically. The pain she had to suppress in her chest resurfaced again, spurting out in giant waves.

Ruth was too shocked, to say the least. In a moment, the man in front of her was a villain of the story in her eyes. Her heart ached for Theodora, and she wondered- was her past made her the person she was today?

Ruth's heart also went to that baby, and her heart twisted in pain.

Why did he do it? What happened with the baby? And Gerald? Was he alive or dead? And if he was dead, then did this man kill him? And if he was alive, then where was he now?

And amongst all this, when and how did Lord Augustus come into the picture?

Ruth's head stuck in the web of such piles of questions. She knew that the clock was ticking fast, and she had already wasted so much time here. She needed to go to the Green's home as soon as possible. Thea must be waiting for her wedding dress.

But something about this entire situation uneased her. No matter how many logical arguments her brain presented, her heart ignored all of them. She wanted to know the answers to all these questions, and for that, she needed to hear more.

So she stayed.