"What do you want?" Estella spat, distressed.

If Elaine didn't know Estella, she would've thought nothing was wrong. But they were sisters after all and she knew her sister very well. She was still smirking, looking at her and thinking what to say. No, better they were somewhere more… secluded for the actual conversation.

"You were gone for some time so," Estella rolled her eyes midsentence, already knowing the end of it and started walking away. "So mother sent me to look for you." Elaine frowned at such behavior and followed her.

"Of course she did." Estella muttered under her breath.

"Well, we were worried." Elaine tried to explain. "You just left with an awful excuse, to be honest."

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm not as intelligent as you, Elaine!" Estella shouted, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"E-excuse me?" the younger sister was caught off guard.

"You say you're so tired being in the center of attention, but what do you do?! You create chaos everywhere you go and attract all the attention always! Others cannot come to the fore because of you! The spotlight is always on you!" Estella screamed and shouted all her frustration and jealousy out while Elaine tried to shush her. "Don't you shush me, you little brat, you will hear me out—"

"Yes, but not here—"

"I play by the rules, I do everything they say and you're still the perfect daughter! I'm sick of it, Elaine! I'm sick of being in your shadow!" she was going hysterical now.

Elaine stood there like her sister slapped her in the face. She did, in fact, but with words. Estella was still shouting something, but she muted her out completely. She looked around and realized they were attracting unnecessary attention. She grabbed Estella by her upper-arms and got in her sister's face.

"Whaa—"

"Oh, Estella, shut up!" she spat. "Look around you." she shook her. "You are the main attraction now. Is this the attention you want? You want people to talk that you're crazy?" she looked her sister up and down in disgust. "Bloody hell, look at you." she gripped her arm and pulled her with her.

"Where are we going?" Estella cried.

"To your room."

"No, I can't face Edward anymore." she tried to break away while Elaine tried to hold her still.

"Edward's not there."

"How do you know?" she was still wiggling.

"Because," Elaine said through gritted teeth and her grip tightened, obviously hurting Estella since she calmed down. "I was there before I came here. He told me where I can find you."

"So you know?" Estella said, staring at the floor, too proud to meet Elaine's eyes.

"I know." she confirmed.

Elaine opened the door of Estella's suite and pushed her inside. Betty immediately ran into the room when she heard the door open, but Elaine dismissed her for the evening in Estella's name and now they were completely alone.

"Sit." she demanded, nodding at one of the plush armchairs they had. Estella obeyed. Elaine took a deep breath before she started talking.

"You now listen to me, sister." She leaned her hands on the coffee table and pierced through her sister with her eyes, trying to get her attention. When Estella finally looked back at her, she seemed more collected even though her eyes were still teary and she was sobbing now and then. Knowing her sister, Elaine knew there was more going on inside her head and they were just warming up.

"I didn't know you were feeling that way," she started and Estella rolled her eyes, but she decided to ignore it and just go on. "You never showed any indications." Estella was still making faces and Elaine was losing her patience. "But if it's for your consolation, you were the main attraction on this voyage since day one." she folded her arms across her chest.

"I've learned from the best." Estella mockingly smiled.

"Well, you are a bad student." Elaine shot back.

Estella's whole face changed.

"You were doing it subtly in the beginning, but then you slipped." Elaine raised a finger to point it out even more.

"But did you slip, Elaine?" the other sister questioned. Elaine looked at her, not really following. "Or perhaps, you didn't slip alone?" Estella confidently went on.

Elaine's mouth hung open. This was only confirming her previous thoughts.

"You little…" she whispered while Estella chuckled as if she wanted to say 'finally'.

"It wasn't Charles, it was you. You reported Harold to the captain."

"Of course I did, Elaine." she spread her arms.

"Why? Why couldn't he report it himself? Why he needed you?"

"You see, Elaine, we needed neutral ground."

"What?!" she spat, trying not to burst out laughing. "Have you said that out loud before? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"Please don't insult my intelligence and let me finish." Elaine rolled her eyes, but remained silent. "Therefore, if I did it that clears a path for me and Charles."

"How does that clear the path for you and Charles if you saw me leaving Harold's cabin?" she frowned.

"Ah, of course. I couldn't say I have the evidence of my own eyes, but I had this… if you allow me?" she motioned to stand up.

Elaine nodded her head still frowning. Estella rose up, walked to her drawer and pulled something out. Elaine's curious gaze followed her all the way until she presented the item before her on the table. She almost chocked on her spit. It was that note Harold had given her when he joined them for dinner.

"You were snooping around my room," she wasn't sure she was asking or saying. "You were snooping around my room!"

"I needed something to back my story up." Estella explained in her innocent voice. "But yeah, Charles did help saying he saw you leaving Harold's cabin. But the report was mainly made by me. See, then all the attention would be on Harold and—"

Elaine didn't hear her any more, she was beyond herself.

"How could you? Who gave you the right?!" she snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"Have you got no shame?! If not for anyone else, at least for yourself?! You went into the affair with a married man!"

"He isn't married."

Elaine smiled in agony. "Well of course he would have taken his wedding ring off when he was with you!"

"Shut up! You're making this up! You just can't believe you're in the wrong this time." Estella couldn't accept the truth.

The younger one knelt before the older one. "Oh, but no, no, dear sister," Elaine almost cried how even after all she couldn't be mad at her sister. Instead, she was very sorry for her. "You… You called off your engagement and wedding for something that could never last! You lost a man that truly loves you and for what?! Because you were hungry for attention?!" she placed a hand over Estella's, trying to reach through her, but Estella kept avoiding her gaze. Finally, she stood up. "Well, you got it." she was now standing fully before her sister. "All eyes were on you on this trip. I hope you're happy."

She turned to leave, but before she closed the door behind her she turned around once more.

"Remember when you said how I'll either make or break this family?" that seemed to catch Estella's attention for she quickly glanced at her young sister. "Well, congratulations. You broke it before me. I can only make it from here." she said and closed the door.

Only when she found herself alone in the hall Elaine realized how hard she was feeling. Almost the same after her encounter with Harold yesterday, only worse. This was her sister, her family, her blood. She needed to take deep breaths in and out to calm herself. Her face and neck were burning hot. She stepped outside to catch some fresh night air. It was late already and there were not many people outside. Thereby, it was much colder than the previous nights.

Elaine walked up to the railing and gripped it almost that hard that her knuckles turned white. She stared at the still water thinking. She never felt so betrayed. Better yet, she couldn't believe her own sister could betray her like that. She looked up at the starless sky.

Huh, she smirked, not a single one.

Then all of a sudden felt vibrations through the metal.

Then slight tremor.

Soon after the whole ship was shaking, followed with growling and creaking sounds. Elaine didn't know should she back off or hold on tighter onto the railing.

Suddenly that… event was over. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't think much of it. Something might've happened in the engine room and it wasn't her concern. But it might've been too soon.

To her astonishment, there was a large object moving towards her from her left. She screamed in surprised and jumped back realizing how close it was. Her back was pressed against the wall while she watched in horror as the iceberg had passed by. She blinked a few tears that remained in her eyes away.

Nothing had happened in the engine room.

Titanic had struck an iceberg.

Author's Note: Hello, lovelies! I hope you're all well and safe in the comfort of your home. I'm glad to see a few of you enjoying my story so I'm giving you this chapter as a Christmas present! Leave me your thoughts and I'll see you soon! Merry Christmas and happy holidays! :*