Chapter 43: Tensions Unraveled
The air was thick with tension as Eloise's carriage drew to a halt outside Sebastian's grand residence. Without waiting for assistance, she alighted briskly and marched up to the front door, her emotions a raging storm. Her voice, sharp with anger and laden with urgency, shattered the calm of the estate. "Sebastian! Come out here now!"
Moments later, the door swung open, revealing Sebastian and Lord Marcus Anderson. Sebastian's expression was one of calm curiosity that swiftly shifted to concern as he stepped forward to meet Eloise's fiery gaze.
"What has happened, Eloise?" Sebastian asked, his voice steady but cautious.
Without hesitation, Eloise confronted him, her words laced with accusation. "It's Lord Featherington—he's dead! Murdered by creditors because you refused to release the dowry you promised!"
A flicker of guilt passed over Sebastian's features before his expression hardened into a mask of resolve. "Eloise, I am a man of my word," he replied coolly. "The dowry will be provided once the girls are married. I do not fund the vices of a gambler and a frequenter of prostitutes. My conditions were clear."
Eloise opened her mouth to retort, her every instinct rejecting his justification, but the escalating situation took a dramatic turn with the sudden appearance of another figure. Lord Greenwood, the Baron of Greenwich, staggered toward them, visibly intoxicated and seething with rage.
"You! You've torn my family apart, Foxworth!" Greenwood slurred, his anger palpable in the tremble of his voice. "My wife and daughter have left me because of your financial stranglehold."
Sebastian's demeanor remained impassive as he regarded the inebriated man. "You are trespassing, Lord Greenwood. I suggest you leave."
Ignoring the warning, Greenwood's desperation spiraled into madness. He brandished a knife, his wild eyes fixating on Eloise. "Then I'll take the life of your slut in exchange for what you've done to me!"
In a flash, Sebastian moved. With precision and calm that belied the suddenness of the attack, he disarmed Greenwood, twisting the knife from his grasp and pushing him to the ground with controlled force. Turning to Marcus, he ordered sharply, "Take Eloise inside, now!"
Marcus quickly guided a shaken Eloise toward the house. As they moved away, the distant sound of pleading broke the night's quiet—a desperate, pathetic cry for mercy from Greenwood. Then, a gunshot echoed, chillingly final.
Eloise stumbled, turning just in time to see Greenwood's lifeless body crumpling to the ground. Marcus, firm and protective, redirected her gaze and hurried her inside, away from the horror unfolding outside.
Inside the safety of Sebastian's home, Eloise's mind raced, her thoughts a tangled mess of fear, confusion, and revulsion. The man she once knew, the man she might still love, was intertwined with acts of violence and ruthless decisions that shaped the very fabric of their society. The complexities of his actions, the harsh necessities dictated by his past experiences in war, and now in high society, left her struggling to reconcile the image of the Sebastian she knew with the one who stood before her today.
As the doors closed behind her, shutting out the night and the grim scene outside, Eloise felt the weight of all she had learned and witnessed. It was a burden heavy with grief for the loss of innocence, for the change in the man she cared for, and for the brutal realities of a world that seemed increasingly devoid of mercy. The night's events would leave indelible marks, shaping the future in ways none of them could yet foresee.