Chapter 28: Not Over

Eleanor Hastings sat alone in the grand sitting room of the Hastings estate, her fingers lightly drumming on the armrest of the antique chair. The room, with its heavy drapes and dark wood paneling, was a reflection of the secrets and power plays that had shaped the Hastings family for generations. She glanced at the portrait of her late husband hanging above the fireplace, the man who had started it all, and allowed herself a rare moment of nostalgia. Her thoughts drifted back to a time many years ago, to the moment when she first met Emily. It was in a dingy orphanage on the outskirts of the city, a place forgotten by society, where the walls reeked of neglect and despair. Eleanor had been visiting to fulfill a charitable obligation, something she was rarely interested in but occasionally necessary to maintain appearances. As she walked through the dimly lit corridors, she noticed a woman, her hands red and rough from years of scrubbing floors, yet her eyes carried a fire, a determi