Defying Fate: The Unstoppable Eileen novel Chapter 407

Hedy clung to the banister on the second-floor landing, eyes brimming with tears as she stared down at Eileen below.

She stumbled backward, voice trembling as she begged, “No—please, don’t come any closer…”

Eileen’s face was unreadable, her expression calm as she began to climb the stairs, one measured step at a time.

When Eileen reached her, Hedy suddenly dropped to a crouch, covering her head and screaming, “Ahhh! No, no, no!”

Without sparing Hedy a second glance, Eileen stepped past her and continued down the hallway to the very end.

It wasn’t until the ominous footsteps had faded away that Hedy dared to lift her head. She peered after Eileen, just in time to see her push open a door.

Eileen’s old room.

That was always her room in the house.

The moment Hedy remembered what that room looked like now, her face went sheet-white. Panicked, she bolted for the stairs.

As she tried to escape, she found Hubery blocking the way. In her desperation, she scrambled right over him.

Eileen had just done the same—so what was one more person? Hubery wouldn’t mind, she told herself frantically.

Inside the ravaged bedroom, Eileen surveyed the destruction with a cold, unsurprised gaze.

She had lived in this room from the moment Sarah brought her home until the day she died in her past life.

It had once been a storage closet. The Lopez family villa had plenty of guest rooms, but instead of giving her a proper space, they’d grudgingly cleared out the darkest, dampest closet—the one that always leaked and was never properly fixed up.

Now, even that miserable little room was in ruins.

Books and scraps of paper were scattered everywhere. The award certificates that once covered the wall had been ripped down, their glass frames shattered. Her desk had been smashed to pieces. The filthy bedsheets and blankets were stamped with countless muddy footprints.

A foul stench lingered in the air—Eileen recognized it instantly as the sharp ammonia of dog urine. Hedy kept a dog in the backyard; she must have brought it in and let it soil the bed on purpose.

Ignoring the mess, Eileen stepped over the debris and crossed the room to the heavy bookcase.

The shelves were empty now; every book had been ripped to shreds.

She pushed the bookcase aside. It scraped across the floor with a loud, grating screech.

After a moment’s search, she found what she was looking for: three large bags taped to the back panel, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

They were the only things she’d brought from the Howard family.

Her old photo albums were in there too.

Ever since she was a child, after Hedy had barged in again and again, scattering her books and scribbling over her homework, Eileen had learned to hide her most precious things behind the bookcase.

She took down all three bags. Without another glance at the ruined room, she turned and walked out.

Downstairs, Hubery was sprawled on the sofa, groaning.

Sarah, clutching her nose, stood cowering behind the staff, leaning heavily on Hedy for support.

Sarah was shaking with rage, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Eileen, looking as if she wanted to tear her apart then and there.

Eileen didn’t spare them a glance. She headed straight for the door.

“Stop right there!” Sarah shrieked.

Eileen paused and looked back.

Sarah, teeth clenched, spat out, “So that’s why you came back! You’re here to steal from us! What did you take? Put it down!”

None of it belonged to them anyway, but Eileen only replied coolly, “You want it? Come and get it.”

“You—!” Sarah’s face twisted in fury.

Hedy, emboldened, chimed in, “You can’t leave! You broke in—you hurt my mom and Hubery! I’ve already called the police! Just wait—you’ll go to jail for this!”

Sarah grabbed Hedy’s arm, panic flickering in her eyes before she forced herself to regain composure.

Hedy had called the police on Eileen—nothing else.

Relieved, Sarah turned to the house staff, barking, “Stop her! Don’t let her out!”

Eileen gave a lazy, amused chuckle. “That’s fine. I’ll wait for the police, then.”

Seeing her so calm only made Sarah and Hedy more suspicious—they rushed to have the staff lock the front doors.

It wasn’t long before the police arrived. Janice, waiting outside, paled at the sight of squad cars pulling up. In a panic, she hurried to call Ophelia.

Inside, the police found Sarah and Hubery, both being tended to by the family doctor.

“What happened here?” one of the officers asked.

Hedy immediately burst into tears, her sobs shaking as she told her side of the story.

The officers turned to Eileen, stern-faced. “You broke into a private residence and assaulted people?”

Eileen replied, “No, I didn’t.”

“She’s lying!” Hedy shrieked. “Everyone saw her! She barged in! She attacked us!”

The officers gave Hedy a long look, then turned back to Eileen.

Eileen calmly took her phone from her pocket, scrolled through her messages, and handed it over.

The officers scrolled through a barrage of texts—buried among the junk mail and spam, there was a flood of vile, threatening messages stretching back to last year, the most recent just three days ago.

The earliest ones were from a contact saved as “Mother.”