Chapter 3

Julian came home for dinner, Chloe trailing behind him.

He placed a Tiffany blue box in front of me, his voice soft. "Eleanor, the necklace you always wanted."

He took out the diamond necklace that had mesmerized me at an auction, fastening it around my neck himself. "I only think of Chloe as my little sister. Don't overthink things, and don't be so confrontational with her."

Chloe tugged lightly at Julian's sleeve, her eyes urging him on.

Julian produced a brand-new smart bracelet. "This is the company's latest health monitoring bracelet. It monitors your heart rate, blood pressure, and even emotional metrics in real-time, connecting to our central database. That way, we can look after you better."

I recoiled. It was nothing less than a 24-hour digital shackle.

"I don't need it! My health status is my private information!"

Chloe chuckled softly. "Oh, Eleanor, what's privacy compared to your health? Brother Julian is just worried about you. Besides, your smart home and car systems are already connected to our network, aren't they? What's one more bracelet?"

Julian frowned. "Don't be childish. This is for your own good. Your little 'episode' at the meeting? Clearly an issue with emotional regulation, darling. Wear it, the data will tell us when you need help."

He took a step forward, reaching to grab my wrist, intending to force it on me.

I struggled, pulling away. "Julian! This is surveillance! I'm not your prisoner!"

"Why do you always twist goodwill into malice?" He seemed to lose patience, his grip tightening.

Chloe quickly tapped on her tablet.

Instantly, the bracelet shrieked with a piercing alarm!

"See! Your emotions are unstable again! The system’s even alerting us!"

Hearing that, Julian pressed down on me harder.

"It's not me! She's controlling it!" I screamed, pointing at Chloe, but Julian wouldn't listen.

Just then, the smart console cabinet in the hallway suddenly popped open, crashing hard into my shin!

I stumbled, crying out in pain, instinctively reaching for the nearby smart curtain track to steady myself.

Chloe’s lips curled into a cold smirk, her finger swiping on the tablet.

The slow-moving curtain track suddenly accelerated, retracting with a sharp clack! My fingers were caught in the mechanical gap, sending a searing pain through me!

At the same time, losing my balance, I was about to crash into the glass display cabinet beside me!

"Eleanor, what are you doing!" Julian spun around, roughly shoving me away, pulling Chloe tightly into his arms.

"You scared Chloe!"

I, with no one to catch me, was thrown by the curtain track's momentum, my forehead slamming against the cabinet corner.

Warm blood trickled down my temple. I huddled on the cold floor, looking up to see Julian anxiously checking if Chloe was startled, his face etched with concern.

He didn't even glance down at me.

"Brother Julian, I'm fine. Please, check on Eleanor."

Chloe leaned weakly into his embrace, but her eyes met mine over his shoulder, a clear, icy smirk playing on her lips.

Julian finally looked at me, his eyes filled with nothing but disappointment and impatience.

"Eleanor, do you haveto make such a scene! Self-harm? Smashing things? You've truly disappointed me!"

He carefully picked Chloe up and instructed the housekeeper.

"Take her back to her room. And until I say so, she’s not to touch any smart devices! And jam any internet signal up here!"

I was too numb with pain to speak, only watching them leave.

The attic door locked with a heavy thud behind me.

Darkness enveloped me, only moonlight casting a pale patch on the floor. This used to be our first 'lab,' the walls still bearing the graffiti we’d drawn together – two intertwined 'J' and 'E's – for Julian and Eleanor.

Now, for someone else, he had locked me in our past.