Chapter 16
1649 Words
ELARA
“I see you always derive joy from torturing me, Vivian. Don't you?”
My father stood there like a statue, saying nothing as his wife laughed with wickedness evident in her glowing eyes.
“You are a piece of work, Elara. I hope the loan you took was not billed to our credit card? Because if you did that, I will have the police arrest you.”
“I didn't bill anything to your card!” I groaned, feeling heavily agitated by her constant bullies. “How I choose to pay for my hospital treatment should not affect you. Yeah?”
“It should. You have brought us enough shame by choosing to marry a mechanic. Next, we will have our family's name published on the papers for debts that we know nothing about.”
“And it is then that I will disown you as I have long wanted to.” My father's deep voice, supporting my step mother, left me questioning my existence.
I could not stop asking myself what I even did wrong to him to deserve such a cruel treatment from him.
He treated me with a mean nature and exerted cruelty on me.
Vivian rolled her eyes disdainfully and they walked away.
I felt my chest burning with emotions. My relationship with them was laced with complications and I could not help but beat myself every time after we met.
They despised me and I felt distant from them.
“Hey…”Xender’s deep voice cut through my reverie and I turned around to find him standing behind me. “You seemed deep in thought.”
“When did you get here?” I asked, looking at him with a smirk. “I didn't even hear your car.”
“Yeah cos I parked towards the gate. Are you done with the doctors?”
“Yes. I have been out here for a while.”
I didn't want to tell him that my step mother and my father were here Earlier and that they had said cruel things to me.
I knew it would make him feel bad that he could not afford to pay for my bills and that was not his concern, anyway.
“So, can we leave now?”
I nodded and we turned to walk towards his car.
“What was it you said you wanted to show me, anyway?”
I was curious. I initially didn't think I would be.
“I was going to show you the designs I found in my archives. Maybe you could work with them or do something out of the ordinary with them.”
We were seated in the car now and he was igniting the engine.
His muscles were flexing through his shirts and his chest was rising and falling with each breath, in a slightly enticing way.
I found myself glancing at him in admiration for the first time since we met. He was very handsome.
A quick comparison between him and Ethan left me almost drooling over his features.
“That fashion show Ethan and Olivia entered for. Don't you think you deserve a place there too?”
I turned my gaze away from him, trying to hide the blushed cheeks and the seeking eyes.
“I don't stand a chance against them. The designs they have are my best. I don't even have the urge to create more.”
“Don't talk down on yourself, Elara. You are the creator and the creator never runs out of ideas to create.”
His words were golden and they pierced my heart with emotions but I shrugged off the emotions as quickly as it came, trying not to give it a chance.
I will never fall victim to any man's antics, ever again! I mused aloud in my head, looking out of the car window as he drove me home.
“Aren't you going to say anything, Elara?”
“I have nothing to say, Xender. Besides, I have told you that my affair is my affair. You are not obliged to show concern for my affairs.”
My voice was rude and I could hear the contempt in it.
Xender cleared his throat and turned to me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see his gaze heavy on me.
“I am not doing this out of obligation, Elara. You cannot be an island for so long. You need people to advise you and help you rise back on your feet. To fight your family, you need to rise up.”
“To fight them requires more than rising up, Xender. Stop acting like you know my family. I need money to pay for a good Lawyer to fight for my heirloom and that's where my mind is fixed now.”
I was haughty but I couldn't help it. I wanted to tell him off and focus. I needed to think about other things.
Xender became quiet, all of a sudden. The silence in the car was so thick.
****
XENDER
While I was at work, Nana Kate called to plead for Lucas Thomas, my driver and assistant, to come and get her to her eye appointment.
It didn't occur to me that the appointment was most likely going to be at the same hospital where Elara was and the last thing I wanted was for Nana Kate to find out that Elara was married to me.
Considering that Elara thought of me as Nana Kate's mechanic.
Suddenly, as a matter of instant thought, I remembered that Nana Kate's doctor was the same hospital I sent Elara’s cheque to.
So, I called Thomas to confirm.
“What clinic are you taking Nana Kate to?”
“An eye clinic boss. The name is Cores.”
My heart flipped.
“Damn!” I shrieked, pulling my tie out of my neck. “Are you there already?”
“Yes boss. Nana Kate got into the reception a few minutes ago. Is everything okay, boss?”
I didn't want his probing to continue so I slammed the call shut.
“This isn't happening. They could definitely bump into each other now!”
My heart raced with anxiety and I was thrown into a frantic state.
I could not afford to have Nana Kate discovering about our marriage and I most definitely didn't want to have Elara finding out who I really was.
Her phone line was not connecting after I tried several times, it eventually went through but she didn't respond.
I had to drop a text for her, an instant lie crawling into my mind as I ran my hands over my keypad, composing a text.
The only lie I could concoct was that I had something important to discuss with her.
“But what are you going to tell her when you guys meet?”
I pondered, my heart travelling through several options.
What if she calls now and I have nothing to say? She'd be heavily disappointed.
Just then my phone rang and her name flashed on the screen
“You're done for, Xender!” I mumbled to myself, sliding the screen.
Her husky voice on the other end showed that she desperately wanted to know what I wanted to talk about so urgently.
While my mind juggled, my eyes fell on an image that popped up on my laptop screen.
A dress that seemed extraordinary, something from the early ages.
I heard myself telling her that I found some designs I would love to show her for her creativity and the fashion show.
Did she believe it?
Absolutely! Here we are now seated in the car and I am driving her but as usual, Elara is not leaving room for me to express the ideas properly. She doesn't want me in her affair.
I guess because she feels that I am not financially responsible enough to handle her life.
She likes to use that phrase over and over; “you are not obliged to do anything for me, Xender. This is a contract not a union.”
Yeah right. I get it, Miss. Same here.
She threw her face to the other side, looking out of the window.
She really was deep in thoughts and I could tell that her heart was laced with gross unhappiness.
The rest of the ride was done in silence, she was in deep thoughts while I was wondering how I could get her out of the situation with her family without being open about my true identity.
As we approached the drive way of the little bungalow, the only thing belonging to her mother that she had access to, I saw a car parked in the driveway and my heart skipped a beat.
“Damn!” I muttered, pulling up far away from the porch.
“What?” Elara asked, staring at me with her piercing gaze.
“There's a car parked in front of the house. I need to find out who it is.”
I undid my seat belt and got out of the car.
“Can't I come with you? It is my house, I should know who or what that is.”
I could not let her come down from that car because it would mean that all my damn effort the whole day had gone down the drain within a twinkle.
I shut the car door and looked into it through the window that was wound down.
“Nope, Elara. I think it is better if you stayed in the car. Allow me to figure this out in case it is unsafe for you.”
She leaned back into the car, looking away from me.
“You're such a bloody liar, Xender,” I muttered to myself as I walked towards the car, trying to force a smile on my already crossed face.
- Writer
