Chapter 4
1072 Words
Her phone sat untouched on the dresser, one corner of the screen had cracked from her falling down the stairs. She fumbled with the screen before unlocking it. The long list of contact which she had buried, names of people she had not spoken to in ages.
She hesitated before finally tapping one, her best friend Tania.
The line rang once, twice then a familiar voice picked up.
“Eliana is that you?”
Her throat tightened. “Tania… it’s me.”
She paused for a breath and then she said "Girl, you're alive?!”
Tears stung Eliana’s eyes. “Yes I'm, I should have… I'm sorry”
“No,” Tania cut in, her voice thick. “Don’t you dare apologize. You have no idea how many nights I prayed for you. Eliana, you just disappeared without a word.”
“I know,” Eliana whispered. “I thought I had to. I thought if I gave him what he wanted, it would be enough but I was wrong.”
The pause stretched more than a breath this time around. Then came a shaky laugh, half relief, half disbelief.
“You’re really back? Please tell me you've called it quits with that Nath guy.”
Eliana pressed a hand to her chest. “Yea.”
“We should meet up sometime.” She said softly over the phone, her voice laced with longing and curiosity. “I want to hear all about it.”
She spent the rest of the afternoon reaching out to her old friends. Later that night Eliana tossed and turned on her bed unable to sleep. She kept wondering why it never occurred to her to work at her grandfather's company.
That youthful zeal to be independent that's it, Dalia her cousin fuelled that desire so much.
Something felt odd, but Eliana finally swiped it off her mind and decided to work at her grandpa’s before her own drive consumed her whole. “Oh, how much I've missed the muted clatter of keyboards!” she murmured.
The next morning was a Monday, Eliana stood in front of the mirror, fastening the single button of her black blazer.
It sat firm on her shoulders, not too tight, not too soft just enough to make her feel like she could stand a little straighter.
Beneath it, a silk blouse glimmered faintly, she brushed her hair back, staring into her own eyes. They weren’t so soft anymore, they burned with rage this time.
“This is my life,” she whispered to her reflection. Her voice, more steady this time. “And I’m taking it back.”
Her grandfather had always dreamed she’d join the family company, but back then, she had allowed Dalia’s words to enter her head. “Why chain yourself to an office, Eli? Live a little, let them handle the boring stuff. You deserve freedom.”
She hadn’t known then that Dalia’s “advice” was a trap, a way to edge her out. But now, the game has changed.
The company’s lobby smelled faintly of polished wood and expensive perfume, all glass and shining steel. People moved briskly in suits, carrying tablets, clipboards, and ambition written in every step. Eliana inhaled deeply, her heels clicking against the marble floor.
The moment she crossed the lobby, a few heads turned. Whispers followed behind her.
“Is that…?” someone murmured near the reception desk.
“She looks just like Mr. Montrose,” another voice said softly, almost in awe.
Eliana’s steps faltered for half a second before she caught herself. The familiarity of those stares, it was something she’d grown up with, but it felt different now. No one was looking at her as the pampered granddaughter anymore. They were trying to decide if she belonged.
The receptionist straightened immediately when she reached the desk. “Ms. Montrose,” she said, a little taken aback. “Welcome back. We didn’t know you’d be visiting today.”
Eliana forced a polite smile. “I know right but it's good to be back.”
The woman laughed nervously, glancing toward the elevators. “Mr. Graham from the board is upstairs in a meeting. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you.”
Eliana only nodded, but inside, her chest fluttered with a mix of pride and nerves. Her grandfather’s people still remembered her.
For the first time in years, she was here as Eliana Montrose, her grandfather’s granddaughter.
“Eliana?”
She turned, recognizing Dalia's voice instantly.
Her cousin approached with a smile painted across her face, her floral dress swishing a little too perfectly as she walked. Chubby-cheeked, with her glossy hair bouncing around her shoulders, Dalia looked every bit the warm and welcoming, friendly relative. She leaned in and kissed Eliana on both cheeks like families always did.
“Well, look at you,” Dalia said brightly, though her eyes flickered over the blazer, the fitted trousers. “You look… different.”
Eliana smiled lightly, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “Don’t you think this different is good?”
“Of course it is,” Dalia chuckled, looping her arm through Eliana’s as if nothing had ever been wrong between them. “I just didn’t expect to see you here. You never seemed… interested in all this.” She waved vaguely at the elevators, at the bustling company floor.
Eliana caught her cousin’s tone but didn’t flinch. “Well people change and so do their priorities.”
For a moment, Dalia’s lips curled not into a smile, but into something mean, almost a sneer. Eliana saw it from the corner of her eye, she caught the almost slipping mask.
But just as quickly, Dalia smoothed it away, her smile snapping back into place. “I suppose you’re right,” she said sweetly, her voice dripping with syrup. “Change can be… surprising.”
Eliana heaved a sigh of relief, “I was just overthinking it” she thought to herself. As the elevator doors slid open, Dalia gestured politely. “After you, cousin.”
Eliana stepped inside, her chin lifting just slightly. Her grandfather’s words echoed in her memory, “You belong here, Eli. Don't you dare think otherwise.”
And now, hearing his voice in her head, she felt ready. Ready to walk the path he’d always beli
eved she would, ready to face whatever waited on the other side of those glass doors.
- Writer
