Loving The Heartless Man

Chapter 6

Elara Pov

When Liam opened the door to the room of the luxury hotel owned by Alexander's family and reserved by my mother-in-law, I was shocked by what I saw. I did not expect that my mother-in-law had invited so many relatives and close friends. Our agreement was that only the immediate family and the godparents would be the guests, but that did not happen. By my estimate, there were about thirty guests inside the room.

All the guests were smiling and looking at me. They seemed happy to see me. But I felt as if they were mocking me, belittling me because I was not as wealthy as Alexander's family. I felt I was not welcome in their family, in their society. I am an outcast inside that room. All I wanted to do was to run and hide from them. But I know I should not do that.

"The bride is finally here!!!" I heard a woman's voice, she seemed excited.

I felt like I was frozen at the doorway. It was as if my feet were glued to the floor, unable to move. I also felt the sudden sweat on my cold palms.

"Lower your eyes, Beshy. Don't look at their faces so your phobia won't be triggered," my friend whispered softly to me. Liam went in front of me and blocked my view with his body so I couldn't see the guests looking at me.

"I-I can't breathe, Liam. M-My knees are weak and my stomach hurts." Why didn't Alexander's mother keep her promise? The guests I expected to find in the private room were less than ten, but they weren't.

"Inhale. Exhale. Don't look at them. Just focus your eyes on my face or lower your gaze. Don't glance at their faces."

I know my friend is worried about me, but he doesn't want to embarrass me on this occasion. I also didn't want to be embarrassed; it would ruin our business, so I slowly controlled myself. I chose to follow what Liam said. I didn't look at the faces of the guests and I didn't smile. Let them think whatever they think of why my reaction is like this. I don't need to explain to them about it.

"Why won't the bride look at us? Does she not like us?" I heard a man ask, but I still didn't lift my gaze. Instead of speaking, Liam immediately thought of an excuse as to why I wasn't glancing at their faces.

"Dear guest, please forgive my friend. She's very shy." Liam apologized on my behalf while I was still trying to control the unpleasant feeling that wanted to emerge from the depths of my heart.

"Really? I didn't know my bride was this shy," Alexander said as he approached me, he lifted my chin with two fingers to meet his gaze. I saw a smile but with a secretly mocking look on his face. Alexander brought his mouth close to my ear and whispered, "Don't pretend to be shy because we both know how bold you are, Elara. Do you want me to remind you of what you did before just to win my love?"

That's it. I could no longer hold on to the emotion I had been trying to suppress for a while. Just Alexander's mocking expression was enough for me to lose to my phobia. My whole body turned cold. I couldn't breathe anymore.

"Stop it, Alexander!" Liam angrily restrained my husband and then pulled me away from him. "Listen to me, Elara. Don't listen to what Alexander said. Don't let him get to you. Okay?"

Unfortunately, no matter what Liam said to suppress my uneasiness, it was no longer effective. Because what was on my mind now was that I was in front of my schoolmates while being laughed at because of the words Alexander had said to me. My eyes began to cloud with tears. But before my tears could fall, my vision darkened and like a person without strength, I suddenly collapsed in front of Alexander.

I don't know how many hours I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I was already inside the hospital and lying on a hospital bed with a dextrose attached to my left arm. I saw my friend at the side of the bed who had fallen asleep while watching over me. I gently tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up. Liam groggily woke up when he felt my tap on his shoulder.

"Thank God, you're finally awake, Elara! You scared the hell out of me," he exclaimed when he saw that I was conscious.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself." My voice slightly cracked as I tried to hold back my tears. When was the last time I blacked out because my social phobia was attacked? I can't remember anymore. But just like before, I regained consciousness inside the hospital.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Elara. I know how hard it is to stop or control your phobia from attacking. And no one should be blamed for what happened except that Alexander." He held one of my hands and gently squeezed it to convey his moral support.

"What happened at the reception?" I couldn't help but feel worried. I didn't know what to say if they asked me why I suddenly fainted. I couldn't tell them that I had a social phobia. I don't want Alexander to know that I developed social phobia because of what he and Isabella did to me before. Surely, I wouldn't get sympathy from him; instead, he would just say that I deserved what happened to me."

"What else would happen? Of course, everything was in chaos. They wondered why you suddenly fainted," he answered me. "But don't worry because I told them you just lacked sleep. I reasoned that you haven't been sleeping well lately because you're too excited about your upcoming wedding to Alexander," Liam explained. He slightly grimaced because he knew I wouldn't like what he said. "I'm sorry, Beshy. I couldn't think of a better explanation other than the overwhelming excitement you're feeling."

I slightly clenched my fists. With what Liam said, Alexander would surely think even worse of me. I shook my head slightly. So what if he thinks badly of me? His impression of me has always been negative anyway. And I don't care about that.

"I don't care what they think about why I fainted. What I'm worried about now is how to get pregnant quickly so I can file the divorce papers with him. You saw how he almost devoured me alive."

"I have an idea of how you can get pregnant, Beshy." A strange smile played on my friend's lips. I frowned at his thought but didn't ask. I just let him continue with what he wanted to say. "Why don't you get pregnant by another man and pin it on Alexander?"

I grimaced at Liam's idea. "If I do that, I'll surely be skinned alive, not only by Alexander but also by his mom."

"Well then, just get him drunk and when he's drunk, you can r**e him," Liam said with a mischievous smile. I was about to smack my friend for thinking of such nonsense when the door suddenly opened and the person we were talking about entered the room. His face was dark, and his eyebrows almost formed a single line. He must have heard Liam's joke to me. For sure, his view of me would become worse. I wonder what kind of insult I will hear from him this time.