Chapter 7
642 Words
Sebastian's voice came through clenched teeth.
Elara lifted her eyes and sneered. "Finally... done pretending?"
Sebastian's brows drew even tighter together.
"How dare you resent me? Since you chose to run off with your high school boyfriend, you should've stayed gone. What is wrong with me pretending not to know you? Isn't that exactly what you wanted?"
Elara froze.
Run off with her high school boyfriend?
What a joke.
"I... didn't."
"Heh." Sebastian let out a cold laugh and threw down a stack of photos.
They were all pictures of Elara with N.V.
Elara's fingertips trembled slightly.
Then Sebastian's next words sent a chill through her whole body.
"Save your breath. At first, when Vivienne told me you might've run off with him, I didn't believe her. Not until I took these photos myself."
Elara felt as though her mind had gone blank with a sharp buzz.
Sebastian had been that close to her? Close enough to take those photos?
While she was enduring humiliation and terror beyond imagination, he hadn't even tried to uncover the truth before deciding she had betrayed him.
A chill shot from her feet to the top of her head.
At the same time, Elara became even more certain that Vivienne was deeply connected to N.V.
Elara lowered her lashes, hiding the storm in her eyes.
"I wasn't... willing back then."
Sebastian scoffed. "Whether you went willingly or were forced, I don't care anymore. Because during all the years you were gone, I found someone more worthy of my love. I hope you know your place and don't do anything stupid. The old Elara is dead to me."
Elara stared at him without blinking, her face pale.
Sebastian was the first to look away.
His tone softened slightly. "For old times' sake, I'll arrange a new identity for you. You'll be taken care of for the rest of your life."
Just then, Lucas, who had been standing nearby, spoke in an arrogant tone. "If you don't make trouble for Dad and Mom, I might let you come see me sometimes. On my birthday, I might even invite you."
Let? Invite?
A sharp pain stabbed through Elara's heart.
She looked at Lucas's face, now growing more and more like Sebastian's, and at the hand he held with Vivienne, and the last trace of warmth in her heart froze solid.
She turned back to Sebastian.
"Either divorce me and give me half your assets... or take me back to Blackwood Estate. I'm still your legal wife. Otherwise, I'll expose everything. You know... I can."
Sebastian's breathing grew noticeably heavier.
He glared at her, the eyes that had once looked at her with love now filled only with icy rage.
Elara said nothing, her expression numb.
After a long silence, Sebastian let out a cold laugh. "Fine, since you're so eager to watch me and Vivienne play house."
With that, he turned away without another glance, draping an arm over Vivienne's shoulders as his tone instantly softened. "Let's go."
Lucas hurried after them, never once looking back at Elara.
Before leaving, Vivienne glanced back at Elara.
Her eyes gleamed with venom.
Elara met her gaze, her face calm and unreadable.
She had thought that now that everything between them was dead, there was nothing left that could hurt her.
But even someone who no longer cared whether she lived or died could still underestimate how cruel Vivienne could be, and how heartless the Blackwood men were.
Elara had assumed they wouldn't come back to the hospital until the day she was discharged.
But the very next day, Lucas showed up carrying an insulated food container.
His steps were hesitant, and his eyes darted away, unable to meet Elara's gaze.
"Mom..." he said softly. "Dad said you were still recovering, so I had the chef make chicken soup while I watched."
- Writer
