Romans de Jessicarachel

Elara“I’m in town, Miss Dubois and I thought of reaching out to you. I hope you’ve been well? Three years ago, when you chose to walk out such a promising career, I didn't think I could advise you against it. Honestly, I believed it was your choice to make and hoped you were happy with it. But these last few years, my conscience has continued to bugger me which is why I’m reaching out again with another opportunity for you to shine. There’s a show coming out soon where you can showcase your culinary skills. I hope you can give it a try – best, Mr. Simpson.”I stared at the email, reading and rereading its content before finally trying out a reply. “Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Simpson. I’ll have to get back to you on that. And since you are in town, I hope we can meet sometime? Yours, Elara Dubois.”Once I’d sent out the reply, I heaved a sigh of relief and picked up my phone, only to be shocked by the trending headlines and hashtags.#CeliaInternationalSensation#CeliaAndLo

ElaraTo say I was shocked to see her standing in my front door would be an understatement. Why was she here early? Did Louis know she arrived earlier than they planned? My eyes narrowed at her but that didn’t seem to faze her. The smug on her face only seemed to deepen. Ignoring me completely, she strolled into the house, pushing past me like she owned the place. I gritted my teeth, clenching my fist to keep from lashing out. “What are you doing here?” The question escaped my lips before I could stop myself. Celia turned around sharply, an innocent smile flirting up her face. “Oh,” she said softly, a spark of amusement dancing in her eyes. “Louis was expecting me to arrive tomorrow. But I planned a small gift for him.” She shrugged. I swallowed the lump in my throat, gripping my luggage so tight my knuckles turned white. Even now, when I thought I’d let go of everything , I couldn’t help the jealousy that surfed in my chest. Celia was beautiful, even more than she was in the pho

Elara“Celia is coming back?” the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. I hated how weak and stupid I sounded, but I couldn’t take it back. Louis gave me a look like I was daft. He probably thought I was and that was why he never took me seriously. I’d spent three years trying to read Louis Valmont, and I was no closer than the day I’d met him.“Yes, Celia is back. You know she has been abroad. Her father insisted she finish her degree before…” He trailed off, as if the rest of the sentence didn’t need saying. Before she moved in. Before she took her rightful place by his side as the love of his life.Celia Thorne. For some reason, my mind kept circling back to her. I’d only seen her in photos and interviews on television, but everyone in our circles knew Celia Thorne – beautiful, classy, utterly devoted to Louis in a way that made me feel like an intruder in my own engagement. “You’ll have to keep this from my grandfather, of course. I’ll pay you, if I have to.” Lou

ElaraThe water rushed over me, hot and forgiving, and for a few minutes I let myself pretend it could wash away more than just the day. Three years of this. Three years of standing under spray that never quite got warm enough, in a penthouse that never felt like home, waiting for a man who never looked at me twice.The bathroom filled with steam, soft white clouds that wrapped around my silhouette and made the world beyond the glass blur into nothing. Here, I could almost forget. Forget that I was Elara Dubois, the invisible fiancée. I turned off the water and reached for a towel just as – “Click.” The sound of the door unlocking reached my ears and it immediately swung open.My heart stopped. I spun, clutching the towel to my chest as the steam began its slow retreat, revealing the figure in the doorway.Louis?I was sure my confusion was written all over my face. Why was he here? Louis Valmont, my fiancé of three years, stood in the bathroom doorway like he owned it – which, tech