Chapter 3: Going Crazy

Tamara’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing Eloise standing at the door. But in a heartbeat, she composed herself, casually rolling her eyes before gracefully sliding off Mason’s lap. Mason stood as well, quickly buttoning his shirt, though he avoided meeting Eloise’s gaze.

He cleared his throat and muttered, "What are you doing here?"

Eloise didn’t respond. Her chest heaved, but her eyes remained wide, frozen. The image before her—her best friend, her husband—clung to her brain like a nightmare she couldn’t shake.

"Tamara? What is she doing in your office? How could you do this!" Eloise shouted in disbelief. Her best friend and her husband? Could they be having an affair?

"Let me explain, El," Mason said quickly. "Tamara and I had just finished a business meeting, but she spilled coffee on her clothes, so she used my office to change..."

"Tamara’s been around a lot because she’s working with our company on a partnership project—you’ve seen her here often, El, that’s nothing new," Mason added quickly.

Eloise heard his explanation, but she couldn’t believe him. She pressed on, her voice shaking: “Alisha…she’s mine, right?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

A beat of silence passed. Mason’s brows furrowed. Tamara stiffened.

“Where’s this coming from?” he asked cautiously.

“Just answer me,” Eloise demanded, her voice stronger now, tinged with disbelief and desperation.

Mason glanced at Tamara. Her expression hardened, but she gave him the slightest nod.

“She’s yours,” Mason said firmly. “Of course she is.”

“Then why does the DNA test say she isn’t?” Eloise snapped, throwing the test results at him.

“Dr. Glenda already told me everything! How much longer are you planning to lie to me?” Eloise shouted.

Tamara tensed. Mason let out a hollow laugh, rubbing his hands over his face. “That doctor,” he said sharply, “must’ve messed up the results. She’s always been weird. Are you really going to trust some stranger over me?”

Eloise stared at him, stunned. “But Alisha has the diagnosis—HFI. Neither of us have it. And Tamara has it!”

“That must be a coincidence. And that’s why I said we’ll do another test,” Mason said quickly. “A real one. Tomorrow. I promise. We’ll go to a proper lab, get new samples. Everything. Just the two of us.”

She opened her mouth to argue but stopped. A heavy realization settled in her chest—she had no leverage, no control. Years ago, when her grandfather entrusted her with the family company, she had placed it in Mason’s hands out of love and trust. Now, standing in his office, she realized it meant she no longer had the power to question him—not as a wife, not as a business partner. Everything was under his name. She was just a housewife in his world, and he knew it. For the first time, regret burned hotter than anger.

Eloise hesitated.

“So go home now,” he added gently. “Get some rest. I’ll come home and have dinner with you, alright, darling?”

Tamara finally spoke up, “I’m really sorry, sweetheart. It was all a misunderstanding—I truly was just using Mason’s office to change my clothes.”

With no strength left to argue, Eloise nodded slowly, numb. She turned and left the office, feeling like her soul had been peeled open.

*****

The night outside felt colder than usual. Eloise walked blindly through the city streets, her mind a storm of doubt and pain.

Mason was lying. She could feel it in her bones. But why? And why now?

Tears slid down her cheeks. Her thoughts spun in circles. Her grandfather was gone. Her daughter wasn’t hers. And Mason... Mason might have betrayed her in more ways than she could count.

She reached the edge of the block, crossing without looking.

Headlights flared. Tires screeched.

The car slammed into her, throwing her into the air.

The last thing she heard was the blaring horn before her world went black.

******

Eloise felt a sharp, searing pain—and then, a sudden lightness in her body.

Had she died? The thought flickered through her mind.

She expected nothingness, just silence as she sank deeper into the abyss, but when she opened her eyes again, she found she was standing.

But then she saw her body still lying on the road, with paramedics urgently working to save her.

Eloise was just standing, in the same place her body was. She frowned, confused. She died. But why was she still here?

She raised her head, intending to move somewhere else—when she saw it. Her body, lying motionless. Blood pooled around her.

The medics were trying, shouting orders, applying pressure, working frantically.

“Ha… So, I really am dead?” she muttered, numb and staring.

But then, the scene changed, and her soul was led to an office. Where is this place?

Soon, she realized that the place was Penafort Corporation—her company, which now belonged to her husband.

In a dimly lit office that belonged to the CEO, laughter and giggles echoed, the air in the room filled with the passionate energy of two lovers.

The half-naked, handsome CEO Mason lay on the office’s brown sofa, his chest exposed, his face beaming at the blonde woman sitting on top of him. Her skirt was bunched around her thighs, her hair falling over her red bra, her blue eyes sparkling with intense affection for Mason. She giggled at whatever it was he said and hit his chest playfully.

Mason stared affectionately into her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, warming her heart with his sweetness.

“You're so beautiful,” he couldn’t help but say.

Tamara blushed. “Really?” she asked, “More than your wife?”

Oh God! So they had been having an affair all along!

Eloise finally saw the truth. She screamed in rage, reaching out to strike them both—

But her hand passed right through their bodies.

It seemed like they couldn’t see her.

What... what was happening?