007 | ELARA ELLIS

The car stops in front of the building.

It doesn’t stop gently, and neither does it stop abruptly either. It’s just enough of a pause to tell me we’ve arrived.

 

The car engine is still running, the vibrating hum going through the seat, through my spine, and into my chest. Outside, I can hear the distant sounds of traffic, voices of people, and the normal life continuing at a pace that has nothing to do with mine.

 

But I still don’t move. I simply just settle my gaze on the building before me.

The registry where Nathaniel asked me to meet him after our call yesterday afternoon.

And for something that legally changes a person’s life, the civil registry looks almost disappointingly ordinary, the pale walls slightly faded, with the metal gate half open as people move in and out without much attention.

So this is where it happens.

I reach out to push open the car door and step out, but I pause when my gaze falls on the couple who’ve just walked out of the building together. The woman is laughing softly while the man says something to her that I can’t hear, both of them looking relieved in a quiet sort of way.

Jesus, my chest feels strangely tight, my stomach sinking in deep as dread courses through my veins.

Am I doing the right thing by marrying Nathaniel Hale Monroe instead of actually just leaving and starting my life over? What if this revenge doesn’t work for me, and I end up worse than I left Adrian? What if —

I take a deep breath and push the thoughts away. These thoughts have refused to leave my mind since yesterday, and now, I have to remind myself that if I can surprisingly trust a stranger for something like this, then surely, he must have everything all sorted out.

So, I straighten my spine, push open the car door and step out immediately, only for my eyes to fall on Nathaniel.

He’s standing near the entrance like he has been waiting for a while now, dressed in a dark suit that fits him and strangely makes him look younger than what I assume his age would be.

My face warms the moment he notices me, and I watch as he straightens, then begins to walk towards me. I, on the other hand, tighten my grip on the strap of my bag and meet him halfway.

“Elara,” he calls upon standing directly before me, his voice devoid of any hint of surprise or curiosity about whether I’ve changed my mind. “You came.”

I study his face for a second longer than necessary, then nod. “You said ten o’clock.”

His gaze drops, making my skin prickle when it drags its way up my body before meeting mine again as he gives a small nod. “I did.”

For a moment, neither of us speaks.

The silence between us feels different from the one in his office two weeks ago. That day, everything had been theoretical. A proposal placed neatly on a desk.

Today, it is real.

Nathaniel studies my face for a moment before speaking again.

“I’m going to ask you once more before we go inside,” he says calmly. “Are you certain about this decision?”

I hold his gaze.

Just yesterday, I watched my ex husband stand comfortably beside the woman he once loved while she helped my son try on a jacket.

Not once did he look around the room to see if I was there.

“I am,” I say.

Nathaniel doesn’t react immediately. Then he gives a small nod, like he expected that answer all along.

“Good to hear.” He gestures toward the building. “Let’s finish it, then.”

When we step inside the registry, I realize it’s just as unimpressive as the outside.

There’s a small waiting area with plastic chairs lined against the wall and a narrow desk where a tired-looking woman is stamping papers without much interest in the people passing through.

The entire place smells faintly of old paper and cleaning solution.

We’re directed down a short hallway into a modest office where a registrar sits behind a desk.

Two witnesses are already there, both of them strangers who barely glance up from their phones when we enter.

The process moves quickly.

The registrar reads through the legal statements in a voice so neutral it almost sounds rehearsed, and when the marriage contract papers are given to us, Nathaniel signs first, his pen moving across the paper without hesitation.

Then the documents slide toward me.

At first, I look down at the name written at the top of the page.

Marriage registration.

And when my fingers close around the pen, I find myself going down a very terrible memory lane.

Seven years ago, when I’d signed my first marriage certificate, I had believed it meant something. I’d believed it meant love, commitment, and a future.

However, I know better today. And despite that, I sign my name anyway, telling myself not to expect anything but neutrality from the giant man seated beside me.

Once the signature process is over, the registrar collects the papers and stamps them with a loud thud before sliding them back toward us.

“That concludes the process,” she says flatly.

Just like that, and it’s done.

I’m now a married woman once again.

***

The car is already moving when I look up from my hands.

Streetlights slide across the window in steady intervals, briefly lighting the inside of the car before disappearing again.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, is seated beside me, relaxed against the leather seat.

His presence still feels strange to me.

Only this morning, we signed a document in a quiet office that made this marriage legal. Now, I’m sitting beside him in the back of a car as his wife, going where I have no idea of, given he sent me a dress package earlier and asked me to dress up.

At the thought, I glance sideways at him. “You showed up outside my building tonight and told me to get in the car after sending a dress this afternoon,” I say.

Nathaniel doesn’t look at me when he replies. “Yes.”

“And you didn’t explain where we’re going.”

“No.”

I wait a second. Then I ask the question anyway. “So where are we going?”

There’s a long stretch of silence, and just when I think he’s not going to answer, Nathaniel finally turns his head slightly toward me. “To see my family.”

My brows pull together into a frown. “Your family?”

“Yes.”

At first, I feel genuinely confused because from my memory, he is estranged, hence this marriage partnership. So why are we going to see them?

Almost immediately, I realize it’s the same a family as Adrian’s, and I shift slightly in my seat. “And why exactly are we going there tonight?”

Nathaniel glances briefly at the road ahead. “They’re having dinner.”

“For what?” I ask. “And how exactly does it concern us?”

He turns to meet my gaze, and I swear I feel something crawl down my spine from the dark look alone. “They’re celebrating Adrian and his lover finalizing their wedding date.”

Silence, except the loud thumping of my heart against its ribcage.

Adrian and Vivienne want to celebrate their wedding date? Already?

I’m suddenly pulled out of my thoughts by Nathaniel’s smooth voice. “Does that disturb you?”

I open my mouth to reply, but the word sticks to my throat because saying it doesn’t bother me would be a lie.

I’ve been with this man for seven good years, paused my dreams to have his child, and now, he’s celebrating a new marriage with his ex.

Anyone would be disturbed.

But that’s not something I’m really ready to accept to Nathaniel, so I simply shake my head. “I’m just thinking about how fast things change and how exactly it concerns us.”

He looks like he doesn’t agree with me, but he doesn’t push it either. Instead, he reaches down beside him and picks up a small box wrapped in dark paper before placing it in my hands.

I look down at it. “A gift?”

“Yes,” he replies. “For my nephew and his lover.”

“Why are you bringing them a congratulatory gift.”

Nathaniel’s tone remains calm when he replies. “Because it helps sell the surprise.” When I don’t say anything, he continues. “This is the best time to announce our wedding to them. Shake them a bit.”

“So…” I begin. “How did you know about this dinner?”

He straightens just as the car turns onto a quieter street. “I have my ways, wife.”

The way he says it makes something drop in my stomach, but I’ve barely comprehended what it is when familiar, tall gates appear ahead, making my chest tighten.

Adrian’s family house.

The guard straightens in the booth as he sees the car approaching, and when he recognizes us after we get to the gate, he opens them.

Nathaniel glances at me the moment the car stops at the driveway. “Still willing to go through with this?”

I look at the house.

Every memory from the last seven years seems to live somewhere behind those walls.

Then I tighten my fingers slightly around the gift box.

“Yes.”

With a small nod, Nathaniel steps out first, and I follow a second later, taking in the familiar building. Then, without hesitation, Nathaniel places a hand against my lower back and leads me towards the door.

Last time I came over here, I was walking behind a man who refused to spare me a glance. Today, I’m with another man from this same family who seems to want something to do with me.

Nathaniel rings the door bell, and one of the maids — Evelyn, if I remember correctly — opens the door, her lips curled into a smile when she sees me before confusion takes over her features at the realization of who I’m with.

However, we don’t pay any heed to her.

Nathaniel simply leads me towards the sitting room where voices are drifting from, only for it to come to a halt at the sight of us.

Adrian’s father’s face is filled with surprise just like every other person, and when he looks between the two of us, he calls, “Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel nods calmly. “I came to congratulate Adrian, actually,” he takes the gift box from me and passes it to the maid standing at the entrance before placing his hand back against my lower back. “And introduce my wife.”

Pin stop silence.

Adrian’s father frowns. “Your wife? What do you mean?”

“I got married today, brother,” he says so casually, as if he’s not estranged to this family. “And this is my wife, Elara.”

A few collective gasps echo in the room, but that’s not what gets my attention or makes me freeze.

It’s the familiar sound of footsteps coming closer that I’ve known for too long, and I swear dread pools lower in my stomach when the owner’s voice fills the room.

“What’s going on?”

I turn, and that’s when my eyes meet Adrian’s.