Chapter 3

Eleanor clenched her fists but kept her voice calm. “It’s none of your business what I wear, now is it?”

Emilia rolled her eyes, unfazed by Eleanor’s tone. “Of course it is! You’re married to my brother, and you’re representing the Beaumont family! You can’t just walk around looking like… that! Please! At least think about us, if not for your own reputation. God knows how my brother even deals with you. You really have no class whatsoever.”

Eleanor took a deep breath, trying to control her annoyance. She told herself it wasn’t worth it. The more she tried to reason with an unreasonable person, the more it would only give her a headache.

And a headache wasn’t something Eleanor could see herself becoming a fan of. Not today. Not after everything she had been through in the past two weeks.

Hence, she took another deep breath, counted to twenty in her head, and maintained a calm expression.

“Nicholas isn’t home,” Eleanor reminded her once again.

“So what?”

“Then why don’t you just leave and come back when he is?”

Emilia stared at her, unsure if those words had really come out of Eleanor’s mouth. But then she chuckled, thinking Eleanor had to be joking.

“Did you just tell me to leave?”

“Yes.”

Emilia’s smile dropped, replaced by confusion. She stood up instantly. “Did you hit your head or something? How dare you ask me to leave?”

“Why can’t I?”

“Because this is my brother’s home?!”

“This is my home too. So?”

Emilia could only stare at this person whose personality had taken a complete 180-degree turn. She laughed, but it sounded like laughter born from disbelief. “You have lost your mind, haven’t you? How dare you talk back like that?”

It was indeed the first time Eleanor had talked back to Emilia. Not that she hadn’t thought about doing it before. But in the past, she had always reminded herself that Emilia was Nicholas’s sister, and she didn’t want to cause problems between him and his family. Not to mention, if she did try to put Emilia in her place, who was to say Nicholas would actually take her side instead of Emilia’s?

But she wasn’t going to tolerate Emilia’s nonsense anymore. Not today. She was divorcing Nicholas. She was done being a doormat.

Eleanor pointed at the door. “Get out.”

Emilia’s eyes widened. “You can’t talk to me like that! I’m Nicholas’s sister!” she reminded, as if that would be enough to knock some sense into Eleanor.

But Eleanor only stared at her with detached indifference.

“And I’m his wife! Now get out!”

Emilia was taken aback by Eleanor’s sudden outburst. She had never seen Eleanor talk back to anyone before. But that didn’t mean she was going to back down. She decided she needed to remind Eleanor of her place because, apparently, she had graciously forgotten.

“Wife? Sure. But aren’t you just a replacement for your sister? You’re nothing but a gold digger who married my brother for his money! And I’ll be damned if I let you order me around!”

And there it was. The poison. The kind the Beaumont family had never stopped spitting in her face.

Earlier, Eleanor used to endure this humiliation for the sake of Nicholas and her family. She didn’t want either of them to think she couldn’t even handle a few harsh remarks.

But hearing it now felt a lot different than before. Eleanor felt something snap inside her. All the pent-up frustration, anger, and hurt came rushing out.

“Yes, I am a replacement! And I’m a gold digger too. I love spending your brother’s money because I don’t have to work a day for it. Happy now? Now leave before I throw you out myself!”

Emilia was pretty sure Eleanor didn’t have it in her to even try. But the strange look in Eleanor’s eyes made her reconsider. Besides, something was clearly off about her. Maybe she really had hit her head and was now acting strangely because of the delayed treatment.

Whatever it was, Emilia decided to let it go for now. She had many other ways to deal with this useless bitch anyway.

She grabbed her purse and strode up to her.

“You’ll regret this. Mom and Nicholas are going to hear about this. Don’t come begging me for help after he kicks you out!”

Emilia stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Eleanor stood there, her hands shaking with anger and adrenaline.

Funny. She had never felt more liberated in her life.

After two years of being a pushover, she had finally stood up for herself.

And God, it felt damn good.

———

But the good feeling didn’t last long.

Because true to her words, Emilia had vomited everything to Helen, Eleanor’s mother-in-law. Why else would she be calling so early in the morning?

Usually, Helen either texted her if she needed anything or called Luna or one of the other maids to pass along a message that, for some reason, she couldn’t deliver herself.

And yet, her name was now flashing across Eleanor’s phone screen, ringing loudly.

Eleanor ignored it at first, not wanting to deal with the drama that would obviously follow. All she wanted was to eat her breakfast in silence.

But the damn thing kept ringing and ringing and ringing!

She finally lost her cool and answered it with an annoyed huff.

“What?!”

There was a pause on the other end before Helen spoke, her voice dripping with condescension.

“Is this how you talk to your elders? Is this what your parents taught you?”

Eleanor rolled her eyes. “If you called to lecture me, I’m hanging up. I don’t have time for this.”

Helen’s voice turned sharp. “How dare you speak to me like that? I heard about what happened between you and Emilia. What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me. I just told your daughter to leave because she was being rude. And I have the right to do that in my own home.”

“Your home?” Helen let out a humorless laugh. “That’s my son’s home. You’re just living there because he allowed it. And you have no right to kick my daughter out.”

Eleanor clenched her fists. “You’re right. Nicholas allowed me to live here. But he’s not the one taking care of me. I am the one who has been managing this house for the past two years. And I have every right to decide who can and cannot stay here.”

“Is that so?” Helen’s voice was cold. “Well, you won’t be managing anything for much longer. Nicholas is coming home early today. And when he does, he’ll hear about this. I’ll make sure he kicks you out.”

Eleanor felt a pang of hurt but quickly masked it. She was leaving anyway. So what did it matter?

“Do whatever you want. I don’t really care!”

And then she hung up.

Eleanor leaned back against the kitchen counter and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

She had never talked back to Helen before either. But she was done playing nice. She was done trying to please people who would never be pleased.

She was done.

Done with all of it.

The sooner she got out of this marriage and this family, the better.