Chapter 7

Eleanor felt her blood turn cold.

Jessica Lisbon.

Nicholas’s childhood sweetheart.

The woman he had been in love with before their arranged marriage. The woman who had left him for someone else. Or so she had heard from Emilia, her sister-in-law.

Eleanor had never met Jessica, but she had heard enough about her to know that Jessica was the reason Nicholas had no interest in marriage. If not for their elders arranging a marriage between the Beaumont and Berkshire families, Nicholas would have never even spared her a glance.

And now, Jessica was back.

And Nicholas was having lunch with her.

Did that mean her days of being a placeholder were finally over? Did that mean if she asked Nicholas for a divorce right now he would be thrilled to sign the papers?

She turned to face Gina. “I’ll pass.”

Gina looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as if she didn’t expect that answer.

“What do you mean? You don’t want to catch—ahem—see them together?”

Eleanor shook her head, her voice firm. “No. If we go there, we would only be disturbing them. And I don’t want to be a third wheel. I’ll talk to Nicholas at home. We have a lot of things to discuss anyway.”

With that, she walked out of the building, her head held high.

—

Inside the building, Gina stared after Eleanor, her eyes narrowing into slits. “What an idiot,” she muttered under her breath. “I just told her husband was on a lunch date with his ex, and she’s walking away. How much more stupid can someone be?”

A part of her thought that Eleanor was pretending to be unaffected. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized it might not be the case.

That woman looked anything but jealous. She genuinely seemed fine with Nicholas going out with another woman.

But that didn’t make sense.

Gina had seen the way Eleanor looked at Nicholas when she thought no one was watching. The longing, the admiration in her eyes… It was clear that she was head over heels for him.

So why was she acting like she didn’t care?

Gina shook her head, dismissing the thought. Who knew what went on in that woman’s mind? Maybe she was just too afraid to face the truth. Or maybe she was just plain stupid.

Either way, Gina couldn’t care less.

She had her own plan to make sure Nicholas ended up with her. And she was going to do everything in her power to make it happen.

—

When Eleanor got home, she was surprised to find someone already waiting for her.

Her mother-in-law, Helen Beaumont.

She was sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and a cup of lemon tea in her hand. Her face was set in a scowl as she watched Eleanor walk in.

“Where have you been?” she demanded, her voice cold and sharp. “I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour.”

Eleanor sighed, already feeling the exhaustion of this conversation deep in her bones. “I was at Nicholas’s office. There was something I needed to talk to him about.”

Helen frowned, tilting her head to one side, then let out a mocking chuckle. “I see. Looks like Nicholas already put you in your place. Why else would you go to his office if not to beg him to forgive you and not throw you out? Did you really think he would side with an outsider like you over his own mother and sister?”

Eleanor didn’t know what this woman was talking about, considering Nicholas hadn’t said anything to her, as far as she remembered, let alone put her in her place or threaten to throw her out. It seemed that whatever had happened between Emilia and her, and then between Helen and her, had already been reported to Nicholas before he came home last night.

But if that was the case, why hadn’t he confronted her yet? Why hadn’t he said anything to her this morning? Why had he simply left without even mentioning it?

She looked at Helen, her expression calm. “You misunderstand. Nicholas didn’t say anything to me, and I didn’t go to his office to beg for anything. I genuinely had something that I needed to talk to him about.”

Helen seemed to have no intention of believing her, but she must have noticed the seriousness in Eleanor’s tone and the unwavering look in her eyes because something stopped her from doubting her any further. The older woman placed the cup of tea on the table and leaned back on the couch, her eyes narrowing at Eleanor.

“Fine. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. So tell me. What was so urgent that you had to go all the way to his office?”

Eleanor took a deep breath. She knew she shouldn’t be telling Helen about the divorce. Not yet. It was something she should have discussed with Nicholas first.

But right now, she was too tired to deal with Helen’s drama. She just wanted this conversation to be over so she could go back to her room and rest.

“I wanted to tell him that I want a divorce.”

For a moment, Helen just stared at her, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide. Then she burst out laughing. A cold, humorless laugh that sent a shiver down Eleanor’s spine.

“A divorce?” Helen repeated, shaking her head. “You want a divorce?”

Eleanor nodded, her expression firm. “Yes.”

Helen finally stood up, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her designer dress as she slowly walked toward Eleanor. “You? A divorce?” She scoffed again, tilting her head as if she were looking at the most pathetic creature on earth. “As if you would ever let go of the lifestyle you’re so addicted to. The money, the fame, the social status… You would rather crawl at Nicholas’s feet than leave all this behind. So don’t pretend that you want a divorce. You’re not fooling anyone.”

Eleanor felt her chest tighten at her words. But she refused to let Helen see how much they affected her. Instead, she sighed, praying to God to give her the patience to deal with this woman.

“It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. This is something between Nicholas and me. You don’t have to concern yourself with it.”

Helen could only stare at her, her expression unreadable. But then a slow smile spread across her lips.

“Fine. If you say so. Even though I would rather believe in flying pigs than you divorcing Nick of your own free will, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see if you really have it in you to actually walk away from all this.”

With that, Helen grabbed her purse and headed for the door. But before leaving, she turned around one last time and gave Eleanor a look full of disdain.

“I hope you stay true to your words. Don’t you dare disappoint me.”