CHAPTER TWO

 

ELOISE'S POV.

Swollen, red eyes that burn like fire as I struggle to keep them open. Tear-stained cheeks… sirens spinning in my head. They are all the aftermath of crying myself to sleep last night.

Klein didn’t come back home. 

A painful lump forms in my throat as I rise from the sofa I slept on, and spot the decorations still hanging on the walls. The unused confetti are still on the table where I placed them. Nothing has been touched. I prepared all these with so much love and was excited to spend even just a few minutes alone with Klein on our anniversary, but he chose to stand me up and spend the night with another woman.

I feel like a pathetic joke for having believed that if I did my part well, Klein’s feelings for me would change.

Did he not remember he promised me to come home? Or did he deliberately spend his birthday with someone rather than me? Is that his way of telling me I’m not important at all?

My rational mind tells me the call was picked up and cut off deliberately. It was a declaration from that woman that she was with my husband. It was also a mockery, mocking how all my cries are powerless.

Klein cheated on me.

Just then, a message dings in my phone, snapping me out of my depressing thoughts. I drag my eyes to the phone's screen, expecting nothing at all, but my heart misses a beat when I see that it's a message from Klein. Quickly, I pick up the phone read the message which reads;

“Get ready. I'm on my way home to pick you up so we can go over to my parents’.”

No apology for standing me up last night.

No explanation as to why another woman answered his call.

Just clear and concise instructions like always.

I start typing a long text rapidly, asking him his whereabouts last night, but on second thought, I delete the long sentence and send a one-word response.

“Okay.”

Thirty minutes later, his car pulls up in the driveway and his driver comes over and opens the backseat door for me. I thank him with a simple nod and hop into the car. Klein looks calm and pristine as always. There’s not a single ounce of remorse or guilt in his eyes. He has on his usual stoic expression and the atmosphere around him feels cold and daunting like always.

It’s like he’s done nothing wrong.

“Good morning.” I whisper to him as I buckle my seatbelt. I am angry and heartbroken and confused and I want to lash out at him right now, but I do not have the audacity to do any of that. He turns to me and his handsome face comes into full view.

“Good morning, Eloise.” He replies dryly and nothing more is said between us until we arrive at his parents’ house.

“Klein.” I call when the car comes to a halt and he finally spares me another glance. Calmly, I unzip my purse and take out a medium sized decorated gift box which I stretch out to him with almost trembling fingers. The box contains a perfume I made for him with so much love and dedication. I hope he likes it. “Happy Anniversary.” I try to conjure a smile to compliment my wish to him, but I fail woefully at that attempt. My lips have refused to curve into a smile and right now, he can definitely see the pain in my eyes and the horror on face as I hand him his gift.

His eyes widen; in shock or in surprise, I do not know.

“Thank you.” He mumbles dryly and my heart rate spikes with excitement when he stretches his hand to collect the gift from me, but that happiness is short-lived because the moment he takes the gift, he quickly tosses it aside with profound disinterest.

What was I even thinking? He doesn’t care about me, so he’s definitely not going to care about my gift.

Just then, my side of the door is opened and I step out of the car into the beautifully illuminated mansion premises. Klein joins me seconds later, but he doesn’t bother taking my hand so we can walk into the house together. He only motions me to walk by his side as we follow two men dressed in black up the stairs that lead to the main entrance of the house. My mood, as sour as it already is, worsens when we go into the house and meet my mother and sister-in-law, waiting for us in the dinning. The moment the two women catch sight of Klein, they both rush over and start gushing over him as they exchange hugs and kisses, but none of that reaches me. Like always, I just stand there like the pariah I am and wait for them to get done before saying a word.

“Good evening, mom, Ava.” I greet with utmost respect and the response I get is a condescending side-eye from my mother-in-law. Ava says nothing as we all take our various seats

“Just like always, Eloise has dressed up so elegantly that she’s going to outshine everyone in his family gathering!” Ava suddenly chimes and I give her a faint smile, knowing that she isn’t genuinely complimenting me.

She is sly as a fox. I have learnt that with time.

“If she could use her brain the same way she used it in choosing brilliant outfits for gatherings, she’d have thought it wise to cook some dishes and come along with them instead of showing up just to eat. I have no idea what wrong I did for God to have punished me with a daughter-in-law who doesn’t think like a woman should!” Mrs. Wesley complains bitterly and the food I just put in my mouth turns sour.

I think I just lost my appetite.

“Mother, don't say that.” Ava contradicts, but I know it's part of the game. “She must have been very busy with her job, that's why she did think about cooking a few dishes.”

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Wesley rebukes, throwing me a dirty look and I turn to Klein and beg him with my eyes to come to my rescue, but he stays silent, as if eagerly waiting for his mother to verbally massacre me. “Listen here, Eloise, you are a married woman and whether you like it or not, you have to take up the responsibility of feeding and serving your husband instead of going out there to work like you're a man. No matter how hard you try, you will never be his equal. You can never be as good as a man at work so stop trying too hard!”

Her words hit me like the worst kind of physical pain. Tears well up in my eyes as I watch her huff and continue to eat her food. Ever since I got married to Klein, Mrs. Wesley has been constantly picking on me because I refused to stop working and become a housewife like she did when she married Klein’s father. She wanted me to stay at home and take care of not only my home, but hers, and follow every order she gives me, but I refused.

It's true that I'm married to a very wealthy man, but I don't want to be a housewife. It has never been my dream. The last thing I want for myself is having to stay home all day, doing chores that make no sense. Besides these chores can easily be done by housekeepers my husband can afford to pay so I don't get why this woman keeps berating me for hiring housekeepers to take care of my home. 

Another reason why I don't want to be a housewife is because I have to work hard for my family's struggling perfume company which is now a subsidiary of Klein's family’s company. I cannot let my parents lose their hard-earned business because I want to stay at home and be a housewife.

Never!

“I don't know why my son is still married to you. If it were up to me, he would divorce you right here and now and I'll find him a more decent and obedient wife!” 

I calmly drop my cutleries and seal my lips shut, so I don't spew the words ringing in my head. If I talk back to her, I'd be inviting huge problems to myself so I better stay quiet and let her have her fun.

Just then, my cell phone vibrates on the table and I quickly pick it up to check who just texted. I nearly smile when I see that it's a text from my best friend, Maeve. I click on the notification which takes me into her inbox.

The first message is a link and second is a text that sends my mind in total disarray once I read it.

“Klein was photographed entering a hotel with a woman last night!! Check the link”

My heart skips a beat, a palpable pause that reverberates through my chest.

With trembling fingers, I click on the link which leads me to a post titled;

“What happens to Family Alliance when old feelings are rekindled?”

Below the title are several pictures of Klein holding a girl in a hotel lobby, entering a hotel room and leaving the hotel together. I blink rapidly, trying to clear the fog of disbelief clouding my vision as I stare blankly at my phone's screen. When I’m finally convinced that it’s indeed Klein and another girl in the photos, I shoot him a shocked glare, my hands trembling as I contemplate whether to show him what I just saw. Whether to bring it up right now. But then, he shoots a strict glance at me, knocking all the air from my lungs and I find myself swallowing the questions bubbling in my throat.