Chapter 2.
She Cheated On Me. Elara Winterfell. A cold compress over the back of my head and my vision began to regain its focus. My body was so heavy that I could barely move my legs. “You're awake.” A sharp voice said beside me which jolted me wide awake. “Kenna!” I voiced out in surprise at the tone of the maid that my boyfriend had assigned to me. “What happened?” I was still a little disoriented about my surroundings. “It's a good thing that you are finally awake!” The sharp voice came again until my eyes focused on the maid who was packing her bags up to leave. “My job here is done with you! I'm going back to my boss' house.” “I don't understand.” I was confused. “What's happening, Kenna? Why are you leaving suddenly?” The numbness in my legs had subsided now, and I could move my hands and legs. I struggled to sit up, and a splitting headache filled me with so much pain as soon as I did that, almost causing another blackout. “I have always respected you, Lara. As my future lady boss, I have always held you in a high regard. But you don't see all that my boss has done for you, you disregard it like it's all nonsense and go ahead to whore yourself around with any man you can find, now you're pinning a pregnancy on him. Have you no shame, Lara?” I shook my head in denial, memories of the past few hours filling my head. Why was everyone saying this? I did not cheat on Connor, I would never do that. I loved him so much that no other man could hold a candle to him. How could I possibly cheat on Connor? “I think you have it all wrong!” I tried to explain slowly, unsure of the next words that would come out of my mouth. “I have never cheated on him before, I swear. Kenna, you know me. You know the things I'm capable of. You know I would never do that to Connor, right? You know I love him so much…" “You never truly know anyone," Kenna said with a pity filled voice. “I thought I knew you, Lara. But I didn't. None of us did. Not even your best friend did!” “Isabel?” My brows furrowed in a frown of confusion. “What about Isabel? Why is she in the matter now? She believed me! She stood up for me! Even if the whole world doesn't believe me, Isabel does!” A sad smile came over Kenna's face. “Does she really? Why was she so quick to say yes to Connor's marriage proposal yesterday? Why did she suddenly agree to be his bride and walk down the aisle with him today?” It was like a switch had gone off in my head, and nothing else made sense to me. I could feel a sense of fear begin to engulf my entire being. I wouldn't believe that. Isabel would never do that to me. We've been through so much as best friends for her to betray me like that. “Isabel wouldn't do that!” I said firmly and Kenna's lips only curved into a mocking smile. “Alright, if you say so. The marriage is happening live on TV, and you can check it out yourself. Meanwhile, I will see myself out of the house. I hope you have a smooth pregnancy journey, and that's if you decide to keep the child.” And with that, Kenna rolled her box out of the house. I was still in disbelief, it wasn't true. Isabel was like a sister to me. She wouldn't… But, I found my hands shakily moving on their own towards my side where the remote lay and turned on the TV. Finding the entertainment channel, I stared at the headlines for a few seconds, and my heart suddenly dropped to my stomach. “N…no…no… It can't be possible!” The tears started pouring freshly from my eyes. “Why would Isabel do this to me? Why would she? She's supposed to be with me! She's supposed to side with me!” I let out an anguished wail as I cried into my pillow. Connor's voice came in, and my eyes snapped towards the television. His face filled the screen as a reporter came up to ask him some questions. It seemed like the wedding was over and everyone was focused on the entertainment. “Mr. Connor, your marriage with Isabel Reeds has taken the world by surprise.” The female reporter said as she smiled at him. “Everyone was believing that once your marriage is announced, we will be expecting to see Elara Winterfell. Why? What happened? Why the change of heart?” I held my breath to listen to what he had to say. To hear the explanation, he had for the world. To listen to the reason for this immense betrayal! My heart began to race as soon as his mouth opened. “It's quite simple.” Connor said as a matter of fact, unconsciously touching his clean and shaved jaw. “Elara made us believe she was something pure and good, until we found out in the dirtiest manner possible that she isn't who she says she is.” “Oh?” The frown on the reporter's head deepened as she kept on asking. “How so?” “Well, she first cheated on me.” There were gasps of surprise on the faces of everyone there, even Isabel's well painted face was downcast as if she were sad about the revelation. She came up beside Connor immediately and tried to hold his hand, whispering something into his ears with a slight frown on her face. Connor gave her a soft smile, the same smile he used to give me when he was trying to reassure me about something. “It's alright, my love. Everyone needs to know the truth about her. I know she was your best friend, and you want to cover up for her, but the whole world has to know who she is so no one else will fall victim to her plans.” The reporter seemed to agree with Connor. “Yes, Isabel. Allow him to speak. Everyone is entitled to know what happened. I mean, we were all rooting for the relationship between both of them to work out, only for this to be thrown on our faces. We need to know the truth.” Isabel gave a look of defeat and turned away from the camera. “I will talk to her.” Connor said, referring to Isabel. “She is still sensitive to these things.” His face suddenly turned grim. “Elara first cheated on me, then pinned the pregnancy on me.” “How despicable!” The reporter suddenly spat out in deep resentment. “After you've treated her very well over the years?” Connor just shook his head with a small smile. “That's just what she is.” I could not believe my ears! I just couldn't! This was not happening to me. I had to talk to Connor. I had to explain things to him. I had to explain to him that I didn't cheat. He took my virginity during his best friend's birthday. Maybe he just didn't remember the details because we were all drunk, but I had to explain. I had to also clear my name. Throwing on a weird combination of clothes, I ran and hopped into my car, racing to Connor's house. I wasn't concerned with the headache that threatened to knock me out. My mind was fixated on Connor. “I need to speak to him. You have to open the gate, Clyde." I yelled with tears in my eyes at Connor's gate man. “I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have orders not to let you into this house.” He said in a plain voice and advanced towards the car. “Also, please, you need to step out of the car. Our boss will like to have his car back.” “What?” I exclaimed in shock. Why was everything happening so fast to me? Why wasn't I able to wrap my mind about what was going on? But, I wasn't able to coordinate my thoughts even as the door opened. I was pulled out of the car with a lot of force which made me hit my stomach on the edge of a slab. The pain quickly radiated throughout my entire body, and I struggled to find something around her to grip. My skin was covered in scratches at the impact of being thrown to the ground. The pain in my lower belly intensified, and I felt something trickling down my legs. Was that… blood?Chapter 55Taste Of Prison.Elara Winterfell.My brain went numb for one, two, three seconds. My heart caught in my throat as the cot flew sideways towards the other end of the living room. It was like my soul had just left my body. I could feel the instant rise in my temperature and the blood rushing in my ears."What. Did. You. Just. Do?" My voice sounded foreign to my ears. It was shaking with anger and deep hatred. For Natasha. For myself. For being a bad mother who couldn't take her child out of a toxic environment. For the first time, something snapped inside me. Something scary that I hadn't felt before.Anna rushed to the cot that was flung close to the huge flat screen television. I waited as I stared at her. She peered over the cot and stabilized it from the way it was rocking. She picked him out of the cot, and his shrill scream tore out from his throat. I felt my eyes prickle with tears at his cry. I was supposed to protect them, but I kept on failing them at every turn."
Chapter 54Bullying Elara?Natasha Reeds."What really happened, Isabel?” I inched closer to her. “Did she really push you off, or did you slip accidentally?”She winced as if the memory of that night was one very painful to remember, and she held my hands in hers."Drop it, Natty.” She sighed weakly, leaned back into the chair, and took a deep breath. “I don't want to remember that night again… To remember those things I faced.” Her voice faded as she tapped her forehead slightly."Fine!” I raised my hand in surrender. “I just want to know the truth of the matter. I'm not pursuing the case.” I lied through my teeth and watched her expression soften."Are you sure you're not going to hurt her?” She eyed me slightly, raising her head up to look at me. “I'm letting everything go. Forget everything I said about pursuing her from your home… It was just the pregnancy hormones talking… It—”I shook my head and shifted closer to her. “Listen here, Isabel…"From the corner of my eye, I spotte
Chapter 53Four Suspects.Rowan Nightshade.“No, you'll stand back for today and watch the house while I'm away. Sucre will ride with me today.” I gave orders to my bodyguard as I settled into the backseat of my car."Yes, sir.” He nodded to me while closing the door. “I will call if anything happens.”I shook my head at that. “If it is something you can handle, then you handle it yourself. I would rather not get disturbed or distracted about trivial matters. If someone tries to make a fuss, there are still policemen stationed around the building.”He nodded and put his dark shades back on before turning away from the car and heading back into the house. My bodyguard for the day, Sucre, turned to me and nodded as well."Good morning, sir. Where are you headed?” He asked in a smooth mexican accent."To the company.” I gave a short reply and went back to opening my laptop.Because of the day-by-day fuss, I hadn't had any time for myself or the company. It was either one problem or the o
Chapter 52I'm Sorry.Elara Winterfell.Isabel was discharged two days later and looked as good as new. Her tummy was flat, and she looked exhausted. It made me wonder why she hadn't stayed in the hospital a bit longer."Elara…" She squeaked immediately her eyes met mine, and she started making her way towards me.She was limping slowly towards me, and all eyes were on us. Her family was also here; in fact, everyone who was around that night was here. They watched from the sidelines as she approached me, her eyes filling with tears."Elara…" She reached where I stood and took my hand in hers. Her hands were cold against mine. “I'm sorry, Elara. For all the trouble you are going through. I have asked Rowan to drop the charges. I know that whatever happened, you didn't mean to do it.”“What?” My eyebrows pulled together. What kind of rubbish acting was this? She was making herself look like the victim who had a big heart and would always save the villain, while I was the villain who was
Chapter 51What is coming?Natasha Reeds.I turned over the bed and couldn't find Rowan. A frown formed on my face, and I stood up, sliding into my flip-flop at the edge of the bed. The room was dark, and I flicked on the switch. My frown deepened when I saw the room door slightly ajar, and from the opening, I could see Elara's room open too.No. No. It couldn't be what I was thinking. No. Rowan wouldn't be doing that. But the way my heart raced told me something different. Flashes of all the warnings I had received from people concerning Elara began to surface."Rowan?” I called out and hurriedly made my way out of our room, rushing into Elara's room.I opened the door wider, and I spotted Rowan immediately. On the bed, Elara was fast asleep, and it looked as if someone had tucked her in because of the way the covers were. I let out an annoyed huff and looked towards Rowan, who was slowly rocking one of her children to sleep."Are you serious right now, Rowan?” My voice was loud and
Chapter 50.Which Child?Dean Tobago.It was already two days after Isabel's accident, and things seemed to calm down a bit. I took confident steps towards the expensive café at the corner of the street."Mr. Dean? Please come this way. Mr. Salvatore has been waiting for your arrival.” The waiter met me at the door and ushered me into the café.I saw him the moment I stepped into the café. His silver hair always made him stand out in any crowd. I made my way towards him after thanking the waiter before settling into his booth."Mr. Salvatore.” I nodded to him."Mr. Dean.” He nodded back."When I asked you to destroy the big three families, I didn't expect you to sleep with the wife of the lowest of them and get her pregnant.” He stated harshly, his eyes forming into narrow slits."It has been handled.” I told him. “Don't worry about that. How is my mother doing?” I asked him.He paused and gave me a long look before sighing and taking out his phone. “She is doing well. Responding to t