Chapter 6

“You can enjoy this beautiful journey, Elena, but ... all by yourself,” Chloe said, laughing smugly.

Reluctant to deal with Chloe, Elena sat down and opened the book she had intentionally brought from home.

“Don’t you dare hope to enjoy this trip with Liam, Elena!” Chloe hissed sharply as she walked toward Liam's seat.

Chloe even shoved Elena’s chubby leg out of the way just to get past.

Without a shred of shame, Chloe slid right down and sat on Liam’s lap. Her slender arms, adorned with luxurious jewelry, wrapped possessively around the man’s neck, deliberately flaunting their vulgar intimacy right in front of Elena.

“Do you think Liam wants to sit near that lump of fat of yours? Throughout the entire flight to Paris, Liam will be sitting with me! If you don't like watching it, you can move from here to seat 1C,” Chloe ordered.

“Yeah, Elena. Move over there!” Liam added, joining in to kick Elena out.

“This seat was bought for me by Mother Elizabeth. Why should I give it up for a woman like her, with her Shinchan eyebrows and a caked-up face?” Elena replied casually.

“Hey, you wretched woman! You have no self-awareness that you’re just a bloated, ugly pig!” Chloe cursed at Elena. Furious at being ridiculed, she immediately looked into her compact mirror to check her makeup.

Seeing that Elena still ignored their orders made Chloe furious.

“Or do you want to cancel your departure? Get off right now before the plane takes off! Your presence here is an absolute eyesore!” Chloe ranted, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Elena haughtily. She then leaned her back against Liam's chest coquettishly.

Elena shifted her gaze from her book with a calm expression. She looked at Chloe’s bodycon dress that accentuated her sexy curves.

“Just continue your job as another man's mistress, Chloe! Don’t disrupt my life!” Elena answered calmly, then went back to reading her book.

“What did you say? A mistress?” Chloe shrieked, her face turning red instantly. “Watch your mouth, you fat pig! You’re just a pathetic excuse for a wife!”

“But I am the Harrington family’s favorite daughter-in-law,” Elena countered with an elegant smile, making Chloe even more furious.

Liam tightly wrapped his arms around Chloe’s waist. Chloe looked so emotional, as if she wanted to swallow Elena alive.

“Don’t listen to that bloated elephant’s nonsense, Chloe. This seat feels much warmer now because you’re here,” Liam said affectionately, ignoring the existence of his own wife who sat right next to him.

Chloe laughed, hearing the insults Liam hurled at Elena.

“Liam, I miss you so much. Even though we just quenched our longing in my bed last night, I already miss you so much this morning. Do you miss me too, Liam?” Chloe whispered coyly. She intentionally raised her voice, while her eyes darted sharply toward Elena, challenging a reaction.

“Of course, Darling, every single second,” Liam replied hoarsely.

Liam pulled Chloe’s waist roughly, then locked her lips in a hot, wild kiss right before Elena's eyes. They deliberately put on that erotic display, hoping the fat woman next to them would cry, scream, or at least show a hurt expression out of jealousy.

However, Elena remained unfazed. Her expression was blank. She turned page after page of a thick book on capital market analysis.

Seeing Elena’s completely unbothered reaction, Liam snorted in annoyance between his kisses with Chloe. He felt his ego bruised because his erotic display with another woman had absolutely no impact on his wife.

“That fatty must have never experienced pleasure like this, Chloe,” Liam said demeaningly, intentionally raising his voice so Elena could hear. “She’s so fat and stiff that no man would want to be with her. How unlucky of me! Marrying a woman like her completely kills my libido.”

“Of course, Liam. She’s nothing more than a boring, walking chunk of meat,” Chloe replied in a coquettish whisper as she repeatedly kissed Liam's cheek.

“I wonder how she can stand sitting there without feeling ashamed of her own body size,” Liam said.

“She should be self-aware. The difference between her and me is like night and day!” Chloe added with a laugh.

Elena still didn't care; she was busy with her book.

Ten minutes passed, and the intensity of the intimacy next to her grew louder and more disruptive. Elena finally took a long breath. She didn't close her book; she merely slid her glasses slightly down her nose, then looked at the two humans in front of her with a visible look of disgust.

“If the two of you are so desperate to channel those disgusting biological urges, can you please move away from me?” Elena said. Her voice sounded incredibly cold, flat, and intimidating.

Chloe broke the lip-lock with Liam, her face flushing red from feeling insulted. “What did you say, you stiff fatty?! You dare to kick us out?!”

“I’m not kicking you out. I’m just asking you to use your brain, if you still have one,” Elena interrupted without raising her voice. “The roar of this plane's engine is loud enough. I don’t need the extra noise pollution from your obscenities. Move to the empty seat next door.”

“Liam! Look at how this elephant woman talks to me!” Chloe complained, bouncing her legs in frustration on Liam’s lap. “Who does she think she is? She’s just a contract wife you’re going to kick out soon anyway!”

“Watch your mouth around Chloe, Elena!” Liam barked. His eyes flashed with anger, his body leaning forward slightly to intimidate his wife. “You have no right to control who I talk to or what I do on this plane!”

“I’m not controlling you, Liam. I’m just reminding you about public decency,” Elena replied with a calmness as cold as polar ice. “Move, Chloe. Liam. Or should I press the button above here, call the flight attendant, and report that there is an act of indecency disrupting the passengers in this quiet first-class cabin? What do you think?”

Liam clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth to hold back his rage because he felt cornered by Elena’s firmness; she showed absolutely no fear of him. He knew that if Elena caused a scene, his reputation and the secret of this flight could leak. He grabbed Chloe’s hand gently.

“Come on, Chloe. Let's move to the empty booth next door,” Liam hissed, his eyes flashing with fury. “There's no use dealing with a stiff, boring woman who has no passion for life like her.”

“You better watch out, you oil drum! Just wait until we land in Paris!” Chloe snapped a threat as she got up from Liam's lap with a huff.

“The booth seat next door is spacious enough for the two of you, so please move now,” Elena replied flatly, without diverting her gaze from her book.

Finally, Chloe and Liam moved to the empty seats located one row across the aisle from Elena’s seat. Although the mechanical partition between the booths had been fully raised, the exclusive first-class cabin did not completely block out the intimate noises from inside.

For the rest of the journey, Elena had to suppress the nausea churning in her stomach. The intentionally fabricated whispers of affection, Chloe’s high-pitched giggles, and Liam’s occasional muffled gasps were still clearly caught by her ears. Scene after scene they performed behind that partition truly made Elena feel disgusted.

“Oh, Liam, you’re so amazing ... how pitiful that fat girl is, she must really want you to touch her,” Chloe’s faint voice could be heard provocatively from behind the partition.

“I don’t even have the appetite to look at her, Chloe.”

“Am I the only woman who can give you satisfaction, Liam?”

“Of course, Darling. Because you’re the only woman I want,” Liam replied, his voice sounding faint but full of satisfaction.

"Disgusting man. Cheap woman," Elena thought furiously.

Her fingers gripped the edge of the book page tightly until the paper wrinkled slightly. However, she refused to show her weakness. She remained in her seat while continuing to read, ignoring the noise pollution around her with incredible mental resilience.

Two hours passed unnoticed, and the seatbelt indicator light turned bright again, accompanied by a soft chime. A message from the cockpit announced that their plane was beginning to prepare for descent toward Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris.

Suddenly, a distinctive ringtone reserved for the Harrington family rang loudly from Elena's phone.

Bzzz ... Bzzz ...

The phone on the folding tray table lit up brightly, displaying Lady Elizabeth’s smiling face on the video call preview screen.

Elena glanced toward the partition in front of her. At that exact second, Chloe’s groans and coquettish laughter ceased instantly, falling dead silent.