Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Elena winced as she pushed herself to her feet and staggered to shut the front door.

Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom upstairs. She had a good idea about what was happening but needed to see the evidence with her own eyes to believe it.

Earlier last year, when her relationship had begun to sour, Elena had noticed that David’s hand-written correspondence had grown more frequent, but she deluded herself into thinking that everything was fine.

Now, Elena went straight for the shoebox she had noticed him messing around with a few times. She sobbed bitterly as she uncovered the shoebox and confirmed her worst fears. David and Chelsea had been in constant communication for two years.

Elena sat on the floor of her closet, surrounded by David’s letters, as she picked up her phone and called her sister.

"Hey, what’s up?" Evangeline’s cheery voice came from the end of the line as she picked up the phone.

Elena took a deep breath and shut her eyes. "I’m pregnant,"

"Wait, what? Back up. You're pregnant?!" Elena pulled the phone from her ear as Evangeline’s scream threatened to burst her eardrum.

“Yes. Yes, I am." Elena opened her eyes and blinked as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

“That’s great! That’s good!” “Right?” Evangeline’s excitement waned as Elena burst into tears.

“Chelsea is back, Eva. He’s cheating and served me divorce papers.

"Shit! That motherfucker!” The sound of movements came through the line “I’m on my way,”

******************

Elena sat at the dining table, wishing she could drown her sorrows in a glass of wine. She frowned as she nursed her glass of orange juice and looked at the scattered letters across the table.

David might not have been physically cheating, but he had been emotionally cheating for two years. In his letters to Chelsea, she discovered that he had made all these plans and had even signed the divorce papers six months prior. He just waited until Chelsea was out of jail to serve them.

Elena let out a deep sigh as she stared at the evidence of her tattered marriage, unsure about her next actions.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Elena trudged to open the door for her sister with a heavy heart.

"Hey Lena, I’m here. Everything’s going to be perfectly fine," Evangeline enveloped her sister in a tight hug the moment Elena opened the door.

“I I… Just– “ Elena stepped back from the hug and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

“No. Don’t stress or overthink. It’s bad for the baby." Evangeline shut the door behind her, and together the sisters stepped over the shredded pieces of the divorce papers on the floor and went to the dining table.

*********

"I’m going to kill him," Evangeline whispered in a shaky voice as she threw down the last letter dated a few days before Chelsea had been released.

"No. You would do no such thing." Elena waved her hand absentmindedly.

"Have you gone mad? Will you really defend him even after all this?" Evangeline hissed in irritation.

"I’m not going to let that demon tramp destroy my family and steal my happiness." Elena sighed deeply. "David is still my husband, and he would remain so. My child will not be fatherless."

“You’re joking, right?” Evangeline stared at her sister in shock and confusion. “Don’t tell me you intend to fight for that douchebag.”

“Evangeline, he’s my husband and I can’t let Chelsea— “

“No! Elena,” Evangeline yelled in frustration “You’re not a child anymore, and this is not college. You can’t keep competing for things with Chelsea!"

But Elena had already gotten the idea in her head, and there was no stopping her. She got up from her chair and made her way up to her bedroom.

“He’s my husband, not hers,” Elena mumbled stubbornly.

"This is not the same as fighting over grades. David is a real person with choices! A shitty person, I might add." Evangeline trailed up the stairs behind Elena, trying to convince her.

"Well, newsflash. That shitty person is my husband, and I’m carrying his baby. So no! I’m not letting her have him," Elena angrily spun around to face Evangeline.

“You’re crazy! Absolutely crazy,” Evangeline shook her head in disbelief as Elena entered her bedroom and she followed behind.

“I don’t care. I’m getting him back,” Elena marched into her closet and began to throw out clothes.

“What are you doing? Do you even have a plan?” Evangeline groaned in defeat.

"I’m going back to my company. I won’t let David bring that woman in while I stay back at home" Elena threw Evangeline a nervous smile as she held up a suit to her frame in front of a full length mirror.

A sad smile graced Evangeline’s lips. “That’s the only sensible thing I’ve heard you say all day,”

“Are you helping or not?” Elena asked, too tired to be snappy with her sister.

****

The sisters worked silently, and one hour later, Elena was ready.

Dressed in a stylish blue suit, Elena felt like an imposter. As she gazed at her reflection in the mirror, she could hardly recognize the woman looking back at her.

The confident, successful businesswoman she once was seemed like a distant memory.

"You look breathtaking," Evangeline whispered reassuringly.

"Thank you, my love. See you later," Elena responded with a fake smile.

Evangeline squeezed Elena’s shoulder in understanding as she picked up her purse from the couch.

“Let’s go,”

The two sisters left the house separately.

**********

Elena’s heels clicked loudly on the floor as she confidently walked straight through the office reception to the elevator.

She could hear the shocked whispers and tried not to notice as several of the staff who recognized her whispered amongst themselves.

As the elevator door shut on Elena, she let out a sigh of relief. Glad to be out of scrutinizing eyes. She pressed the button for the third floor and waited as the elevator began it’s ascent.

The elevator doors opened, and as Elena stepped out in a hurry, she crashed into a hard chest, sending papers flying to the ground around her.

"Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry," Elena blushed crimson as she bent to help the nice-looking man pick up his papers.

"No, no, it’s fine," Marcel replied, smiling softly at Elena. For a second, they both stood still, smiling at each other.

"I’m Marcel," he spoke up first, breaking the silence. "I’m new here, but I haven’t seen your face around here at all. Are you new here too?"

"No, no, far from that," Elena replied quickly. "I actually built this place up from scratch, “But my husband, David, runs the place; I’m not here very often,"

“You’re Mrs Elena Windsor? Lena Beauty was named after you!” Marcel smiled brightly as Elena blushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah, thank you, I’m looking for a very nice, cozy office, and I think that will do," she said, pointing at an office at the end of the hall.

"Well, you’re in luck. My office is right next to it," Marcel replied, beaming.

With a warm smile, he offered to help her set up her new office.

Elena accepted, and they quickly formed a connection. Elena couldn’t remember the last time she had a hearty conversation with someone about random topics and nothing in particular..

****

Elena had barely settled into her new office when David stormed in angrily.

"What are you doing here?!" David yelled angrily as soon as he entered the office.

"What do you mean?" Elena rolled her eyes and continued to set up her account.

In truth, she was insecure about returning to work but really hoped it would impress David.

"Elena, I am very busy and do not have the time for your tantrums; please leave," David said angrily.

Elena’s heart sank as she saw the anger on his face. "David, I-"

"No explanations. Leave," he commanded her angrily.

“But you bought— “

“Elena!” David growled angrily “I said LEAVE!”

With tear-filled eyes and shaky hands, Elena picked up her bag. David watched as she shamefully exited her office.

As she walked towards her car, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had let herself down once again.

“Thank you,” Elena whispered to the valet as she got into her car and shut her eyes, trying her best to blink away her tears so she could focus on driving.

She pulled onto the highway, oblivious to a car that was coming towards her. Once she caught sight of it, she hit her brakes quickly so she could stop.

But her brakes had gone numb; they weren’t responding to her, and her car was still moving very fast towards the car..

Panic consumed Elena as she hit her brakes repeatedly, to no avail. The screeching sound of tires filled the air as she swerved and tried to avoid colliding with the other vehicle.

A loud scream tore from Elena’s throat as her car spiralled out of control.