Chapter 7

Tristan’s POV

Three days passed since the disastrous dinner at my parents’ house.

Not only did it go horribly wrong, it also gave Mira a cold. It got bad the moment we left my parents’ house, and I’ve skipped work taking care of her. She’s always been so sensitive, but her pregnancy seems to have doubled that. So I just took her to the hospital just to be sure.

I’ve liked Mira since college. So when her family came to mine basically begging for an investment, waving a marriage alliance, I didn’t waste my time and immediately proposed to her.

“I don’t want to be married so early,” Mira told me then. 

“Then I would wait,” I told her.

It was a good deal between the two of us. I would wait until she graduated. But then, her family pushed Elena between us, insisting that the marriage should happen now and it should happen with Elena instead of Mira. My parents agreed.

I never really considered Elena before. To me, she was just Mira’s plainer, quieter sister. But being forced to marry her changed something in me. It didn’t help that Mira left shortly after that.

Eventually, I grew accustomed to having Elena around. She knew how to make a home. Everything was always clean and organized. She would prepare my clothes the night before work, and food was always hot and ready at the table.

But then, like clockwork, Elena would ask for money. 

“You just need to sign this,” she would say to me, handing me some papers. Budgets. “It’s urgent.”

It was always about money. I started to become suspicious of her, because there was no way all of that was going to her family alone. She quit her job, so she had to be dependent on me. Even when I started to give her an allowance, she still asked for money.

Eventually, all I felt for her is resentment. Not only did she take Mira’s place, she’s also running me dry.

If there’s one thing I really hate, it’s gold-diggers. My parents were right about that. I can’t let my life get destroyed by a gold-digger.

But were they really implying that it was Mira?

My parents really were fooled by Elena. She’s always been the materialistic one.

Now, Mira is back. 

I have to admit that I feel guilty about everything. If only I insisted to marry her right then and there, she wouldn’t have had to run away. She wouldn’t have been abandoned by some deadbeat, burdened with a pregnancy outside marriage. I knew I had to help her.

But for some reason, I just don’t feel the same feelings I had for her before.

Maybe I just need time to adjust.

***

Mira is discharged today, but she’s still a little weak, so I let her sleep on the drive home. I carry her to the spare bedroom, making sure everything is set. 

But when I get out of there, something feels odd. The house feels too quiet. I go to the master’s bedroom and find that everything is cleared. Elena’s things are no longer here.

For some reason, my pulse races.

“Where’s Elena?” I ask a passing maid. “All her things are gone.”

“She packed and left three days ago, sir,” the maid says dryly, leaving before I can ask any more questions.

I can’t help but roll my eyes. There’s Elena again, throwing a tantrum. I can’t wait to see her running back to me when the money runs dry, both for her and her family.

It’s not just bad enough that my dad actually threatened to withdraw my inheritance if I don’t have children with Elena. Now she has to do this. She’s giving me nothing but stress. Never mind that I have a valid reason for not wanting to have kids with her.

Never mind that the reason is about her.

I’ll just wait until Elena comes back begging for forgiveness.

I head to our bedroom and just sleep, turning my back to her side of the bed. It bothers me that it’s cold and I’m alone, but the exhaustion of taking care of Mira finally catches up to me and I fall asleep. 

But the exhaustion seems to have led to weird dreams too.

In my dream, I’m standing at the edge of a cliff and a little girl is hanging onto dear life below me, screaming.

“Help!” she screams. “Help me, I’m going to fall!”

“Take my hand!” I yell at her, holding my hand out. 

But when she looks up at me, I stagger back. She has Elena’s face.

Tears are running down her cheeks. There’s a cut in her temple, openly bleeding against the side of her face. 

“Tristan,” she whispers, her voice full of sorrow and accusation. 

And I wake up in a cold sweat. 

I turn to my side to look at my alarm, and my heart falls when I see that it’s already ten in the morning.

What’s happening to me? This is all Elena’s fault. I’m never late. I never wake up late!

Rushing down the stairs, I hastily put on my work jacket. I can’t find my briefcase, but I already have a servant looking for it. Elena should be here preparing everything, even my food. I’m starving….

But when I arrive at the kitchen, I see that there’s food laid out on the table.

However, it’s not the usual spread that Elena prepares. 

Most of the food here is fried. Eggs, bacon. Hash browns. But it’s still better than nothing, so I sit down and fill up my plate, sampling the eggs.

Only to spit it right back out.

Why the hell is this full of salt?

“Jesus, are you trying to kill me?” I hiss as Diane, the cook, enters the dining room with more plates of food. “This thing is full of salt! I just got a mouthful and it’s so salty that it burns!”

“Tell that to the chef,” Diane says blandly. “Miss Mira’s doing the cooking.”

My chest deflates. Just then, Mira proudly enters the dining room. “Tristan! I’m so happy you’re up. I made you breakfast. I know you like to eat well before work.”

“Thank you,” I mutter, looking at the table. My mouth is watering, but not from appetite. “But I… really need to get going. I’m late.”

Before she can say anything, I get up and leave. I can’t bear to look at the food any longer.

When I arrive at work, everything is already hectic. My suit is a crinkly mess, and everyone is looking at me. I’m hungry and angry. 

None of this would’ve happened if Elena was here. 

So the first thing I do when I sit on my desk is call her. No answer. I call the only friend she has, Grace. No answer either.

“Fuck,” I hiss. I look up and see my assistant. “James, can you try to see what Elena has been up to for the past week or so? Anything strange or different in her routine? She’s not home. All her stuff is gone.”

James looks up at me and nods. I can tell he wants to ask why, but he just gets on his computer and starts calling people.

After a couple of hours, he comes to me. 

“Sir, nothing strange is in Miss Elena’s routine,” he reports. “She’s gone to the grocery store in Monday and Thursday, her usual dates. Although today is Thursday and she missed her trip.”

“Right.” I sigh, typing on my computer. “What else?”

“Well, last week, Miss Elena visited a clinic. Obstetrics.”

My stomach clenches. I look up at him sharply. “What?”

“This is the only standout in her routine,” James explains. “I called the clinic, and they said she went there for a pregnancy test and an ultrasound. The doctor confirmed that she’s pregnant.”

My hands freeze on the keyboard. I stare up at James, waiting for him to give me more details, but that seems to be it. And my mind is spinning.

“I’m pregnant.”

Elena’s words are now playing in my mind.

That’s what she said to me a few days ago. 

Lies, that’s what I told her. That’s what I thought. But a doctor doesn’t have any incentive to lie, right? Does that mean Elena really is pregnant? But who could be the father?

My mouth goes dry.

James turns to leave, but I clear my throat. “Yes, sir?”

“That night, two months ago, when I got flat out drunk,” I say cautiously. “Do you remember?”

He nods. “Of course, sir. It’s not a common occurrence.”

“I asked you to have me taken home,” I continue, my heart racing. “Did you do that?”

He shakes his head.

I shoot to my feet. My temper is a mess. I slam my hands on the table, and James steps back.

“Sir, I called Miss Elena that night, and she came for you,” he says quickly. “When she got here, she said I could go, and she would take care of you. I left.”

I open my mouth to question him further, but then a flash of a memory appears in my mind.

Elena… naked.

God. I remember now. I remember seeing her come into my office while I was on the couch. I remember the strange, strong desire I felt the moment I saw her.

I just didn’t remember when I woke up. I thought it was all a dream. That’s why I couldn’t look her in the eye. It felt so awkward and invasive.

And now I find out that she’s pregnant…. 

“Where is she?” I demand, and when James doesn’t say anything, I snap. I reach over my table and grab his collar, screaming, “Where is my wife?”

James raises his hands in surrender, shaking. “I… I don’t know, sir! I will check with the city government and have them sweep every camera from your house!”

“You do that right now!” I roar, letting him go.

He nods frantically and races to his desk, hopping on his computer while going on the phone. My body is numb watching him. I pace my office, feeling the walls closing around me. This can’t be. This can’t happen….

“We got something, sir!”

“Where?”

I race to his desk and spin his monitor to face me.

But the image that meets me just makes my heart drop.

It’s Elena’s car, crashed against the back of another car. From the camera angle, I can see through her windshield. I have a clear view.

And I wish I didn’t.

There’s Elena with a cut in her temple. It’s bleeding profusely. She has one arm protectively wrapped around her belly while she struggles to reach for her phone. I can see her straining, her face contorted in pain. I can see her calling someone.

Calling me.

I remember now.

Elena called me while I was at the hospital with Mira, and all I said was that I’m busy. I hung up on her.

When she was fighting for her life.

Fighting for our baby’s life.

Then the video cuts off.

“No!” I growl. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“I-I don’t know, sir!” James clicks on it but nothing happens. “I think this is the end of it. They said this is the only thing they can find. Nothing from the other cameras either. The videos are all missing.”

Anger rushes inside me, hot and strong. I don’t know if it’s directed at James, Elena… or myself.

I swipe my hand across the table, my body tight with rage. 

“Dig up the earth if you need to… just find Elena!”