CHAPTER 7

Elysia sat idly for a while just staring. "Elysia!" She didn't respond, didn't hear her name.

“Go home to him,” Nana jolted her out of her thoughts again and Elysia nodded. “Tell him I wished him a happy birthday and shower him with love too.”

“Okay, Nana,” with a warm embrace, she made her way out of the house after bidding her goodbye.

She did not want to show her grandmother that she was hurting, that she was willing to show him love but it was one sided.

How could she even tell her that he cared, but there was no sign of love in his eyes, that he was the perfect definition of caring without loving?

Sigh.

As she walked into the house, she came to an abrupt stop, and her eyes widened as she saw the familiar figure sitting on a couch with a bottle of alcohol in his hand; he looked wasted.

When did Orion start drinking?

"Where...where have you been?" His speech was slurred.

“What is wrong with you?” Elysia demanded as she forcefully took the bottle out of his hands, but swiftly, before she could know what was happening, he dragged her closer to him and crashed his lips on hers but she pulled back.

“Come closer,” he gestured with his index and middle finger and she narrowed her gaze on him.

He was drunk. She knew that, but still, she found herself moving closer to him.

Things changed overnight, so that might be the day or so, she thought.

Maybe, just maybe.

She moved closer to him with the thought that it might lead to something good, the doubt she had slowly dissolved as he kissed her passionately.

His tongue exploring the depths of her mouth, he was tugging at her lower lip, his hand slowly tracing her back, trailing down to her waist. She wanted this.

His drunk state did not seem to affect him either and he pulled her closer to him, she made it easy for him anyway arching her back and pressing her soft body against his, he flipped then so he hovered above her, butterflies filled her stomach.

He reached for dress zip and she let him fiddle with it, she in turn ran her hands over his inner shirt since the corporate one had all buttons undone barely clinging to the muscles of his arms.

“Don't leave me again please," he murmured against her lips melting her heart with his words.

"I'm not going anywhere." He deepened their kiss and she gasped at his hunger for her, his desperation but good things never lasted for Elysia.

"I love you Sera,” he muttered lustfully, Elysia was going to reply finally telling him she loved him but her had called the name of another woman and out of nothing else but pain and betrayal, Elysia pushed him off her, and just like a screw was bolted back into his head, he blinked.

“What was that for?!” He snapped falling on the rugged floor. Then he paused and recollected himself. Elysia did same, adjusting her dress.

“Today is my birthday, and you made no preparations; you did not even show up,” he spoke in a calm tone, not like the previous tone fazed her.

With a scoff, she replied. “We are divorced Orion, let that sink into your head, besides, I expected you'd spend it with her like you did last night. You're even calling her name in your subconscious state.” Compared to his aggressive tone, she was calm and collected but her pain could be heard. She muttered the last statement under her breath and rolled her eyes.

The sting was at the back of her eyes, tears prickling. She looked away.

“Birthdays should be spent with families; what part of it do you not understand?” One thing was obvious, he was trying to keep his cool.

“Do families kiss and sleep with one another Orion?” She swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, a testament to the fact that she had tried to put up with his bullshit.

She wanted him, not as a brother, but as a husband.

Someone who could love her the same way she loved him, but everything seemed to fall apart right before her eyes, her dreams—more like illusions because reality had tipped her off her high horse—he was never really hers and he never claimed to be.

“That was a one-time thing, it was a mistake and since then…” he paused in his words, like he was weighing his next carefully. “And since then I've been trying to make it up to you.”

Her vision blurred immediately he said that, but she held the hem of her dress so tight, as she fought back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheek.

So all this while, all this time that she thought he had started loving her, she had been living a lie.

The only thing that drove him to act that way towards her was actually guilt and not love. He was making up for his mistake...he thought of there shared night of intimacy, the consummation of their marriage as a mistake.

Define pain.

She hardened her jaw, just so she could hold the tears longer, at least, until he walked out…but her system betrayed her, as a nauseous wave hit her jolting everything in her system to her mouth. She ran to the bathroom.

There she thought 'my child is just a mistake to him,' another jolt followed by contents of her food into the toilet bowl. She held unto it.

Someone shifted her hair and tied it in a bun so she didn't mess it up.

When she was done, she flushed, rinsed her mouth in the sink and straightened her spine Orion followed her movements with a look of warmth in his eyes.

“What's wrong? Should I call a doctor?” He asked.

Avoiding his gaze, she shrugged. “Nothing.”

She knew Orion well enough, he was not going to stop there but she also knew that the chances of her pregnancy being revealed was high, so she came up with an excuse.

“I did not rest after eating, it's late to trouble any doctor.” she lied.

“I'm not convinced, I'm taking you to the hospital myself to ensure you're in perfect health.” he insisted.

Heart pounding and goosebumps on her skin, she followed him—he would have carried her all the way if she didn't.