CHAPTER 8

She was about to walk out of the house, but she came to a stop, heaving a grieving sigh that was hard to point out the cause. 

Pain? Frustration? Relief? 

The questions were endless, but it had no answer. 

“I don't think we should go to a hospital,” she resisted. The risk was too high.

Earlier on, she had agreed to go, but after giving it a second thought, she declined and was about to return to her room when he took her hand. 

It was cold. He scanned her face with his eyes, "your hands," she snatched it away. 

“Are you hiding something from me?” He demanded, his voice low yet screaming authority. “If you are, then it's best you tell me, because either way, I'll find out in the end. What is wrong with you?” her stomach churned.

She fidgeted then shook her head. “What's there to hide? I told you already, maybe it was the food that failed to digest.” he wasn't buying it and she could see that.

He raised a brow and stared at her.

“Or it was bad, you don't need to argue further.” 

“Elysia!” He snapped, and she saw that fiery look in his eyes; even though it was coated with concern, she knew what he was trying to get at. 

Orion knew that bad food was impossible in that house, Elysia knew too but the actual reason was still unknown to him, and she was not willing to bring it down to him. 

Not now, not when he was acting this way. 

Not when he had someone else that he loved and cherished, she knew the news would only put him in a tough spot. 

So if he was going to do anything, he should do it out of love and not compulsion. 

“Are you ready to speak?” After pausing for a moment, she turned to him with an unreadable expression on her face. “I think I told you already, or is it that you don't believe me?” 

She barely finished her statement when the smell of his perfume irritated her, forcing her to return to the bathroom. 

He sighed, not giving a response to her question, but it was only for a short period of time. 

“That's it  baby doll, we are both going to the hospital, or do you want me to—” that name.

 "No."

She was yet to pull her last card. 

“Why do you even care if I'm ill or not, why?” That was it; there was nothing left after that; silently, she hoped she could use that as an escape route. 

From the look of things, it was crystal clear that he was barely keeping his cool.

Hardened jaw, clenched fist, furrowing brows at intervals, the list went on. Hecshut his eyes.

“You're my responsibility, that's why!” It would have sounded sweet if he had said all the things he already said that evening but in that moment, it was plain. 

“I don't know how many times I'll have to tell you this, but I think it's high time you stopped caring; we are no longer married; we are now divorced!” Obviously, it was a lie, she wanted him to tell her that it was all a misunderstanding, he didn't want a divorce, he wanted them to work.

Elysia wanted him to care for her, but not out of guilt, out of love: but telling him was pointless. 

"I cared about you long before Nana made us do this and you know it, It's not something I know how to stop doing." He massaged his temples. 

“Right. As family." She looked away. 

"Too bad I can't say the same about you." she swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, fighting back the tears that were about to roll down her cheeks. 

For a brief moment, his face fell.

It was crystal clear that he never knew that even though she was saying those cold words, she was the one breaking. 

She was the one who needed to be fixed, not him. 

Everything she was saying, every action she made, seemed cold; it was only to tell herself that she no longer had feelings for him, but at the end of the day, it was a lie. 

Another one of the lies that kept piling up in her mind. 

"What's this?" His eyes landed on the gift bag she had dropped on the floor when she entered earlier. 

“Nana sent you a gift for your birthday." 

"And you didn't..." it hurt him a little that Nana had been more thoughtful about his birthday than she was.

"I'll look at it when we return." She finally followed him to the garage quietly, she heard the hurt in his voice when he thought she didn't care and she wanted it to stay that way.

Orion ushered her to the front seat of the car, it was part of the things he always did. 

He shut the door with a sigh and got in. Starting the car, he pressed his lips into a thin line, and for a second, he looked at her before driving out of the compound. 

He saw her. Her skin was pale, her eyes weren't as bright as they usually were. She was hurting, he saw her pain but interpreted it all as her being sick and stubborn. 

Elysia, on the other hand, pressed her hands against her stomach and look out of the window.

Still battling with the tears that had clouded her vision. 

Ten minutes had passed, and she was yet to say anything, that alone was enough to send the perfect message to him. 

Her silence seemed to whisper a thousand words to him, words which he pretty much did not like. 

He turned on the music hoping to disrupt the defeaning silence. 

Elysia was never like this. At least, not until four days ago- when he was yet to tell her about the divorce. 

Ever since then, she was nothing else other than cold, distant, and pale-looking, acting nonchalantly towards things that concerned him. 

If only he knew the truth. 

“We are here,” without waiting for her, he turned around the car and opened the door of the black Mercedes Benz Maybach Exelero. 

Elysia scanned the building, there was nothing she could do, and even after hesitating, she came down from the car.