LOGINCELIA I couldn’t stop thinking about her. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how many times I replayed the evening in my head and told myself I was overreacting. The images kept returning. Elara standing beside Louis’ grandfather. Elara smiled politely while guests surrounded her. Elara being thanked. Welcomed. Accepted. Every memory felt like a fresh insult. I lay awake most of the night staring at the ceiling. The discharge celebration had ended hours ago, but it still felt like I was trapped inside it. The worst part wasn’t the guests. It wasn’t the staff. It wasn’t even Louis’ grandfather. It was Louis. Because he had done nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not once had he corrected anyone when they treated Elara like she belonged there. Not once had he reminded people that I was his girlfriend. Not once had he stepped in when his grandfather practically paraded her around the celebration. He had simply watched.The realization burned. Humiliation sat like poison
ELARA By the time I got home, I felt like I’d survived an entire week instead of a single evening. The moment I stepped into the apartment, I kicked off my heels and dropped my bag onto the nearest chair. Denise looked up from the couch. One glance at my face was enough. “Oh no,” she said immediately. “What happened this time?” I groaned. “Don’t ask.” Her eyes lit up. That was never a good sign. Whenever my life became complicated, Denise treated it like premium entertainment. She muted the television and sat forward. “Start talking.” I should have gone straight to my room. Instead, exhaustion got the better of me. Ten minutes later, I found myself explaining everything. The discharge celebration.The endless attention. The nurses.The guests. Louis’ grandfather introduced me to practically everyone. The way he insisted on keeping me beside him throughout the evening. And finally, Celia’s increasingly visible descent into frustration. Denise listened with growing a
ElaraThe celebration ended slowly.Not with a dramatic goodbye or a final speech, but through small departures that gradually emptied the house.One family member left with a hug.A doctor excused himself after shaking Louis’ grandfather’s hand.Several guests lingered near the entrance, exchanging polite farewells before disappearing through the front doors.The energy of the evening faded piece by piece.I stood near one of the windows, watching the process happen in stages.The house felt different now.Less crowded.Less noisy.Yet somehow more uncomfortable.Because even as people prepared to leave, they continued looking at me.Not openly.Not rudely.Just enough.A glance before saying goodbye.A brief smile.A lingering look that felt strangely deliberate.As though they were confirming something.As though they had already decided where I belonged.I hated that feeling.It made me feel like I had walked into the middle of a conversation everyone else understood.Across the room,
Elara’s POVI woke up to fifty-three missed calls and a phone that wouldn’t stop vibrating.For a few disoriented seconds, I thought something had happened to Louis’ grandfather.Then I opened social media.My stomach dropped.My face was everywhere.Not just photographs. Entire timelines.There were images of me walking beside a man I had never seen before. Images of us entering corporate buildings together. Sitting in meetings. Leaving charity events. Standing shoulder to shoulder in front of cameras.The edits were terrifyingly good.I stared at one picture for nearly a minute.The lighting matched. The shadows matched.Even the expression on my face looked real.But it wasn’t.I had never been there. I had never met him.Yet thousands of people were commenting as though they had witnessed our relationship unfold for months.My fingers trembled as I scrolled.“Adrian Vale and Elara finally confirmed.”“Power couple of the year.”“So this is where she’s been disappearing to.”“What a
LouisThe anonymous message had promised answers.That was the only reason I came.For weeks, I had been chasing fragments of a story that refused to come together. Every lead somehow connected back to Elara. Every question eventually circled around Alistair. The photographs I’d received before had raised more suspicions than they answered. Why was Elara constantly appearing around him? Why did Alistair seem so comfortable with her?Most importantly, what was she hiding?The address led me to an abandoned office building on the edge of the city.Not exactly the dramatic secret meeting I had imagined.The lobby was empty. Silent.Dust coated the floor.No guards. No mysterious informant. No answers.Just a single brown folder sitting on a reception desk.Waiting. For me.A knot tightened in my stomach as I approached. Someone had known I would come.Someone had known I wouldn’t be able to resist.I picked up the folder.My name was written across the front. Nothing else. No explanation
ElaraThe moment I stepped out of the hospital, I knew something was wrong.Not because of the man watching me.Not because of the questions that still lingered in my mind.Because of Alistair.His voice echoed in my head as I walked toward the curb.Cold.Sharp.Controlled.I had never heard him sound like that before.Usually, there was always a trace of amusement in his words, as if the world existed solely to entertain him. But in that hospital room, that amusement had disappeared completely.The change unsettled me far more than I wanted to admit.I pulled my coat tighter around myself and glanced over my shoulder.The man Alistair had pointed out earlier was gone.That should have reassured me.Instead, it made me even more nervous.I took out my phone and immediately called him. He answered before the second ring.“Get out of there?”“Yes.”“Good.”The clipped response sent another chill down my spine.“Alistair,” I said carefully, “who exactly was that man?”A brief silence followe
ElaraI couldn’t remember the last time I woke up feeling this relaxed.For a few seconds, I stayed buried beneath the expensive blankets in Alistair’s guest room, enjoying the silence. No emergencies. No dramatic phone calls. No business disasters.Just peace. Then I heard his voice.“No…, move t
ElaraBy the time I arrived at Alistair’s house, the sun had already begun to set.The moment I stepped inside, I found him waiting in the living room, looking entirely too relaxed for someone who had been sending me impatient messages all afternoon.“What took you so long?” he asked.I dropped my
Louis The moment I stepped into my grandfather’s room, I knew he hadn’t called me in there just to talk about his recovery.He sat propped up against the pillows, looking weaker than he liked to admit, but his eyes were as sharp as ever.“Sit down, Louis.”I pulled a chair closer to the bed.“How
ELARABy the time I reached the hospital, the glittering lights of the gala felt like they belonged to another world.The sterile scent of antiseptic replaced expensive perfume, and the quiet hum of medical equipment drowned out the memory of music and applause.As I stepped out of the elevator, I







