Prologue

The day Lily came back....was the day Elara understood she had already lost everything. 

No one said this to her, but the mansion, once unbearable and cold was suddenly alive again, filled with laughter, hurried footsteps, and a warmth that had never once existed for her. Servants smiled. The air felt lighter as she came back. 

Lily. 

Her young sister. 

His one true love, and Elara realized that she was a mere substitute in her place, and nothing belongs to her, not even her husband. 

The storm began the moment Lily came back, not just outside but inside her life too. 

Thunder cracked across the sky violently. The rain lashed against the glass window panel of the mansion.The wind howled throughout the night, rattling the silence that had once lived there. 

But the situation inside her life was even worsen. 

Elara stood at the top of the staircase, her fingers gripping the cold railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white, as she saw the scene unfolded. 

Charlie stood at the centre of it, his usual cold composure shattered. Those same eyes that had only held indifference towards her, were radiating warmth. She had waited all her existence to witness the same warmth for her. Her life was based on hopes, which broken the moment Lily came back. 

"Lily...." His voice broke, just slightly but audible enough for her. 

Elara felt something inside her chest cave in. 

She had never heard him sounded like that, atleast not for her. Not once, not even a day ever since they were married. Tears started building in her eyes. She know that he had never loved her. 

Lily looked fragile, delicate, standing there like a ghost returned to life, and Charlie looked at her like she was everything. 

Like she had always been everything for him. 

Elara swallowed hard, her hand drifted unconsciously to her stomach. A small act of protection. Her stomach hiding a secret she hadn't spoken aloud, neither to him nor to any other. 

Her periods had always been late, but now it has turned into weeks, and deep down she already knew. 

It was a child. 

His child. 

But how can she tell a man, who never loved her, and only wanted to make her life miserable. She can't. She doesn't want to risk the life of small soul growing inside her. 

Her fingers pressed lightly near her abdomen, as if she could protect it from the world already turning against her. 

Below Charlie stepped closer to Lily, smiling with love, his gestured were delicate. "You are... really back." 

Lily smiled faintly, her voice soft and sweet, like it was coated in sugar." Did you miss me?" 

Miss her. 

The word echoed in Elara's mind like a cruel joke, but reality of her life.

Charlie let out a breath that sounded like he had been holding for years. " Every day." 

Every days, she devoted herself to him, give him every reason to love her back, the way she did to him. Alas! His love was never for her. 

He lunged forward, embracing Lily into a tight hug, like if he doesn't she may disappear again, leaving him forever which he can't afford now. 

Elara felt suffocated! She took a deep breath of resentment. 

That's it. 

Elara closed her eyes. 

Because she knew, in that moment, there was no place left for her in his world. The owner of his heart was back and she was a mere replacement. 

**** 

The divorce papers placed in front of her that night. The sudden sound broke her from delusion, to reality. The gestures were painfully polite, as if they weren't dismantle what little remained of her life. 

Elara sat across from Charlie in his study, the dim light casting shadow across his face. His brooding face was looking firm. He wasn't angry or conflicted, but he looked...certain. 

"Sign it," he said. 

Elara looked at him, for an explanation or atleast a hesitation, but they were none. 

She stared at the papers, her vision blurred slightly with tears. "You couldn't even wait for a day?" 

Charlie's jaw clenched and he looked very ardent, not even emanating any expression. "There's nothing left to wait for." 

Her lips trembled seeing his indifference, atleast for once he behave human with her, but he never. She forced herself to look at him. "We're still married." 

"Not in any way that matters." 

Those words pierced her heart, breaking it into tiny pieces. It felt heavy, suffocating. But does any of those things matters to him? 

No.

Every day or night spent together, even for a day, he treated him like his wife. Never. 

All lies. 

Elara let out a quiet, broken laugh. "Of course... because she's back now, you won't need me." 

He didn't say anything just looked at her while taking a deep sign as if words swallowed inside his mouth. 

His silence was answer enough. 

That's silence hurt her more than anything he could have said. 

She looked down at her belly, it was almost non-existing. Her hands slipping into her lap slowly, instinctively rising back to her stomach. 

He didn't notice. 

"I...." Her voice faltered. For a second, she almost tell him that there is a child. 

His child. 

But the words died in her throat. 

Because what would it change? 

Would he looked at her differently? Or love her? 

For him, the child would be another burden, another mistake tied to her. 

Charlie exhaled impatiently, as if he has something more urgent to look for than his own wife. "Elara, don't drag this out, otherwise it will be more difficult for you." 

She took a deep breath. 

As if this wasn't her life unraveling in front of her, as if she hadn't already given him everything she had. 

It was bitter. 

This was it. 

Her fingers trembled as she picked up the pen. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks, but she didn't wiped them. She didn't want him to see them, but it never go unnoticed from him. 

But does he care? 

No. 

Instead, she signed slowly carving the last piece of herself away. This is the end of something which never truly begun. When she was done, she pushed the papers toward him. 

Charlie glanced at them brief, then nodded satisfactorily. 

Satisfaction. 

That word haunt her. 

Elara stood up, her legs unsteady, but she refused to fall. Not in front of him. Not anymore! 

"Goodbye, Charlie," she whispered. 

He didn't respond, not even glanced at her. He never care to look at her. 

That night, Elara left the mansion quietly and no one stopped her. For him, she signed his freedom back to him, but for her, she lost her everything. The world outside was cold and unknown for her. She lowered her gaze, her voice barely more than a breath. 

"It's just us now..." 

She and her child. 

Charlie didn't know he has committed sin by breaking an innocent heart. He has to suffer terribly. Even condemnation for seven lives won't be enough.