All Chapters of The Price Of Us: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

LOUISThe morning light this time around was not a welcome one. I had not slept a wink throughout last night. Again.Unfortunately, the thought of Elias bleeding, weak form kept flashing in my mind, reminding me that I could have lost him. He wasn’t mine but I could have lost him still. The metallic smell of blood seemed to cling to the marble floors like a bad omen. The house was very quiet now. There was just nothing except the awful, sterile silence that came as an aftermath of storms.I slipped out of my bedroom barefoot, having no idea where I was going but knowing I could not stay put. The hall light buzzed quietly overhead.One of the employees rounded the corner at the far end of the hallway. She paused when she saw me, her lips curling as if she was about to say something, but she dipped her head and kept going.Since last night, they’ve all been doing that. As if I'd become off-limits.Or worse… tainted.I ignored her and headed toward the wing where I'd seen Cathan take El

LOUISThe kitchen felt cozy with soft laughter and the clinking of wooden blocks on the floor. Isabella had managed to discover the drawer that Elias used for random odds and ends—paper clips, coasters, corks—and proclaimed it an instant treasure chest at once. She sat cross-legged on the marble floor, constructing a miniature city out of the assorted pieces. Her brother Emilio lingered at the corner, watching the open pantry like it might bite him."You can sit down, you know," I told him, crouching beside Isabella so she could perch a stack of corks. "Your sister's making something that'll fall over if we don't offer support. We'll need to hire an engineer."Isabella giggled. "He doesn't enjoy building things, silly. He just enjoys drawing scary monsters," she said, her words still slightly unclear like that of a typical five-year-old.Emilio said nothing. He regarded me, then turned his head away again, clutching a tiny sketchbook to his chest like an armor. His uncombed dark hair

LOUISI didn't realize the glass was one-way.Not until afterward. Not until the press of Elias's eyes on my back started to feel… too much. As if all of our moments together in his office—each languid stroke of his fingers down my spine, each ragged moan he'd drawn from my mouth—had been done without a care in the world.And perhaps the fact that people could see us should have frightened me.But it didn't.The truth was I loved it. The risk of being caught thrilled me in a way nothing ever had, even though I’d already realized the glass was one-way. Maybe I was secretly an exhibitionist and though that thought should’ve have frightened me, it didn’t.We left the firm late, much later than usual. There was a lot of work to do today and since Elias had been gone for a while, it was all piled up on our desk. On our way out, I'd gotten my shirt buttoned up wrong twice. I was still in shock and flushed from what we’d done at the office. Elias smiled, and fixed the buttons with a gentlene

LOUISThe kids had just left.The corridor was quiet again, apart from the dying echo of Isabella's laughter ringing down the corridor. I stood frozen in the kitchen doorway for a moment, fingertips still tingling from the warmth of her tiny hand. My chest was somehow tight—not with fear for the first time, but with something else I hadn't felt in a very long time: comfort. Maybe even… belonging.With my heart light as air, I moved with a gentle pep in my step and stepped into the kitchen.The whole kitchen sparkled. Not in a sterile kind of a way but in a lived-in way as only a home could be. The soft cream colors of the wall made the whole place peaceful and there was a whistling on the stove from a brass kettle. The scent of rosemary and lemon filled the air and seemed to come from some dish a pot on the stove.An older woman—at least in her late forties, early fifties—I'd estimate stood with her back to me at the counter, humming contentedly to herself as she towel-dried a dish. W

LOUISThe kids had left two days prior, but their voices still echoed in my head, largely Isabella's string of questions and Emilio's suspicious looks. I'd even missed them more than I'd expected. So, when Elaine messaged that they wouldn't shut up about "Uncle Louis" paying a visit, I didn't think twice. I decided to go and see them.Elias offered to send a driver to take me to her place and I agreed.Now, here I was, outside a brightly lit toy store, feeling a little foolish. Just a few months before, I couldn't even afford a new pair of shoes—hell, I was just getting by. And now I was purchasing toys for children who weren't mine. Children who had somehow melted their way into the crevices of my heart.I gazed at the window display. Pink dollhouses, sketchbooks, toy trucks, puzzles. A gentle laugh escaped my lips. The irony was not lost on me.I went inside and it smelled of plastic and scalding sugar, like a childhood I never had but wished I did. I moved up and down the aisles, t