He came home to sleep once a month, on the last weekend of the said month like clockwork but she knew it was only to keep up appearances and not because of her. People would talk and he wouldn't risk the reputation of his family and company for anything. She kept herself busy with her work, opening up another branch of her jewelry company. Iris expressed her happiness on her union with her brother with endless gifts as a sister and drinks on the nights when her brother could manage to stay away from his newlywed wife. He did well in the keeping up appearances part. He had his assistant deliver gifts to her on her birthday and their anniversaries but these gifts, she didn't touch. She kept them locked in the safe in her room for the rightful owner. Besides, he didn't pick them himself. They had no thought on his part. In other words, they were just expensive things and expensive things, she could buy a lot of with her own money.
To everyone else, they were the perfect couple. Whenever his mother invited them home for dinner, he would buy her a gorgeous dress and lovely heels. He would keep his attention on her the entire night like the loving husband he was pretending to be and how she wished it wasn't just pretense. Because on those occasions, he went back to being the man who'd wooed her like he'd give her the moon and the stars, like he'd put the whole world under her feet if she'd asked.
Where everyone else saw a happy and perfect couple, she saw a farce and dead dreams. But she couldn't and wouldn't change the moments she'd spent with him because it was all she'd ever have. And so, she laughed and ate with his family even though she knew she'd unwittingly taken someone else's place. It was only for three years. She couldn't help but wonder whether they would accept Elleana and welcome her as they did her. She was jealous of the woman she'd replaced, only for a few years. If she'd known that he'd have grown to resent her as much as he now did, she wouldn't have done what she did, tried so hard to keep him.
As they ate and laughed, she tried her best to keep everything in her memory and her heart. One might wonder why she'd accepted such a ridiculous bargain, despite how unfair it was to her. But they wouldn't understand how deeply she'd loved him, and yes, she was somewhat guilty of the two lovers' separation. If she had to admit to herself the truth, the other reason as to why she'd accepted the deal was because deep inside she'd hoped that in the period of three years, he might end up falling in love with her but as time went by, she realized that her dream will never come true, and he will never love her. He will never see her as anything but the woman who took his love from him. Did Elleana, or Ella, as he lovingly called her deserve him? She didn't think so, but her opinion didn't matter.
Maybe to everyone else, it was pathetic. The fact that she knew him like the back of her hand. Knew his likes and dislikes. Or that she always prepared dinner and texted him in the hopes that he would show up. Maybe try to get along for the remainder of the time they had left together. But every night she had dinner alone, the lit candles illuminated her lonely face and her mind kept going back to the eight months she'd been happy with him. And as the candlelight dimmed, she'd force herself to eat, if only to sustain her health. At first, she'd cry herself to sleep almost every night, numbing herself with wine but as time went by, she became numb to it all. She wanted to laugh every time she remembered how she'd learnt how to cook, for him. Nothing complicated of course, else she'd burn the kitchen down, only pasta, rice dishes and beef stew. Culinary skills were not her strongest point.
Almost two years later and they had developed a routine she'd gotten used to unwittingly. Alexander went out of his way to avoid spending time with her as much as possible whereas she kept herself busy with her designs. She was set to release The First Love series the following year and she simply couldn't wait.
On the last weekend of their second year, they'd been invited to his grandmother's, and she dreaded the meeting. Although his parents liked her, she wouldn't say the same about his grandmother on his father's side. Alexander had always been close to his grandmother. And this was the day that it'd hit her that he would never love her. This was the day when all hope for her future with him was lost.
His grandmother Melissa Kent welcomed her with the usual snort of dissatisfaction. Things hadn't always been like this with Melissa though. Before she'd married Alex, Melissa was a sweet and loving grandmother to her, but after their union, she suddenly changed. Even worse, Alexander had never stood up for her. At first it was okay but on this occasion is when she realized that some treatment simply couldn't be tolerated, love be damned. Melissa's snide comments first began with her lack of a job. Then came the accusations of spending the Kellers's money without playing the role of a proper wife. Then came her most dreaded topic, the lack of children to speak of in their marriage after two years.
As they ate and Alexander and his family talked among themselves, Scarlett tried to be as invisible as possible. She wasn't afraid of confrontations but the last thing she needed was an argument in which Alexander had to choose between her and his grandmother because she knew that he would never pick her side. Besides, Iris wasn't around, and she had no one else to talk to.
Alexander watched Scarlett as she sat there in her own little world, picking her food as she usually did whenever she was around his extended family. She was trying to remain invisible to avoid attracting his grandmother's attention and like the asshole he was, he picked up some chicken for her; the perfect husband, he thought to himself evilly. His grandmother was awful to her, he knew it, but he thought that she deserved it. She wasn't kind to Elleana either.
"Alexy darling, how is our lovely Ella faring? Is she back in the country yet?" Melissa asked in a loud voice ensuring Scarlett had heard her, never mind the entire table.