Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Elaine's Pov

“Elaine, it's been a long time. So lovely to meet you again.” Emily greeted, her voice was sweet and delightful. To them.

I stepped back, my eyes wide and my hands trembling. I frantically looked over to Caleb who was seated on the couch, a huge beaming smile on his lips. But when our eyes met, they were evil and cunning.

But then, I heard a cough from the side and I saw Caleb's grandfather sitting. My heart trembled when I saw him, he would support me, he always had supported me no matter what. Once I was able to talk, I would tell him everything that had happened and he would finally realise that…

“Elaine! Despite how I treated you, how could you intentionally abort your baby! Worse, you even cheated on Caleb! Is this what you promised me when you got married to him?!” Grandfather knocked his staff twice on the ground. I stumbled in shock. The fact that he was yelling at me, which he had never done before had crossed over my mind.

What he just said… Abort? I intentionally aborted my pregnancy? And what is this? Cheating? I had never cheated on Caleb, not even once!

“And don't tell me that it's a lie! One report or the other about you had always gotten to my ears and I never believed them because I thought you were a good girl, but now there is evidence!”

My legs felt like jelly as I took another step backwards, I was barely able to stand. Evidence? What evidence could they possibly have? My mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation.

“I…” I tried to speak, but my throat still hurt so badly, they would barely even be able to hear me but I had to try, “Grand… grandfather, I never did any of that.”

Grandfather slammed his staff against the floors once more, silencing my feeble attempt to speak, “There are pictures, Elaine!” He thundered, his eyes narrowing, “Pictures of you lying in a bed with someone who was not Caleb! And you dare claim innocence?! How dare you!” Grandfather yelled and threw the pictures at me.

My mind went blank as I stared at them, my heart was pounding in my chest. Indeed, I was on the bed, and there was a man above me, he was masked. But this wasn't true. This couldn't be true!

“This isn't me…” I gasped, “None of this happened! I don't remember any of this happening!”

“How convenient.” Caleb's voice cut in, “You don't remember, how typical Elaine. Just like you don't remember pushing Emily down the stairs, just like you don't remember stealing from grandfather in order to fund your gigolo, just like you didn't remember beating up the maids. You never remember anything, Elaine. Who knows, that child inside you may not even be mine for all I care.”

I stared at Caleb in disbelief, the room began to spin all around me. This had got to be some kind of cruel joke by the universe.

“This has nothing to do with me. I never did any of those things, you know Caleb. Why are you doing this to me? What sort of mistake did I make for you to treat me like this? Grandfather, you have to believe me, I really didn't do any of those things.” My shoulders trembled as I spoke, my throat became scratchy and dry and it took everything in me not to rush to the kitchen to drink some water.

“The evidence speaks for itself Elaine, so save your breath. You slept with another man and now you're trying to cover it up by playing the victim. How pathetic of you.”

“So who was it? An old friend of yours? A new man that you met while at the club? You have already brought enough disgrace to this family but cheating on my son? That is unforgivable.”

“No, no.” I shook my head violently, I must still be sleeping, this can't be true, “I swear I don't know anything about this. I'm telling the truth, this must be some sort of mistake, I really didn't…”

“Enough!” Grandfather's voice boomed throughout the room and I froze in place, “You have lied enough, Elaine. Caleb was willing to forgive you for everything, but with those pictures, there is no redemption for you.”

I stumbled backwards, my legs finally gave out as I crumpled to the floor. My stomach began to hurt even more, more so than the miscarriage I had. I glanced up at Caleb who was staring at me, a grin on his lips. Then my gaze went straight to Emily and I inwardly gasped.

Her eyes. They were dark and manipulative.

It all dawned on me. Her sudden arrival when I lost my baby, all the accusations that were readily placed down. Everything.

I was being framed for her. So she could come back and take her ‘rightful place’ as Caleb's wife. This was all a farce, and I was in the middle of it all.

A sob escaped my lips as I lowered my head, and I let everything I had been through play like a film in my head. From the very beginning, it was only Grandfather who had treated me nicely. Caleb's mother had hated me but I thought that if I continued to be a good daughter in law, everything would be fine and she would eventually like me.

I felt like everything would change miraculously but it only got worse and worse. Why did I even try to make things better if it was only going to become like this?

“So… at the end, you still chose me to be the villain, the one whom you can blame for everything. I'm the bad woman here… Hahahaha.” I threw my head back and laughed, not even caring about the eyes that were on me anymore. It was actually finished, they had treated me the way they wanted to. All of them.

“So, what now? What do you want me to do now that you have levelled all these accusations on me?” I glanced at Caleb whose eyes darkened.

“Do you want me to kneel for forgiveness? Do you want me to fall to the ground and lick your feet? Do you want me to strip myself outside just like you did to me in the midst of your friends?!”

“Elaine!” Caleb yelled, his eyes wide.

“What do you want me to do?! Tell me?!” I stared at him with red rimmed eyes. My pupils were burning so crazily that it was hard to keep them open. I just wanted to plunge myself into cold water and fall asleep. Maybe even forever.

“Fine. I want a divorce.” Caleb said, taking a bunch of papers from the chair and flinging them at me, “Sign them and we will officially be divorced.”

I eyed the papers on the ground. Caleb had already signed them, his ever so elegant writing that I had always loved.

It was so funny actually, that all the work I put into this was thrown out of the window just because of one woman who had always framed me. A woman whom everyone thought was pure hearted. But she was a devil in disguise.

“Grandfather, do you remember what you told me in the hospital that day? You said that you could see that I was so pure hearted that my eyes showed exactly what was in my soul, do you know what I was thinking at that moment?” I paused, waiting to see his reaction. He furrowed his eyebrows but didn't interrupt me.

“I was thinking that you were the only person in this world that seemed to love me unconditionally. No matter what happened, you never failed to be there for me. Even if it wasn't for Caleb, I still loved you as it was. And then you asked me if I regretted saving Caleb that time because the doctors said it would be hard for my body to bear a child. Do you remember what I said?” I asked again, watching as Grandfather bit his lips and held his staff so tightly that his hands turned red.

“I said that I didn't regret saving the both of you, I didn't regret putting my life in danger. But now?” I raised my head up, I wasn't able to stop the tears from flowing. I was numb, but I was still crying.

“I regret it. I regret it so much, I wish I had never saved Caleb. I wished I had never been there at that moment. I wish Caleb had died in that place.”