Chapter 4 - A hidden legacy?

Lyra

Sadly, faking it until we make it situation doesn’t work and, after two weeks of being completely disgusted, whenever Eli tries to touch me and my mind continuously reminds me that another man touched me with more love than I have ever felt, I snap.

I tried to work things out, but my guilt is overwhelming. Eli had an affair the entire time we were together. I keep wondering if she satisfied him more than I did. I keep wondering if they tried the things we have been doing or if they were more adventurous.

I also think about those hands that slipped over my skin and touched me in ways I never imagined possible. I don’t even know his name, but it doesn’t matter. He showed me something. He showed me more truth than Eli ever gave me.

He showed me what love should look like, even if it was just a one-night stand. He showed me what making love should feel like. After yet another failure in trying to be intimate with Eli, I can’t help myself and bring up the marriage contract.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t fake it anymore. I don’t think we can salvage our relationship, Eli. I think we’ve both just done too much damage to each other.” I make the desperate decision to leave Eli. His fury is instant when he jumps out of bed and grabs a pair of slacks.

His words are cruel as he spits them at me before storming out of our room and slamming the door on his way out. Fearing for my safety and freedom, I quickly grab what I can and stuff it into a bag. I need to get him to sign the agreement that I can leave and get out of there now.

As soon as I walk into the office, he hands me the signed document, and I’m a little stunned. He opens his drawer and pulls out something I haven’t seen in years, and when he hands it to me, I wonder for a moment if he wasn’t perhaps expecting me to leave all these years.

“These are my car keys. Where did you get them?” He told me he sold my car a week after we were married. He told me I would never need it again, since I was his wife and would always have a driver.

“I guess I suspected you would always leave. Anyway. I’ve asked them to bring it around to the front. If you have everything you want, you can leave.” He doesn’t look at me, and I only take a moment before I leave. I breathe in the musty scent of my old car as soon as I get in.

I can’t believe how good it looks after all this time, and I’m even more surprised when I turn the key and the engine instantly comes to life. I look at the house only once before I pull out of the driveway. It’s not a long drive to get to the main road, and it almost feels as if a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders the moment I turn left and drive to the human town nearby.

I book into the bed-and-breakfast where I had my one-night stand and breathe a huge sigh of relief when I’m put in another room than before. As I stand in front of the window, looking out at the garden, the tears start to flow.

My mind drifts through my entire relationship, and suddenly I call everything into question. Each time Eli had a meeting. Each time, he kissed me. I can’t help but wonder how many times he had just come back from her and then … A shiver of disgust runs down the back of my spine as I make a run for the bathroom.

The true depth of what he did hits me all at once. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I take a good look at myself in the mirror. If only I hadn’t gone to speak to her … If only … If I didn’t know about this, I would be in my bed at home thinking that my husband loved me.

I walk over to the window and look at the stars. The house is in a beautiful part of the human town, but I will soon need a job and a place to stay. I have some money, but not a lot. Deciding that I need some air, I make my way outside.

I absentmindedly walk through the garden, and before long, I find myself on the edge of the forest. I look up the moment I hear a wolf growl and I almost roll my eyes. My first thought is that Eli sent someone to look after me, but this wolf looks different.

It’s not as huge as the werewolves. My mind stops only for a second before I gape at the wild wolf standing in front of me! It softly growls, and I’m just about to turn and run when it seems to lower its head slightly before disappearing into the forest.

What the hell?! I gape at the empty space, unable to think straight. All I can think is that the wolf must have smelled the pack on me or something. It’s the only thing that could have saved me. I shake my head and make my way back inside.

I get into bed later after a long hot bath, and it feels really strange. It feels strange to be in a strange room, but mostly it feels strange to be without Eli beside me. My dreams are filled with images of the stranger who made love to me as well as images of Eli and that woman.

By the time I wake up in the morning, I’m even more depressed than I was before, but I have to get up. I have to get out there and find a job. I have to figure out what I’m going to tell any possible employer about where I’ve been the past couple of years and why I haven’t worked.