THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOS

Eloise’s POV.

Oh great, now he’s on the phone again. And I can see from his knitted brows that it’s something important.

I quietly wait for him to finish the call and come back to me so we can continue our fight. If Klein thinks our marriage is not worth continuing anymore, I shouldn’t fool myself any further. All he has to do is say the words and I’ll be on my way out of his life.

However, to my greatest surprise, when he ends his call and comes back to me, he gently places his hands on my shoulders and looks at me deep in my eyes.

“Listen, Eloise, you have been too uptight recently and that’s okay. We all go through that once in a while. Take some rest. Like I said, last night I was merely with a few friends. I got drunk and they sent me to Morgan’s hotel. Nothing more. Everything you are worried about are misunderstandings. Also, if you have problems, talk to me directly like this. You know grandpa can’t take any stress or agitation, so I don’t want him to hear any baseless rumours. You know this is my bottom line.”

Looking at Klein’s serious face, I feel lost. Is he worried about me now? Did I really misinterpret things? Should I really not worry about it?

“Unfortunately, I have to go back to the office now, but I can give you a ride home before doing that. Are you coming with me?”

“Well…” I hesitate. I don’t think all doubts have been cleared up yet, and I can’t pretend we are back on good terms already, but the ingenuity in his eyes has given me hope. “I think I’m good. I’ll go home later myself.”

“Are you sure?” Klein asks, concerned and I give him a faint nod. Shock fills my entire being when he gently strokes my hair and gives me a forehead kiss before heading to his car.

That completely caught me off guard and now I’m blushing and at the same time, fighting the urge to feel happy about it.

I am still angry with him, damn it. I shouldn’t be this pathetic.

Suddenly, my phone vibrates again and I notice that I hadn't realised messages and phone calls were coming like floods from Maeve.

I unlock my phone and go through the messages.

“What annoys me the most is the fact that Klein didn't even try to be cautious about his affair. He just shoved it in your face. Such disrespect!”

I can feel her rage in her words. I won't be surprised if there was smoke coming out of her ears when she was typing this. Maeve always treated my problems like they were hers. She'd get so upset, I would be the one to beg her to calm down.

“I asked Klein and he said she was just his friend.” I write back to her and seconds later, she starts typing. Soon, her message comes in again.

“Girl!! Don’t fall for men's lies!! They NEVER forget the ones they didn’t end up with . You gotta keep an eye on that chick. I swear she's after your man!”

A wave of nausea welled up in my stomach.

“What would you suggest?”

“Well, since he's the one ruining the relationship, I'd advise you to take as much evidence of their affair as you can so that if it gets to the point of you having to divorce him, you'll take at least half of his wealth. He has gotta pay for the emotional trauma he has and is still putting you through.”

My eyes skim over the words in the text over and over again until my head feels dizzy.

Divorce.

When I really let that idea sink in, a sour feeling creeps into my heart.

Will things really have to get this far?

I sigh and press the phone's power button. We will continue this conversation when I get home. For now, I have to think.

THE NEXT DAY.

“Good morning, Mrs Wesley.” One of my colleagues greets me as I walk past her.

“Good morning, Gloria.” I reply with a smile and walk on. I am the Vice Director of product development for our perfume line and I lead my own team.

A few steps later, I arrive at our workspace and I head over to my own cubicle and settle down after greeting my other colleagues.

“Mrs Wesley.” Another call comes through. I don't even need to look up to know it's my other colleague named Nadine. Her voice is as sweet as honey.

“Yes, Nadine.” I turn to her. She's standing beside me with a black file in her hand.

“Here’s the final product design proposal you asked me to print out. Can I go and submit to Mr. Wesley right now or would you want to do so yourself?” She winks at me, knowing I’m Klein’s wife.

“Nadine!” Another colleague, Shannelle, calls in a harsh whisper. “How dare you!” She cautions firmly, making me confused. “How dare you ask the future Director herself to run an errand.”

“Excuse me?” I ask with raised brows. “Who exactly is this new Director?”

“It’s gotta be you of course!” She says it so confidently, my heart actually skips a beat.

The former Director was fired the week before for tardiness and incompetency and so the spot is open. I have been taking some of the responsibilities these days so maybe that’s why my team thinks I’m going to get the position.

I'm not going to lie, that position looks appealing and I've always dreamed of doing something big one day, that's why I worked so hard all these years to make my team the best, which we are right now. I’m proud of them and grateful for their loyalty and support.

“Shannelle is right…” That's Ward, another team member. He's the tech genius of our group. “As the incoming Director of Production, you are not supposed to be running such menial errands. It's downgrading.”

“Guys, I think you all should relax. I'm not even the Director yet. We don't know if I'm going to be appointed and even if I was, that doesn't mean I can't run these errands.” I take the file from Nadine and rise to my feet. “Thank you Nadine. I will take this to Mr. Reece myself.” I say and leave the workspace.

No one is talking about the hotel pictures online so it means Klein kept to his promise and cleared up the photos online. The last thing I want is to be the centre of rumours of my own team. I can’t afford it. My entire team cannot afford it. We have more important things to focus on.

Klein and I didn’t talk too much since yesterday’s outburst as he was occupied with work. But he did let me know what he was working on. I guess our little altercation on Saturday taught him the importance of communication in a relationship. That’s a win for me.

His secretary is not on her seat when I arrive, so I go straight to his office door. I stop before it and take in a few deep breaths before opening the door. Once I step into the spacious office, my eyes go over to his work table, expecting him to be seated on his chair, but it's empty. I look around the office and my brows crease in surprise when I spot a girl seated in the sitting area.

Just then, she turns to look at me and knees turn jelly when I see her face.

It's her.

The girl in the photos.