Chapter 25 The Marriage Doesn’t Seem So Bad
Elena had no choice but to get in the car.
“To the hospital,” Alexander told the driver.
The car pulled away, this time with a faint smell of alcohol lingering in the air.
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“Why are we going to the hospital?” Elena asked, confused. Alexander didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on her wrist.
She followed his gaze and only then noticed the red mark circling her skin. Swollen. Must’ve been from that guy grabbing her earlier–he’d held on way too hard.
She hadn’t even realized it. But Alexander had. Of course he had. Nothing slipped past him.
The visit to the ER was quick. Her wrist was disinfected and bandaged, nothing serious. Afterward, Alexander had the driver take her home.
Later that night, fresh out of the shower, Elena lay in bed, trying to process everything that had happened. None of it felt real.
Alexander was… surprisingly decent.
He didn’t talk much, but not once had he made her feel uncomfortable. If this was the kind of man she was supposed to marry… maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
Her thoughts drifted–then landed squarely on Nathan.
She suddenly remembered all the missed calls and messages earlier. He’d been blowing up her phone like at madman. What’s his problem now?
She opened their old chat, typed out a single question mark, and hit send.
It took three seconds. Her phone rang. His name lit up the screen.
“Where the hell are you?” Nathan’s voice was tight, angry. Even through the phone, she could hear how worked up he was.
“I’m at home. Why?” Elena frowned.
“FaceTime me.”
She barely had time to react before he ended the call and immediately started a video chat request. Elena hung up without hesitation.
Nathan stared at the screen, fists clenched so hard his phone nearly cracked in his hand.
In all the years they’d been “married,” Elena had never ignored his calls. Never left his texts on read. And she definitelynever declined his video calls.
Then he thought about what Camille told him.
The image of Elena in someone else’s bed flashed through his head like a match tossed into gasoline. It didn’t matter that their marriage wasn’t real. She still carried his name. She was still his–and he wasn’t about to let some other man touch her.
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Chapter 25 The Marriage Doesn’t Seem So Bad
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Back in her apartment, Elena sighed as her phone kept ghting up–call after call. She finally lost patience.
She deleted his contact, tossed the phone aside, and turned off the light. No man, especially one like Nathan, was going to mess with her sleep.
The next morning, her phone buzzed again. She groaned, still half–asleep, and reached for it, ready to hang
- up.
But then she saw the caller ID: Dad.
She paused, two seconds of hesitation, then answered. Be home for lunch.”
That was all Richard Hart said. His voice was deep, flat, emotionless. In the background, she could hear Camille laughing, using that overly sweet voice of hers.
Trouble. Definitely trouble. But Elena was bored enough to walk straight into it.
“Sure,” she said calmly.
She was the real daughter of the Hart family, but she and Richard had barely spoken since she came back into their lives.
The moment she replied, Richard ended the call without another word. Elena rolled her eyes, got out of bed, took her time getting ready, and left around ten.
As the Hart estate came into view, she couldn’t help thinking about the first time she walked through those doors.
New parents. New house. A life she was never part of until now.
She used to imagine it’d be emotional–maybe even beautiful–meeting her birth parents. She thought there’d be hugs, tears, something like closure.
Instead, Richard and Catherine still treated Camille like the daughter they chose, and Elena? She was more like an unexpected guest.
She gave a bitter smile as she parked and got out of the car.
No one was outside. But through the open windows, she heard laughter.
“You little brat,” Catherine’s voice floated out. “I thought you were planning to move in with the Hawthornes and forget all about us!”
Elena stopped in her tracks. A cold, sinking feeling spread through her chest.
Of course they knew. They knew the marriage was fake. Probably had known for a while. Everyone was in on it–except her.
She took a breath, steadied herself, and walked through the front door. Inside, Camille was back–and so was Nathan.
Catherine spotted Elena first. “You’re here,” she said, voice flat.
Elena nodded with the same energy. “Yeah.”
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Chapter 25 The Marriage Doesn’t Seem So Bad
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Camille, already draped against Catherine’s side like a toddler, looked up with wide, sparkling eyes. “Mom, did you make all my favorite dishes today?”
“Of course I did. I remember everything you love.”
“You’re the best, Mom,” Camille said, snuggling closer like she hadn’t just helped destroy someone else’s life.
Nathan stood up and walked toward Elena, fast. “Who were you with last night?”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
