Chapter 127
Elara’s POV
Elara sat cross-legged on Mimi’s couch, a mug of tea cooling in her hands while Mimi paced back and forth across the living room like a lawyer delivering closing arguments.
“So let me get this straight,” Mimi said, her Nigerian accent getting thicker the more agitated she became.
“This Aurora girl spilled wine on herself, used your bathroom, walked around naked in your house, and you’re sitting here questioning if Marcus loves you?”
“It’s not that simple…”
It is exactly that simple! Elara, stop being mumu. The man told you he doesn’t want Aurora. He turned away when she dropped the towel. He gave her your ugly sweatpants to wear instead of letting her stay naked.
What more was he supposed to do, let’s be honest.
Elara set down her tea and pulled a throw pillow onto her lap, hugging it. “I don’t know. I just feel like I’m constantly competing with this perfect version of her that exists in his head.”
“There is no perfect version! She cheated on him and broke his heart! How is that perfect?”
“But she was his first love, Mimi. You don’t just forget your first love.”
58
Mimi stopped pacing and turned to face Elara directly. “You’re right. You don’t forget them. But that doesn’t mean you still want them. My first love was this boy named Chidi back in secondary school. Fine boy, eh. Had the whole school going crazy for him.”
“Okay?”
“I saw him last year when I went home for Christmas.
Man is now selling phone accessories in Computer Village looking like somebody’s uncle. You think I’m sitting here pining for him? Abeg.”
Despite herself, Elara smiled. “That’s different.”
“It’s not different! First love is just that. First. Not best, not only, just first. Marcus has moved on. The only person who hasn’t moved on is you because you’re too busy being insecure to see what’s right in front of your face.”
“I’m not insecure, shut up”
“You are very insecure! And honestly, I understand why. Aurora is beautiful, she’s rich, she fits into Marcus’s world in ways you don’t. But you know what you have that she doesn’t?”
“What?”
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Chapter 127
“Marcus’s heart. Right now. In the present. Not some memory from five years ago. The actual man is in love with you.”
Elara felt her chest tighten. “He’s not in love with me.”
“Are you blind? The man looks at you like you hung the moon. He stole back a contract by breaking into his stepmother’s house because you made a mistake. He sleeps in your bed every night even though he has his
own room. He….”
“Okay, okay, I get it.”
Mimi sat down on the couch next to Elara and took her hand. “Babe, listen to me. Stop being scared and claim your man. Aurora is in your house playing games because she sees an opening. She sees you being insecure and she’s using it against you. Don’t give her that power.”
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Elara was quiet for a moment, letting Mimi’s words sink in. “What if it doesn’t work? What if I put myself out there and he realizes he doesn’t actually want me?”
“Then at least you’ll know. But I’m telling you right now, that’s not what’s going to happen. Marcus wants you. He chose you. Stop making him prove it over and over again.”
Elara squeezed Mimi’s hand. “When did you become so wise about relationships?”
“Since I started dating Dante and realized men are actually very simple creatures. They say what they mean. We’re the ones who complicate everything by reading between lines that don’t exist.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Elara processing everything Mimi had said. Her friend was right. She’d been so caught up in her insecurities that she’d been pushing Marcus away instead of pulling him
closer.
“I think my feelings for Marcus are getting real,” Elara said quietly. “Like, really real. And it scares me.”
Mimi smiled. “Of course it scares you. Love is scary. Especially when it starts as something fake and becomes something real without you noticing.”
“What if I mess it up?”
“What if you don’t? What if you stop worrying about all the ways it could go wrong and start thinking about all the ways it could go right?”
Elara felt tears prick at her eyes. “I don’t know how to do this. How to be vulnerable with someone. How to trust that they won’t leave.”
“You just do it. One day at a time. One moment at a time. And Marcus is worth it, babe, I see the way you light up when you talk about him. Even when you’re complaining about Aurora, you’re really just scared of losing him.”
“I am scared of losing him.”
“Then stop acting like you’ve already lost him and fight for him. Show him why you’re the one he should choose. Not because you’re competing with Aurora, but because you’re you and you’re enough exactly as you
16:51 Mon, May 11
Chapter 127
are.”
5
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Elara wiped at her eyes, feeling something shift inside her chest. Mimi was right. She needed to stop being passive, stop waiting for Marcus to reassure her, stop letting Aurora make her feel small in her own marriage
“I’m going to do something,” Elara said suddenly.
“Do what?”
“Something romantic. Something that shows Marcus I’m all in. That I’m not just here because of the contract or the babies or because it’s convenient. I’m here because I want to be.”
Mimi grinned. “Now you’re talking! What are you going to do?”
Elara’s mind was already racing with possibilities. “I don’t know yet. Maybe cook dinner? Set up something nice in the penthouse? We haven’t had a real date night in weeks.”
“Yes! And wear something sexy. Not those baggy sweaters you’ve been hiding in.”
“The sweaters are to hide the baby bump-”
“I know, but you can find something that’s flattering and still hides it. You need to remind Marcus why he married you in the first place.”
They spent the next hour planning. Mimi helped Elara pick out a dress from her closet, something flowy and elegant that would hide her growing stomach but still look beautiful. They looked up recipes for a romantic dinner, settling on something simple enough that Elara wouldn’t completely mess it up.
“You should get candles,” Mimi suggested. “And flowers. Men love that romantic stuff even though they pretend they don’t.”
“Okay. Candles and flowers. I can do that.”
“And music! Set the mood with some good music. Not that depressing stuff you listen to when you’re sad. Something sexy.”
Elara laughed. “I don’t listen to depressing music when I’m sad.”
“You literally have a playlist called ‘Sad Girl Hours. Don’t lie to me.”
By the time Elara left Mimi’s apartment, she felt lighter than she had in days. She had a plan. She was going to show Marcus exactly how she felt about him, and she wasn’t going to let Aurora or anyone else make her doubt herself anymore.
She drove back to the penthouse with the radio turned up, singing along to songs she didn’t know all the words to. When she pulled into the garage, she was already mentally planning the evening. She’d stop at the store on the way home, grab ingredients for dinner, pick up candles and flowers.
Marcus wouldn’t know what hit him.
Elara took the elevator up to the penthouse, her phone already open to a grocery delivery app. She was
16:51 Mon, May 11
Chapter 127
scrolling through options when her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost didn’t answer, but something made her pick up.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Thorne? This is David from building security.”
Elara’s stomach dropped. Security never called unless something was wrong.
“Yes? Is everything okay?”
“Ma’am, there’s a situation with Miss Aurora.”
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