Hey guys! I loved your thoughts on the last two chapters. And thank you to the guest who pointed out my spelling mistakes again. You're a goodie!
To the question why they didn't go to the police.. Ana is mostly afraid of slander which is something the police cannot prevent even if they arrest him. The damage would be done..
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I don't know the last time I have felt so furious. It's burning me alive. This feeling of fire raging inside of me is destroying every self control I have left.
Betrayal.
Never. Never would I have thought she'd betray me like this.
Now she's sitting opposite of me for dinner. Sipping her drink like she doesn't have a worry in this world.
„We haven't met in weeks. Sometimes you even ignored my calls and messages. If one of us is an awful friend it's surely you."
„Shut the crap, Elena. We're not friends."
That stuns her. „Since when?"
„Since you overstepped the line."
When Taylor contacted me in Taiwan about what he had found out… about Elena's doings, I was so close to step into the next plane and confront her right away. But that would be exactly what would please her. Me running into her arms the second she wants me to. Instead I waited. Patiently. Until she reached out to me which she did like every other week. Thursday night. Mile high club.
Elena just shrugs and looks around the restaurant, almost bored.
„And what line would that be?"
Before knowing what I'm doing my fist slams on the table. The noise of the cutlery and glasses startle her.
„Christian! What's gotten into you?!"
„That's it. This conversation is over."
„Fine." She says and sips her wine. I stand up to leave. Suddenly she grabs my wrist.
„You're not really leaving?"
„I am. If you think you can fool me for any longer you signed up for a big disappointment."
„Christian. Wait." If it wasn't for good riddance I would have walked away right then. But there are still some questions I need answers to and unfortunately she's the only one who could.
„Elena, why did you tip off Jack Hyde?"
"Who?"
"Cut the crap!"
She sighs. „I wanted to protect you."
Breathe Grey. You need to calm the fuck down.
„Protect me? Do you have any idea what Ana went through because of your doings."
„I don't care about the girl."
„You should. Ana is with me now. Whatever hurts her, hurts me."
Elena doesn't look at me.
„Why?" I ask.
„I didn't think she would run right back to you. I thought she'd leave you alone, quitting her business by seeing all of this isn't worth the hassle."
I've never felt the urge to punch someone in the face like I do now. Especially not a woman.
„Elena. You have no fucking idea what a committed relationship means."
„I've been married long enough…"
„Yeah. Right. That's what I meant. You have no fucking clue." I interrupt her.
"I can't believe one pair of legs can tame you like this."
"Not everything is about sex, you know?"
"You're the one dating a sex worker. Everything is about sex in your relationships."
True. But I'm working on it.
"Do you know that Jack molested Ana?" She looks surprised. Is there a hint of guilt I'm seeing?
"I didn't know that. He was supposed to only scare her a little. I'm sorry he went so far." Wow, an apology from Elena. Something to mark in the calendar. Seems like somewhere deep down in her being she is capable of caring for other people.
"Why him?"
"I needed someone close enough to her but distant enough from us."
Us? There is no us.
"Funnily enough he said he already knew.. he just lacked evidence. Something about seeing you drive her around." Seeing me drive her around? Does she mean Taylor dropping Ana off? Maybe I shouldn't have pushed my plans onto Ana… maybe this wouldn't have happened? Who am I fooling? Elena would have tipped him off either way.
"Did you really expect me to tell your mother? I'm not that cruel. Now, stop this interrogation." She adds after seeing my frowned expression.
"I appreciate your worries about me. What I don't, is you going behind my back. Ana is the love of my life. I'm going to marry her someday. I'd appreciate if you don't sabotage our relationship."
"Marry?! "
"Yes."
"You know I won't approve.. "
"I'm telling you to back off. I'm not asking for your approval."
"Fine." She scoffs again. The waiter brings dessert and she begins to eat in silence. I have lost all my appetite.
"You have to give me some credit here. Your change of.. everything is utterly surprising. It's not what you need. Not what I taught you.."
"You taught me how to fuck. You never once held me. Never told me..."
"Getting soft now? Where's the Christian I know?"
"Maybe I don't want to be an asshole all the time."
"Is that what she made you believe? You're the most successful, eligible bachelor in Seattle because you are an asshole."
My eyebrow lifts involuntarily to her remark.
"Well, not to those who matter. You're kind to whoever deserve your attention."
I need to get this out of my system. Seal Pandora's box for good. I need closure. For me. For Ana.
"People like you? I always treated you differently, didn't I? You had more privileges than anyone else. I put you on top, even my own family." How didn't I see that? All these years.. The isolation. The despair. All because of her?
"What we had was special. No one could understand." She says and smiles.
Special. Or just abusive?
"A long time ago I told you I loved you. You just.. ." I don't want to say it out loud. After saying those words she degraded me over and over again until I almost got to the point of crying. Beating the shit out of me was a walk in the park compared to that. Now I know that it wasn't love I had felt. It was dependency.
"So what? Having great sex makes people say stupid things." She leaves two spoons worth of desert like she always does.
That's all I will get on that matter. The waiter comes and clears our table. Asking if I didn't like the dessert. I wave him away with my untouched plate.
„Do you remember that time over Christmas?" I ask.
„There were a few Christmases we spent together. You have to be more specific, my dear." She takes a sip from her wine. When did she allow herself to speak to me like I'm stupid? Or did she do it all the time and I didn't see for what it was?
„Before I dropped out of Harvard."
„What about it?"
„You punished me for crossing the line."
„So what?" She starts to get annoyed, I can tell.
„You ignored my safe word."
„That was such a long time ago. You were still a little boy. Surely you have gotten that wrong." She says and scratches the wine glass with her red painted fingernail.
„No. I remember it very clearly."
„What is it that you want, Christian? Haven't we agreed not to dwell too much on the past?"
„This is your chance to redeem what you did. To apologize."
„Apologize? Do I have to remind you that it was a consensual relationship where you agreed to be punished by me? Where you wanted, needed me to punish you?"
„You broke the rules! You punished me despite me ending the scene!" I cannot control my temper any longer.
„I have no recollection of that."
This is it. Her final chance. Still she's trying to gaslight me.
How could I be so blind?
"Goodbye, Elena."
"Where are you going? We're not finished here."
"We are. For good."
"If you walk away now, there's nothing holding me back to expose everything."
"Go ahead. Do it." She's stunned that I'm not frightened by her. "If you want to end up with a lawsuit that is."
"Really? For what offence? Telling your little secret? " she smirks.
"Statuary rape." I say.
I leave the restaurant. Without looking back.