"Oh, look who is here?".... Mireille Morreau, Elara's cousin said, her voice loud enough to draw attention to Eli who had just walked into Elara's birthday party which was being held at Genevieve Morreau — Elara's grandmother's house.
Eli, who was tired due to the distance it took from his house to this place, and the only available car had been used by Elara sighed to himself, wishing that everybody would ignore him and he could spend time with his wife
"Darling!!! – I know you said I should wait at home for you and how you wanted to surprise me, but grandma threw this party and she said if I didn't show up on time, we were going to have issues, that's why I left." Elara, who had noticed the commotion, said as soon as she reached Eli's side.
"Oh! – pleeease – you do not owe this man an explanation." Lucien Morreau, …. Elara's uncle and Selva's younger brother said, coming to stand beside Elara.
Unfortunately for Eli, Lucien was about to make an announcement, and a mic was in his hand, so all the guests heard the cruel words he had said to him.
"Uncle, he is my husband, so I owe him every explanation." Elara responded, her face masked with pain and sadness due to the ugly way Lucien had just spoken to Eli, but in her heart she was joyful and happy about the embarrassment Eli was currently facing.
She had been happy to marry Eli at first, had been in love and wanted nothing more to spend the rest of her life with him, she had known about his situation then, but somewhere deep in her heart, she had believed things would change and Eli would become rich, but with each passing month, and Eli didn't seem to improve in his finances, and her family had started to look down on her, even her mom had done nothing to hide her disappointment in her choice, Elara had started to detest Eli, and the love she had for him started to fade.
She couldn't divorce him though, she did not want people to see her as a gold digger and someone who only married for money, so she had continued to pretend as the sad, helpless wife whenever her family insulted Eli and hoped in her heart, that this would chase him away and she could continue to uphold her good perfect persona, and all the insult would go to Eli.
'Poor husband leaves loving wife due to shame.' That would bring so many rich suitors to her, who would treat her nicely and try to gain her favour, because they would all believe she was so in love with her husband and she was suffering from immense heartbreak, thereby making it hard to win her heart.
"It doesn't matter Elara, Hope you are enjoying the party?" Eli asked, a sharp pain cutting through his chest as he looked at his wife's sad face.
"How could I enjoy the party without you here? —- I was thinking of coming to find you if you had not shown up." Elara responded, burying her head in Eli's shoulders as disgust passed through her face.
Eli felt happy immediately and wrapped his arms tightly around Elara, giving her a peck on her forehead.
Genevieve Morreau, Elara's grandmother watched with displeasure at this show of affection from the podium on which she stood, she had hoped to use this event to look for suitable suitors that were worthy of her granddaughter, but how was she going to be able to achieve that when Elara was putting on a public display with Eli, clearing her throat, she reached for the mic.
"Gift giving will now commence, I would love to invite Elara to join me on this podium." Genevieve's voice rang out – sending a smile to Elara's face, she had been wondering how long she was going to need to end this hug, and her grandmother's voice felt like a saviour in her torment. Elara lifted her head slowly, masking her happiness with sadness as she peered into Eli's sad eyes. "I have to go now, babe– I will be back soon."
"I am very certain Eli is not deaf, and he clearly heard your grandma call for you, so I see no reason he should have a problem with that." Luccien Morreau said angrily, his voice so loud that the ever gossipy guest could hear.
"Unclee!! – Please!!" Elara turned to face her uncle, her face filled with sadness.
"Don't get worked up, love." Eli said to his wife as he turned her towards him, planting a light peck on her forehead, making Elara close her eyes immediately, like a girl flustered from shyness due to a kiss like that from someone she loved, but in reality she had closed her eyes immediately to conceal the disgust that had passed through her eyes at the thought of this poor man's lips on her skin.
"I would love to ask Mr Eli to stop from keeping our guest waiting and allow the beautiful lady I had called to walk up here." Genevieve said from where she stood, spitting Eli's name like a curse and poison on her tongue, making the guest whisper harsh words against Eli among themselves, some of their voices not so much as a whisper.
Genevieve smiled from where she was, happy that what she had said was producing the reaction she wanted. She wanted the guest here to see that she had no regard for Eli and didn't consider him her son-in-law, so they could approach Elara without restraint and try to win her heart.
Elara was her most favoured granddaughter, and she had been extremely annoyed when she learned that she had agreed to marry Eli, Elara was beautiful and could get any man she wanted, so had been confused as to why she would settle for Eli, therefore she had made it her sole purpose to rectify Elara's mistake, and get her to marry someone t
hat was truly deserving of her granddaughter.