On the way back, Evan was silent, and Elena in the corner of the car was too depressed to say anything. By the time they were about to reach home, hatred towards her body filled Elena. It had let her down in this most basic function and she had to live with this knowledge for the rest of her life.
Clouds were entering her soul, and shedding heavy drops of unworthiness, and such was the weight she couldn't even hold his hand and tell him that she loved him more than life itself. They never exchanged affection in public.
"Mom will know what to do," said Evan as the gate of their villa came into their sight.
"You're going to tell her?"
"Of course, don't you think that is best?"
"Didn't you say it was our problem?"
It turned out that 'our' meant the collective us of the joint family, for his mother must neither feel excluded nor ignored. For the first time, Elena felt annoyed with her husband. He was twenty-seven, did he need to tell his mother everything? They could figure out what to do first and if nothing worked, they could inform his family. However, Evan was unperturbed. He didn't agree with Elena's line of thought. He didn't say anything and Elena knew that he was firm on his decision.
Her heart sank. Tears welled up in her eyes. She felt vulnerable, extremely vulnerable. Evan's decision to involve his family gave rise to a sense of insecurity in her heart. She felt exposed. It was as if someone was stripping her.
She wanted to oppose him, but on what basis? He wanted to involve his family, so she should've also done so for someone to speak up on her behalf. But what about her family? The person who she could confide in was long gone. She had lost her mother to a car accident a year after she had married Evan. And her father? It was as if he didn't exist even though he was alive.
Reginald Ashford was almost on his deathbed. After the death of his wife, he had no will to live. He had no external or internal injuries. Yet his internal organs were slowly failing…
Elena secretly wiped her tears as she climbed out of the car and entered the villa. This was the villa that her parents had given to her in her dowry. The Cross family had shifted into the villa after the marriage. Elena didn't oppose to this arrangement even if she wanted to stay alone with Evan. After all, where would the mother go if not stay with the son? However, what she didn't expect was that her two sisters-in-law would also be living with them.
Katherine Cross and Brianna Cross attended a community college as their grades didn't get them anywhere. They didn't work hard as they knew that they would get a job at Ashford Corporation without any effort. As of now, the two young ladies were just sponging off their brother Evan.
As they entered the villa, Evan directly went to his mother's room. He was closeted in her room for a long time, leaving Elena tense and nervous. Katherine, who was watching television, glanced at Elena from the corner of her eye. A smirk appeared on her lips as she asked Elena, "What's the matter, sister-in-law? Do you have some good news?"
Elena didn't notice the smirk on her sister-in-law's face as she fought to keep the sick feelings at bay. What Katherine asked was far from the truth.
At that moment Elena thought it was easier to commit suicide than to live. From the day of her wedding, she had thought of this family as hers, reveling in the togetherness, sharing and companionship. Even though it was not as good as she thought it to be, the Cross family was not bad to her either. However, she didn't know what would happen now.
Elena didn't have the courage to face Evan's family now and so without replying to Katherine, she strode listlessly towards her room.
A look of hatred appeared on Katherine's face when she saw Elena ignoring her. However, she didn't get angry. In fact, she was happy. 'What was this bitch acting so high and mighty for? She was just a hen who couldn't lay eggs!'
Elena didn't know that the Cross family was already aware of her condition. She went to her room, opened a cabinet and took out a photo lying inside. As she looked at the elegant woman in the picture with a smile on her face, Elena could no longer control her tears.
"Mother!" she screamed in her heart as she hugged the photo frame tightly. She wanted to shout out loud to let her grievances flow but she wasn't comfortable to show her vulnerability to anyone.
'How good it would have been if you were here! Why did you leave me so soon? I don't want anything now. I just want you! I want to run in your arms just like I did in childhood when I faced trouble. I want to know that you will definitely have a solution to every problem of mine. I want to have faith that everything will be fine since you're here for me! Mother, can you come back? Please come back! Your daughter has nowhere to go!"
Elena cried her heart out as she expressed all her vent up feelings to her mother.