Chapter 55

~Eliana~

I wheeled my suitcase, walking slowly, as I waited for the departure time of my flight to Toronto, Canada, to be announced anytime soon. No one was staring at me like I had committed a crime worthy of being put behind bars, and I felt really relieved.

My hair had been cut short, so that it now rested on my shoulders, and with my face mask on, as well as the face cap on my head, which matched my white t-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, it was impossible for anyone to recognise me. I had wanted my travel to be as discreet as possible, and not even my own parents were aware that I was leaving the country today.

When I had confided in Elvira that I had prepared all my travel documents to leave for Canada as soon as possible, she had told me that I didn’t need to run, and with time, all this would be over. I told her that there was nothing left for me in Los Angeles and I had faced more harm than good for ten years now. Eleanora, who had been eavesdropping, came out of her shadows and agreed with me, saying that sometimes, it was okay to run, and that maybe I’d probably find happiness in another place in the world.

Even though her statement had come as a shock to me, it wasn’t all that surprising, because amidst all our fights and bickering, we still shared the same blood, or as Elio would say, we were the Venator Sisters irrespective of the clash we had on many occasions.

While Elvira wired the money I had invested in her Fashion House, Eleanora gave me her wedding ring, asking me to sell it along with the engagement ring Alistair had given me. I really appreciated their kindness, and they had helped me sneak my luggage out of the house and into my car, while I was at the barber’s salon.

They waited for me to come out, and although they were of the opinion that long hair suited me more, they admitted I still looked pretty either way. Elvira and Eleanora had driven me all the way to the airport, and upon my insistence, they left without waiting for me to leave first. We had planned that when I arrived safely, I was going to give them a call, after which they were now going to inform my parents that I had left.

Both of them still didn’t know that I was pregnant with Alistair’s child, and I felt that if they knew I was pregnant, they would never let me go. Only my doctor and I knew I was carrying Alistair’s child, and I was determined to keep it that way for the time being, at least.

After Alistair publicly shamed me, I had called Sam on the phone to ask why he had to do such an awful thing to me, and all the bastard could say was that he was willing to do anything to make me his again. All I told him was that he would never even get a glimpse of me ever again, and I blocked and deleted his number.

Thankfully, my family had believed my own side of the story, and we had come to the conclusion that Alistair was the culprit behind every bad thing that had befallen my family in the past two weeks, and it was hard to even admit it, because I had never guessed that I was in a relationship with someone as dangerous as he was. Only I had crossed him, but he had made sure everyone I loved dearly paid the price.

It was just as I had told him when we had made promises to each other. He loved me so much, and as such, he had grown to despise me so much because he believed I had hurt him. I always knew that he was going to take drastic actions should things go south between us, but like a fool, I had still stayed in such a relationship when I knew that it was only going to produce a bad result.

One thing was sure though, and that was the fact that I was never going to forgive Alistair for the shame he had caused my family, and for the pain he had put me through. No one was trolling him for doing such a despicable thing to someone he claimed he once loved. Instead, almost everyone was supporting his actions, saying that cheats deserved to be called out in public for making their partners look dumb.

Everyone was also beginning to say that there was obviously something wrong with my family, as each and every one of us had one problem or another. My parents were positive that everything that was being said against us was going to come to an end soon, but I doubted that.

As soon as the matter was probably starting to die down, Eleanora’s divorce was going to become finalised and she would receive a large sum of money as alimony. People would start saying that she obviously endured in the marriage because he was wealthy, and she wasn’t even ashamed to receive alimony from an animal like her ex-husband, hoping that it could save she and her family from being totally poor again.

Next, Elio would be done with his rehabilitation program, but rumours will fly around that people never really did change. Because of his past records of gambling, he wouldn’t even get a good job, and his only saviour would be if his wife helped him with some money to start his own business, provided her family hadn’t succeeded in convincing her to get a divorce by that time.

After that, they’d find out I was pregnant without a husband, and would start questioning the paternity of the child, trying to know who was the father of the child. No! I could not allow my child grow up and see such a thing, or be teased about it by his or her classmates in the future. That was one of the reasons I was leaving the country for good.

There was no end to my family’s drama, and it was Alistair’s fault that we were in the news now for only terrible things. Everyone was now watching us, and they wanted to know what episode was going to come up next in my family’s life. Forever, I would detest Alistair for the doom that had befallen us, and even if he showed up right now in the airport to apologise for his wrongdoings, I was never going to forgive or forget his actions.

“Eliana! Eliana!” Alistair’s voice called.

I stopped right in my tracks, as I heard his voice. “Speak of the devil, and he shows up,” I thought to myself.

Was I dreaming? Why was he calling my name, and why did he sound like he needed to see me so urgently? I listened again, wanting to know if Alistair was actually at the airport, or if my mind was playing games with me.

“Eliana, I’m sorry. Eliana!” He called.

It wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Alistair was right here exactly in this moment, and he was calling my name because he needed to see me desperately. He was either calling because he had seen the error in his ways, or maybe he was calling, so, he could embarrass me one last time before I got on the plane.

My flight had been announced and I resumed walking, ignoring the calls of Alistair Duke. I received a text message from Carrie, asking me to wait for sometime to listen to what Alistair had to say, before leaving. Shoot! I should have known that he knew my whereabouts because I had texted Carrie earlier on that I was leaving Los Angeles, even though I didn’t tell her where I was going to. I just had to let her know that I was leaving, and instead of showing up to give me one last hug, she had invited my greatest enemy to say whatever it was that he had to say to me.

He sounded desperate, and probably even remorseful, but I was less concerned. If he had managed to deceive Carrie into thinking that he regretted his actions to the point of making her disclose to him that I was travelling out, that couldn’t affect me in any way possible.

The thing was that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t find me where there were hundreds of people with different scents. As someone who knew a lot about werewolves and had even dated an Alpha, I knew he needed to be able to concentrate to catch one person’s scent where few people were present. Imagine doing that at the airport, it just wasn’t possible. All he needed to do was face the truth that whatever we shared was over, and that irrespective of what his intentions towards me might be by showing up, he still wasn’t going to ever get a chance to see me again.

Alistair had hurt me more than anyone ever had, and I wasn’t about to pretend that I was fine and have a conversation with him. To be honest, I wouldn’t be so surprised if he had something up his sleeves, and was only pretending to care now that I was leaving the United States of America for good. Just like he had given me an engagement ring worth a million dollars for whatever reason just to humiliate me, he could be here shouting and screaming my name like he cared because he had an ulterior motive.

There was a saying: Once bitten, twice shy. Alistair had already betrayed the trust I had in him. What’s to say that he wasn’t going to do it again and all over again just to spite me because he chose to believe in a lie? Maybe he was even here for his expensive engagement ring, which I wasn’t willing to release, of course. I had a child in my womb, who was also Alistair’s blood, and needed the money the ring was going to fetch me, even though that child deserved a better father than Alistair.

The disgrace and public humiliation had been hard to bear and had been suffocating, but I wasn’t going to lie. What hurt more was the fact that Alistair had just believed the lies of other people, without even caring to ask me what the truth was. I once told him that a relationship without trust was never going to work, and if he didn’t trust me enough to want to hear my side of the story, the relationship was as good as dead.

Never in my life was I going to fall victim of falling in love with a monster like Alistair Duke ever again. The pain he had caused me had overshadowed the love I once had for him, and in my heart, was just bitterness, anger and hurt.

From now on, I was going to remember Alistair Duke as the man who had taught me how to love, and had also given me a reason to never fall in love again. One good thing had come out of the time I had spent with him, and that was getting pregnant for him. All I needed now was just my child, and even though my heart felt heavy and my eyes were clouded with tears, I knew that my precious child would be enough to fill in the void Alistair had left.

I was going to put behind the memories of my time with Alistair, and focus on raising my child well. That chapter that told of a time where I loved Alistair was long gone, and all that was left now was a broken heart, a child, and a lady who just wanted to forget about the time when she thought love was worth it.

“Goodbye, Alistair,” I whispered, boarding my flight.

It was time to say goodbye to a world of fairy tales, and open a new door to reality, where love was nothing but a fallacy.