Chapter 37 Tears
ADRIANA
I watched Elijah walk away and I knew I should go after him. So why weren’t my damn feet moving?
I had just shared a moment with him after thinking that he was mad at me, so why did I react like that?
I was shocked by the way my heart was skipping beats as I stared into his eyes, not being able to move and frozen in time. I remember wishing that this had happened in my room so that we’d kiss again.
It had been so long and I wanted to kiss him again. Why didn’t he just chase everybody out of the gym and let it be just us?
As I took a step to run after him, I heard my name and I turned to see an older woman walking up to me.
“Hello dear, I’ve been meaning to speak to you for a while.”
She paused and I prayed that she would just go on with whatever she wanted to say.
“Is everything okay?” I hadn’t seen her around before.
“Yes, it is. I wanted to thank you for what you did for us.”
She continued without waiting for me to respond.
“I heard you had helped in getting rid of the old matron. She had been a horror to work under. And she’s gone now thanks to you.”
I know it sounded like I was being ungrateful but right now, I was totally over people thanking me for something I barely did. The only thing they could do that would mean a lot to me was letting me go right now so I could catch up with Elijah.
“Oh, that was nothing. I just wanted to help out in any way that I could. It’s fine now tho—”
“No dear, it’s not just that. You helped me get my job back. You have no idea what you’ve done for me.”
I paused, my brows furrowed. “What do you mean? How did I do that?”
“You see, I was the former matron here before that horrible woman took over. That woman made me sick and then told the Alpha that I was dead. Since I have no family and no one to declare otherwise, she took my job and my position. It was only recently when the Beta came to look for me personally, that I learned of her dismissal and that I could return.”
Something wasn’t adding up here.
“But if she took your job, why didn’t you just come back and say that she made you sick? Why did you let her go ahead and take everything from you without fighting back?”
She smiled, a painful one that didn’t reach her eyes.
“That is my younger sister. I dedicated my entire life to giving her the best and giving her anything that she desires. When she first told me that she wanted to work here at the palace, I decided to get her a job as a maid but she refused it outright, saying that she wanted to be the matron. I told her it wasn’t possible since I couldn’t just give someone else my position without good reason so she had to do what she had to do.”
It made me think about my own situation. It was just like Lisa and I. The only difference was that I didn’t willingly let Lisa take things from me, she took them by force and I didn’t have a say in it.
It was sad though, what older siblings have to give up just so that their siblings can be happy. The sacrifices they make without anyone even noticing or caring.
I didn’t care about Lisa’s happiness anymore, I just wanted her to let me be and leave me alone.
“I’m really glad I could be of help. Welcome back to your position, if you’ll excuse me though, I have somewhere very important to be.”
She smiled warmly and waved at me and I bolted out of there, not wanting to give someone else the chance to see me and stop me again for another round of thanks.
My heart was racing as I made my way to his office. I needed to apologize for how I’d acted earlier. I needed to tell him that I didn’t mean to push him away like that.
I didn’t bother knocking as the office door was already slightly open.
“You can’t keep saying that you don’t want me, Elijah. I know you do. I know you want me.”
It wasn’t just the statement that caught me off guard, it was the person who said it.
Hannah was seated on his lap, her hands wrapped around his neck and her face dangerously close to his.
My stomach dropped. My heart stopped. Everything inside me froze.
“Hannah, what—”
He stopped mid-sentence when he saw me standing at the door, pushing her off him like she was a pot of hot stew that had burned him.
“Excuse me.”
The words came out barely above a whisper. I couldn’t even recognize my own voice.
“Wait, Adriana. Wait! Please!”
Like hell I was going to wait. I turned and walked out of the room as fast as I could, feeling embarrassed and stupid and angry all at once. I really was about to apologize to him for what happened at training and he had already found someone else to pass the time with.
Why did I care anyway? It’s not like he had told me he liked me and it wasn’t like I liked him either so why did it hurt so much to see him with someone else? Why did it feel like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart?
Why were men like this? Why was I foolish enough to think that he would be any different from Landon?
“Please, Adriana. Please, listen to me.” He grabbed my hand and spun me around to face him. “It’s not what you think. I can explain everything.”
I didn’t want to hear it, whatever he had to say. I didn’t want to hear it because I knew that it would be a lie. It always is, that’s all men do. They lie and make excuses and break your heart.
“Let me go, Elijah. Go back to Hannah and let me be.”
It hurt me to say that but I knew that it would hurt him more and right now I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted him to hurt the way I was hurting.
“Please don’t say that. Listen, it’s not what you think at all. I wasn’t doing anything with her. She came on to me and—”
That statement reminded me of Landon and how he blamed everything on her for coming on to him when he got caught with Lisa. How he made it seem like it was my fault that he cheated.
So I couldn’t help but take all my anger and pain out on Elijah.
“I don’t care what happened! I don’t care about your excuses! Just let me go!”
I snatched my arm away from him with more force than necessary and stormed away, the tears in my eyes gathering and threatening to fall.
I slammed the door shut behind me, falling on my bed and finally letting the tears fall. I hated myself for crying. Hated myself for caring. Hated myself for thinking he was different.