Chapter 71

Chapter 71


One day, Elvie noticed Joey’s face was no longer the same pale shade as the bathroom wall.

He was going through something called adoptive cell transfer therapy. The treatments were invasive and uncomfortable after he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, but every time he came back to the mansion, he smiled bigger than the last time. He was still weak. He was still grey. But he no longer spoke like he was ready to die but too ashamed to let go of life because he knew how much she needed him, and that made her heart soar. Even after what he’d done, Joey was still her family. Her brother.

They spent more and more time out of the mansion with Thea—short trips around the block, arm in arm, admiring the festival of colours as the garden burst into full-blown summer. Green leaves rustled above their heads, and barefoot children ran around the neighbourhood, pointing the park’s hoses at each other and spreading wild laughter like confetti. Flowers unfurled in their sleepy beds on the edges of our neighbourhood’s sidewalks.

Elvie still hadn’t told Joey she knew about Zander, and she intended to keep it that way. Even though they were cautiously optimistic, there was a good chance the treatment wouldn’t work. In which case, she would forever blame herself for confronting him about lying to her and trying to save both of them when, really, she should’ve been cherishing every moment with her brother. So she chose to do that instead of picking a fight.

“Are you going to the library today?” Joey asked.

“Yeah, I need to catch up on some reading material for work. Why?”

“Oh, we got an invitation from the neighbour to come watch that new classic movie. She’s making Irish stew. But of course, you don’t have to come.”

“I’ll take a pass. I think you’ll have a good time anyway.” She knocked her shoulder against his, smiling brightly.

“It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t know what I think.”

Joey had never dated, and not for her lack of trying to fix him up with people. She’d spent the majority of her college years trying to get him to sign up on dating sites—before he got sick. Elvoe was desperate for him to be happy and never wanted him to think he shouldn’t be on her account.

“It’s really just a movie and dinner.”

“Dinner? I thought it was a lunch thing,” she smirked.

They stopped by the grocery store on the corner of our street, and he blushed. Actually blushed. He was almost giddy with excitement. Such a natural human reaction, but on his pale, ill skin, it looked like a glorious sunrise. Yes, Joey asked her about impossible things that were always involved with money, but how could she deny him that? He was the only family left that matters, aside from Thea. Of course, she would just let it pass. He wasn't perfect, but he was trying.

“Don’t worry, I have other plans for the afternoon. How’s Zander?” He scratched his head.

Right. Zander. It’d been several weeks since she’d mentioned him to Joey. Then again, he’d very rarely dragged his butt before, even when they were married. He knew that there was nothing serious between them before. And maybe he still thought the same.

Joey wasn’t too suspicious, because she worked insane hours—it still felt like she was barely at home to spend time with him. She didn’t want to explicitly lie to him, but this lie had gotten so big that it felt almost criminal to come clean at this point. Especially on this beautiful, sunny day, when they were both happy and smiling.

“He’s good, Joey.” She pulled him into a hug. “He is still kicking some ass at SBC.”

“How about the woman, I mean, Kristal?”

“No news," she lied. “She and Zander were, um, not in the tabloid anymore.”

Not technically a lie. Their mutual so-called friends had been happy to break the news that Kristal had recently been promoted back to High Fashion. For them, it was more reason for Elvie to get down from the ego tree she’d climbed up and fuck Kristal’s day. But she was done being naive. For her, it was yet more proof of the fact that Kristal was still sleeping with Matheo. Of course, Elvie wasn’t a big enough hypocrite to point that out.



Three hours later, she was walking to the park on her way to the library. She’d dressed down, embracing the fact that it wasn’t a workday. She felt juvenile and reckless in dark skull-themed shoes. The world felt lighter when she wore flannel shirts, ripped jeans, and a messenger bag. She adjusted the strap over her shoulder, about to enter the station, when someone honked their horn behind her.

Rolling her eyes, she proceeded.

“Wife! Hey! Elvie!” The commanding tone found its way straight to her core, making her stomach swirl with delicious heat. Bloody hell, what was he doing here?

She turned around slowly, feigning annoyance, because the alternative was showing him how much she cared and how much it affected her to see him here. In the open space of the park. On a Sunday. Take that, Kristal.

Zander sat in his navy blue Mercedes-Benz in a navy, short-sleeved sport shirt, his Ray-Bans tipped down to examine her.

“What are you doing here?” she narrowed her eyes. Elvie hadn’t spoken to him since the phone incident. They only talk about Thea. They’d talked business in the office, but every time he’d tried to pretend like that night hadn’t happened—like he hadn’t broken her phone just because she’d exchanged numbers with some random guy at a diner—she turned around and walked away.

“You can’t keep ignoring me.”

"I'm pretty sure I can. Exhibit A: this conversation.”

“I’m your boss. I'm your husband! The father of your daughter.”

“Precisely, and you crossed a lot of lines, Zander.”

“You could have made a great lawyer.”

“Not satisfied with my performance as an assistant of your assistant or maybe as your new researcher?”

He smirked, “Quite the contrary. As a booty call, however, you do a lousy job.”

“Good. Consider this my official resignation.”

“Of course you can't resign. Joey owes me…” Zander lifted his hand, waving a brand new cellphone. It was the new model that had just come out a few minutes ago and was already out of stock.

“With twelve cases in different colours to suit your mood," he shot Elvie his devastatingly charming smirk. “Truce?”

“Never. But I do need a phone.”

This was a gift she was willing to accept solely because he was responsible for the untimely death of her previous phone. It’d been a rough few days without one, but she wasn’t exactly swimming in money to buy a replacement. She’d had to arrive at work even earlier and leave slightly later to make sure she wasn’t needed or MIA, and at home, she checked her email every half hour.

Zander clutched the new device to his chest, and mine tightened in response.

“Come get it, wifey.”

“Fuck you, Zander.”

He was blocking the traffic, and someone honked behind him. Three long beeps

“You want to get her number? Park like a goddamn man and let us through!” someone yelled behind him.

Zander ignored the guy completely, ruthlessly entitled to the bone.

“No, thanks." Elvie rolled her eyes and resumed her walk to the subway.

He began to drive slowly beside me. Not unlike a creeper. She rolled her eyes again, but she couldn’t help but feel a little satisfaction at the way he’d been chasing her the last few days. He’d even come down to the cafeteria to fetch her from lunch with Almera and Gerald, muttering an excuse about an urgent meeting, when really all he’d wanted was to ask if they could see each other that night.

The answer, by the way, had been a big, fat no.

“I want to show you something.” His car was blocking a long line of vehicles now. “It's about Thea.
That did it... but she remembered nothing urgent that came out of her mind about her daughter.

“Nice try, Zander.”

“Come on, Elvie! I'll show you something!”

“You already showed me plenty,” she muttered, secretly liking that people were still honking at him and that for the first time in our relationship, he was the one out of sorts.

“Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean geographically.”

“Would you like to dazzle me with your rich-boy apartment? Show me another glitzy hotel you own?” She made grand, hoity-toity gestures with her hands as she walked.

Four. You’re acting like a four-year-old. She thought to herself.

“In the fucking car, wife!”

“Say the magic word.”

“My dick?”

Elvie made a gagging sound.

“I agree. It is abnormally big, but I haven’t heard any complaints.”

“The magic word,” she repeated.

“Please.” The word rolled off his tongue like it was in a foreign language.

“Whoops. Still a no.”

Elvie's determined stroll slowed when his catcalling stopped. Had he given up on her? She took a few more steps before a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up. He was smirking darkly, his thick eyebrows drawn together.

“Gerald was right. This is kidnapping," she said as Zander yanked her towards his car.

He’d parked in the middle of the street, blocking approximately thirteen cars now, all of them honking. Some had tried to reverse and slip out of the road. To say Zander didn’t give a crap wouldn’t be a stretch. She got into his car and buckled up, mainly because she didn’t want anyone to put a bullet in his head for his behaviour. He started driving and strapped in as he did, not wasting any time.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“You’ll see.”

“You never apologised for the phone.”

“I do. I am. It wasn’t my finest moment. I would say I didn’t mean it, but lying on top of breaking your shit would really be rude. You shouldn’t have exchanged numbers with another man. I’ve been dutifully faithful to you from the moment my tongue touched your crack.”

She threw her hands in the air. “You’re a psycho!”

"Nope, and yes I am. I'm crazy because of you!” he smirked and gave her a sexy wink.

She clicked her tongue instead.

“It is to me.”

“You are married to me,” he said with a blank look.

“Whatever. Does that mean we’re in some sort of relationship, in your weird mind? This is clearly just a contract between two adults.”

“Not a relationship, but an arrangement. Yes. Do you think you can handle that?”

She laughed bitterly. “I can’t fall in love, Zander. I’m broken.”

“Good. Let’s be broken together, then.”