The Scandalous Wedding

Chapter 22: Stupid wouldn't even begin to describe it

Elijah McCoy was scared to get out of the car. He was SCARED. He wasn't afraid that his father would be frowning down upon him or his father in law would be furious with him, or his wife would punch the day lights out of him. He was scared to look at his wife's face. He was scared to see the tears in her eyes, for which he was responsible. Never in his life had he felt so disgusted with himself, as he felt now. There were many times his name was dragged into mud, along with many socialites, models and high society women, but never did he feel so guilty or sorry for those women as he felt now. Was it because this time the woman was his wife, or was it because he started growing soft for her? He had no answer to that question.

He sat there in his car, while his driver threw him curious glances through the rearview mirror, drumming his fingers on the wheel silently. Eli was unsure what to say, how to even look at his Ace. He promised himself that he wouldn't let her become miserable, but since their marriage, he gave her nothing but misery. That thought alone made his body sweat with tension and guilt. He couldn't get out of the car, because he didn't want to. He wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, but here – outside the de Silva's mansion.

"Sir", his driver called out to him, which made his jerk his head to the front, "Are you okay?" Eli himself had no idea, if he was okay so he remained quiet. The driver was used to his employer's indifference so he didn't probe for answers either. After a couple of minutes, Eli took a deep breath and got out of the car.

He was greeted by the familiar butler of the de Silva's house who immediately announced his presence and led him towards the study room, where all the elders and his wife were.

Eli took a disguised deep breath, masking his emotions into a emotionless mask and strode into the double doors.

He was greeted by all kinds of looks, worried, disappointed, angry, curious and blank. The former four expressions belonged to his parents and in-law's while the last expression belonged to his wife, surprising him to no end. He was expecting anything but this...

Sang sat there on a reclining chair, with her feet neatly tucked under her bum as she read, what looked like a, mills and boons novel near the glass wall. The room was illuminated with a golden light coming from the lamps and the fire place, while it drizzled noisily outside.

Ace turned the page silently, looking engrossed in the story, as rain drops splattered the glass wall, behind which a beautiful garden followed by thick woods made the scenery breath taking. If it was any other situation, Eli would have wanted to resume his previous hobby of painting, and make a beautiful canvas of his wife. But this otherwise situation demanded him not to do so.

"Elijah", Mrs. De Silva or Alina as she preferred addressed him, not able to take the tension anymore. Eli's eyes were still fixed on Sang who snapped her head up and immediately noticed his presence in the room. The instant her eyes met him, he wished they never did. Because the passion with which she was consumed into the story, was quickly replaced by anger and grief.

"Alina, Damon", Eli nodded to the pair among who, one looked ready to cry and the other ready to kill.

"Mom, Dad", he addressed his parents as well, who were silently casting disappointed looks at me. He took a couple of steps towards Ace, but one look at her face and he changed his course towards the couch beside her.

"How could you let this happen?" Damon spat in his gruff voice. He looked so angry that Eli worried that he might burst any moment like a bubble. His wife placed a hand on Damon's silently urging him to calm down.

"It is futile to think of what has happened, let's focus on what needs to be done", Alina spoke in a composed tone, though her looks betrayed her cool façade and reflected her inner turmoil.