Chapter 14 #2
"Maybe he just didn't like this batch," she said lightly. "I'll teach you another recipe that he really loves. I'm sure he'll eat those happily."
Astrid let out an exasperated sigh, dropping one hand onto her hip before looking at Elise in disbelief.
"I don't think that's it."
She searched Elise's face for a long moment, then shook her head.
"It's because he loves you, doesn't he?"
The smile on Elise's lips stilled.
She pressed her lips together, a small, almost bittersweet smile appearing on her face. Her fingertips absentmindedly traced the rim of the porcelain plate. Then she slowly lifted her head again, a faint smile returning to her lips.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before continuing.
"If someone had told me that a few months ago..." A quiet, almost wistful laugh escaped her. "If Xavier had told me he loved me back then..." She shook her head gently. "I think I would've been the happiest woman in the world."
Her fingers lightly curled around the edge of the plate.
"That's all I ever wanted."
She looked at Astrid, her expression calm and sincere.
"I already have parents who love me. I have people who care about me." She smiled softly. "The only thing I ever wished for was to be loved by the man I loved."
Her gaze drifted away for a brief moment before returning to Astrid.
"But not anymore."
She slowly shook her head.
"I don't want a love that I have to guess." Her voice remained steady. "I don't want to keep wondering whether someone loves me or not... whether I'm enough or where I stand."
A small smile returned to her lips, gentle but resolute.
"I want a love that's obvious." She looked directly at Astrid. "One that doesn't leave room for doubt."
Astrid let out a soft hum of understanding.
"This is why you're doing it, isn't it?" she asked, watching Elise carefully. "You're deliberately pushing him away. You're making him leave you."
Elise didn't deny it.
Instead, she calmly placed the plate of cookies on the dining table. Once she was done, she folded her arms loosely across her chest and leaned back against the counter.
"Maybe," she admitted.
Her answer was simple, almost casual.
"But it's better this way."
Astrid frowned slightly.
Elise glanced toward the staircase where Xavier had disappeared before continuing.
"If he never realizes that he loves me, then it will be easier for him to move on." Her voice remained steady. "He won't have to go through the pain of losing someone he truly loves because he never had to face that loss in the first place."
She looked down briefly, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
"It will be better for him... and for me."
Astrid studied her silently before crossing her arms over her chest.
"So when he brought me back to this house..." she said slowly, "you already knew, didn't you?"
Elise looked at her.
"You knew he was only doing it to hurt you."
She tilted her head slightly.
"You knew he wasn't actually in love with me."
For a moment, Elise didn't answer.
She took a slow breath, and a small smile touched her lips.
Her gaze shifted toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Outside, the first snowflakes had begun to fall.
The white flakes drifted gently from the sky, settling over the garden and the stone pathway until a thin layer of white slowly covered everything outside the mansion.
Without saying a word, Elise walked toward the glass doors.
Astrid followed behind her, watching her curiously.
The two women stepped outside onto the front porch, the cold air immediately brushing against their faces. They stood side by side, looking out at the quiet winter scene as snow continued to fall around them, covering the ground inch by inch.
Astrid's lips twisted into a disappointed pout as she lifted a hand and lightly touched her face, gently running her fingers over her cheek as though inspecting herself.
"What a shame," she muttered, her brows pulling together. "I really thought I was pretty enough to make any woman feel threatened and for any man to fall in love with me at first sight."
Elise turned her head toward her, unable to stop the small smile that appeared on her lips.
"You are very pretty. There is no doubt about that."
Astrid looked at her curiously.
"But love doesn't always happen at first sight," Elise continued. "Sometimes, feelings grow slowly over time."
She stepped closer and gave Astrid a reassuring look.
"You can make him fall in love with you slowly. I can help you."
Astrid's smile faded.
"You would really do that?"
The surprise in her voice was obvious as she stared at Elise, almost as though she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Elise simply nodded, her expression sincere.
Astrid studied her for a moment before letting out a quiet breath and shaking her head.
"Why would you do that?" she asked, her eyebrows drawing together. "Why don't you just confront him instead?"
She stepped closer, lowering her voice.
"Tell him to confess his feelings for you instead of playing these games with him. If you did that, I honestly think you both would get back together."
Her eyes softened.
"You would be happy. You would get the ending you wanted."
The smile on Elise's face slowly faded as she turned away from Astrid.
She moved closer to the edge of the porch, folding her hands behind her back as she looked out at the snow-covered garden.
The sight should have been peaceful—the quiet mansion, the gentle snowfall, the entire world slowly being covered in a blanket of white—but instead, the snow pulled her into a memory she had spent years trying to forget.
A memory from a night that still felt like a nightmare.
The snow had fallen just as heavily that night, covering the streets in white as an eight-year-old Elise stood outside her own home, desperately pounding against the locked door.
Her small hands had hurt from hitting the wood over and over again, but she hadn't stopped. Tears had blurred her vision as she begged her parents to open the door, begged them to let her come back inside, begged them not to leave her alone.
She had been their daughter.
She couldn't understand how they could simply throw her away without a second thought.
All she had ever wanted was for them to love her.
Ever since she was little, she had watched other children being held by their parents, protected and cherished, and she had wondered what it would feel like to have that kind of love.
So she tried everything she could. She helped with every chore, listened to every command, and did everything she thought would make them proud of her.
She had believed that if she became a good enough daughter, they would finally choose her.
But she had been wrong.
That night, standing outside in the freezing snow, she had begged until her voice became hoarse. She had cried until she had no tears left, yet the door had never opened.
Her parents had already made their decision.
They didn't want her anymore.
Even when Kevin and Grace found her wandering alone in the middle of the city, lost and terrified, and tried to convince her parents to take her back, Elise had still held onto that tiny piece of hope buried deep inside her heart.
She had believed that maybe seeing her would change everything.
Maybe when they saw how scared she was, how much she needed them, they would remember that she was their daughter.
Maybe they would hear her crying and realize they couldn't truly abandon her.
So she begged them again.
With trembling hands and tear-filled eyes, she pleaded for them to open the door, to let her come home, to give her one more chance.
Because a child always believed that their parents would choose them.
And Elise had been no different.
But they hadn't.
They had taken her to an orphanage and walked away, telling everyone that they no longer wanted her.
For an eight-year-old child, it had felt like her entire world had disappeared in a single moment.
The only reason she hadn't been left to disappear into the system was because Kevin and Grace had refused to abandon her. Instead of letting her become another forgotten child in an orphanage, they had taken her in and given her a home, a family, and the love she had spent years searching for.
After everything she had experienced, Elise understood that desperation changed nothing.
Elise had learned that no amount of begging could make someone choose you. No matter how desperately you wanted to be loved, you couldn’t force someone’s heart to stay where it no longer wanted to be.
She didn’t want that kind of love.
She didn’t want a love that required her to convince someone to choose her.
Turning her head toward Astrid, Elise looked at her with a quiet sincerity that came from years of carrying that pain.
"I was abandoned by my parents because they didn't love me."
Her voice remained calm, but every word carried the weight of a memory she had lived through.
"A forced love is just hatred hiding behind another name." She paused, her gaze drifting back toward the falling snow. "I don't want a love that I have to beg for."
For a brief moment, Astrid simply stared at her.
Then the corner of Elise's lips lifted slightly as she said,
"I will marry the man who loves me."
The simple certainty in her voice made Astrid's eyes widen.
Within seconds, her expression crumbled.
"Oh my God..."
Before Elise could react, Astrid stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"You are making me cry. How do you do that?"
Her voice came out muffled against Elise's shoulder as she hugged her with such force that Elise couldn't help but laugh softly.
After a moment, Astrid pulled away, wiping at the corner of her eyes before looking at Elise with complete determination.
"I promise you," she said, pointing at Elise with a serious expression, "I am going to make Xavier fall head over heels in love with me."
Elise blinked.
Astrid's confidence only grew.