Chapter 18
Elise's eyes slowly opened in the darkness of the room.
For a few moments, she remained still, simply staring down at the man holding her.
Xavier was still asleep, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as though even in his unconscious state, he was afraid she would disappear if he loosened his hold.
His face rested close to hers, his soft breaths brushing against her skin, and his entire body remained curled around her.
She looked at him for a long time.
Her fingers slowly lifted, and she gently touched his face, tracing the familiar features she had come to memorize.
Her fingertips moved over the corners of his eyes, the sharp lines of his cheekbones, the roughness of his stubble, and finally down to his jaw and neck.
She held his face carefully, almost affectionately, as if she was trying to remember every detail of him before she had to let go.
Her eyes never left his.
The tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes remained there, refusing to fall, while she continued to look at him with a sadness she couldn't put into words.
This was the man she had loved for so long.
The man who had once made her feel like the most precious person in the world, even through the smallest things he did without realizing their meaning.
Elise closed her eyes and took a deep, trembling breath before slowly lowering her hands.
Carefully, she lifted Xavier's arm from around her waist, moving slowly enough that she didn't wake him. His hold loosened, and she quietly slipped away from him, even though every part of her wanted to stay there a little longer.
Her eyes moved toward the clock on the wall.
Six in the morning.
The first rays of sunlight were beginning to appear beyond the darkness outside, marking the beginning of a new day.
Elise reached down and picked up her dress from the floor, quietly slipping it back onto her body before covering herself. For a brief moment, she looked back at Xavier sleeping peacefully on the bed, her expression softening as she memorized the sight of him one last time.
Then she turned away.
She quietly stepped out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs, careful not to make a sound.
The mansion was already beginning to come alive.
A few maids moved silently through the rooms, preparing breakfast and completing their morning routines, their footsteps barely making a sound against the polished floors.
When Layla saw Elise walking down the stairs, she immediately hurried toward her.
"Miss Foster," she called softly, concern appearing on her face. "Do you need anything? We were just preparing breakfast. Are you hungry?"
Elise didn't answer.
She simply continued walking toward the end of the hallway, where the storage room was located. Layla watched her in confusion as Elise opened the door and reached inside, pulling out the suitcase she had placed there days ago.
The suitcase that already contained everything she had brought into the Chen mansion.
She had packed it quietly after deciding that she would leave Xavier. There had only been a few things left behind, small items she had continued using while she stayed there.
She picked up the suitcase and carried it back into the living room.
The moment Layla saw it in her hand, the concern on her face deepened.
"Miss Foster..." she said hesitantly. "Are you going somewhere?"
Elise stopped in front of her.
Layla looked at her with confusion and worry, but Elise's expression remained calm.
"Layla," she said softly, "please go to Astrid and tell her to go and sleep in Xavier's bed."
Layla froze.
Elise continued, her voice gentle but firm. "Take care of everything she needs. From now on, she will be the one you should look after."
A small, sad smile touched Elise's lips.
"Thank you for everything you have done for me. I will be leaving now."
Layla stared at her, unable to process the words.
She glanced toward the guest room where Astrid was staying, then looked back at Elise, confusion written all over her face.
"Miss Foster... I don't understand." Her voice lowered. "You want me to go to Miss Astrid's room and tell her to sleep in your bed with Mr. Chen?"
She repeated the words slowly, almost as if she was hoping she had misunderstood.
But Elise only nodded.
"Yes.”
Layla stood there, concern still written across her face, but she could see that Elise had already made up her mind. After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her lips together and gave a small nod before letting out a quiet sigh.
She watched as Elise walked out of the mansion with the suitcase in her hand.
Outside, the morning air was cold and quiet.
Elise walked toward her car and opened the trunk, carefully placing the suitcase inside.
It was heavier than she expected, and it took her a few attempts to adjust it properly before she finally managed to fit it inside.
Once it was secure, she closed the trunk, the sound of the lock beeping softly as it shut.
She took a slow breath before walking around the car toward the driver's side.
Her hand had just reached for the door handle when suddenly a hand came down and slammed the door shut.
The loud bang echoed through the quiet morning.
Elise froze.
She immediately turned around, startled by the sudden sound, and her eyes widened when she saw Xavier standing behind her.
He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling with every uneven breath. His hair was messy, as though he had rushed out without even taking the time to fix himself. He was only wearing the trousers he had thrown on in a hurry before running out of the house.
For a moment, he looked nothing like the controlled, untouchable man everyone knew.
His face was tense, his jaw clenched, and his eyes burned into hers with a fury that made Elise instinctively shrink back.
She looked at him silently before her gaze shifted past him.
The front door of the mansion was open.
Astrid and Layla stood there. Astrid was still dressed in her night clothes, watching the scene unfold with worry in her eyes.
Layla’s hands were folded together, and there was a small trace of guilt on her face as she avoided Elise's gaze.
Elise understood.
Layla had told Xavier.
Xavier's hand shot out before Elise could turn away, his fingers catching her face and forcing her to look back at him. His eyes burned into hers.
"What the hell is going on, Elise?" His voice cut through the quiet morning, echoing through the stillness surrounding the mansion. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
His gaze dropped briefly to the suitcase beside her before returning to her face, his expression becoming more furious with every passing second.
"You're leaving? After everything that happened, you were just going to run away like this?"
His gaze moved past her toward the open door of the mansion, where Astrid stood silently, and then toward the house itself before returning to Elise. The look on his face changed, the anger mixing with a deep sense of betrayal.
"So this is what you've become?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "You're going to decide who sleeps in my bed now?"
Elise remained silent, and that silence only fueled his frustration.
"You decided to take control of everything?" he continued, his voice rising. "My life, my choices, my home... and now you're deciding who stays with me, who takes care of me, who sleeps in my fucking bed?"
His jaw tightened as the fear inside him disguised itself as anger.
"Is that what this has come to? You're deciding who gets to be in my life and who doesn't?"
But Elise only looked at him.
"It doesn't matter anymore," she said quietly.
The words immediately made his expression change.
The fury on his face faltered, replaced by confusion as he searched hers for any sign that she didn't mean it.
"Thank you for everything you've done until now, Mr. Chen."
The way she addressed him made his brows draw together.
She had never called him that.
Not once.
But Elise didn't stop.
"I won't be staying with you anymore," she continued softly. "I don't want to live here."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the handle of her suitcase before she looked away from him.
"I think it is better for both of us if we part ways now and live our own lives."
Xavier could barely believe it. His breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling as he stared at Elise, his heart pounding so hard that he could barely think straight.
He had told her everything last night. He had explained himself, admitted his mistake, and begged her to understand him.
Yet she was standing in front of him now with that same indifferent expression, as if none of his words had changed anything.
"Didn't anything I said last night make a difference to you?" he asked, his voice rising with disbelief. "We talked about it, didn't we? I explained everything. I begged you, and now you just stand here like a rock. Like none of it mattered to you."
His rough voice echoed through the quiet morning, but the anger in it couldn't hide the hurt underneath. He wanted her to fight with him. He wanted her to scream at him, blame him, or even hate him for what he had done. Anything would have been easier than the emptiness in her eyes.
But Elise said nothing.
She only looked at him with a quiet distance that made his chest tighten. The woman who used to react to every emotion he showed, who used to worry about him and fight for him, was now standing in front of him as if she had already accepted that he was no longer hers.
She reached up and took hold of his hand that was still against her face. Without anger, without hesitation, she gently removed it and lowered it away from her.
Xavier's jaw tightened as he stepped back, his expression hardening even though his heart was aching. He looked at her, trying to understand how they had reached this point.
"Maybe I was wrong about this relationship from the beginning," he said, his voice turning cold.
A flicker of pain crossed Elise's face.