Chapter 16 Elodie
Elodie
Istep into my new bedroom with a box in my arms and stop just inside the doorway.
A queen-sized bed sits at the center of the room dressed in soft satin sheets. Built-in shelves line two walls, ready to house all the books I’ve kept in boxes over the years. The walls are adorned in a silky cream-patterned paper, different from the dark hues covering the rest of the house.
Everything looks polished and exceptionally beautiful.
I take a few steps further in, my gaze drifting as I try to take it all in at once. A door stands open to my left, revealing an en-suite bathroom with marble counters and a glass shower.
On the other side, a walk-in wardrobe stretches out, already fitted with empty hangers and drawers waiting to be filled.
God, the room is bigger than my entire apartment, with an in-your-face luxury that reminds me why I accepted Dorian’s offer.
Skylar and I arrived ten minutes ago. We were just behind the movers, who took the bulk of my stuff—mostly books.
We took care of my personal items and the notebooks I use for school with my lesson plans.
Skylar is downstairs looking around the house. I’m yet to do the same, but I needed a moment to myself.
I set my box down near the dresser and drag in a deep breath as I process the first moments of my new life.
I have no idea what will happen from here onwards, but this part doesn’t feel bad. That’s a good thing.
I’m nervous as all hell, so nervous my stomach hasn’t stopped doing backflips, but nothing has felt terrible so far.
That says quite a lot given the fact that I’ve agreed to not only marry Dorian Vale, my brother’s ex-best friend, but also have his children.
I guess I just traded in one catastrophic situation for a lesser evil. I’m just glad I’m not dead. The life I was living last week was no way to live.
Still, I know the road ahead of me is going to be a tough one. And I don’t even know when I’m going to see Dorian next.
My phone buzzes in my pocket before I can take another step. I retrieve it and frown when Jack's name fills the screen for what has to be the millionth time. Just like all his previous calls, I send it to voicemail.
I don’t want to speak to him. I don’t want to argue, and I don’t need anyone to reason with me. My mind has been made up, and anyone who wants to drag me back to the hell I experienced last week can go to hell themselves.
Besides, as of this morning, I’m bound by contract.
I officially signed my agreement to Dorian’s offer hours ago. He sent his assistant—Albert—to deliver the contract and a whole bunch of other paperwork, which included an NDA that blew my mind. Everything was designed to lock me in, and I agreed to it all.
I have a copy of all the documents in the box I carried up. I'll go through them again later. Properly.
I read enough this morning to know the important clauses and specific timelines.
I have to admit that one clause caught me off guard.
Neither party is to engage in relations that will cause personal or public embarrassment to the other.
I smiled at that, even though Dorian had spun my request to include me, too. It was only fair and understandable he’d want the same assurance in return. But he didn’t have to worry about me. I couldn’t be with anyone outside my marriage. Even if the marriage wasn’t real.
I’d see it as cheating, something I abhor.
I’d be no different from my father, but unlike my mother, Dorian wouldn’t care.
I walk over to the shelves and run my fingers along the side.
I’ve never met anybody like Dorian Vale. It was like he was completely incapable of showing any form of emotion, as if he had no soul. If not for that kiss at the Dark Odyssey and the way he handled Marcus, I’d believe it.
It makes me wonder what he’s like with women he actually wants to be with. Women like Grace.
Then again, Grace Astor looks like she belongs on the cover of every fashion magazine. She has the kind of elegance that can give any Hollywood starlet a run for her money. Of course, even Dorian wanted to be with her.
I turn away from the shelves and drift toward the window. The beach stretches beyond the glass, its pale sand and blue water gracing the shoreline. The sight should be soothing, but it’s not.
The papers are still talking about Dorian and Grace. The fact that I missed that scandal says everything about the state of my mind.
After Dorian told me about it, I went home and looked it up. The details came up quickly, and I could see why he was worried about his reputation. And why his father had been furious.
The press believed his affair with Grace gave her husband—Montgomery Astor, New York’s golden saint—the heart attack that killed him.
I saw other articles reporting that Dorian and Grace were seeing each other after he died, but I don’t know if that’s true. As Dorian said, he can make the public believe whatever he wants.
I’m not so sure that’ll work when it comes to me. People aren’t stupid. They’ll take one look at me, see I’m nothing like Grace, and know I’m a gimmick created to smooth things over.
Skylar walks into the room just as I’m slipping my phone back into my pocket. “Jack again?”
I roll my eyes and shift. "Yes. You know him. He won’t stop until he speaks to me." That said, we’ve never had a fallout that matters as much as this.
She bites the inside of her lip and stops a few paces away. "When are you going to speak to him?"
"Not anytime soon." I sigh. "I just can’t with him right now."
I sit on the edge of the bed. The mattress gives under me in a way that my old one never did—soft without sinking, and all the springs…
"Are you okay?" Skylar studies me with concern.
"I’m okay. But part of me is a little… overwhelmed."
There was a provision in the NDA that allowed me to tell her what was going on, but she had to sign a non-disclosure, too.
She didn’t judge me, criticize, or go crazy like Jack, which I was glad for.
But I never told her about the things that worry me on a deeper level.
Mostly because I don’t want to appear uncertain.
Skylar moves to the armchair across from me and lowers herself into it. She pulls her legs up, tucks them beneath her the way she always does when she's settling in for a real conversation. "It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, you know."
"I know. I guess it’s just a lot to take in.” I press my palms flat against the duvet. “And then there’s Dorian. He’s going to be my husband. And we’re supposed to have kids.” Soon.
It took real guts to come here last night and make my demands. All of my requests meant something to me, but the last one—the no IVF—worried me the most.
I was glad Dorian agreed. I’d read about the rigorous side effects, and I truly didn’t want to put my body through such a thing if I didn’t have to.
But on the flipside, I knew that meant sleeping with him. I was just trying to be sensible. And now I was faced with the consequence of my request.
I’ve never even had a one-night stand. I’m not sure how I am supposed to have what will technically be meaningless sex, even though we will be trying for a baby.
My entire body flushes at the thought of being with him in such a way, and I can’t help but wonder what it will be like.
When I kissed him, he tasted like darkness. I barely managed to survive that.
Skylar straightens, brushing her hair over her shoulders. The movement pulls me out of my thoughts.
"Have you heard from him today?”
"No." I shake my head.
She watches me for a moment. "I know the whole thing sounds far-fetched, but I would rather this than have your life in danger. There was only so much you could take of Marcus and his demands."
“I couldn’t agree more.”
"And as for Chloe—"
My hand goes to my forehead. "I don't even want to hear that name."
"Sweetie, you're going to have to face it at some point. You can't just let her off the hook." Skylar's voice is gentle but firm, the way it gets when she's saying the thing I don't want to hear. "Did you file the police report?"
"A few days ago."
"Good. That’s a start.”
It was, and the best I can do right now is leave the police to do their jobs.
What Chloe did—and the hell she put me through—God, it sits in my chest like poison. Every time I breathe too deeply, it tightens, reminding me of its presence.
I don’t want to live inside that feeling. I want to push it aside and take a break, then maybe I can deal with it when I don’t feel like I’m drowning.
"This is a start fresh, Elodie." Skylar gives me a warm smile. "And it allows you to focus on your career."
“Exactly.” I nod.
"I just wish you sounded better." She looks me over. "You look and sound… numb.”
I release a breath and gaze out the window again. “I need time. Time to get my head around everything.”
I look back at Skylar and attempt a brighter smile. “I’m nervous, exhausted, and I hate being at war with Jack.”
“Those are all perfectly understandable. And I’m sure you’re worried about being with Dorian, too." She holds my gaze. "You had deep feelings for him."
I stall, and for a second, I'm sixteen again. I’m standing in the corridor of a college party I shouldn't be at, watching Dorian Vale from across the room. He’s talking to a bunch of girls who all want him.
It was Chloe who got me into that party. I left when Dorian led one of the girls upstairs. She started kissing him before they even made it to the top. He didn’t see me watching. And even if he had, it wouldn’t have mattered. He wouldn’t have cared.
"That’s in the past.” I keep my voice measured. “I’m not that girl anymore.”
“I thought I should check.” Skylar studies me. “You haven’t talked about that part.”
“I’m okay. There’s nothing to talk about. This is a business arrangement. I understand that.” And I have to learn to be okay with it. Whatever I felt for him back then is in the past and irrelevant now. This is about the future.
Skylar's quiet for a moment, before she says, "I can’t deny I wanted better for you. I wanted you to get the dream guy who could sweep you off your feet.”
I laugh without humor. “The only way that’s ever going to happen is in my dreams.”
Her brows knit. “Oh, Elodie. I’m sorry.”
"No. Don’t be." I reassure her. "This is a second chance for me, and so much more than I could ever ask for.” I motion around the room, and the two of us take in the luxury.
“I can’t argue with that. I feel like I’m in a hotel. A hotel in a dream.”
We both laugh. It feels good, freeing.
“I can’t believe Dorian lives here by himself.” I glance around again. This is a family home, but men like Dorian don’t buy houses for such things.
“It’s funny. I imagined him in a bachelor pad in the city.”
“Same here.”
“So, what does the timeline look like?” She sits forward, her eyes bright with excitement.
“The wedding will likely be in a few weeks’ time.”
Skylar's mouth pulls to one side. “A few weeks? That’s seriously quick.”
“Yeah. I’m still trying to get my head around that. Until then, we have to play to the public. Make the right appearances, the right stories, the right photographs. After the wedding, we have to please Dorian’s father for three months. I’m not sure which unnerves me most.”
Jeremiah Vale has always been nice to me, but he’s a stern man who rules his empire with iron fists.
"Try not to worry. I’m sure it will all be okay. You can pull off a wedding in weeks. My parents planned theirs in two.” She gives me a thumbs-up.
I forgot that little interesting fact about her parents. But I imagine it was easy for them because they were together for years before they decided to tie the knot.
“And imagine all the shopping." Skylar claps and waves her hands with excitement.
I smile. She’s trying to cheer me up. And it’s working. “I imagine there will be lots and lots of shopping.”
“I like the sound of that.” She stands and walks toward me, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the door. "And you know what else?”
“What?”
“We’re in this amazing house in the Hamptons. Let’s go exploring. I’m dying to see what the beach looks like." She giggles.
I smile, too. “I think that’s a great idea.”
“Come on, let’s go. And just… enjoy it.”
She’s right. Just enjoy it. It’s been a long time since I was able to do anything so mundane. I can at least push my worries aside for a day. “Let’s go.”
“Yay.”
She leads me out the door, and as we head downstairs, I think about how I made it through the last few months.
If I can survive that, I can survive whatever my upcoming marriage has in store for me.
And I won’t just endure it. I’ll make it work in my favor.
Dorian said our arrangement would be mutually beneficial.
It’s time I make sure it is.