Chapter 81

Ever since that awkward, turbulent discussion Eleanor and Lorenzo had in his office, the house had become a silent war zone.

Everyone on the property noticed the disconnect and unbreathable tension between them and were quick to avoid getting caught in the middle of anything. Whenever the two of them managed to cross paths, the rest of the room was quick to evacuate.

Many of the staff members were genuinely wondering if the bonding ceremony was still on. Whispers and muttered conversations filled the house. And who could blame them?

Considering the lack of love and devotion that was once surrounding the two fated mates was now faded and non-existent, they wouldn’t have been surprised if someone let it slip to the press at some point.

What the hell had happened? No one could have possibly doubted the connection Eleanor and Lorenzo had. When they worked together, they were utterly dynamic.

“I’m telling you,” one of the maids whispered to another. “Something must have happened.”

“But what? One moment they’re as happy and in love as can be, and the next thing it’s like they can't even bear to look at each other.”

The maid shook her head. “I have no idea...You don’t think one of them had an affair, do you?”

The other staff member let out a sharp gasp and pushed her coworker on the shoulder.

“How could you possibly think that?”

A disgruntled noise of someone clearing their throat echoed through the room, startling the two maids from their conversation. They meagerly turned their heads to find Eleanor leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I can deeply assure you, neither I nor Lorenzo is involved in any sort of an affair,” she told them.

Both of the maids looked as though they were ready to collapse from shock and embarrassment. “So sorry, Luna.”

Eleanor waved off the thought. “Please let me know if the florist calls,” she said. “I need to ask them if we’re still able to get white roses in before the event date.”

The maids nodded their heads and quickly scurried off to resume their duties. Eleanor lowered her gaze before letting out a long sigh.

Oh, yes. The ceremony preparations were still ongoing. With each thing she tried to get through on the list, it caused just a bit more pain in her chest. She tried to get through as many of the jobs on the list as she could by herself.

Unfortunately, there were certain things that required both her and Lorenzo’s attention. For instance, they needed to settle on a venue.

The two of them were sitting at the dining room table when she brought up the subject. She kept her gaze down and cleared her throat. “Is the ceremony going to be here, at the house? Or are we planning on having it somewhere else?”

Lorenzo glanced up from his work tablet to look at her. “Whatever you want is fine,” he answered.

‘What the fuck kind of an answer was that?’ she thought bitterly.

Eleanor scowled and tossed her linen napkin down before loudly excusing herself from the table. “Whatever then.”

For the rest of the night, she kept to the study until it came time to get ready for bed. She hadn’t anticipated Lorenzo to have already been waiting for her inside the room. When she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, her heart skipped in her chest.

He wore a look of uncertainty. “Listen, I received a call from work earlier today. There’s a meeting I need to attend...I’ll be gone for about a day and a half.”

Eleanor didn’t know why she thought that Lorenzo was going to bring up the case, or rather his lack of willingness to talk to her about it, but she felt her hopes begin to flutter for nothing.

“Oh,” she said.

Lorenzo watched with saddened eyes as Eleanor went about her business. He didn’t know what to expect from her when he mentioned the business trip. Part of him was hoping to have more than a two-second conversation with her.

He’d figured that Eleanor would at least be interested in wanting to know where he was going. But no.

All that tension and not a single ounce of relief left him drawing in his own guilt and regret. When he first got the call about the meeting, Lorenzo was heavily contemplating if he should really go or not. He and Eleanor were not in a good place in their relationship.

...

The following day, while Lorenzo was off on his business trip, Eleanor had invited Adeline over to the house. She decided to take a break from the event preparations and have a much-needed girl’s day with her friend. She sat in the library and talked over an opened bottle of wine.

Having briefly filled Adeline in about all that had happened between her and Lorenzo, she was hoping to figure out how to possibly move forward with her relationship.

Adeline, on the other hand, was stunned. “You mean, you two haven’t spoken since you asked him about the disk? Since the day we went dress shopping?”

She shook her head. “Not really. What is there to say?” she asked angrily. “It’s obvious that Lorenzo’s been keeping things from me. I figured, why should I listen to someone who isn’t even going to tell me the truth?”

“Geez, Eleanor. I’m sorry you’ve been going through that,” she said. “But, do you really think the disk Cruz told you about is real?”

“Truthfully, I do,” I responded. “There’s no reason why he would bring something that specific up for no apparent reason. And when I noticed the way Lorenzo reacted when I asked him about it, I knew it had to be real.”

“I really wonder what could be on it.”

She shook her head in contemplation. “I don’t know. But it’s got to be important—enough for Lorenzo to keep it from me.”

Suddenly, Adeline started to smile. Eleanor raised her brows in question.

“What is it?”

“What if you and I try to look for the disk?” she proposed.

‘Hell, why not?’ she wondered. ‘What are the chances of us even finding it?’