CHAPTER 43: HIS WIFE?

Elara sat behind the piano with her eyes closed as she played a simple hymn, her slender fingers running across the keys in an ordeal that screamed of how much she had practiced and once adored music.

’I am so unlucky, so lonely in this world

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever find love

Never imagined I’d leave this world so lonely, sad, and depressed.

Oh, my, why am I not surprised?

You can’t hear me sing; you never did.

Oh lord, dear angels, will I ever find a man who would love me for me

Those scars, those battles—what for?

I am so unlucky when it comes to love.

Oh lord, I am loved and cared for, but what about the person who is meant for me?’

Elara sang softly, her heart strangely feeling lonely.

As they said. It was easier to end things, to end relationships, to end your sufferings, but it’s not easy to forget them because your mind and body also get used to that toxicity after some time.

Maybe that was what she was feeling right now.

It was a feeling of having love and care from everyone in the world, and still feeling depressed.

She didn’t want Andrew back—not even for a second—but this hollowness in her heart...

Elara sighed as she caressed the top of her piano with a smile.

She had asked George to deliver it to her apartment, and it came a couple of hours ago.

It was a beautiful, vintage black piano, just like her mother always loved. Her mother had brought this piano for her after her accident when she was a child, and she had lost most of her memories of her childhood.

"You played well," Elara heard a voice and nearly jumped in her place at the intrusion.

She turned around swiftly, only to come face-to-face with Daniel, sitting on her couch, his eyes dark and unreadable.

Her gaze raked through his appearance, and she swallowed hard.

The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, his hair a mess, his disheveled state clearly indicating he had a tough time getting here.

As she observed him, something caught her eye, and her pupils dilated.

"Wait. Are you bleeding?" She quickly stood up to have a clear look, and it was indeed the case.

He had a wound in the side of his abdomen.

"What the fuck are you doing here rather than going to the hospital?" Elara quickly rushed inside to bring the medical box to see how deep the wound was.

"It was unsafe. I’ll have someone change this couch if that’s what you are worried about." Daniel knitted his brows, and Elara literally wanted to open his skull and check if there was a brain that could think properly.

Did any of her words say she was worried about the damn couch?

"What made you think this place is safe for you?" She asked before she kneeled before him.

"You saved me earlier," Daniel said, his words making Elara look up, her insides trembling at the intensity his eyes held.

The palpable tension around him was suffocating but also luring, and she hated how much he affected her, especially when she was done with these businessmen who cared about nothing but themselves.

"Plus, you have a bodyguard on duty 24/7," he said.

Elara suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"And you have, like, twenty of them," she stated, not speaking further.

She lifted his shirt to see the wound, the fabric making it a bit impossible to do so without hurting him.

"Take your shirt off," Elara said before realizing how inappropriate her words were.

She cleared her throat.

"I mean—"

"I know," he cut off her mid-sentence.

Elara heaved a sigh of relief. Well, it was good that she didn’t have to explain it. At least he was thoughtful about that.

Daniel stood, his brows twitching slightly at the action.

Elara watched the man in complete awe. The wound must be killing him from the inside because of the pain, and apart from that slight twitching, there wasn’t a hint of pain in his eyes.

Just how strong his endurance power was... and why? Her thoughts wavered for a second when she looked at his muscled build, her ears turning red slightly in embarrassment.

What the hell was she doing ogling him so openly? Elara shook her head in shame before cleaning the blood around the wound.

"Tell me if it hurts. I’ll do a temporary treatment. Go and see the doctor after some time when you think it’s safe," Elara said.

The man kept listening to her without making a sound, staying still as he observed her tending to his wounds.

His mind was so focused on the locks of her hair, the way her eyes scrunched to concentrate on his wounds, and the way her slender neck arched to the side that it stopped registering the pain he felt when she applied alcohol to his wound until she started dabbing it.

"There are new rumors about your ex-husband’s sister," he said.

"Stop calling him that." Elara nearly raised her voice before exhaling sharply to control her anger.

"Okay. Let me rephrase it. There are new rumors about that bastard’s sister," Daniel said.

Elara looked up helplessly, her lips pressed into a thin line, making the man grin mischievously.

"So what? Why should I care about that?" Elara asked.

She placed the kit aside once she was done wrapping his wound with the bandages and was about to stand when Daniel held her hand and pulled her close, her face only a couple of inches away from his.

"Because you are the one who leaked those videos, aren’t you?" He asked, his eyes challenging her to rebuke his words.

Elara nodded in agreement. She had nothing to hide. It was true she did that. When she was returning from the studio that day, she asked Antonio to stop the car near a local internet cafe without cameras.

She knew with Andrew’s capacity, they would definitely try to trace the person who posted it and from where exactly. Thus, she had taken all the precautions.

She would destroy them slowly for looking down on her.

Gone was the Elara Frost who used to treat them like her family and would’ve taken a bullet for them.

"Does that bother you?" She asked.

Daniel shook his head.

"On the contrary. It just bothered me that you had to dirty your hands like that. I could’ve done it on your behalf," Daniel said as he watched her go to the kitchen and bring two glasses of juice.

She sat in front of him after giving him one of the glasses.

"And why is that?" Elara asked before she took a sip.

"Because you are my wife," Daniel smirked, making Elara cough on the juice as she looked up at him in shock.