Distance

"No, not at all. You are my sister and you have returned after two years. Of course, Cedric wants to pamper his sister-in-law. I have told him to take good care of you since you were not in a good condition. I am relieved that you liked the gifts. I will thank him tonight for taking good care of you." Eve's hands were clenched and tears were forming in her eyes again.

She did not care if Cedric gave her things or not. But he could have told her. He could have… it does not matter. She was not going to show the world that she was weak.

"Oh, is that so.. Eve, I am happy that you have such a good relationship with your husband. Then I will try out all those dresses. Haha. I shall be going now." Elene cut the call, perhaps she was too excited about those clothes. Eve shook her head and stared at the screen for a long time when she noticed it was past midnight. 

No matter how much of a workaholic her husband was, he always returned to their room before midnight. Did something happen?

She stood up to check on him. The mansion was silent at night since all the maids left for their houses after dinner. Cedric wanted to keep one for the night but sometimes they were too loud and Eve was embarrassed that a maid would hear all that.

She went to the kitchen and made a berries smoothie for him first. If he were going to stay awake he would need that extra energy.

Looking at a strong man like Cedric, many would think that he prefers Coffee or drinks. But he was too health conscious so his favorite drinks are energy boosters or healthy drinks. 

She slowly opened the door without knocking and walked in. but she paused in front of his table. He was not there. He was sleeping on the sofa on the side. He had taken off his shoes and jacket.

No file in his hands meant it was not an accidental sleep. Ha! Cedric was not the kind of man who sleeps accidentally while working. If he had been sleepy, he would have closed everything long ago and returned to his room for sleep. But he did not. He was still here. On the sofa, he looked cramped. If he did not want to sleep with her, he could have taken another room at least. There are twenty-two bedrooms in their villa.

She stood there with the smoothie in her hands for a long time and stared at the sleeping figure. As if, if she stared hard enough she would get the reply of her questions. But the truth was harsh and she had to accept it.

She placed the smoothie on the coffee table and left the room with a sigh. Perhaps she closed the door with too much force or her gaze was too intense. The moment she left the room, the man opened his eyes and stared at the closed door. Then his eyes shifted to the smoothie on the table.

He sat up and drank the smoothie. He had a rueful smile on his face as he drank the whole glass. But instead of sleeping again, he stood up and walked to the balcony. There were lines of tension on his face and his muscles looked stiff.

But he didn't let his emotions rule him. He took a deep breath and returned to his desk again. There was a file placed there.

He opened it and "divorce Papers" the title welcomed him. He stared at it long enough before closing it and placing it among other files. 

—-

Eve woke up with puffy eyes. Her head spinned the moment she stood up and she had to take many deep breaths to control the desire to vomit. But in the end, she failed.

She ran to the washroom and vomited her lungs out. She had hardly eaten anything last night. So it was just bile but it felt like she was going to die. Her headache was worse and she felt nauseated. Just a bit of smell irritated her. She sat there for a long time before forcing herself for a bath.

When she walked out, she looked like a ghost despite the amount of makeup she had applied to bring some color to her face. 

She sat on the breakfast table. But when the maid brought food, she felt nauseated again.

"Madam, are you alright?" asked the maid when she noticed she was covering her mouth with one hand and her belly with another, "shall I call the doctor?" Eve was only able to shake her head. She was afraid that if she moved her hands away, she would vomit on the table.

She ran to her room again and closed the door. When Cedric came to the dining room, his brows furrowed. Eve has never been late or ever missed her breakfast unless she was sick. He thought she would be early today and ask questions to him. Questions, he did not know the answer to.

"Sir, madam is.." the maid was about to inform him about Eve's condition when another maid came running with his breakfast and elbowed the first one. 

"Madam is in her room. She had refused breakfast. We asked if she was sick or needed a doctor but she refused." it was not a lie but the way it was presented was completely different. It felt like Eve was throwing a tantrum.

This was not the first time maids had done that. A few of the maids did not like her because she was poor and became their mistress. Some were given bribes to do so and some still hoped that Cedric might take one of them as his mistress since it was common in their world to have casual flings.

"We do not know how to continue with the preparation of the party."