Chapter 52 ENGAGEMENT PARTY XVII
El's eyes never left Ethan's as he stood in front of her. She could feel her heart plummet in her chest, yet she tried not to look away from him. It seemed like a challenge to her, an interesting one.
She could feel his rough hand brush against her skin slightly as he loosened the straps of her nightgown, almost like a tease, instead of an actual touch and that brought another wave of sensation to her stomach.
Ethan took a step back and looked down at her body as she stood in front of him. He felt something build up in his stomach, up to his throat, something her every intimate contact always made him feel... But this time, he wasn't standing really close to her. Just looking at her in her sexy black lingerie brought different feelings inside of him, and he hated it.
He hated the fact that he was trembling inside, trying to resist himself from exploring the temptation in front of him, something he had never done in his life. He was a person who always took what he wanted in life, but right now, he doesn't know why he felt the need to get her permission.
He never knew the effect this girl had on him until now that she was almost naked, in dim lights in front of him. He only needed to walk to her right now, take off that piece of clothing she has on her left, and take her there.
He walked closer to her and led her to the bed.
El's hand shook slightly as she followed Ethan. She had never imagined she was going to have anything with this man, talk more of having it this way.
He held her shoulders with both his hand, making her sit on the edge of the bed, before making her lie slowly on it. Her brain stopped working and she stared at him without breathing.
Ethan's eyes slowly moved down her body from her face and stopped at her stomach ring slightly on top of her belly button. He reached for the ring with his both hands and pulled it out slowly, stunning El as she wondered just what this man was up to. Did he hate having s*x with someone when the person has a ring on her stomach?
This man was a weird and confusing person. She had just confirmed her doubts today, but what was weirder than him pulling out her stomach ring was the fact that he was pulling it with so much care as if he was doing a life and death situation surgery. She had never seen Ethan this careful in his life, and she found this little act of his funny.
Without looking at her face, he pulled out a box from his pocket and pulled out a new diamond stomach ring from it, which he put on her stomach.
He stepped away from her after that and placed the ring which he pulled out from her stomach on top of the table in the room, before sitting on the couch.
She watched him change her ring, and step away from her dumbfounded, and she sat up at the edge of the bed staring at him confused. She had expected much more than this from him.
She blushed as she thought about what she had envisioned them to do tonight, and was thankful for the fact that the lights in the room were dimly lit, so he couldn't see how red her face had become.
"You look disappointed..."
Ethan's words echoed in the room, and she bit her lips on hearing them. Well, she wouldn't deny the fact that she was, a little. It felt like he was reading her thoughts, and she hated when this man was right. So what if she was disappointed? He doesn't have to know.
"And why..."
"Don't be too hard on yourself." He interrupted sarcastically. "I would've been impressed if you are attractive" "even this bit." He created a little space between his forefinger and his thumb which he held together, close to his face, and smirked on seeing her dumbfounded face.
El could feel all the energy inside of her drain until there was nothing left, and she felt like dissipating right there on the bed where she sat. She had never expected to hear such words about her body from anybody, talk more of Ethan who she seemed to have developed feelings for.
She never cared so much about her body until she met Ethan, but one thing she had always known was that she was beautiful. Right now, hearing those words from him, made her begin to doubt everything she had known about her body. She never knew body shaming was this deadly until she heard those words from him.
She looked down at her body, and back to his eyes which were fixed on her, and she could feel tears well in them. Not wanting to let him see that his words had affected her so much, she stood up immediately the tears threatened to fall from her eyes, and picked her nightgown from the floor before walking into the closet.
She had never felt so hurt and insulted by a man in her life before, and the thought that the man who made her this hurt was the one which she liked the most among all the men she had met, made her angry.
She knew it was going to be this way from the beginning, that was why she tried so hard to stop herself from developing any feelings for him. Yet, the more she tried to stop herself, the more she finds him irresistible. And now, she was suffering from her foolishness.
All his defiant words and action hurt her twice the time they did when she first came here when she didn't feel anything for him.
Unending tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of what he said to her. She cursed herself as she sat on her makeup chair and looked at herself in the mirror. She is even more stupid than before.
How can she let Ethan affect her this way? She had promised herself not to let anybody hurt her again after her last breakup, yet she still let people in to hurt her even more than before.
She sat there for a while, drowning in her misery until she started feeling sleepy and decided to go back to bed. When she went back to the room, she saw Ethan on the bed, already asleep, and she joined him in bed.
El lay close to the edge of her side of the bed with her side, backing him. She made sure she wouldn't have any contact with him since she was very mad at him. In no time, she slept off.
.
.
The next morning, El woke up earlier than usual, even before Ethan, and prepared herself for the rest of the day. She had decided to let go of the feelings she had for Ethan last night, and was working towards it now.
She knew one thing was making a decision, and the other was working toward it. So, as long as she was determined to kill it, and work towards her determination, in no time, it was going to be over.
After dressing up with the help of her maids, she headed downstairs to have her breakfast. When she got there, there was no member of his family, except the maids who were serving the meal.
She decided to skip breakfast when she sat there for a while without having any appetite.
"Bradford," El called the butler who stood outside the mansion.
"Miss Eleanor?" "Good morning Miss," Bradford greeted surprised by her early presence outside the mansion.
"Prepare a car for me. I'm going out," she ordered.
"Yes, Miss," he replied hesitantly as he looked at her suspiciously.
A few minutes later, the car was prepared for her, and she left the mansion.
.
Ethan opened his eyes as he lay on his back on the bed. He sat up straight, looking beside him and when he noticed El wasn't on her side of the bed, he walked into the bathroom to take his bath.
He was partially awake when he heard movements earlier this morning in the room. Knowing fully well that it was El preparing for her normal daily routine, he ignored her.
He opened the door of the bathroom, and walked into it, before closing the door behind him.
After preparing for the day, he walked out of the room to the dining room. On arrival, everyone was present at the table, including Chloe. All except El. His eyes wandered around the room, before sitting on his seat.
"Where's Eleanor?" He asked as he picked up his cutlery to eat.
"Your so-called wife left the mansion this morning," Aunt Amelia said with disgust in her voice.
"Eleanor left the mansion?" Ethan asked irritated.
Everyone stopped eating at the table and turned to look at him.