Chapter 26 BIRTHDAY PARTY IV

        El stood in front of Griffin without any gift. She had completely forgotten that it was a birthday party and not just any other party. What was she going to do? The old man expected something from her, but he wasn't the only one, every member of Ethan's family also did the same. As she stared at their faces, she could feel the scornful look some of them gave her. How could she forget such an important thing? What was she going to do? He had everything, and he wasn't a woman that she could just excuse herself from them, and gift him one of the jewelry she wore. She took deep breaths, preparing for the worst thing they could do to her when an idea suddenly popped into her head, and her lips curved into a smile.

      "Grandpa," she called out sweetly, as she walked to where he stood, and hugged him. Everyone was stunned. She was the first person in their family to hug him which he willingly allowed since his wife died. "Happy birthday. Thank you for being born into this world today. I can never be more grateful for having someone like you as my grandfather, and I also can't ask for more. You're perfect, loving, and the best person I've met in my existence. Not to talk of the fact that you don't age. It's like you get younger every day." He chuckled at her last words as she released him from her embrace, stunning everyone once more. "Once again, happy birthday." She smiled, and he returned it.

      "You're full of surprises, my dear. Once again, you've surprised this old man in front of you by saying such sweet words. Thank you."

       She smiled at him in the most beautiful way she had ever done. "And I mean every word I said." She smiled again.

       "Eleanor, the next Mrs. Grayson, correct me if I'm wrong." She heard someone say from behind and her attention was pulled from Griffin to the person as she turned in the person's direction. It was a woman, a blonde-haired woman staring at her disdainfully with her icy blue eyes. She looked like she was in her late forties, and as El stared at her face, she could see the resemblance between the woman and Mirabel. She didn't need a soothsayer to tell her that they were related by blood. She is elegant, classy, and proud. El could tell from the way her eyes downsized her while staring at her. 

        "Yes."

       "What gift did you prepare for Mr. Grayson? Don't tell me you couldn't afford one. Are you that cheap?" Amelia asked, making El bite her lips in embarrassment as everyone present in the building now stared at her. 

     "Of course, she can't afford one. The only thing she can afford to do is to spend Ethan's money on buying expensive outfits, and jewelry. She's nothing but a gold digger as I always say. She couldn't even get a present for grandpa," Vanessa said rolling her eyes, and El's eyes shifted to her, only to find her staring at her contemptuously. She still couldn't fathom the reason for this girl's attitude towards her. It's her fault all of these were happening at the moment, if she had known, she would have gotten something for the man. But she had no idea what to buy for an old man who has everything, the only thing he needs right now is love and care which she had given and has been much appreciated by him. 

       "Obviously, you can tell she's one from a glance, and a filthy one if you ask me," Amelia added.

      El bent her head in embarrassment when she saw the way people who heard everything they said stared at her as they whispered amongst themselves. She had never been more embarrassed in her life before. She smiled bitterly inside. She didn't want any of this. She wasn't the one who arranged the marriage between the both of them. She wasn't a gold digger. She had never in her life felt entitled to anyone's wealth, and had always worked hard to earn hers. Everything she owned as her property was earned from hard work until she was forced into a marriage with Ethan where she didn't have any choice but to do anything asked of her from him. He had said these exact words to her before, and it had hurt her really badly then, but not as much as she heard it from other members of his family. She walked away when she couldn't take the embarrassment anymore.

       "Where did you find this girl, Gage? You can do better than this," Amelia said as she continued staring at El until she was out of sight.

       All the while they said all these things, Griffin's eyes were on Ethan. He had hoped to see a reaction, or emotion in his eyes, one that told him he cared about her, but he didn't find any. His face was even more expressionless than it normally was, and Griffin sighed in disappointment. This was the reason he proposed that agreement of their union to Antonio because he wanted to see Ethan come alive once more. This grandson of his became cold after he lost his mother when he was little, and since then, he hardly showed any emotion. He once heard having a woman in one's life changed a man, and he had waited till he was twenty-eight for Ethan to finally have one in his life, but it had never happened. So, he took the liberty of bringing one into his life, hoping she would make him warm once again as he was when his mother was alive.

        "Enough," Ethan said calmly, and everyone stared at him. "That's enough, Vanessa," his gaze shifted to Amelia as she gulped unintentionally. "You too, Amelia. Everyone's watching. You don't want this to be the trending topic on the headlines tomorrow, do you?" he asked nonchalantly.

      "My grandson is right, I don't need any of these gifts, Eleanor's gift to me is the best gift I've gotten so far." At the old man's words, everyone started checking their gifts, they all were ashamed of even buying gifts for him. Those who wanted favors from the Graysons had second thoughts about even presenting their gifts to him. 

        He was right, there is nothing you can buy for a man that has it all and can afford anything he wants. "What a thoughtful daughter-in-law you've got Mr. Griffin, you've got the best gift." A man walked up to him after hiding his gift so did the others who still had theirs, as they all praised Eleanor for her thoughtfulness.  Amelia was furious, alongside Vanessa, but they managed to force a smile to hide their embarrassment so that the other guests wouldn't be able to tell. They never knew this whole incident will turn around to favor El. 

      El walked down a hallway with tears in her eyes. She had lived in the mansion for a while, so she somehow knew her way around the mansion, unlike the first time she was here. This was one of her favorite places in the mansion, the hallway which had different paintings. She wouldn't deny the fact that she was famished with the artworks that were hung around the place. This was because most of the artworks depict the artist's pain, and miseries, and it made her feel like she wasn't the only one in the world going through difficulties. She imagined theirs to be more than hers, in that way, she felt a little bit better and it gave her more courage to be able to endure hers.

      She tried to distract herself from thinking about what transpired between her and some members of the Graysons, but no matter what she tried to divert her attention to, always had something that would make her remember it again. Frustrated by how she felt, she walked out of the hallway, to the garden to get some air.

      There were many stars in the sky this night, she noticed as she stared at them. She wished the evening was also as beautiful as it looked, but it wasn't. When she had walked into the hall room with Ethan earlier this night, she had a picture in her head, a beautiful picture of what the evening was going to be like. How she was going to enjoy herself, have fun. She haven't even spent up to thirty minutes in there, and her evening had been ruined. The worst of it all was that even when they called her those names, no one stood up for her, not even her so-called fiance, Ethan. It's like they all wanted to show her her place in the family, that she was no one. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and droplets of them fell on Ethan's suit.  

      That was when she realized she was still putting on his suit. Annoyed, she removed it from her body and tossed it aside, and it fell to the floor on someone's feet.

     "Oh My God! I'm so sorry," El apologized sincerely as she bent down to pick the suit from the person's feet. "I didn't mean to," she apologized further when she saw the huge figure standing in front of her. She knew everyone here was filthy rich, and she didn't want to cause trouble for herself by offending anyone of them. Her stay with Ethan had made her realize how wealthy people were ruthless, especially if they weren't in a good mood, and she couldn't tell if the one in front of her was in a bad one. 

      "It's okay." She heard the man say, and she felt relieved. "Why is a beautiful duchess like you sitting out here crying all alone?" She heard him ask, and that was when she realized they were tears on her face, and she tried to wipe them with her palm. He brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. 

       "Thank you," she said receiving it from him as she wiped her face properly with them. After wiping her eyes, she could see the man in front of her clearly. She wasn't able to have a clear view of his face before now, because her eyes were blurry from the tears that welled in them, but as she looked at him now, she noticed how handsome he looked. 

       His black tousled wavy hair was parted sideways, complimenting his perfect jawlines which had a beard neatly carved on it, and so was his mustache on top of his beautiful pink lips. He looked like he was in his early thirties, and he had beautiful hazel eyes.

      "Do you mind telling me what's going on with you?" He asked concerned. As she stared into his eyes, she could see the sincerity in them, but she couldn't tell him what was wrong with her. He was a stranger after all. Even if he had calm, trusting eyes, she would be a fool if she trusted a stranger she had just run into.

      "Yes, I do mind. Here," she handed the handkerchief he gave her over to him.

      "You can keep it." She heard him say, and she looked at the handkerchief in her hand. "Thanks for this," she said before walking back to where she sat earlier on. 

     He watched her walk away as he continued staring at her until she sat on the bench. He had seen her at the party earlier when she walked in with Ethan and had watched her every movement since then. He saw her hug Griffin back then, and how her expression changed when she started having a conversation with the other members of the Graysons. They probably said some hurtful words to her to make her cry, and he didn't know why, but he found himself following her out here. But why? He asked himself. To watch her drown in misery? To comfort her? To keep her company? He couldn't tell. 

       He walked to where she was and sat beside her. "You know if you want to talk to someone, you can talk to me."

     "Why are you still here? And what do you want from me?" 

    "I want you to make me cry." She heard him say, and her brows raised in confusion. " What? " She asked confused.

     "I happen to have an illness, anhedonia which prevents me from crying. So, I want to hear the sad story that made you cry. Who knows, it can be the cure for my illness. If you tell me, and it makes me cry, then I'll know it's a really sad story. But if it doesn't, then I'll just know that you're no different from a crying baby." 

      She smiled unintentionally, without knowing. This man was hilarious. Anhedonia? It was a mental illness, so how was her story supposed to help him recover? And what did he just indirectly call her? A crying baby?

      "You know you don't need to make up a disease for yourself just to get my attention," she said rolling her eyes.

     "Do I look like a person who would make up a disease for myself just to get your attention?" He asked staring directly at her face with seriousness.

      He was right. He is really attractive and doesn't need to play such childish tricks to get a girl's attention. But what she couldn't understand was why he was sitting next to her, telling her all this. She cared less about his mental illness.

       "What do you really want from me, Mr."

      "Chalamet. Christopher chalamet. If you wanted to know my name, you just had to ask."

      She looked at him confused as her brows folded into a frown. What was wrong with this man? Was he here to annoy her? Because if he was, then it's working. Why on earth would she want to know his name? Of what importance is it to her? She just wanted to be left alone. Was that too hard too much to ask for? She took a deep breath to calm herself.

      "Why do you think I'll want to know your name? Are you here to annoy me?"

      "Okay, please calm down. I'm not here to annoy you. I just wanted to lighten your mood, okay? So please don't get upset," he pleaded genuinely. She could tell from the emotions in his eyes, and her anger died down. 

     They sat in complete silence as they just stared at the beautiful night sky, and as she sat there with him, she didn't think about anything that happened a while ago at the party. This was exactly what she needed. She was being comforted without him saying, or doing anything. 

    Soon, it became windy, and he removed his suit, which he held out to her. She looked at the suit and wanted to reject it, but when she looked into his eyes and saw no other intention other than concern, she accepted it and put it on. 

        Ethan stood behind them, watching every move they made. His hands were clenched into fists, as he saw his suit on the floor, while the other man's suit was on her body.