A week ago
"Step away from my son, you evil thing."
Catherine's voice cut through the morning like a blade.
Elena's fingers froze on Marcus's tie.
It's been three years.
Three years of waking up in this house, sharing his bed, bearing his name but she still wasn't allowed to touch him without permission.
Marcus didn't look at her.
He just reached up, removed her hands from his tie like she was a servant who had overstepped and said
"You heard my mom."
His voice was flat like it cost him nothing.
Elena's hands fell to her sides,she stared at them as if they belonged to someone else.
Useless and unwanted,just like her.
Marcus walked past her and pulled Catherine into a brief hug.
"Morning, Mom."
Catherine smiled at him instantly,with warmth and pride.
"Morning, sweetheart."
The softness in her voice vanished the moment her gaze returned to Elena. Like a switch had been flipped.
Elena looked down immediately. She'd learned that lesson early, eye contact was a challenge.
A challenge she always lost.
Don't react, don't cry,at least not this early she told herself blinking away the tears pooling in her eyes.
The breakfast table was already set. Fresh fruit, toast,scrambled eggs,sausages and coffee. Everything looked expensive but felt cold.
Elena pulled out a chair and sat two seats away from Marcus,not by choice but by instruction.
She'd learned her place.
Catherine sat at the head of the table like a queen presiding over subjects, Marcus ate while scrolling through emails.
The silence was comfortable for them but suffocating for her.
"At the board meeting today, don't agree to Reeves' proposal." Catherine said between sips of coffee.
Marcus nodded. "I wasn't planning to.
"He's greedy."
"I know."
"He'll try to pressure you."
Marcus looked up from his emails. He smiled at his mother, a real smile, not the cold mask he wore with Elena.
"Relax, Mom. I can handle it. I'm the CEO."
"Don't forget I made you who you are, Marcus."
They both laughed at her threatening joke.
Mother and son, allies and partners in crime.
Elena stared at her plate,her fork pushed eggs around without eating.
There it was again,that familiar ache in her chest because she always felt like an outsider. A stranger listening through a locked door.
She inhaled slowly,dropped her fork on the plate and Looked up at her husband.
"Marcus?"
He didn't look up. "Hm?"
"Our anniversary is next week."
She took a long pause,gathering courage to speak further.
"Yes?" Marcus finally glanced at her
Elena curled her fingers under the table.
"I need some money."
That got Catherine's attention immediately,she looked up from her food straight into Elena's eyes.
Elena continued before her courage left her body. "I want to get a dress and jewelry for dinner."
Marcus finally glanced at her. His expression unreadable as usual.
"How much?”
Relief flickered in her chest. "Not much, I just-"
"No."
Catherine interrupted her,setting down her cup. The sound echoed through the dining hall.
Elena's fist tightened under the table.
She looked at Catherine, waiting for whatever came next.
Catherine dabbed her lips with her napkin. "She has enough dresses."
Marcus said nothing but listened as everything unfolds.
"What exactly do you do all day except spend my son's money and sit at home crossing your legs?"
Elena's jaw tightened. Usually, she would stay quiet, but something sharp pushed through today.
Something that had been building for three years.
"Actually," Elena said, her voice controlled, "it's my father's company."
Marcus looked at her now. Irritation flickered across his face.
She continued. "I gave it to Marcus because he's my husband."
Catherine gave a small, cruel laugh. "Oh?"
Elena's heart was beating fast, but she pushed forward.
"Yes." She lifted her chin.
"So if we're being honest, he built his empire using what my father left me."
The silence that followed lasted for seconds that felt like hours.
Tension crackled in the air.
Then Marcus spoke with a Low and cold voice. "You don't get to disrespect my mother, Elena."
She was shocked at her husband's reply.
The man who had promised to love her forever.
"I didn't disrespect her Marcus " she replied him.
Marcus put down his fork. "She's telling the truth." Each word landed harder in Elena's heart.
"You ask for money every day." He leaned back and crossed his arms, giving her an annoyed look meant for scolding children.
"It's exhausting."
The word punched deeper than shouting ever could.
"Exhausting?"
Elena muttered
She laughed out in disbelief and looked at Marcus and back to Catherine.
This man wore watches she paid for,drove cars bought with her inheritance,ran a company built on her father's legacy.
Now asking for anniversary money was exhausting?
Catherine smiled faintly because She knew she had won.
Then came the final strike.
"You don't even have the right to ask for money so boldly." Catherine's voice was sharp.
"Not until you give him a child."
Elena's body went still at that moment,she looked at Marcus waiting for him to say something,anything to defend her or save her the embarrassment but he didn't.
Her gaze dropped to her lap,her fingers found each other,they picked,twisted and pulled themselves. Tiny movements to keep herself from breaking.
She had gone to different hospitals and was declared healthy,unlike Marcus who refused to get tested. He always came up with excuses.
Catherine didn't care about the excuses. She only cared about accusing her.
A tear burned behind Elena's eyes,she blinked rapidly and refused to let them see her tears.
Not anymore.
When she spoke, her voice was almost too soft to hear.
"I'm sorry."
She stood up to leave,no one stopped her because she wasn't needed there.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"For speaking out of turn."
Marcus had already returned to his phone,Like she was invisible.
Elena pushed in her chair carefully. If she moved too fast, she would shatter.
She walked out of the dining hall and kept walking until she reached the kitchen.
Her hands trembled and her breath came in short gasps,She was about to lock the door when she heard Catherine's voice.
Elena should have locked the door but she didn't because something in Catherine's tone had changed.
Gone was the polished cruelty,what remained felt darker.
"You have one more chance to get rid of that thing."
Elena stopped breathing,cold spread through her veins.
"Correct your mistake son."
Marcus still said nothing,not a single word in her defense.
Catherine's voice lowered further. "Better don't disappoint me again."
Elena's fingers tightened around the doorframe. Her pulse thundered. Goosebumps covered her skin.
Get rid of that thing? Mistake? What were they talking about?
She turned her head slowly,peered through the crack in the door and saw Marcus staring straight ahead. His expression was blank.
As if considering something irreversible.
Elena suddenly understood one terrifying truth:
She had never truly known the man she married.