{Eleanora's P.O.V}
I rinsed all the lather from my body and rinsed my hair properly before getting my bathrobe and walking out the bathroom.
I walked to the changing room from the bathroom and wore my nightgown. Then I packed my hair and walked to the bedroom.
I stood before the bannisters and held them, my hair carried with the wind, my mind was totally blank. I was emotionally tired. I took the glass of wine on the table and sipped out of it. I was a non-alcoholic wine addict already but do you blame me?
I heard a small bang of the door closing shut and I turned to look at who entered.
It was my husband, Dure.
He finally came out of his study after spending three straight hours in there.
We locked eyes before he tore his gaze from mine, so heartlessly. I said nothing and walked into the room and watched him walk into the changing room.
I took the envelope from the table, the letter Ezra had given me earlier and fiddled with it.
He walked out of the changing room and walked towards the same table, I rested my hands on.
"So... Are you going to keep ignoring me?" I asked him as he picked up his phone from the table.
He didn't reply and turned to leave. I was tired of his snobs so I took the initiative and ran to the door of the room before he got there and stood at the door. Locking the door and throwing the key to a random area.
He saw what I did but still remained calm and walked towards the door like I was invisible. He gently pushed me to one side and brought out from his knicker pockets and put the key into the keyhole.
"Henia! What is wrong with you?...Why are you behaving so effeminate?... I don't expect you to get angry over such a small issue". I told him and he removed the key from the keyhole and looked at me.
It's just now that I'm noticing his full face on full view because his hair was packed up and his two eyes on full view.
He wasn't smiling. Oh no, he wasn't. His face was calm but his eyes were bitterly cold and this time, it was worse than before. That look of hate was clearly depicted in his eyes balls. His eyes were looking at whatever was in my hand. I was curious as to what he was looking at so keenly so I brought it out and looked at it. It was Ezra's letter.
"What are you holding?" He asked.
"Ezra's letter for me. He gave me before he died". I replied him.
"Can I see it?" He asked me, stretching forth his hand towards whatever I was holding.
I looked at what I was holding. Ezra was my ex and whatever he wrote in the letter had his confessions in it for sure and showing Dure what was inside could make the whole matter worse. So I kept it behind my body and shaked my head.
"What? You don't want to give me?... Is this how you make your alleged peace with your husband?"
"The letter is for me, Dure. Ezra gave it to me and told me to read it. He wrote his heart into the paper and gave me before he died, so I would be dishonoring him by giving it to you before knowing what's in the letter". I tried to explain to him.
Dure looked calm and walked towards me slowly and steadily. I stood still as he walked towards me.
"Give the letter to me, Nora" He said, clearly getting angrier as the seconds rolled by.
"What's with you and the letter?"
"In case you haven't noticed, I had a bad day today. As if that wasn't enough, I had my wife kissing her ex and seeing it all over the internet makes it worse. So be the good girl that you have always been and give me that letter!"
This time he was standing right in front of me. His eyes looking down at me from where I stood and suddenly, I felt intimidated about my height.
"No" I gathered courage to tell him to his face.
I saw his knuckles turn white and his face drained with blood and there was not even a single piece of compassion in his eyes.
"I tried explaining to you already, that I wasn't cheating on you. I never did and I never will. I understand that the picture on the internet were edited and I'm sorry for giving them the chance but you're taking this thing to far". I explained to him, hoping he can cool down.
"Eleanora, hand me the letter!"
"I am not! Stop trying to control me, Dure. I'm your wife, not your slave!" That sentence made his nose flare!
Suddenly, Dure held my arm and literally threw me to the extent my back hit the wall hard.
Before I could even recover from the impact of the hit, he held the wrist holding the letter tightly and firmly.
"You're hurting me" I said in pain.
"Let this be the last time you challenge my authority. The next time you try this, it wouldn't be a pretty scenario!" He warned sternly before taking the letter from my hand and literally threw my hand away. He started walking away.
"Why are you being so violent because of my ex?" I asked him before he held the door handle. His hand fell from the doorknob.
He looked at me, his eyes throwing daggers at me. He said nothing, he just opened the door and walked away, leaving me to nurse my hand.
I looked at my hand and saw the bold red mark on my hand. I held my wrist as I sat on the bed.
Seems Dure is really mad at me. He always gets violent when I expose my body to other men or even get close to other men in private. But how do I get it into the skull of this guy that I wasn't cheating on him?
I sighed deeply. Today had been a really emotionally hectic day. From the news of my father's death, to the death of Ezra, to the stupid paparazzi problem and my angry husband. I was emotionally tired. I just laid on the bed. I guess I forgot all about my physical body until now because no sooner had I hit the pillow did I doze off.
__________________________✍️
"Mary. Mary" I whispered as I shaked her gently. She squinted her eyes open.
"What?" She said sleepily.
"Mary". I whispered again shaking her more vigourously than before. She forced her eyes opened, then her eyes landed on me, giving me a hot glare.
When she finally realized that I was the one waking her, she gasped, got out of bed and fell on her knees.
"Your highness, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were the one". She apologized but that was the list of my problem. I helped her to stand up and sat her down on her bed before I sat beside her.
She immediately stood up and at first I was scared that there was something on her bed, so I stood up to. But she gave a slight bow and said "Your highness, my bed is of low quality. I'm afraid you might not like it".
"Is that why you stood up all of a sudden?!" I asked her. She looked at me like I was a strange creature.
"Sit down" I said, forcing her to her to sit on her bed. I brought out the book and pen and sat beside her. She stood up and knelt down again.
"What is it, this time?" I asked her.
"Mary is just a lowly maid. She dares not sit beside you". Mary said, looking at the floor.
" I order you to sit down beside me, Mary and tell me the ingredients for coffee tea and also how to make it".
She looked at me strangely.
"Coffee tea?"
"Yes. Coffee tea". I replied her.
"Is that why you woke me up at 4:33 a.m. Because of coffee tea?" She asked.
"Is there anything wrong with that?"
"No, your highness. Nothing wrong at all. I was just wondering that, you should have just asked someone to do it for you, instead of-"
"I want to make it for my husband and do it myself". I replied her.
After a while of her strange stares, she suddenly started laughing.
"I'm glad that my sorry state amuses you". She stopped laughing immediately I said that and behaved normal.
"I'm sorry, your highness. I'm just surprised that your husband has changed you so much". She replied and I glared at her.
"I'm sorry your highness, Milk, coffee and sugar if needed". She said when she saw I was serious about it.
"How do you make it?" I asked after glaring at her.
"I can show you, your highness. In the kitchen. I really don't know how to explain the method of making it". She said. I rose to my feet and told her
"Let's go,then".
I actually didn't know the way to the kitchen so Mary led the way.
I woke up earlier today, just so I could make something for my husband before he left for work as a way to apologize for the events that occurred yesterday. I discovered that if I could make the breakfast myself, he'd understand that my apology comes from my heart. So I had to wake Mary up earlier than usual so she could teach me how to make the breakfast my husband would eat.
Dure didn't sleep with me yesterday. Probably sleeping in one of the many rooms or sleeping in his study.
The kitchen was really big and the kitchen island was huge enough to hold a banquet. Even though I don't know how an average kitchen should look like, I felt it was too big for the word 'kitchen'.
"You'll put the coffee beans in the coffee maker, like this" said Mary, as she poured the brown beans into the machine before closing the lid.
Before I knew it, some brown liquid poured out of the outlet into the coffee cup. Then she added some other things quickly and before I knew it she said "Coffee is served".
That looked quite easy.
"Mary, go call the cook and tell her that she should come over and cool breakfast. I'm hungry". I ordered Mary just to get her out of the kitchen.
She left almost I'mmediately and I set out to work to do my own coffee. Then I drank the one Mary made before putting carrying the coffee in the teacup in a very big tray and taking it up to my husband's study.
I must credit the maids and the cooks, getting things delivered to the higher ups wasn't an easy job. It was like trekking from one country to another just to get something delivered and honestly, I'd have asked Mary to do it, but if I wanted to show my husband how sincere my apology was, I needed to do it on my own.
I knew for a fact that Dure was the jealous type, even though he has never really showed it. But for him to be that jealous, maybe he couldn't tolerate my arrogant side anymore.
I knocked on the door to his study but no reply. I knocked again, but still the same answer. So I turned the doorknob and the door gave way.
On entering the bedroom, the smell of alcohol and cologne filled the air.
I dropped the big tray on the table on top of some documents that were opened and tried to look for him in the large study.
The room was dark and the closed curtains weren't helping matters so I walked up to the curtains and opened them. The moon was so bright that it illuminated the room. Then I heard a groan.
"Who the fuck is that?!" Said a sleepish yet annoyed voice. I turned to the direction of the voice and saw my husband on the couch which was a little bit far from where I was standing. His was in his pajamas but the shirt of the pajamas were off and he was shirtless. His hair looked like it has been ran through many times. On his left hand which was on the floor, was holding a whiskey cup while his right arm rested on his forehead.
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!". He yelled again looking more angry than usual.
I walked up to meet him and knelt beside him.
"It's me, my love. Nora". I told him, as I tried to mop up the sweat on his face with my arm but he pushed me away.
Then he sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes, while I tried to take the whiskey from him.
"I do hope you're not drunk, because you'll have to be at work today and nobody likes a drunk boss, or do they?" I walked to the table, where the coffee was and replaced the cup of coffee with the glass of whiskey.
He stood up and adjusted himself as I offered him the cup of coffee.
"Take this first, you'll need it". I said offering him the cup of coffee, with one of my knees to the floor.
"Who's this?... A demon possessing my wife's body?" He asked, staring at me strangely before staring back at the cup.
"No, my love. It's me. Nora. I discovered that you were right and I was wrong. I shouldn't have argued with you. You had every right to be angry, even I wouldn't have accepted that if it happened to me. I shouldn't have been cocky. Just as the priest said, I should be submissive. It's my duty as a wife. So on that note, I decided to change for the better and be a good wife. My first step is an apology. I'm so sorry for how yesterday turned out for both of us. Do forgive me, my love". I explained to him. Every word coming out unfiltered from my heart.
But my husband said nothing, stood up and went to his table.
"What the fuck is this on my table?... Nora, this documents are my life and you placed a tray and a glass of whiskey on top?!... If anything happens to this documents because of you, you'll be in great trouble!" He complained as he threw the tray away with the glass of whiskey shattering as soon as it hit the wall.
I stood up and carried the cup of coffee to his side. "I'm sorry, my love. I won't do that again". I apologized, then stretched forth the coffee towards him. "I made this myself, why don't you try-"
"What is wrong with you?! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I'M NOT IN THE MOOD?!!!" He said angrily before using the back of his palm to hit the cup off the little plate underneath and the content of the cup went flying to the air. And in horror, I saw how the hot tea landed on the open documents on the table. I ran towards the documents, taking advantage of the fact that his back was faced towards me and ran to get the documents before he saw it.
I could have taken the documents and gone Scot free but the cup crashing to the floor caught his attention and his head snapped towards me as I was trying to take the document.
Feared grip me as he stared at me, not on compassion could be seen in his eyes.
"What are you holding?" He asked.
I tried my very best to keep the documents away from him but he was much stronger than I was and before I knew it, the stained documents were in his hands.
"I'm sorry, my love. It was an accident. I'll get another one for-"
I couldn't finish my sentence. Oh no, I couldn't. My husband finished it for me by landing his wide palm on my face to the extent I hit the floor.
It took a while for me to understand what happened. I felt like there was a siren in my ear and it was seriously ringing. My palm touched my hot face and it still stung.
Then it dawned on me.
He hit me!