Hellbound Heart

The moment Elle shut the bathroom's door close behind her, she buried her face into her palms. Her breaths became a little fast as the memories of Sebastian calling out that name in his sleep flashed across her mind. Her eyes burned and her throat stung so bad.

Slowly, she leaned against the door and looked up at the ceiling. A bitter and ironic smile started to tug at the corners of her lips as the memories from last night flooded into her mind next.

Last night truly was too good to be true. His sweetness... those confessions or whatever they were... they had been so out of the norm that she felt like she was dreaming. And now, here she was. She had been so happy last night that she felt a fleeting fear of feeling such a level of happiness in a very long time. Now she knows why. She should have known that when things are going too well, it truly was too good to be true. Feeling that pang of pain in her heart, she laughed mockingly at herself.

Taking another deep breath, Elle went to the sink and washed her face. She took all the time she needed and did not rush through. When she finally felt composed enough for her liking, she finally left the bathroom.

She heard the kids laughing alongside Alexander's rumbling chuckles.

The atmosphere in the living room was warm and almost magical. Abi and Alicia were chatting merrily, Alexander was playing with the kids while Alice sat right next to him, and Sebastian was sitting next to Alex and drinking some red wine silently. Observing from the side, they all seemed to be creating a beautiful and harmonious family spending time relaxing together at home. She could not see where Sebastian's attention was focused on as his back was facing her. But just as she was about to study the angle of his head, she quickly closed her eyes and scolded herself thoroughly to stop doing this. She was considering whether to stand there or approach them when she realized that she could not go anywhere else. Sighing out silently, she prepared to walk over.

Her gaze met with Alicia's and she smiled gently at her.

Elle noticed the flash of concern in her eyes so she smiled back and approached them. This warm, lovely family... this family of unordinary people she was not really sure she could even be able to belong to... ever.

Upon joining them, Elle's mood slowly shifted. The kids ogled over her but she was really glad because they managed to completely distract her from the negative thoughts and feelings that were threatening to overwhelm her. If she were to be allowed to stew in her own thoughts and entertain more thoughts, she was not sure if she could maintain her calm facade.

Until Elle found herself playing chess against Azy. In the middle of their mundane but certainly refreshing and warm conversations, Elle had mentioned she liked playing chess by herself.

Alexis had exclaimed that Azy was also very good at chess. And so, the two somehow ended up playing while everyone was watching quietly.

Elle had just made a surprise capture of Azy's queen and it seemed like the boy was going to lose. Even Elle was quite confident that she would win the game with just one more move. She tried to not show her pleasure as she was playing against a young boy, but in her heart, this game was in the bag.

However, Azy's next move had Elle and everyone else looking at Azy with shock on their faces. His move did not only capture Elle's queen in return, but it had also put his bishop in an undefended square that would also be a palpable threat to Elle's king. That was a move that had totally amazed and stumped the adults, especially Elle.

Elle shook her head in amazement as she smiled at the boy. If this was an official game, Elle would have already resigned as she knew the game was already over. But she continued until Azy checkmated her. The game had made Elle realize that this young boy was genius as that move he made was something that takes a lot of creativity and calculations and vision beyond a measurable scope. He was simply amazing!

"You're amazing, Azy!" Elle could not stop feeling amazed. But with this, now she must grant a request to Azy in exchange for her loss.

"Azy wants everyone to stay for the night." It was Alice who did the interpretation this time.

p When Azy nodded, Elle bit her lower lip. She had not expected him to ask for them to spend the night here. But she had lost and now she had to say yes even though a part of her wanted to go home tonight.

Their company was enjoyable. Everyone was warm and she loved the children. Alicia too was very friendly and she could tell she was such a great woman and an amazing mother. Her awesomeness as Azy's mom was truly commendable. And it could be seen at how wonderfully Azy had been raised up till now.

But it was her who felt insecure. She had not glanced at Sebastian even once the entire time since they had entered the house because she was trying to avoid anything that would ruin her mood. It was very hard for her to hide her emotions when it comes to him, so she really martialed against herself the entire time to keep her focus away from him, afraid that she would find him staring at Alicia again.

"Sure." Elle nodded and the children rejoiced. It was apparent they still could not have had enough with each other's company that they still wanted an extension of their vacation. It made Elle wonder why the twins could only visit Azy here during their school holidays. They can travel over within minutes all the way here and in a seemingly effortless way. So she wondered why the twins could not seem to be allowed to come over to play with Azy any time they wanted.

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