Chapter 80: A TRUST LOST TO NEVER BE FOUND

Ellen Evans POV


It was dark now.

It has been a while since I had returned from the hospital. But I had hidden myself away in my bedroom so that no one would come in and disturb me. I didn't want anyone to come in and witness me in my deepest state of pain.

I sat on the floor in a crumpled mess beside my bed crying silently, hushed sobs that raked through my body and shook with force. I cried for what I had, what I could have had and what I had lost to fate.

My mind was still reeling from everything that I had had to contain today. My brother's words filled my head as the stepping stone to my pain now. His words had been sincere, echoing deep inside my mind like a beacon of hope.

He had come to see me when I had come back from the hospital.

Martha had received me the moment I had arrived as if she had been awaiting my return. I later found out that the hospital had called her and that I had escaped in a taxi. And so she had been expecting me home.

Dylan had come up in mere seconds after she had received me.

I realized that information do travel fast in the palace. Who had informed him just now that I was back?

Our eyes met awkwardly and I looked away the moment Sebastian and Zedd showed up behind him. Then Miller followed out. I did not want to have a conversation with him in their presence. And I desperately hoped that he would not raise the matter here with them.

"I'm glad you are fine. Why did you run away from the hospital?! Are you copacetic?!" He snapped, his tone going from worried to angry.

"I'm sorry, I- I," I began to say but fell short of words. I inhaled deeply as I tried to find the words to speak.

"Speak to the guests, they were just leaving," he said as he turned to look at Sebastian with a very dirty look. My brother put a hand on his shoulders, stopping a retort from him. He huffed and looked away.

Zedd came up to me and took my hands in his. He led me to a spot away from the rest, but turned to find them staring at us with a lot of concentration.

"Isn't there any more private place?" He asked me with raised brows.

"Come," I said as I led him to the imperial garden. He studied me properly the moment we were properly alone.

"He's good to you Ellen," he said to me after a tender embrace.

"He'll treat me worse," I replied to him after a pause.

"Do not say that Ellen, Dylan loves you very much," he said to me with a voice that was infused with a certain conviction. I wondered where he got it, but it totally warmed my really shattered heart.

"I am pregnant Zedd! I am pregnant for Elena's mate! And my mate, he knows! He knows about the pregnancy Zedd. I didn't even know about it! And he is so mad at me brother. I do not know what to do, I really do not know," I countered his words as far drops of tears welled up in the corner of my eyes like a stormy sea. And then they fell down my face, threatening to consume me.

"Give him some time Ellen, he will get over it. You needed to see the way he defended you fiercely when Sebastian wanted to take you away. He promised to marry you with the child. He will definitely forgive you," he assured me with warm words that wrapped around me like a big comforting blanket.

He embraced me. And I sobbed softly into his white shirt, even knowing I was ruining it could not hold back the tears. "Ellen, it will later be fine. All will surely be well."

When he released me, I nodded at him in gratitude. My heart was swelling inside of me like a blooming flower whose petals were unfolding with a renewed promise.

"Be well Ellen," he had said to me the moment he had escorted me back to the rest. I had nodded like a little kitten who wanted cuddles.

"Now it is a bath for you," Martha had said before anyone of the men could speak and then she had whisked me away to my bedroom quickly. She had left me to the warm lavender scented bath that soothed me.

After my bath, I had dressed up in good clothes and walked out of the bedroom, down to the corridors, headed for the throne room to speak with Dylan, hopeful that it was all over and the others had gone.

But as I approached the study room, loud voices floated into my ears. It was the mention of my name that had me halting, bringing myself to a stop. I tiptoed to the door to listen properly, discerning the voices as that of Dylan and his mother.

"That is because she is a manipulator, Dylan," she said in a convinced voice, her really venomous words slicing through me like a dagger. "She was trying to baby trap you can't you see! Stop defending that bitch, please! She was trying to get into a marriage with you and use her pregnancy to secure your wealth and status," she spat out with anger, her malice thick in them, hanging in the air like a toxic cloud.

"But mother, no matter what she is still my mate and I love her," he said to her. Though his words carried a certain touch of uncertainty, his hesitant protest sparked a glimmer of hope inside of me.

But his mother's gnawing persistence on the matter quickly crushed it, leaving me breathless and battered, hurt and pained.

"Stephanie was meant for you from the start. She is the most perfect person for you, Dylan. She is beautiful and intelligent. She comes from a very respectable family. And most importantly , she is not pregnant for another man and deceiving you!" She shouted at him.

"Mother I-"

"Oh save it Dylan. All you have to do is marry her, and forget all about that scheming bitch called Ellen!" Her yell was personal, very. She urged him with words that were laced with disgust, poisoning his mind. "I told you did I not that you would regret not choosing Stephanie over Ellen. And now son might be your last time to correct this mistake. Please be wise in your decision."

"I will take care of it mother," he said and my heart shattered into a million shards. "I will marry her." The sound of his betrayal cut deep into me like a knife going through flesh, deep and hurtful. I gasped softly as I felt pain run through me instantly like a current of electricity.