Grayson Pierce and Eloise Caldwell novel Chapter 37

Chapter 37

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Eloise started toward the kitchen to prepare dinner, but Bobby called her back. “Don’t bother. I won’t be staying long. Take a seat. Let’s talk for a minute.”

Reluctantly, Eloise walked over and sat down. “Bobby, how are things with you and Teresa?”

A shadow passed over Bobby’s eyes. “She wants a divorce. I haven’t agreed yet.”

Eloise was surprised. She’d heard their marriage was arranged by Lorelei. They had married quickly after meeting. She attended the wedding; they seemed genuinely happy then. ‘How had it come to this?’

Eloise hesitated a bit before asking, “Bobby, is there… someone else?”

Bobby shook his head. “No.”

Eloise frowned. “Then why the divorce?”

“Teresa says I don’t make enough money.” Bobby let out a tired sigh. “I don’t know when it started, but she developed a taste for designer handbags, high-end cosmetics, fancy restaurants.

“I gave her my salary card when we married. All these years, she spent freely, and I never questioned it. Recently, I checked the account… my entire salary over the years is gone. Not a cent left.

“When I asked her where the money went, she just said ‘spent.’ Then she turned it around on me. Called me incompetent, a loser, said I didn’t earn enough.

“The fight ended with her demanding a divorce. I needed space, so I took a business trip assignment. That’s why I’m here.”

the sound of it, Teresa, her sister-in-law, wasn’t exactly reliable.

Eloise listened, her heart heavy. F

She then said, “Bobby, you should take your salary card back. Whether you divorce or not, a household needs savings. What if there’s an emergency and there’s no money?”

“That’s what I think too,” Bobby agreed. “I’ll talk to her when I get back.”

Then he looked her in the eye and said seriously, “Eloise, Mom doesn’t know about this. I don’t want to worry her. Please don’t tell her.”

Eloise gave a humorless smile. “We don’t speak. How would I tell her?”

Bobby sighed, thinking of the long-standing rift between Eloise and Lorelei. “Eloise, don’t hold it against her. She had her reasons, her own hardships.”

Eloise’s eyes narrowed, her eyes instantly growing moist. “What reasons could she possibly have?”

Bobby fell silent. A bitter laugh escaped Eloise. Lorelei didn’t just dislike her; she seemed to despise her.

As a child, when Lorelei made fried eggs, there was only a port for Bobby. None for her. Eloise could only watch, yearning.

When Bobby, unable to bear it, tried to share his. Lorelei would press down on his fork and say cobilly, staring at Eloise. “She doesn’t need any.”

Eloise felt the sting of injustice but dared not cry. Crying didn’t often Lorelei, it might get her thrown out without supper She learned early to read Lorelei’s moods.

Lorelei often forgot to pick Eloise up from school. It was always he teacher who had to call. She probably wishes she could

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Chapter 37

just leave me somewhere,’ the young Eloise would think.

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During New Year’s, Lorelei bought Bobby new sneakers, new clothes. Eloise got nothing, standing to the side, watching Lorelei help Bobby try things on.

Lorelei only took Bobby when she went out, never her. Eloise would stay home obediently. They’d be gone all day. She’d often fall asleep hungry.

When Eloise started middle school, Lorelei enrolled her as a boarder. Bobby was in high school then. Lorelei couldn’t bear the thought of him boarding, worrying he wouldn’t eat or sleep well.

After Eloise moved to the dorm, Lorelei only visited to drop off living expenses, and even that was rare. Eloise became a forgotten person.

Often, Lorelei would forget the money altogether. Eloise was too afraid to go home and ask. She’d drink water when she was hungry.

It continued until a teacher, finding her slumped over her desk, hint from two days without food, called Lorelei. Lectured by the teacher, Lorelei took her anger out on Eloise, treating her with even greater coldness.

When Eloise returned home on school holidays, Lorelei wouldnt speak a word to her. One moment laughing warmly with Bobby, the next her face would turn to stone when she looked at Eloise. In that house, Eloise felt like an intruder.

Later, Bobby left for university in another city. Eloise went to high school, still boarding. Lorelei’s attitude didn’t change with Bobby’s absence. Weekends home were met with total silence.

Eloise studied relentlessly and finally got into a local university in Ucrevine. Lorelei said she was an adult now, under no obligation to support her, and would give her no more money.

Eloise didn’t cry or argue. She just said she understood. She knew Lorelei had wanted to be rid of her for a long time. Now, she finally was.

The university was in Ucrevine, but in four years, Eloise never went home. Tuition and living expenses came from scholarships, part-time jobs, any work she could find.

For four years, her life was a cycle of study and work, collapsing to exhausted sleep each night. Lorelei never called. It was as if she’d forgotten Eloise existed.

Shortly before Noah was born, Eloise gathered her courage and went home. She wanted to ask if Lorelei could help care for the baby for just a few days after the birth, just until she recovered.

Lorelei refused. Learning Eloise was pregnant and unmarried, Lorelei called her a disgrace and drove her out.

The cutting, cruel words Lorelei said that day were etched into oise’s memory, surfacing to hurt her even now,

All these memories flashed before her, vivid and raw.

‘And now Bobby, with a single sentence about Mom’s hardships, wants to wipe it all away? Eloise’s fingers clenched tightly. ‘What did all those years make ine, then?’

“Eloise,” Bobby said, his voice gentle. “You’re grown now. Mom is getting old. Don’t dwell on the past. Find time to visit her.” “Bobby, you’re making assumptions again,” Eloise said, her voice lat. “She doesn’t want to see me. My going back would only make us both miserable. What’s the point?”

Bobby didn’t feel that way. “That’s not true. People’s perspectives change as they age. We’re family. We should try for harmony.”

A bleak, fragile smile touched Eloise’s lips. “You are family. I never was.” She had always been the outsider, the surplus in that

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Chapter 37

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