Relanie let out a soft snort at Elara’s words and shook her head pitifully. "Trying to act tough," she muttered under her breath, not even bothering to hide anything.
Then her eyes slowly moved over Elara from head to toe before she spoke again. "On the night of your little concert..." she said, stepping closer, her heels tapping against the ground. "I heard you didn’t return to Voice."
Elara did not react. She only stood there and looked at her with full composure, giving nothing away.
Relanie continued to play with the car keys in her fingers as she stared straight at Elara. "You must have been..." she paused slightly, her lips curving up a little, "...busy. You know... very busy."
She walked past Elara slowly and stopped right behind her, close enough that her presence could be felt clearly. "Do you know how many people saw you leave his place that morning?" she asked softly. She paused again and then added, "Or should I say... how many people recognized where you spent the night?"
She leaned closer, her lips almost brushing Elara’s ear as she whispered slowly, "Adrian."
Elara did not turn. Her fingers tightened a bit at her sides at the ntion of that na, but that was the only sign she gave.
"Hmph." Relanie straightened and gave another snort when she saw that Elara still would not respond. "You move quite fast, don’t you? First seeking attention... now him." She let out a small laugh and turned her head to glance at the empty street as if the whole thing amused her. "Tell ," she continued, "is this how you rise, or is this just who you are?"
Elara finally moved. She turned slowly to face her, her eyes calm as she t Relanie’s gaze. "Are you done?" she asked.
Relanie paused for a second, then turned fully to face her as well.
"If you ca all the way here just to talk about where I slept, then you’ve wasted your ti," Elara said casually.
Relanie raised her brows. "You’re also acting like soone," she muttered, though she did not finish the sentence. Then she stepped closer again, her tone turning colder. "Whatever... stay away from him."
Elara took a slow breath. Her lips moved slightly as if she was about to speak, but she hesitated for a small mont. Then the corner of her lips lifted into a faint smile. "Why?" she asked softly. "Is he yours?"
Relanie’s expression froze for quite a while. "What do you an?" she snapped. "I’m his fiancée." Her eyes hardened as she looked at Elara. "And what are you? A slut."
Elara only nodded slowly, as if the word did not matter at all. "Then you should hold onto your man properly," she said, and then gave a small sigh. "Anyway... why are you here talking to instead?" she added, her brows drawing together as she looked at her.
Relanie’s expression turned cold imdiately. She pointed at Elara and spatted, squeezing her face in disgust. "Won like you... you think sleeping your way into soone’s life will make you special."
Elara’s lips tightened but she did not react further. She did not deny it, and she did not care about explaining anything. She only looked at her and said quietly, "You’re mistaken." She paused, then added, "I didn’t go to him..." She lowered her voice. "He ca to ."
Then she tilted her head and muttered in a careless tone. "So if you’re worried... maybe you should ask him why."
She did not wait for a reply. She turned and started to walk away. But before she could take more than a step, Relanie suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Elara stopped. She let out a quiet sigh and looked up at her again. "What else?" she asked. Then she calmly moved her fingers to Relanie’s hand and pried it off her wrist slowly, one finger at a ti, without force but without hesitation.
She stepped back after freeing herself and looked at Relanie for a long mont. "And also..." she said in a lowered voice. "don’t think I don’t know about all your tricks."
After that, she turned again and walked away without looking back.
–
Relanie stood where she was and watched Elara’s back disappear into the entrance, her fingers still curled tightly at her sides.
She stayed there for a long while, staring at the empty path Elara had taken, her eyes slowly turning colder as the seconds passed. When she finally ca back to herself, she let out a quiet huff and walked to the car. She opened the door and got in without hesitation.
She did not even spare a glance toward the entrance of Voice. The thought of staying in the sa place as Elara made her stomach twist in uncontrollable anger.
Instead, she started the engine and drove off, heading straight toward her house in the downtown area. Halfway through the drive, she reached for her phone and dialed a number.
She spoke imdiately the call connected. "Reine, co et at my house."
Her words were t with silence from the other end. Then she opened her mouth again. "Don’t worry, if you–" she started but before she could finish, Reine’s voice ca through simply, "Okay."
The call ended just as quickly and Relanie lowered her phone, tossing it onto the passenger seat before focusing fully on the drive again.
When she arrived, she parked in the garage and stepped out, closing the door harder than normal. She walked straight into the house with quick steps.
Without thinking, she headed toward the bar area and poured herself a drink. She then leaned against the counter, lifting the glass to her lips and finishing it in one go.
She poured another imdiately and just as she was about to drink again, the door opened behind her.
She did not turn. She already knew who it was.
She raised the glass and emptied it again.
"Relanie," Reine called as she walked closer and stopped beside her. She watched her for a few seconds, her eyes moving over the bottle, the glass... and Relanie’s tense shoulders. But she did not stop her.
"What’s wrong?" she asked softly.
Relanie took a deep breath to calm herself, but the mont she tried, everything she had been holding back seed to break loose all at once.
Her lips trembled and before she could stop herself, tears filled her eyes and spilled over. She turned suddenly and stepped into Reine’s arms, clutching onto her tightly.
"I hate her," she muttered, her voice shaking. "I hate her... I hate her." she kept muttering.
Reine’s hands paused in surprise by the sudden breakdown, but she quickly wrapped her arms around Relanie and held her gently.
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