The Queen's Mate

TWO

Eleanor was making her way to another circle of friends when her phone vibrated inside the black clutch she held. She smiled politely when she met someone’s eye before excusing herself to go and stand on the back end of the ballroom from which, the entire estate could be seen through the gigantic marble balcony.

She scooped out the cellular device and stood gazing at the lake as she received the call from one of her closest friends in the world.

“Elle…” A man’s deep timbre spoke before the remorse in his voice trailed off.

Eleanor felt a tear pool up in her eyes when she listened to the sorrow in his tone. He was one of those people who could make her smile on a gloomy day, he was her closest confidante and strongest ally.

“They’re gone…. Liam…I…” She trailed off, heavily. Her lips quivered as her knuckles turned white due to the grip she had on her phone.

“Oh, Elle…I’m so sorry, I cannot possibly imagine what you must be going through,” Liam spoke softly as he listened in to her ragged breathing. He was aware that she was barely keeping herself together. Her parents meant a lot to her and he couldn’t fathom what she was feeling so far.

Liam and Eleanor met each other five years ago when she was a student at Columbia. He was her classmate and from then on, the two had been inseparable. Even though their relationship had always been strictly platonic, she knew that he was the one man other than her own father who would always be there for her.

The sheer purity of their friendship was something that most envied. Wherever the two went, it was clear that they were two peas in a pod. Irrespective of the distance between them, they were never truly apart.

“What am I going to do without them, Liam? They’re just…. gone.” She whispered through her tears. The realization that they weren’t in her life anymore was making her heart feel a constant pang of pain.

“Elle, I know things don’t seem survivable right now, but you will make it through. I know how strong you are.” He tried to comfort her in his concerned voice.

“HOW, LIAM?” She shrieked, streaks of tears now stained her cheeks as she breathed through them and tried to maintain her composure but wasn’t successful. She was just glad that she was away from the gawking eyes of the people inside, she knew she couldn’t tarnish her parents’ memory by coming off weakly in front of their friends and competitors. As of right now, the world was going to be watching her every move.

She took a deep breath and scrunched her eyes shut. Her fists were clenched tight as her shoulders heaved up and down and she got her racing heart to quieten down. “I am nothing without them, Liam. You know how much they meant to me. How am I supposed to go on after this?” She asked in a much softer timbre.

Liam took a few moments to reply as he too exhaled a breath he had been holding. “You are Eleanor Sparks; top of her class student and an already published best selling mystery author. On top of that, you have your own publishing firm which, by the way, just got into the Forbes list.” He stated, “you are an icon, Elle. At this moment, every cell of your body is yearning to break down, trust me, I know. But you will see the light again, Elle. This is not the end.”

“Then why does it feel like it?” She cried out. It was becoming impossible for her to support the weight of her own body as she leaned by the marble railing of the balcony and wiped away at her tears.

“Because you loved your parents so much that it is now impossible for you to see past this. And it is not your fault, Elle. You just lost something so integral in your life and it is going to be difficult. Just know that if there is anyone who can get past this and still come out strong, it’s you.” He spoke encouragingly. His heart broke listening to the helplessness in her voice. All he wanted was to be there for her.

Eleanor stayed quiet for a few seconds; taking in his words and comprehending her own feelings before she nodded and stood up straight wiping away her face for the last time. “Th-thank you, Liam. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you in my life.” She whimpered.

He shook his head. “You’re always going to have me in your life, Elle. Until the end of time, right?”

She chuckled slightly and nodded, “until the end of time.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?” He stated in an assuring voice. She hummed and nodded right before hanging up as she took a few more minutes to stabilize herself before turning around and walking back inside the ballroom.

The wake was almost over as she greeted the guests one last time right before she felt a presence behind her. She furrowed her brows and turned around only to come face to face with brilliant cerulean blue eyes.

She was hit by a wave of nostalgia; memories came flooding back into her mind, but the shocking reality was the fact that she had no idea whose memories they were. For all she knew, she had never even seen the blond man with blue eyes standing in front of her.

“Can I help you?” She asked with slight confusion as she shook her head shrugging off the foggy thoughts in her mind.

The man smiled, almost as if he knew something that she did not; that irked her.

“Hello, Ms. Sparks. I am Adonis Morgenstern, your father’s lawyer.” He introduced offering his hand for her to shake.

She furrowed her brows. She wasn’t sure that the man was telling the truth since she had known her father’s lawyers for a long time and Adonis Morgenstern wasn’t a name she had ever heard.

“Forgive me, I wasn’t informed that my father appointed someone new.” She stated politely, shaking his hand as she looked at him through her scrutinizing gaze. She did not know if she could trust him or not, but she could not help but feel that she knew the man.

“Oh, my firm just bought the one which had been representing your family. We will be taking care of all of your legal matters from now on.” Adonis answered smoothly but she still caught onto the hint of smugness in his words.

Eleanor nodded retracting her hand as her fingers twitched by her side with unease. “Is there something you wished to discuss, right now?” She asked, her words slightly taunting him for his poor timing to be discussing legal matters. Although, she did know that sooner or later she would have to sit with the team and discuss the matters of the will, just as her father would have wanted.

So far, she was trying to put that on a hold for as long as she could.

Adonis smiled observingly before his face morphed into one of remorse; it was almost as if a chameleon changing skins.

“I am so very sorry for your loss, Ms. Sparks.”

“Just Eleanor, please.” She interrupted making him nod.

“Eleanor.” He whispered as if sensing how her name would roll off his tongue. Something about his eyes was continuously troubling her. She was so sure that she had seen them somewhere. There was something eerily familiar about them which she couldn’t understand.

“I wanted to give you this.” He whispered in a hushed tone before procuring a small velvet casing from his suit’s front pocket.

She eyed the brown box suspiciously before taking it from him as she rolled it around in her hands. She briefly glanced at Adonis before lifting the lid of the box and inside it was placed a key which she had usually seen hanging around her father’s neck.

She gasped.

“How do you have this?” She hissed with a glare fixed on Adonis’ face as she looked around to make sure that no one was listening in to their conversation.

“My team procured this from the hospital. It was in your father’s belongings and holds a lot more value to it if left in the wrong hands. Your father’s will clearly states that this key belongs to you and shouldn’t be seen by anyone else.” Adonis explained making her eyes widen. Suddenly the small key weighed heavy in her palm. This was the last thing her father would ever give to her.

Eleanor simply nodded speechlessly as she looked away from his gaze.

“Do you know what this key is for?” He probed again but this time she came up blank. She had seen her father with the key about a million times but she never found out about what was it used for.

She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t.”

Adonis pursed his lips in disappointment, and she was certain that it was for himself and not her. She was somehow extremely wary of him, which was a surprise since trust always came easy for her.

“Well, in that case, I wish you luck.” He voiced nonchalantly. “We will be in touch.”

Before the heiress could sputter out something else, he was out of her sight.

She stood there pondering over his words as she shook her head before turning to look around as she realized that almost everyone had left.

Finally taking in a deep breath, she walked towards the stairs after swiping a bottle of whiskey from the bar. She had had an extremely long day and at the moment she just wanted the comfort of her home and alcohol to help her drown her sorrows.

The brown velvet casing holding the rustic key remained safely tucked in her pocket for her to visit later.