His urgency was quick as he moved towards her with his hands outstretched like he was still her lover. It would be so easy to act along with him. His smile was there too as he positively cooed. "Ellie? What a pleasant surprise! I didn"t think your flight could land until afternoon. I"m just so happy you got here safe and sound." As his word came quickly his tone changed to concern as he watched the emotions dance across her face. Still Ellie felt a pang as even in this moment of obvious deception he still looked like he was being truthful and his actions hid no guilt. How could he do this so smoothly? Ellie"s heart beat was loud in her chest as the realization slowly hit her that it has all been a lie. The Henry she had grown to know and like. He could slide into his cool business self even in such a tense situation of the confrontation of wife and mistress.
Her hands ached to hit something, however, she knew the way to win this confrontation was to control her emotions better than the opposing party. "I can see how ready you were for me to come home this afternoon. I"m so delighted to see you"re so well prepared. I couldn"t think of a better way to tell me you don"t want me around anymore." Her anger was hard to control as she turned to the sultry woman who looked miffed that her rendezvous had been interrupted. This seemed common to her, as if the idea of intruding on someone else"s marriage was something that didn"t bother her at all. "And you are . . . I"ve seen your face on billboards so I a.s.sume you"re a well known supermodel. Are you the Nadia he"s been pining after? Perhaps he"s trying for a look-like because he still can"t get the real thing."
Henry made a low irritated sound. Nadia tossed her curls over her shoulder with a graceful hand as the question didn"t bother her. "I am the original. I go by Nadalina, what a shock he uses my pet name around you. Only my close friends call me so. Would you like to become closer? I hear you have quite the lavish life yourself. Excuse that I"ve only seen you in tabloids, but they never run your name so the introduction still needs to be made, Mrs. Wong."
Nadia was used to playing games was she? The were going to all be apart of it until somebody folded. Ellie didn"t have good cards to begin with she realized as Henry had always told her that his true goal had always been the woman he was now standing with. Their relationship had never been a genuine courthouse and priest wedding. No matter how you looked at it this relationship was just a fiction to achieve an end. Ellie had always told him that she didn"t mind if he wanted to think of or be with other women. In this way their relationship had always been opened. To be honest, such a sham was detrimental to even light a candle to. For her to be angry here when this wasn"t truly even her home was disrespect. Henry had always given her everything and her not being able to accept that it was coming to an end was pure immaturity. Him deciding to move on to do what he wanted was his right and not hers to question.
Even with all the facts laid out in her mind, Ellie felt the barely concealed anger continue to boil. She was dreaming of all the violence that would split such a pretty face to pieces. The model looked very slight, whereas Ellie had trained to box for years. Ellie scoffed as she thought how easily the woman"s twig arms would snap if she applied the right pressure. It would be so easy it was a joke. Taking matters physically would only give her a temporary sense of ease as truly it would accomplish nothing but sent her to solitary confinement. To hurt someone purely out of spite was evil. Although she didn"t like it, the woman had been allowed into the house because Henry wanted her there.
Ellie tried to keep her composure but her words dripped with venom. "Charmed, your even more beautiful up close. My name is Ellie Chen, I"m soon going to be the former wife of the man you"re tangled with here. Don"t worry about it, he"s all yours for the taking soon. I"ll clear the air so you two can be happy." Ellie extended a hand and shook hers before turning to the man she had come so far to see. "I"m deeply sorry for ruining your entertainment. I only came here to gather my remaining items and returning back to my home in England. I apologize for causing such a fuss. I hope you"re very happy." She could feel the tears p.r.i.c.kling in the corner of her eyes so she acting quickly. She turned and closed both doors with a lot more effort than needed. She could see that Michael had been taken aback so she dusted off her hands and wished she was invisible.
Henry hands were trembling so he turned and sat in the love seat. His breath came erratically so he tried to even it by closing his eyes. G.o.d, what a mess he had made. His delight in figuring the core of his issues had melted into an iceberg puddle as the temperature in the room had rising violently. He knew the answers to all of his issues and that he felt nothing for the other woman in his mind was a triumph. He had wanted to shout it to Ellie that he had just wanted her all along--intimacy with others was ruined. Such elation had blinded him to what it all looked like as if he was cheating on her with another woman. The realization hadn"t even crossed his mind until he had seen the emotions splayed on Ellie--shock, betrayal, anger, and then dissolving to a final hatred. Bone deep the expressions were imbued in his mind as if they had been welded into him now. It would never leave him as it brought him so much guilt.