Chapter 5 The Disrespect

• ELORA’S POV
• It had been two days since Elora had announced to her grandmother Primrose that she had decided to marry Ambrose Dominic, and she had been ignoring her granny ever since. A triumphant and proud look enveloped Peter Emmerson’s face when Elora had gone to his study and announced that she would be accepting his offer. In exchange, he had promised to reveal to her the identity of her biological parents, and right now, that was all Elora had decided to care about.
• Elora had been trying to convince herself that marrying an old man couldn't be that bad. On the bright side, marrying Ambrose Dominic would mean she would finally be able to move out of this house. She would finally be able to escape Tony Emmerson and his disgusting harassment towards her. Elora had no idea what living with Ambrose Dominic would be like, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.
• For now, Elora had decided to occupy her mind only with thoughts of her biological parents. She had to remind herself that she was doing this to protect them from her adoptive father's wrath. If putting away all her hopes and dreams for a better future for herself meant she had a chance to meet her biological parents, then she supposed it was worth it.
• All her life, Elora had asked questions about them. She needed to meet them. She needed to know what happened. She needed to know why she had ended up on the streets. She needed to know why they had abandoned her.
• Peter Emmerson hadn't hesitated to set up a family gathering with the Dominics. Tonight, the Dominics would be coming over for a cocktail party where Hazel and Elora would officially meet their soon-to-be husbands. Hazel hadn't been able to shut up about the fact that she would be marrying Zade Dominic.
• Elora supposed any girl in Hazel's shoes would be excited. She was marrying the richest and most influential bachelor in the country, and on top of that, the man looked like a Greek god. A bubble of resentment rose up Elora's throat as a feeling of envy settled in her chest. Resentment was all she had been feeling lately.
• It was always the most awful people that had the nicest things.
• Elora stared in the mirror, sighing as she gazed at the finished makeup look she had just spent an hour perfecting on her face. She had always known she looked beautiful. Her grandmother had always told her it was one of the reasons Hazel hated her so much; because Elora had better features than her. Elora had always had healthy dark brown hair so long that it reached her waist, full pink lips, and she had never really needed much makeup to look pretty. However, Vivienne Emmerson, Elora's adoptive mother, had insisted that she put on a full face of makeup tonight.
• Elora stood up and headed over to her closet, settling for a red evening gown with spaghetti straps that hugged her figure perfectly. She glanced at the clock and realized she only had ten more minutes before the Dominics arrived. Before stepping out of her room, Elora put on the biggest fake smile the universe had ever seen.
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• “You’re late!” Vivienne scolded Elora once she reached the living room. The entire family seemed to be present, and a wave of guilt washed over Elora when she noticed Granny staring at her with a disappointed look on her face. Ever since their last encounter, Elora had not spoken or apologized to her for how rude she had been, but things were better this way. The less Granny knew, the better. Granny's blood pressure had been going up lately, and Elora did not want to be the one to add to her problems.
• Tony glared at Elora from where he was standing next to his father, but she did not dare meet his eyes. After what she had done to him in the storage room the other day, she could only imagine the kind of torment he had in store for her the next time they happened to be alone together.
• "She thinks if she spends hours on her face, she'll finally look pretty enough to be differentiated from trash," Hazel commented bitterly, looking Elora up and down with a scowl on her face, but all Elora could smell coming from her was jealousy. The short, tight gown Hazel was wearing was anything but elegant or decent. The gown was basically riding up her thighs, and she had the nerve to call Elora trash? She was the one who looked like a prostitute.
• Elora did not know where her newfound courage was coming from tonight, but she decided to snap back at Hazel. It's not like she had that much to lose anyway. Her life was already going to shit with this stupid marriage.
• "Is that what you're wearing tonight, Hazel?" Elora asked, feigning an innocent voice with a raised brow and a small smile on her face. "Doesn't leave that much to the imagination, does it?"
• "Excuse me?" Hazel snapped her head towards Elora, a dangerous frown on her face.
• "How dare you speak to my daughter that way?" Vivienne defended, looking Elora up and down like she could shoot daggers out of her eyes if she could.
• "Your daughter looks like a prostitute. She's not properly dressed, and it would be unfortunate if the Dominics were disappointed because of how indecent Hazel looks tonight. She looks cheap," Elora said.
• "You insolent little brat!" Vivienne's voice basically rose in pitch as she closed the distance between them. Elora kept an innocent look on her face as she fought the urge to roll her eyes.
• "Do you think just because you'll be marrying into the Dominic family, that you can talk to us with such utter disrespect now!? I knew from the start that you were nothing but a gold digger! You pretend to be disturbed by this wedding, but deep down you're screaming with joy, aren't you? You're happy to get into the old man's bed and spread your dirty little legs for him!"
• Elora's eyes widened at the degrading words leaving her so-called adoptive mother's mouth. She felt herself getting angry all over again.
• "I'll have you know that the only reason Hazel even has the opportunity to marry Zade is because I agreed to marry Ambrose Dominic. Without me, this entire marriage wouldn't even be happening. Without me, the Dominics would have never accepted to join our two families, so I think you should be the one watching the way you speak to me, Vivienne."
• She widened her eyes at Elora in disbelief.
• "I am just trying to help! Hazel will embarrass the entire family if the Dominics see her dressed like that!" Elora added.
• "This is all your fault, Granny!" Vivienne directed her anger towards Granny, and Elora felt a sense of protectiveness wash over her. She glanced over at Hazel, who now had her hands crossed over her chest, her breasts basically pouring out of her dress.
• "You brought this garbage to our house!" Vivienne continued, pointing her index finger directly at Granny. "You should have just let her die on the streets! You brought her here and now she thinks she has the right to open her dirty mouth and disrespect us!"
• "Enough of this nonsense!" Peter Emmerson finally spoke up, his voice carrying over the entire room making everyone automatically shut their mouths. Granny and Tony had both been silent the entire time. Peter took one look at his daughter, Hazel, and his eyes narrowed with disapproval, as if noticing for the first time that night that her clothing really wasn't appropriate.
• "I cannot even believe I am saying this, but Elora is right," Peter said, succeeding in getting gasps out of Vivienne and Hazel. "You look like a harlot, young woman! You will go upstairs and change this instant. Do it quickly before our guests arrive."
• "I hope you fucking drop dead!" Hazel screamed in Elora's face, and with that, she escaped upstairs with her mother. Elora smiled triumphantly to herself, proud that for the first time since she had started living with the Emmersons, she had defended herself, and she had won.