Ellen gently pushed the door open, stepping into the mansion she now called home. The door creaked loudly in the huge, empty house, highlighting just how empty the house was. She stood in the doorway for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light filtering through the windows.
She closed the door behind her and her footsteps echoed on the polished marble floors as she made her way through the foyer and into the living room. The mansion seemed to swallow her up in its emptiness. Ellen tossed her purse onto the couch before sinking down into the soft cushions, and set her luggage down near her feet.
The events of the past few days played out in her mind, and she couldn’t help but chuckle as a particular memory surfaced—Aubrey. The look on Aubrey’s face when she realized Mason had left without a word was priceless. Ellen could almost see it now, the frustration, the disbelief, the bitterness that must have seeped into Aubrey’s every pore.
A smirk tugged at Ellen’s lips as she thought about it. Aubrey had always been so sure of herself, so confident that she could control everything and everyone around her. But she hadn’t counted on Mason slipping through her fingers. And she certainly hadn’t counted on Ellen being a step ahead, watching it all unfold with a sense of satisfaction.
"Oh, Aubrey," Ellen muttered to herself, the name dripping with a mixture of amusement and frustration. "You should have known better."
She then leaned her head back and let out a long sigh, her eyes drifting over the room. It was massive and beautiful, of course. But all of it felt cold and distant, like a showroom rather than a home. There was no warmth, no sign that anyone actually lived here.
She closed her eyes, trying to shake off the strange sense of unease that had settled over her. The mansion was so big and so empty, and her being alone only made her feel more isolated. It was odd—her apartment back in the real world was always empty, too, but she had never felt lonely there. Maybe it was the difference in size, the way this house made her loneliness feel even more intense. Or maybe it was the fact that she knew she was supposed to be living here with someone else, someone who was now thousands of miles away.
She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting to Mason. Did he ever feel like this when he got home? Did the silence and the emptiness of his house weigh on him the way it did on her now? Or had he grown used to it, accustomed to living in a world without family or close connections? In that way, they were similar. Both of them had no one left, no family to come home to, no one to share their lives with.
A faint smile touched Ellen’s lips as she thought about Mason. It was strange to miss someone who was practically a stranger, someone she barely knew despite their marriage. But she did miss him, even if she couldn’t quite explain why. She wondered what he was doing right now, where he was staying in London, how he was feeling being there.
Without thinking, she reached for her phone, the screen lighting up as she unlocked it. But then she paused, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. What was she doing? She didn’t even have Mason’s number. It struck her as both weird and ironic—they were husband and wife, bound by legal ties, yet they didn’t even have each other’s contact information.
She shook her head, the chuckle turning into a dry laugh. How ridiculous was that? They were married, and she couldn’t even call him to ask how he was doing. Not that it would make a difference, she thought, setting her phone back down. Even if she had his number, it wasn’t like he would answer. Mason was always so distant, so guarded. She doubted he’d reply.
Leaning back against the couch, she allowed her eyes to drift around the room. The grandeur of it all had once been impressive, but now it only served to remind her of how empty the place was. She had gotten used to being alone and even enjoyed it, but there was something about this house that made being alone feel more like a burden than a comfort.
She wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to fend off the cold that seemed to seep in from the walls. "Mason," she whispered to the empty room, her voice barely audible. "I hope you come back home soon." The words hung in the air, unanswered and unacknowledged, just like so many of her thoughts about him.
She had seen glimpses of something more in Mason during their time in Paris—moments where he seemed to let down his guard, where he had shown her a side of himself that he usually kept hidden. Those moments had given her hope, hope that maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to be together, truly together, not just in name but in heart.
Ellen let out a slow breath, her thoughts drifting to the future. When Mason returned, she wanted to make sure he didn’t feel the way she was feeling now—isolated, lonely, and disconnected. She wanted to be there for him, to offer him the comfort and companionship that he might not even realize he needed.
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she imagined the two of them together, sitting in this very living room, sharing their days, talking about whatever came to mind, just being there for each other. It was a simple vision, but it filled her with a warmth that made the empty mansion feel a little less cold.
"I’ll be here when you get home, Mason," she whispered to herself, the words both a promise and a declaration. "You won’t have to worry about being alone."