Wrapped in Stephen's embrace, Elena's shoulders kept shaking as she sobbed.

"We therefore commit these bodies to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking for that blessed hope when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

As the priest spoke, Elena found herself once again journeying down memory lane…

"Hey Kelvin," Elena muttered as she stepped into the house. She had just returned home from work.

It had just been a month since her mother and the handsome man in front of her was joined in holy matrimony. They had just returned from their honeymoon a few days ago.

"Hey Elena, how was work?" he asked as she started to take off her coat. He moved to help her and she let him.

"Well, fine. Where is my mother?" she asked.

"In the shower. I was, umm, fixing us dinner," he muttered, moving to hang her coat in the hanger stand just by the door.

"You are making dinner? Okay that's interesting," Elena muttered and he gave her a mocking bow.

"Okay, I should better hurry and go wash up, and then come eat this wonderful dinner you are making," she muttered, already heading for the stairs.

"See you in a minute then," Kelvin muttered and returned to the kitchen…

A rough tug on her arm was what brought her back to the present. She pulled away from Stephen's embrace to gaze at the person that had grabbed her hand. It was Kate and Elena could see it in her eyes. It was as clear as day. The young woman was determined to stir up some drama.

Elena bit on her lower lip as her eyes wandered quickly to look at the millions of people that had come for the burial of her mother and stepfather.

Her mother had been quite the elite herself. Dorathy Blakes had been the owner of a top fashion brand. She had made quite a name for herself.

Since Elena's mother Dorathy Blakes and Kelvin Blakes were top elites of the society, plenty had come to grace the burial, including the paparazzi.

Elena returned her chocolate brown eyes to her Aunt's green ones.

"So you had the guts to show your face here!" Kate started.

"Why wouldn't she come for her own mother and stepfather's burial? Stop being ridiculous Kate," Stephen muttered, reaching for Elena's hand to take her away from Kate but Kate grabbed Elena's other arm again, stopping them from leaving.

"It is your fault that my brother is dead, you monster! How could you even think to do something so callous to your own mother?" Kate went on.

Elena caught the paparazzi swing into action from a corner of her eyes, they started to record them with their cameras. It was exactly what Kate wanted. To get the paparazzi's attention on them.

"Are you that desperate to tag me as a murderer?" Elena asked.

"Don't say anything Elena, let's just go," Stephen's pleading voice sounded. But Elena was already in a rage so she didn't listen to him.

"For all we know, it might just be you who who murdered your own brother in cold blood," Elena spelt out and chuckled lightly when Kate gasped in surprise.

"Oh yeah, I know all about the clashes you two had because he demoted you as the Vice CEO to a financial manager of his company," Elena blurted out and Kate scoffed, moving to drag Elena by the hair. Stephen immediately stepped forward to break the two apart, and then he glared at Kate as he stood protectively in front of Elena.

"We will see who the murderer is Elena and I promise to make sure you pay for what you did," Kate ranted as Stephen started to take Elena away from her.

In the late hours of the evening, after they returned from the burial, Elena immediately dashed into her room and locked herself in.

She rushed to her bed and flung her body on it, and then she continued her journey down memory lane, to three years ago.

It was just a few months after her mother Dorathy and Kelvin got married. Elena had moved out temporarily, after renting her own place. She felt that her mother needed the space with her new husband.

She had returned home one weekend to see her mother sobbing profusely in the sitting room. And when she had moved closer to her, she had seen the bruises all over her face.

"He hit you?" Elena asked in a quiet voice, refusing to believe it.

"Where the f**k is that bastard!" Elena screamed and made to move away from her mom, to search for Kelvin but her mother held her back by grabbing onto her arm.

"It isn't what you think dear… I.. I fell… I fell down and bruised my face," she said and Elena scoffed in disbelief.

"Mom!" she exclaimed, shaking her head doubtfully.

"So now you are going to lie to me?" she asked and her mother lowered her gaze to the floor.

Elena moved to sit beside her mother, taking her hand in hers. "I am sorry mom. I really thought Kelvin was a good man. I won't have him laying his filthy hands on you! I won't have him do that," she muttered and then jumped up, and started to make her way up the stairs.

She returned downstairs almost immediately. "Where is he?" she asked her mom.

"I don't know," Dorathy said in a quiet tone.

"Moving out was a bad idea. I am moving back into this house. It is my late father's house to begin with!" Elena declared…

The soft knocking on the door jerked her out of her journey down memory lane, returning her to the present.

"Elena open up. I brought something for you to eat. You haven't eaten anything all day," Stephen's voice rang out.

Elena heaved in a deep breath, and then slowly got out of bed, heading for the door.

Even though what she really wanted to do was scream at Stephen to go away, that she wasn't hungry, she knew doing that would break his heart and she couldn't do that to him. He had done nothing wrong but care for her.

Opening the door, Elena stepped aside as Stephen stepped inside with a tray containing an enclosed dish and some wine glasses. There was a bottle of red wine in his hand too. She smiled lightly when she saw the wine. It was exactly what she needed.

He moved to a side table and placed the tray there, and then moved the table closer to the bed. He sat on the bed and signalled her to come sit beside him. She complied. He smiled, and then started to take the lid off the dish in the tray. She gasped, a smile even lighting up her face as she stared at what was in the dish.