He did this on purpose. Elina arrived ten minutes before so that walking in with him could deliberately be avoided. Now, she could already imagine the headlines tomorrow: Spotted: Elina Rockefeller on a lunch date with ex-boyfriend Jacob Cox. The twisting sensation that knotted in her core made her immediately regret meeting Jake in the first place. Why did she think she could trust him? The number of times he lied in their relationship alone could surpass what Elon Musk and whatever his net-worth was these days. The young Rockefeller could develop countless theories but never concluded why Jacob persisted that they should get back together. He had to be unhappy, after all, why else would he have cheated or lied in the countless times he had? And Elina, she was by far, happier without him. She was ready for this chapter of her life to come to a close, but somehow Jacob kept finding ways to pull her back to him. Perhaps this lunch was a bad idea.
No, she thought to herself. This needs to happen. In fact, she dared Jacob to try to make another despairing effort to get her back. All so that she could smile in his face and tell him never again. That thought alone made any uneasy feeling disappear while Elina sat across from him. Instead, a sense of power and confidence rushed through her and untied that sickening knot in her stomach. To find this strength felt extraordinary to a woman who once felt she had no choice or place other than at his side. Yes, even the most powerful people can feel helpless and trapped in a cage of their own design.
Today, Elina would break those chains.
“I still can’t believe I’m sitting here with you. You look more radiant every time I see you.” The compliments, that is how Jacob always started. A sweet line he threw out there in hopes of making her swoon as she did in the past. Once upon a time, Elina did hang on to his every word. As he complimented her this time, her smile began to curve, and her eyes had a hint of marvel in them. Not because she was in awe of anything he said, but rather, to gloat in the victory of knowing it wouldn’t have the same effect on her ever again. More so, when he followed with his cockiness, “I knew you would come around eventually. It was only a matter of time.” And it was at this point, Elina couldn’t help the blunt and short laugh that forced itself out of her.
“You’re joking, right? You believe I’m here to get back together with you?”Elina questioned, meanwhile all the elegance in her facial beauty distorted into an appearance that reflected her criticism and mockery of his assumption.“Did you really fantasize this to be a reconciliation of some kind between us? What makes you think that I would ever want to get back with you?” Her nose tugged upward in disgust at the idea. That reaction triggered a frustratedly drawn-out breath from Jacob while his handsome features slipped into irritation. Elina couldn’t tell what words upset him most. Was it that she called his presumption a fantasy? Or was it the rejection of the possibility of the two of them getting back together? Either way, she wounded his pride, and for the first time, Elina didn’t care if she continued to hurt him. In fact, she liked it. She wanted him to feel as inferior as he once made her. Let him take in the humiliation for a change instead of her.
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m getting back with you ever again, Jake.” Elina continued to add, this time her lips curved in ridicule and showed her struggle in holding back the amusement at his, now, wounded ego. “We’re meeting here because I am sick of what you’re trying to do. I want you to stop with the tabloids, stop with the bad publications. I don’t need your commentary and ‘source’ input in everything I do. It is my life, and who I date, kiss, fuck. . .” She uttered that word in a whisper, not because she was attempting to avoid a scene or felt any sense of shame. Rather, there was a sensual emphasis in how she mouthed the word because Elina knew it would torture him. It was becoming obvious in every word that Elina said and in her reactive responses, from her posture to her facial gestures, that she was making it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. “. . .is none of your business anymore. I’m not yours.” Her eyes narrowed in at Jacob, reflecting a harsh truth to him. Yet Elina lacked so much heartlessness in the way she said it, that the words felt colder than the coolest winter day in New York City.
At this point, there was a pause from Elina as she gathered more of her thoughts in what she wanted to say. That is when Jacob seized an opportunity to silence her from doing so. Anything he could do to exude his dominance again after Elina continuously tore at his prideful being.
“You were nothing before me, or did you forget that?” He shot back through gritted teeth. The Cox Media heir leaned over the table as if it would help further his dominance again in the conversation. His dark hues looked for ways to tear at Elina in the same way she was doing to him. The toxicity in their relationship reeked the air like a scent that overpowered the room. “You wouldn’t be where you are without me, or my family. You wouldn’t even have your mother’s formula information without me.”
Elina visibly stiffened in the last part. Unfortunately, that was true. Elina was part Rockefeller, the other half a Lauder. Her Lauder side of the family barely acknowledged her existence, including her mother. There was a price for that, and Elina would make them pay for it. Jacob had played a part in that vindictive plan, and now he was using it as a tool to get her back. He made the blackmail attempt to reason with Elina, but he also tried to use more emotional reasoning and hack into Elina and her biggest fears to make her see what he saw.
“You see, you and I are the same. You tell yourself you’re a better person than me, but you’re not. We’re both just as ugly. I can see right through you, and you can see right through me. Don’t you realize how more perfect that is? There is no hiding between us.” Jacob attempted a softer demeanor in hopes of getting Elina to see his rationality. He did his best to appeal to Elina and her greatest flaw, distrust. Jacob broke it for her by having his string of affairs, but he always argued it was what all rich people would do. Loyalty in love was a fairytale, but loyalty in power was something else entirely. A Cox and Rockefeller union was an empire in the making. Their families knew the same, hence why they pushed the two of them together in the first place.
“I know you, Elina. . .” Jake started to reach for her hand, but when Elina started to pull her back closer to the frame of the seat, he stopped and tightened his fingers to make a sudden fist. His jaw clenched as if he could break a jawbreaker, and perhaps that was the sudden flash of frustration that Jake knew he couldn't. You could see the thought in his eyes as if he wondered 'when had Elina become so unbreakable?', but then the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had been the one to make her this way. And it fueled his point further. “I made you better, stronger.” His eyes cockily moved back to look at Elina like he had just given her enough reason to reconsider. Then he added, “Tell me I’m crazy, but you know I’m right.” Narcissism practically poured from his lips as he said those last words.
And truthfully, he wasn’t wrong. Elina had become better, just not in the way he imagined.
“You are right about one thing, Jacob. . .” Elina began to say, the corners of her lips dipping into her cheeks as she drew a grin that made her look so much more entitled than she already was. There had only been a few times where Elina felt in control, and this happened to be one of those moments. “Everything you did to me over these past years together made me stronger than I was before. It also made me realize how much better I am without you.” Her smile twisted in profound amusement that Jacob was going to not only see what he lost but to see the woman he claimed to have created after being in a relationship with him. There was reckoning in Elina and her eyes as she peered at him, “So I dare you to keep publishing about me because if you continue, I will use whatever means necessary to take you down. I will make sure that you get so buried into the earth that you will never be able to pull yourself out of the dirt that covers you.”
Most of the time, Elina prided her Rockefeller heritage over her Lauder genes. Today, however, her inner Lauder came through more strongly than her usual Rockefeller grace. More so, at her last remarks.
“And as my final farewell to you,. . .” Elina added as she started to stand up from the table. Her elegance on display as she stood upright came mostly from the support of her confidence that felt like an inner victory. “. . . I will say that I am seeing someone. And while it is none of your business, if you try to make it more so, or continue to post shamefully about either me or him, then I will come after you either legally, or as I said, by any means necessary. Do we have an understanding?” Elina questioned with a bat of her eyes, knowing how ironic it was to come off so unpleasantly and yet demand a beautiful appreciation for her approach. Her tone was condescending to squash any last hopes in Jacob of the two of them getting back together. Given the look of frustration on his features, it appeared Elina had precisely accomplished what she wanted, but in no way was Jacob giving up on the war with her. Even if today felt like just another lost battle. While his subtle nod showed he understood, still, he tried to get the last word in.
“You should be more careful about the company you keep, Elina. Or have you forgotten how I look out for you?” He tilted his head, passing a gaze that hinted towards something for Elina to instantly understand the reference. Using one last move in his game, he tried an angle that he thought would be effective: reminding her of her inability to trust. The young Rockefeller had formed a wall around her to protect herself from most. After many years of being witness to people who used Elina for her money, her fame, her name, or to have the taste of being around American royalty, unfortunately, now made the heiress suspicious of almost everyone or made her feel as if they had an agenda. For the first time, however, Elina embraced the risks of whether or not she was doing the right or wrong thing. And that weight fell from her chin so that she could lift it higher than ever before. Her eyes looked down upon Jacob again.
“I will take my chances.” Elina said proudly. And then, with a gracefully soft smile, she left Jacob at the table. Each step felt better than the last as a rush of feeling alive overcame her. She made her goodbyes. There was no more going back to Jacob, no more second-guessing or doubting herself, and no one had control over her choices except for herself. Elina had taken possession of the steering wheel this time, and she would lead herself down a new path instead of the one she had gone done too many times before. While this would not be the complete end of Jacob Cox, it had become, in truth and beauty, a new beginning for this Manhattan heiress.
