ARROW’S POVThe first one read: "How could you, Arrow?"Then, another: "How could you sleep with Jemima?"My blood ran cold. "How did she know?" I whispered to myself, my voice a strangled sound. It was impossible. No one was supposed to know. The shame from moments ago was now laced with a potent dose of terror.I quickly left her message, my fingers fumbling, and went to my Instagram, desperately searching for an answer. As the feed loaded, my eyes landed on it. A video. A video of... our sex. On Jemima's Instagram feeds. My heart stopped. It was real. It wasn't a nightmare."Jemima!" I screamed, the name tearing from my throat with a raw, primal force. "What did you do?!" I didn't even bother putting on clothes, just grabbed the phone and ran out of my room, propelled by a mixture of blind rage and disbelief.I pounded on her door, not even waiting for a response before flinging it open. Jemima was sitting on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands."What did you do?!" I roared,
JEMIMA’S POV My ear pressed against the ornate oak door which weighed heavily in the silence my heart pounded with an unusual pleasure. Arrow's typically composed voice now carried an unheard edge and unexpected tremor. The sound hovered low to the point of resembling a growl with sharp breaths breaking its continuity. My arms wrapped around me as my face broke into a broad, joyful smile. "I just... He spoke her name as if it was a stone skimming water while saying "I don't understand, Kalmia." "We talked about this. We agreed." Kalmia’s response was nothing more than a stifled sob. The sound was very faint yet it manifested as a symphony through my exceptionally acute hearing. I could visualize her trembling shoulders and tear-streaked face within that space. Good. Let her cry. Let her drown in them. "Agreed on what, Arrow?" In a whisper that revealed her overwhelming emotions she finally replied. "Agreed that you'd pull away? We settled on you acting as an outsider when we'r
JEMIMA’S POV The house remained quiet except for the loud ticking of the clock which made each second feel like an infinite stretch. I envisioned how Arrow would slowly begin to suspect what happened before boiling into anger. The seemingly flawless Kalmia was exposed as a liar. My lips curved into a slight smile when the idea crossed my mind. A vibration from my phone broke through my rising irritation. A message from Arrow. My breath hitched. This was it. "What is the meaning of this?" The text lacked his customary greetings and conveyed his inner tension through its brevity. I chuckled, a low, satisfied sound. "Just an observation, Arrow. Your wife has a secret. Or rather, she had a secret." After taking a moment to savor the situation I asked him to question her about her overseas position and the people she surrounds herself with. No immediate reply. He likely confronted his wife because of the bombshell information I revealed. The vision of Kalmia’s flawless exterior breaki
JEMIMA’S POV His breath became unsteady as my continuous touch reduced his resistance. With a suppressed groan he told Jemima that their meal would soon become cold. "Let it" I whispered while swiftly taking his lips again with fresh urgency. His hands transitioned from pushing me away to seizing my hips and drawing me toward his body. The kiss deepened, becoming urgent, hungry. The feeling of his hardness pressing against my hand answered my inner question without words. Our bodies stayed intertwined as we moved away from the dining table while maintaining our kiss. I held my hand against the discovery as I explored and teased it constantly. As he lifted me up a soft moan escaped his lips and my legs instinctively encircled his waist. He carried me from the dining room to the bedroom without breaking our kiss. As the meal lost its aroma we lost ourselves to the overpowering scent of passion. The bedroom door effectively isolated us from the outside world while we became part of a
JEMIMA’S POV My hand froze, hovering over the phone. New behavior? The memory of our final genuine conversation before I embarked on this doomed international journey came rushing back to my mind. His behavior changed to cold distance when I brought up my job situation. The Arrow before me showed no signs of his typical warmth and support. His voice carried a "I told you so" tone even after learning about the withdrawn offer because he tried to soften it but couldn't erase it. It was unnerving, this subtle shift. I was abruptly interrupted from my thoughts by a small voice. "Aunty! Aunty!" My heart leaped. Dawn, Arrow's daughter, stared at me with surprised eyes and large pupils. Years had passed since I last saw her after my act of betrayal towards her father. A sharp and icy wave of guilt swept over me. I pushed a smile onto my face while my body resisted the strange action. "Dawn-flower! Look at you, all grown up!" I knelt, spreading my arms. After a brief pause she moved int
KALMIA’S POV "How can you even say that?" My voice rose in pitch as I struggled to keep it under control while I replied. The accusation inflicted deep wounds because it corrupted my entire belief in what we shared together. "After everything? I exposed myself completely to you so you can now see me as nothing more than a plant? Marcus’s jaw was clenched, his eyes blazing. "What else am I supposed to think? Our perfect balance was intact until you arrived to disturb it. Now, everything's a mess. Dizziness strikes me as I begin to doubt everything I know about Sarah after so many years. You think that's a coincidence?" "This is no coincidence Marcus," I declared with a lowered voice to introduce some tranquility into our strained atmosphere. "It's a consequence. Our established relationship functions as both the creation we built together and the foundation of our bond. Your feelings are not my responsibility. The events that happened between us remain facts that labeling me a spy