Chapter 2

He had noticed that Alexis hadn’t been herself the last few days. Normally, she said whatever came to mind, but she’d been as quiet as a mouse and always had a far-off look in her eyes. He always answered with an “I’m fine” whenever he asked if she was ok. Later that night, he accidentally stumbled across her crying in her room.

“Lex, what’s wrong?”

“He dumped me,” She hiccupped.

He quickly went to grab a box of tissues before sitting next to her and letting her cry on his shoulder. He thought it’d be best if he waited until she had calmed down enough to talk. He patiently waited for an hour, and even after she had stopped, he waited in case she still had more in her.

“Why did he dump you?”

“I told him that I’m letting you stay here for a while, but he didn’t like the idea. I then told him I’m just helping you out, but he accused me of always putting you first.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stayed…”

“You don’t have to apologise. It’s not your fault.”

“You should tell that to yourself too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, was he the one if he left you over this? I could see where he was coming from, but he should be able to trust you enough to not be bothered by your brother-in-law staying with you. All you were doing was helping me out. If I was a random guy, this would’ve been a different story. It sort of makes you wonder if he ever loved you if he couldn’t trust you. You can’t exactly have a good relationship without trust.”

He then noticed that she was weirdly looking at him.

“I’m sorry if that was out of line.”

Without hesitation, she pecked his lips.

“I’m sorry,” She apologised. “I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”

“It’s fine.”

Truth be told, he didn’t think it was fine at all. He couldn’t help being rattled with guilt. Yes, it was the first intimate experience he’d had since getting married and most likely the last one, and yes, it wasn’t as bad as his wife having affairs, but, in his eyes, it was still wrong. He had never thought about giving his wife a taste of her own medicine because he believed he was better than that. Or at least he thought he was until that moment.

“I should probably go back tomorrow.”

“Oh. I guess so. I’m sure she’d been worried.”

“She hasn’t called or anything, so I doubt it.”

When Lyra came downstairs from the home office, dinner was already prepared, and Nicholas was already seated at the table. She just walked past him, straight to the bathroom to take a shower. He was already used to her not greeting him, so it didn’t bother him like the first few times. After she finished showering, she came to the table, sat down, and began eating.

It wasn’t anything new that they were eating in silence. However, the events from the previous night made the silence eerie for him. As much as he didn’t want to, he decided to make small talk. He knew it most likely wouldn’t go well, but he also knew it’d distract him from his thoughts.

"How is the food?"

"It's dry." She stated coldly, but he was used to her criticizing everything he did no matter how well he did it or how hard he tried.

"Where have you been for the last three days?" She asked.

Her question took him by surprise as he wasn't used to her showing interest in anything he did, let alone his whereabouts. But he was at home most of the time, and to his knowledge, she’d been working from home the whole week, so maybe the fact that he hadn’t been around piqued her interest.

"Pardon?"

"Deaf and dumb. Typical. I asked where you were earlier today. You weren't at home when I called for you."

Of course. She only noticed when she wanted something.

"I was staying with Ale..."

“What?!” She abruptly stood up, causing her chair to get knocked back. “Who gave you permission to stay with her?”

He hadn’t expected that sort of reaction from her. He’d been under the impression that she didn’t care about his whereabouts. However, he did suspect that it had to do with her not liking her sister, in which case, her reaction would make more sense.

“I’m not going to repeat myself.”

“Well… she offered and…”

“I asked who gave you permission, not why you went.”

Her piercing gaze left him at a loss for words.

“Forget it.” She left the table and went upstairs.

In a way, he was glad that dinner ended early. After clearing the table, he went to take a shower to try and clear his thoughts.

When he came out of the shower, he didn’t expect her to be sitting on his bed with her arms crossed and one leg over the other. What threw him off was that she had changed clothes and was now wearing a short robe, but he tightened his grip on his towel just to be sure that it wouldn’t fall out of nowhere.

“Took you long enough.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Don’t say a word.”

She stood up and walked toward him. He was confused by her just staring at him with the same intensity she always did. This time, however, there was no contempt, but he wasn’t sure what it was that was there. Despite that, he didn’t want to look into them for too long because he knew every time he’d look into them, he’d remember his shame. After all, she and her sister shared the same brown eyes. He was surprised when she abruptly yanked the towel off him.

“Don’t move either.”

It sounded more like a warning than a command, but he obeyed her.

She slowly walked around him, pausing now and then. It wasn’t hard for him to figure out that she was “assessing” him because every look he got made him feel like unsuspecting prey that would be pounced on at any second. Just when he thought it’d never end, she stopped in front of him.

“I can work with this,” She dragged him to the bed and made him lie down

“Work?”

“It’s simple.” She took a foil-wrapped object out of her pocket and opened it. “You’re my husband, and you’re long overdue in fulfilling your marital duties.” She said as she rolled the condom over him.

“But…”

She put a finger over his lips.

“Just do what you’re supposed to,” She said in a gentle voice and gave him a small smile. He looked at her for any indications of deception but found none, and he knew that she wasn’t drunk, which left him with no other options.

“Why now?” He asked.

“Don’t be silly. I’m allowed to change my mind, aren’t I?”

She could, but he was still sceptical of her sudden change in attitude. He was waiting for her to start laughing and asking if he actually fell for it, but neither came. He was convinced that she had finally gone insane.

“Stop overthinking and just accept it.”

Before he got a chance to say anything, she was already on him, and all rationality left his body.

At the end of it, he was confused when she left the room without saying anything. He assumed that she had left to get something, but he never knew if she had come back as he ended up falling asleep.