THREE

Juliet

I stared at the angry expression on Declan's face, mouth slightly agape. I knew he disliked it when I asked him to follow me to an appointment, but his reaction…

“Look, let's not do this now Juliet”, he said sternly.

I looked away, blinking back the urge to cry.

I heard Declan's tired sigh, before he sat beside me.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you”, he said softly.

I fingered the duvet, looking down. The way he could go from angry to soft was concerning sometimes.

“But you know I don't like it when you bring that up. It's like you don't trust me when I tell you that I am fine”, he added.

I looked at him. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I should not have angered him.

“It's fine”, I said quietly.

He sighed in relief, nodding. “Alright”, his lips pulled into a small smile as he leaned in to peck me on the cheek.

“Before I forget, we will be meeting up with one of my business partners tomorrow night for dinner”, he announced.

I blinked at him, then nodded.

“I’ll speak with Priscila so she can get your outfit ready”, he added.

Priscila was supposed to be my personal shopper, the one he hired for me. The one who always complained about how the outfit doesn't fit right for one reason or the other, which was always my fault.

I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't need her, but decided against it.

“Okay”, I agreed with a small smile.

Two months later….

I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face, as I looked down at the dinner table arrangement. My body buzzed with excitement.

Two months had passed after the event, and neither of us spoke a word of it again. Declan had been in and out of the country for business purposes, and I had to cease an opportunity to bring us closer.

I had spent the whole day preparing everything myself, refusing assistance from the help. The feeling of self accomplishment after it was worth it.

I turned to our house keeper, who had been standing with me.

“What do you think?” I gestured to the table and the entire dining room. “How about my outfit? Makeup?” I asked.

“You look stunning, ma’am. You've done a great job with the decorations too”, she said with a small, polite smile. Too polite.

“Okay”, I replied dully. Mrs. Turner was newly hired, and she was still trying to butter us up. Which meant I could not trust her judgement. I blamed Declan for always changing the staff.

Two hours later …

I sat at the head of the table, my mood dampened. Declan was supposed to be back two hours ago. He promised he would be home early. Yet he was late.

Didn't he know what date it was?

I shook the negative thoughts from my head. Maybe it was work holding him up. These days, he has been rather busy. Some new project he had been working on.

I picked up my phone to stare at the unanswered texts I sent, the last one thirty minutes ago. Sighing, I dropped the phone on the table.

“Mr. Cooper is back”, Mrs. Turner announced.

My shoulders slumped in relief. I stood up, excitement and nervousness making my stomach turn. Wringing my hands, I walked out of the dining room.

“Declan”, I greeted with a smile.

Declan paused, suit jacket in his hand as he eyed me. His brows furrowed. “Okay?”

He doesn't remember.

Plastering a smile on my face, I approached him.

“I made plans for dinner. How do I look?” I asked, taking his jacket.

“You look good”, he nodded.

My smile almost faltered, but I held it up.

Good. Not beautiful, not stunning or any fancy word.

I watched Declan's back as he walked forward.

“Thanks”, I said as Mrs. Cooper took the suit jacket from me.

I joined Declan at the dining room, watching him look around with a blank expression on his face.

“So…”

He cut me off.

“Are all these necessary?” He asked, taking a seat.

My smile dropped, chest clenching.

“I wanted to do something special. I prepared everything myself. Do you like it?” I asked, sitting down beside him.

He hummed a nod.

My hands clenched, a burn rising from my stomach to chest.

“Do you remember what today is?” I asked, trying to breathe through it.

His brows drew together.

“It's our wedding anniversary”, I tried not to raise my voice.

His brows rose in surprise. “Oh. Shit, I’m sorry I forgot. I've actually been very busy”.

“Hm”, I nodded.

“You did a good job putting all these together”, he smiled, gesturing to the food Mrs. Turner opened, and then the anniversary cake.

“Thanks”, I said dryly.

Declan's face scrunched into a frown when he put the food in his mouth.

“Did you cook this?” He asked.

My heart skipped a beat. “Um… yes. I…”

“You should have asked Edward to do it”, he murmured.

I swallowed, gripping my fork. He was right. Cooking wasn't my strong fort.

But I had tasted the food and it was okay.

Declan was used to well prepared meals by chefs. But shouldn't he appreciate the effort I put in at least?

I picked at the food, having no desire to eat.

Declan grumbled, picking up a tissue to wipe his mouth.

“I’m done”, he said, getting up.

“That's it?” I frowned. He barely took three bites.

“I actually ate something before coming home. And it's been a long day, Juliet, I’m exhausted”.

Declan was picky, not the type to eat dinner at work.

“Alright”, I nodded.

I clenched my jaws, as I watched him leave. Tears pricked my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away, looking up.

It's fine. He is just tired. Don't ruin the night. You've worked hard for this.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself.

I stood in front of the mirror, trying to smile at my reflection. The lingerie I wore was specially bought last week for Declan. It was in red, his favorite color.

Declan's phone on the nightstand buzzed for the third time. Biting my lip, I walked towards it.

The screen lit up with a text from Parker. When I tapped it, a password was requested.

I knew Declan's password. Yet I had never picked up his phone to intrude on his privacy. At that moment, I was tempted to unlock it.

Shaking off the intrusive thoughts, I dropped the phone and gave it distance. Right on time, Declan walked out of the bathroom.

I smiled at him.

Declan eyed my outfit, brows drawn together. His perusal made me want to draw my arms over myself. I pinched at the edges of the sheer material.

“Hey”, I managed to say, moving towards him. “Do you… um… like it?”

Declan and I had been married for four years. I shouldn't be so nervous and uncomfortable, but I was.

“Why did you pick this style?” He asked.

“Um… the … I was told it looked good on me”, I said, remembering how confident I had felt when the sales lady showered me with compliments.

He sighed. “You should have asked for Priscilla's opinion. Should have picked something more fitting”, he grumbled, eyeing my midsection with distaste.

With trembling fingers, I drew the robe of the lingerie to cover myself.

“Anyways, I am exhausted tonight. Let's do this again tomorrow, okay?”

My throat tightened. I could only nod.

Declan pecked my cheek, before climbing on the bed.

My body shook as I tried to hold back the urge to cry. It was proving too difficult, because as I sat on the stool at the vanity mirror, tears fell freely from my eyes.

I quickly grabbed my makeup remover and wipes.

As I worked on taking off my makeup, I watched Declan from the reflection of the mirror. He was on his phone, a grin on his face. If only he had spared me half that smile.

If only he could at least look at me with a bit of desire.

My lips curled down at my reflection. I was even uglier than I thought.

I clenched my jaws, crying silently. Declan couldn't stop smiling at his phone. Even as I climbed on to the bed, the pain gnawing at my chest was invisible to him.

What felt like hours passed, with me staring into the darkness. I couldn't stop thinking back to the years of our marriage, wondering when Declan changed.

I couldn't pinpoint the exact moment. Surely it had started somewhere. Was it when we started trying for a child and drifting apart?

My brows drew together when a phone buzzed, interrupting the silence and my thoughts.

I turned to Declan, who was deep asleep. My mind drifted to the moment when he was grinning at his phone.

Unable to hold back, I leaned over and reached beside him. My heart hammered against my chest when I picked it up.

Another text from Parker.

Making sure he was still asleep, I tapped the message. My fingers trembled as I typed in the password.

As the phone unlocked, my heart felt as though it would beat out of my chest.

It was either I was hallucinating or having a nightmare. Because there was no way I was staring at the image of a vagina.

It's been barely five hours since you left, yet my pussy is already making a mess. Too bad you aren't here to clean it.