Chapter 5

Carlos's eyes were only on Sapphire's face. Obviously he was anxious about her. On the other side she evaded his pointed looks. The breakfast table which was always cheerful amidst laughter and glitter is now gloomy and dull.

Akira was too young to understand the tension between her parents. Flapping her legs she was humming a song from the Cinderella movie she saw the day before yesterday and was having the toast. 

"No singing while you are eating Princess." Carlos softly admonishes her and forks a piece of fried eggs to her mouth. Sapphire was sitting opposite Akira and Carlos. She kept to herself and eyes were stationed only to the plate. The maid was serving all of them orange juice in the glasses when after a few seconds there was a squeak of the dining chair pushed behind. 

"I am sorry guys, I need to go. I have urgent work in the office." Sapphire wiped her lips with the napkin, setting it aside after use.

Carlos's eyes that were trained to her instantly looked down at her breakfast plate after her declaration and found the contents of it hardly touched. 

"Sapphire" he called her low in a warning but audible enough to reach her ears and gave a grave look at the maid standing behind her. The servant immediately left the dining hall in fear, giving them privacy.

He pointed to her incomplete plate with his eyes in a profound look. Carlos did not want them to have a rift before Akira as such situations would have critical consequences in the psychology of the child.

Sapphire knew not to argue with her husband when his anger was out of boundaries. She completed her breakfast and was about to start when Carlos stopped her. 

"I will drop you at work." He said without a glance at her. The chauffeur bowed to them and opened the door but Carlos shook telling him to take leave. He needed seclusion with his wife after the incident at the dining hall. 

Akira was dropped off at her school and Carlos looked at her seriously. "Sapph, I do not like these pugnacious circumstances in the house. We do not need this. I am telling you earnestly. Place your resignation today." He emphasized.

Sapphire had told Pascal yesterday, she wouldn't be able to go to California. Pascal was an understanding senior. He assured her he would make an alternative arrangement but she thought a deeper change of place sounded a good idea for distraction from her tumult state. 

An idea popped in her head to keep a track on Carlos's movements. Sapphire immediately ordered hidden cameras. The night before Carlos came home she got them concealed in their wedding photo. 

The next morning when she went to work, she told Pascal she was ready for the trip. As expected he was very happy to receive the news.

That night Carlos enquired about her resignation. Sapphire not only responded to him negatively but also told him she was soon going on official work to California. The news obviously did not galvanize Carlos.

"I told you to resign the job and on the contrary you pick an assignment out of the city? If holding a job fascinates you to that extent, why don't you work in our own company?" He asked, flaring in annoyance and eyes turned red with ire.

"I am a model and you are a businessman dealing with pharmaceuticals and cotton textile. Is there a match in the professions we belong to?" Carlos did not reply to Sapphire but picked her up in his arms and walked to the hammock situated in the centre of their vast garden.

The night was cold and calm with an amorous atmosphere surrounding them. The moon was beautiful peeping at them from the branches of the tree. The fragrance of roses and lilies grown between the enormous green pastures swayed impassioned thoughts in them.

Carlos climbed on the hammock and took Sapphire on top of him. Without any words he captured her lips in an erotic entanglement. Into the smooch he poured out his unending affection, care and protection. 

"Honey everything that is mine also belongs to you. The company is yours and you do not need qualification or experience to join a position in Pfizer. Name the post and it is yours." His voice went muffled between the kisses. 

Licking on her lower lip, he trapped it between his rims and sucked her juices away. Sapphire moaned enamored, pulling his soft hairs.  The heat exploded between them buttressed in the amatory climate. Unable to hold himself anymore Carlos carried her to their bed and the night ended in a passionate romance of two love birds.

Five days later….

"Mummy, what would you get me from California?" Akira asked in twinkles and smiled very enthusiastically at Sapphire. She knelt before her and combed her wild hairs with her fingers. "What does my princess want?" 

Akira jumped with claps in happiness. "Mommy, I want a bicycle." 

Sapphire tapped her cheek dramatically. "But we can get it from New York too. Why bring it from California?" Akira pouted and her eyes glistened. Before she would cry Sapphire hugged her. She wouldn't like to see her daughter crying before her departure. "Definitely my baby, anything for you." She gleamed.

Carlos looked at her solemnly. "Think about my proposal, Sapph. I do not want you to struggle and stress. You are the wife of a billionaire. You won't take orders but you give orders." He accentuated the last three words for her. 

"Do not worry about Akira. Mom will look after her in my absence." He forced a smile on his staid features. "I would have booked our private jet for you. You would have been relieved of this cumbersome exercise." He looked around the busy airport in disapproval.

"That's okay…" Sapphire was speaking further when he held her face close to his and kissed her zealously, invading her mouth in a hurricane of love.

Sapphire cursed her suspicious mind for doubting her doting husband. She prayed to God for her to be wrong and boarded the flight. Landing in California, she unlocked the mobile to check on the hidden camera and the incident she saw in the phone made her fingers tremble like suffering an electric shock.

Walking through the sitting hall was an unidentified woman with Carlos to one of their bedrooms.