Love and Devotion: No Longer His to Claim

It was actually very obvious whether a man loved a woman or not. Angela Graham knew it very well.

For example, Dexter Bamford could spend a fortune buying out all the billboards in the central business district to celebrate the birthday of his first love, Elena Carrey. He did so that the whole city would be able to tell his sincerity toward her.

But for Angela's birthday, all she got was just a small, six-inch cake. In fact, it was the very same cake the nanny had gotten on her birthday.

Angela chuckled when she saw the cake. It made sense, after all. Although she was Dexter's legally wedded wife, the actual Mrs. Bamford, her job scope wasn't much different from the nanny's anyway.

The only extra task she had was sleeping with Dexter.

Angela felt tears well in her eyes when she thought about this. The loneliness in her eyes stood out like a sore thumb amid the noisy surroundings of the party.

Dexter had been late to the party as always. Actually, he had planned on staying at the banquet hall for a while longer, but he had received a message just then.

He opened up the message, not bothering to hide anything from Angela. It was as if her feelings weren't even worth considering at any point.

"It kinda hurts… Can you come over?"

Along with the message was a photo of a woman's bare back, decorated all over with red hickeys and love bites, as if she had just finished rolling in the sheets with her lover a few minutes ago. It was very suggestive.

Angela couldn't even describe what she was feeling anymore. She just felt the discomfort in her stomach start to intensify.

She knew the person who had sent Dexter the messages. It was his secretary, Erica Carrey, Elena's younger sister. She had just never imagined that Erica was also one of Dexter's sex partners.

Angela stared at Dexter's phone for a long time. It wasn't until Dexter addressed her that she finally snapped back to her senses.

"Done staring?"

Angela raised her head, her gaze meeting Dexter's dark eyes.

Dexter's facial features were partially hidden in the shadows under the dim light. He exuded a cold and aloof air as he threw Angela another glance and nonchalantly slipped the phone back into his pocket.

He didn't seem the least bit hurried or anxious at all, and he certainly wasn't remorseful that his wife had found out about his affair. He didn't even care whether Angela would throw a fuss about it.

Meanwhile, Angela simply lowered her head like a guilty child who had just done something wrong. She shifted her gaze at once.

She just simply couldn't hold this against him. After all, following what had happened the last time, her father, Bill Graham, had remarried, and Angela didn't have any support from her maternal family. They no longer wanted to have anything to do with her.

Her mother, Marie Jetson, used to own a company called Jetson Co., but Bill had completely taken over the company. He had also long forgotten his promise to Marie and abandoned Angela for the sake of his new wife, Judy Miller, and her son, Zack Graham.

Angela had nothing left aside from the title of Mrs. Bamford. She was just Dexter's trophy wife. She knew that she had no right to question Dexter, the head of the household who provided for her. It didn't matter that she used to be a very famous designer in the industry.

Just as Dexter was about to leave, Angela tugged on the corner of his shirt and said, "Dexter, can you come home earlier today? I've got something to tell you."

Dexter looked at her with a half-smile and suddenly came close to her. He chuckled in her ear and said, "What, tonight? Someone's eager today. I'm taking this as an invitation."

Angela shuddered suddenly. Dexter had never gone easy on her in bed.

However, the people around them couldn't help teasing them watching their interaction. They joked that Dexter and Angela kept behaving like newlyweds in their honeymoon phase with how often they stuck to each other like glue.

Still, Angela knew that this so-called intimacy was only a show. Dexter had never viewed her as his equal.

To him, she was nothing but a decoration item that he owned. He had been forced to marry her, so she was a liability to him. He also thought this was all part of her devious plan to suck up to him.

Without giving Angela a chance to answer, Dexter nodded at the rest of the guests and left the place.

…

That night, Dexter got home even later than usual. Angela glanced at the clock and saw that it was close to dawn.

She sat in the living room as she waited for him. When she saw him enter the house, she got up and approached him.

As she took his coat from him, she thought it vaguely smelled like peaches. Obviously, this scent didn't belong to her. She held the coat closer and took another sniff.

"Dexter—"

Just as she started to speak, she was immediately interrupted. However, it was obvious that Dexter misunderstood her.

"What's up? Why are you sniffing like a dog?" He said it nonchalantly, as if reminding Angela about her position in this marriage.

She was Mrs. Bamford, a nanny who should always turn a blind eye to Dexter's tomfoolery, serve him food, and satisfy him in bed whenever he wanted. She was not to bother about anything else that didn't concern her.

"Whatever you have to say, you can wait until I've showered," Dexter said, walking around Angela as he left.

A short while later, Dexter emerged from the bathroom with a head of messy hair. His bathrobe hung loosely on his shoulders, revealing his toned abs and sexy V-line.

Angela hurriedly stood up from the couch and didn't dare to look up at him. It had been so many years, and Dexter still managed to hypnotize her like this every time.

When they had been in high school, she had accidentally bumped into his table, knocking his textbook off to the ground. From the moment he had smiled at her and told her it was okay, with the sun shining in the back, Angela had fallen for him, hook, line, and sinker.

But she then recalled the phone call she had received from Judy that afternoon, saying that Zack had racked up a huge debt from his gambling addiction. Apparently, they had no choice but to put a mortgage on the house Marie had left for Angela to repay his debts.

That house had belonged to Marie all along and had nothing to do with them! How could they have done such a thing?

Angela gritted her teeth and said, "Dexter, I'd like to participate in the international design competition this year."

The prize money was well worth up to eight figures. Angela wanted to use the money to redeem her mother's house.

"You waited for so long just to ask me this? Aren't you a little too free now, Mrs. Bamford?" Dexter asked, curling his lips up in a smirk. "You're not suited to reveal your face in public."

Angela grabbed Dexter's arm anxiously and said, "I'm not revealing my face to the public. I won't let other people know that I'm Mrs. Bamford."

Dexter had long lost his patience. He looked at her mockingly and said, "And why should I believe you?"

Exactly. Why should he believe her?

The coffee Bill had prepared for Dexter back then had been drugged. Angela had known nothing about it, but they hadn't been able to trust each other for years because she had been the one who had given it to Dexter.

Angela released her hold on Dexter's arm. If she didn't participate in the competition, then how else could she get so much money?

Suddenly, a huge force swept Angela off her feet. She found herself falling against a cold, steely chest.

Dexter's icy voice sounded from behind her. "Giving up so soon? Actually, if you perform well tonight, I can perhaps think about it."

"Perform what?"

"What do you think?"

Dexter suddenly blew in Angela's ear, getting her in the mood. As usual, the lobes of Angela's ears turned a bright red color. Dexter felt aroused all of a sudden. He hugged her tightly from the back and leaned in to kiss her earlobes.

Yet, Angela suddenly felt annoyed. Dexter often acted on his primal instincts. He was the only one who had a say in whether they would be having sex that night or not.

Hadn't he just returned from fucking someone else that night? Was he just dissatisfied with that woman?

Before Angela could push him away, Dexter's phone suddenly started ringing loudly, ruining the mood.

He went to answer the phone. The sound of a woman sobbing could be heard on the other end of the line.