Chapter 3

His words hung in the air, thick and suffocating.

“Husband duties?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes at him. My voice was steady, but my heart pounded against my ribs like it wanted to break free. “You’ve never acted like a husband, Leonard. Not once.”

He tilted his head slightly, studying me with those green orbs that had the infuriating ability to strip me bare without touching me. “Is that what you think?”

I scoffed. “It’s what I know.”

His lips curled into the faintest smirk, the kind that promised trouble. “Then maybe I should start… right now.”

Before I could react, his hand slid from my arm to the small of my back, pulling me closer. My breath hitched damn my traitorous body. I hated that his warmth felt like safety, even when I knew it was poison.

“Don’t,” I warned, though my voice betrayed me, softer than I intended.

“Don’t what?” His breath brushed my ear, sending a shiver I tried to suppress. “Don’t touch you? Don’t remind you you’re my wife?”

I opened my mouth to snap back, but my words hung in my throat as the sound of clicking heels reached me. Someone was at the door.

Leo looked at me, his brows knitted in question.

My intuition already warned me it was Anna. That sneaky bitch, what does she want now?

“Leo? Are you in there?” Her tiny voice rings out.

Every muscle in my body tensed. I snatched the bedsheet tighter around me, but before I could move, Leo was already heading for the door.

“Stay,” he ordered without looking back.

I rolled my eyes at him, not that I plan on leaving him with Anna, I thought to myself.

The door creaked open, and there she was. Anna, in all her perfectly-groomed glory, stood like she owned the place. She gave Leo a smile dripping with fake sweetness before letting her eyes wander past him, as if she were hoping to catch sight of me. The moment I caught a sight of her my heart rapidly began pounding hard like it would burst out of its rib cage.

“Oh my word, Leo what happened to you,” she said, her voice wrapped with forced innocence. “You’ve got bags under your eyes and what’s that red patch on your cheeks?” Anna stretches her hands to reach for Leo’s face.

My fingers dug into my palm as I clenched my teeth together, I felt anger pulsing through my veins memories of my first life came back, my heart constricted in pain. I wanted to grab her by the throat and ask her why she did all that to me. What did I do to her to deserve such horrible things she did to me?

I turned away, my back to the door as I gripped the wall like my life depended on it.

It hurt so much, tears blinded my eyes and all my senses went numb for some seconds. I felt like I was going to faint,

“Calm down Susan, you need to calm down. I said to myself as I took in a deep breath and wiped my teary eyes. My senses slowly returning.

This time I would be the writer of my story and the villain in Anna’s story, I swore to make her life a living hell.

“Did something happen, Leo,” Anna’s hands went from Leo’s cheeks to his wide chest as she rubbed on them seductively. Leo had no shirt on, only shorts which he had hurriedly worn when Anna called out to him.

“You know you can tell me anything.” She probed further hinting at something, my breath caught in my chest as I awaited Leo’s tongue lash and accusations but to my surprise, Leo brushed Anna’s hands.

“What do you want, Annastasia?”I could feel the change in Leo’s voice, it was cold laced with anger.

Ignoring Leonard's hostile attitude towards her she shrugged her shoulders and smiled innocently, showing off her perfect white teeth.

“It’s seven am and Susan is still in bed, Mrs Carter asked me to fetch her.” She craned her neck, but Leo shifted, blocking her line of sight completely.

“Tell my mother,” he said, voice like steel, “my wife is with me. And she’s tired.”

I blinked. Wife?

The word hit harder than it should have.

“Wait what..” I heard Anna’s shocked disbelief voice then the banging of the door.

My jaw dropped, wait, did Leo just tell Anna and his mother off? And to top it off, he calls me his “wife” again?

What the fuck is happening? Are you sure I have not been sent back in time to another dimension?

In my first life, this morning was a chaotic morning with Anna fueling Leo’s anger while pretending to be on my side.

“You look like you’ve just encountered a ghost,” Leo whispered in my ear, his warm breath brushing against my neck. I was so deep in thought that I wasn’t sure I saw him walk towards me.

I jolted back, but he was fast. His hands slid back to my waist pulling me towards him, my breast colliding with his perfectly toned body. I took in a deep breath as I felt some hot liquid drip down wetting my pant.

Oh father lord, deliver me from this temptation. My thoughts were all over the place as I struggled to hold back from unleashing my inner urge.

“I need to go prepare breakfast for the family,” I said slipping away from his grip.

Leo tried to grab me again but I was quick on my feet, jumping to the other side. I saw his eyes narrow and fall, the excitement on his face when he held me disappeared, it was replaced with something I couldn’t bring myself to understand.

“You took advantage of me but couldn’t even let me hold you for long. Is this all about what you want?” He asked, his voice was cold as ice, and the atmosphere suddenly became too toxic for me to breathe.

“I didn’t dru..” my voice was cut off by a thick dangerous command.

“Get out of my face!”