CHAPTER 6: Not Your Wife

Aria’s POV

Before I even had time to back away from the door, it was open. I raised my head to see a confused Nathan staring back at me.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, looking me up and down.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is also my house”

Liam shrugged and was about to walk away, but I grabbed his sleeve.

“What are you hiding from me? What should your wife not know?” I swear I felt him tense up at my question.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He tried to leave, but my grip was firm.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m going to find out either way.” I let go of his sleeve, crossing my arms.

“Go ahead, wife,” he replied, straightening his shirt.

“Don’t play games with me, Nathan”

“You sound fucking crazy. You should get checked.” With that, he walked away, leaving me standing.

Times like this make me wish I had a gun. A very specific man would be long gone by now. I spent the rest of the day in my or, as I hate to say, our room.

Sometime later, I heard the door click open. I knew it was that asshole without looking up from my phone.

“What do you want?” I asked, eyes still glued to my screen.

“We have somewhere to be tonight. I remember telling you about an event”

“What event?” I asked cocking my head to the side.

He was clearly irritated, but I did not care.

His jaw clenched. “A normal party, Aria. I know you’re slow, but even you should be able to put two and two together.”

He continued, “The dressing fitting? What did you think it was for?”

I rolled my eyes, “I forgot, okay now shush”

“Your attitude is terrible. You should work on that,” He murmured.

“I can say the same for you.” I flashed a fake smile, batting my lashes.

“I will not be having this conversation with you; I’m leaving. Enjoy the rest of your day, Mrs Cross,” He said, smirking at the last part.

“Call me that one more time and I’ll kill you, I swear to god”

“I’d like to see you try, wife.” With that, he left the room while my blood was boiling. Never in my life have I wanted to end someone as bad as I wanted to end this stupid excuse of a husband I have.

My thoughts were cut short by a call from Liam.

“Hey, what’s up?” Liam asked on the other line.

“Take me away from here,” I wailed, fake sobbing into the phone.

“It can’t be that bad,” Liam laughed.

“Oh, it is. He’s not husband material at all. One would think they are getting married to a sensible person, but Nathan is the complete opposite of sensible. The man lacks brain cells,” I groaned.

“Damn, that’s how you feel about him.” Liam was laughing his ass off at me.

“Of course, that’s how I feel. You try getting married to someone like him,” I muttered, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. “I swear if I stay here any longer I might actually do something crazy.”

“Like what?” he asked, amused.

“Like commit a crime,” I said flatly. “A very serious one.”

“Aria,” he started, still laughing. “Just relax, you’re being dramatic.”

“Dramatic?! I am not being dramatic,” I shot back. “This man just called me slow. Slow, Liam. To my face. How dare he? Who does he think he is?” I was sure I was gonna explode.

“Oh shit, you can’t possibly be this worked up because he called you slow. What really happened?”

“He.” I was about to tell Liam about the whole conversation and what Nathan was supposedly hiding from me, but I stopped. Something in me told me to keep quiet and find out for myself.

“He, erm, he keeps calling me his wife, and it gets on my nerves. I’ll kill him, I swear,” I lied.

“You’ll kill him, yeah yeah, I’ve heard,” Liam cut in. “Relax.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Are you busy tonight?”

“Why?”

“There’s apparently some stupid event I have to go to with my so called husband,” I said. “I need moral support.”

Liam laughed. “You want me to crash a high class event just to keep you company?”

“Yes,” I said without shame. “Exactly that.”

“I’ll think about it,” he teased.

“Don’t think, just do,” I said.

“We’ll see,” he repeated.

I sighed dramatically. “Fake ass friend.”

“Very fake,” he agreed, laughing.

We talked for a few more minutes before ending the call, and as soon as it ended, the room went quiet again.

“Ugh, I’m so tired of being here. I really hate my life right now,” I groaned.

“You should leave then.” Nathan’s voice scared the shit out of me.

“What the fuck?!” I screeched, clutching my chest. Why the hell would he sneak up on me like that?

“Are you crazy? Why would you just come in like that? How long have you been standing there like a creep?”

“Firstly, this is my house and room too. Secondly, I just got here”. Nathan replied, taking off his tie and tossing it on the bed.

Something about how he did that was weirdly attractive, wait no Aria stop! That’s your sister’s fiancé. We are meant to hate Nathan, not fan over the way he tosses a tie, you stupid girl.

“You should get ready. We have to leave soon”

“I invited someone, by the way,” I said, twirling a strand of my hair between my fingers.

He raised a brow. “What do you mean you invited someone? Who did you invite?”

“Liam, of course, there’s no way I’m making it through the night without him by my side,” I replied.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to have him by your side all night, and I’m coming with you so you’re not going to be alone”

“For a businessman, you’re quite slow. “It’s really obvious I don’t want to be near you, Mr Nathan Cross.” I flashed a fake smile.

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about it, Mrs Cross”

“Don’t call me that”

“Why? That is your title, no?”

“I fucking hate you.” I rolled my eyes.

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual.” He tossed a suit bag on my bed and continued, “Your dress is in here. We leave in about two hours. Get ready; here I’ll go wash up in the guest room”

“Close the door on your way out”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He snorted.

What an asshole. No wonder Alexa ran away. I would have done the same thing.

Sighing, I picked up the suit bag and unzipped it. The dress was gorgeous and no doubt I’d look breathtaking in it.

“I'd better get ready. The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I get to leave and get some sleep.” The thought of sharing a bed with that man made me sick.