All Chapters of BRIDE FOR A YEAR : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

FLAVIA'S POVI got to work earlier than usual... Not because there was much to do... but because the silence at home had started to choke me... Every time Louis looked at me, it felt like he could see right through the lies. The kiss. The shopping. The mess I had made trying to pretend everything was normal ...If I stayed around him a minute longer, I might have blurted everything out ...I was sitting at my desk... staring blankly at my laptop screen, when Jaz breezed in with her usual chaotic energy and coffee in hand ...“You are here early,” she said, dropping her bag onto the couch. “Did the sun forget to rise or something?”“Yeah,” I murmured, barely looking up...Jaz narrowed her eyes and came closer, leaning against the edge of my desk like a detective about to start an interrogation... “You look disturbed. What’s wrong?”I sighed, rubbing my temples... “I hate that I am keeping secrets from Louis, Jaz. I feel like a bad person.”“Girl, no, you are not,” she said immediately,

FLAVIA'S POVMy phone wouldn’t stop vibrating on the table, Louis’s name flashing across the screen like a warning...I looked at Jaz, who was fiddling with the flower samples... “There we go again,” I muttered under my breath... “No, I have to pick up.”Jaz gave me a sympathetic look. “You could just let it ring out.”I sighed and shook my head... “That’ll only make him suspicious...”Taking a deep breath, I forced my voice to sound calm and light before answering... “Hi baby, how are you doing?”“Hey, sweetheart,” Louis said, his voice warm and steady... “I am fine. I was actually thinking of coming to pick you up for lunch...”My stomach tightened... “That’s so thoughtful of you, baby, but don’t bother... I am… not in the office right now.”“Oh?” His tone shifted slightly, curious. “Where are you?”“I am at a venue,” I said quickly. “Jaz and I are working on a last-minute event.”There was a pause. “Really? I didn’t know you had a new contract.”“I didn’t,” I replied, the lie rolli

LOUIS'S POV For a second, I thought I heard wrong... Maybe Carter was joking. Maybe it was some kind of mix-up...But then the applause hit... loud, echoing, mocking ... and every head turned toward her.My wife... Flavia.Standing there, frozen under the golden lights like a deer caught in headlights...“What just happened?” I muttered under my breath, trying to make sense of it...I turned to her. She wouldn’t even look at me. Her eyes darted everywhere else... the chandelier, the crowd, her clutch ... anywhere but me.“Flavia.” My voice came out low. Firm. “Look at me.”She hesitated before finally lifting her eyes. That sad, guilty look nearly cracked me open.“Did you set this event up?” I asked.She swallowed hard. “Yes.”My chest tightened. “Was this where you were yesterday? Is this why you came home late?”“Yes, I was...”“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I cut her off... My voice was calm, but only because I was trying not to explode... “It’s fine.”“Louis, please. I am

FLAVIA'S POVThe silence in the car was suffocating. It pressed against my chest like a weight I couldn’t lift ... My hands trembled where they rested on my lap, my palms clammy and cold ... Louis hadn’t said a word since we left the event. Not one. His jaw was tight... his knuckles white on the steering wheel, veins standing out like dark ropes beneath his skin ...I have never seen him like that... so quiet, yet so loud in his silence. Every second that ticked by screamed that something was terribly wrong... I could feel it in the air... the kind of tension that made it hard to breathe ...“Louis…” My voice barely made it out... “Please...”“I don’t want to hear it.” The sharpness in his tone cut through me like glass...I bit my lip hard to stop the sting behind my eyes... If there was one thing I had learned about Louis... it was that when he was angry... really angry... he needed space... But right now, space felt like punishment. I sat still, hands fisted in my dress, and forced

LOUIS'S POVI couldn’t sit still.I kept pacing the room like a damn caged animal, running a hand through my hair until it stuck up in every direction... My head was a mess, my chest tight, my thoughts louder than the ticking clock on the wall ... I didn’t know what to feel... anger, hurt, disbelief. Maybe all of it at once...Flavia.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her standing there, guilt written all over her face... She looked so damn sorry, and for a second, I almost let her talk... Almost. But then that picture came back to me... the one Carter showed me. The one where she was kissing him.My wife... Kissing that bastard.It felt like someone had driven a knife straight through my gut ...On one hand, I could tell she regretted it. On the other, how the hell was I supposed to ignore that image? The lies. The secrecy. The fact that she had been hanging out with him like I was some fool who wouldn’t find out...No matter how much I wanted to let it go, I couldn’t... Because if