All Chapters of BRIDE FOR A YEAR : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

LOUIS'S POVThe moment Tommy walked away from my desk, guilt slammed into me again... harder this time.It wasn’t just what I had done... It was the fact that I had lied about it.I watched him reach for the door... watched his hand close around the handle, and something inside me twisted so tight it hurt ... Tommy had warned me, more than once. He had told me to cut Emily loose, told me she was a problem waiting to happen and yet, I walked straight into it anyway.If I didn’t say something now, I knew myself well enough to know what would follow ... silence, avoidance, the kind of pressure that builds until it explodes... I had already made one horrible decision today. I didn’t want to make another.“Tommy,” I said.He paused just as he opened the door.Turned around and looked at me the way someone does when they already sense bad news coming.“I need to tell you something.”His jaw tightened immediately. “Fuck,” he muttered then shot the door. “I knew something was wrong.”He walke

FLAVIA'S POVAfter my last words hung in the air... Jaz didn’t say anything right away. She just stared at me.At the flowers sitting prettily on my desk... then at the half-eaten chocolate, wrapper folded neatly beside it. Then back at my face... like she was trying to reconcile all three things at once...“I don’t get it,” she finally said... “Isn’t that the same flower you saw him buy this morning when you were...” she paused, smirking, “...stalking him?”I almost laughed. Almost.“This is not funny!” I said, even though a small smile tugged at my lips ... “And for the record, I was not stalking him, I only followed him.”She grinned wider. “Potato, potahto. What’s the difference?”I rolled my eyes. “Well, it’s the same flower, same bag, same chocolate. Everything.”She looked genuinely puzzled now. “Okay… then why are you still looking like someone stole your favorite shoe? If he got all this for you to make peace, shouldn’t things be back to normal?”“That’s the thing,” I said qu

FLAVIA'S POVBy the time thirty minutes crawled by and Louis still hadn’t shown up, the excitement I had forced myself to feel earlier was completely gone...I was still sitting in the living room ... back straight, legs crossed, clutch purse resting neatly beside me like I was some mannequin on display... The TV played softly in the background, but I wasn’t watching it ...I had been staring at the same spot on the wall for so long it was starting to blur.I still couldn't fathom how 6:30pm became 7:00pm and 7:00pm became 7:30pm ... and Louis wasn't still back when he told me to be ready by 6:00pm ... What exactly is going on and the fact that he didn't even bother to call to tell me he was running late and why was very annoying...At 7:32pm, I finally grabbed my phone and decided to call.I dialed Louis but surprisingly, the call didn’t even ring. I frowned and tried again, still I got nothing.“What’s going on?” I muttered, my thumb hovering over his name. “Is he okay?”A strange ti

FLAVIA'S POVFor the first time in days, the conversation with Louis was… good. It was even better than I had expected, better than I had hoped especially because I was upset with him a while ago... Sitting across from him in that beautiful ... dimly lit restaurant, listening to his voice soften, watching him lean toward me like he used to... it reminded me of us before everything got complicated, before the tension, before the unexplained distance and most importantly, before the constant ringing phone that felt like a third presence in our marriage.He begged me to come out tonight. He really did and even though I didn’t want to, didn't believe his excuses... about work, about the car, about everything... I still appreciated the effort, the persistence and the way he refused to let me brush him off.And the restaurant… God. It was stunning, private, intimate just the way I like it ... Like it was a secret fun place for people like us, for people who loved and mattered to each other

LOUIS'S POVDriving to the office felt like punishment and every red light, every slow car and every second alone with my thoughts made it worse.I felt horrible, not just because I cheated, not just because I lied straight to my wife’s face but because I made Flavia feel bad for asking when she was absolutely right. I cheated on her, with my fucking ex.The irony of it made me sick.She asked because she felt something was wrong... and she was right. And instead of owning up to it, instead of protecting her the way I swore I would, I turned it around on her and made her feel stupid, insecure and I went as far as making her apologize for my mess.I tightened my grip on the steering wheel... If Flavia ever found out the truth, she would leave me especially after what I did last night. There was no doubt about that.Things between us were already strained, already fragile and he safest thing right now... the only thing... was to lie. I hated it. God, I hated it and to think I had alway