Semua Bab DIVORCED MORNING AND REMARRIED TO HIS BROTHER BY NIGHT: Bab 181 - Bab 190

MONIQUESo, I just nodded again.“Okay, good,” she said with a pleased smile. “He’s going to bring you lunch. I have a hair appointment, I’ve got to get my nails done, and I have dinner with your father tonight, which I am not going to miss. So he’ll bring you lunch. Be on your best behavior, okay? When I come back tomorrow, I don’t want to find you in this room anymore. I want you to be out of here, back in your home, and everything to go back to normal. Do you understand me, Monique?”I nodded again.She stood up, started walking toward the door, then turned back.“Monique,” she said, her tone sharper now. “I want you to understand this is serious. You cannot make Ryan mad. You’ve already pushed him over the limit. Just do what he asks. I’m doing this for you. I want to get you out of this room. Do you understand?”I nodded once more.“Good,” she said, her voice softening again as if we were back to pretending. “You be a good girl.”Then she reached out and parted my hair the same w

MONIQUEI sat there for a while, staring at nothing, my mind blank, until finally I stood and made my way toward the bathroom.Everything looked familiar, too familiar. The tiles, the mirror, the scent of my favourite soap. It was as if time had reset everything to the way it was before. Before I left. Before that accident, I still couldn’t remember.I turned on the shower and stepped under the water. The water hit my skin, hot and heavy, and for a fleeting second, I almost felt alive. The sound of it drowned out the noise in my head... Ryan’s voice and his threats. I let the water run until the fog on the mirror blurred my reflection. That was better.... I didn’t want to see who I had become.When I was done, I went to my closet, or what used to be mine. Everything was neatly folded, organized, untouched, like I’d never been gone. But standing there, surrounded by silk and soft colors, I felt nothing. This didn’t feel like home. It felt like another kind of prison, a golden one, sure

MONIQUEFor a second, I felt like I had been put on the spot. I could feel Ryan’s gaze on me, burning with warning, but I could also see the officer’s eyes waiting.... expectant, patient for what I would say."......... I....." I began, but I couldn’t finish. My voice cracked.I so badly wanted to tell the officers the truth, but one look at Ryan told me that would be a wrong move.I cleared my throat. “Everything is fine, officers… like Ryan said. It’s just jet lag. We’ve been flying for a long time, and...... It’s just jet lag. I’m going to feel a little bit better with enough air and time to relax.”Ryan moved to my side as he slid his arm around my waist, smiling at me before turning back to the officers.“Like I said, officers,” he said smoothly, “everything is right here. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Monique is my wife. Like we both said at the police station a few days ago, we just had a little misunderstanding. But you have to understand.....we’ve been married for te

MONIQUERyan gives me a bright, blinding smile.“All in due time,” he replies smoothly. “If you do what you have to do, I’ll let you and your aunt go.”I swallow hard, nodding.“Good,” he says again, glancing at his watch. “Now, I have to go. Be a good girl.”And then he leaves. I stand there in front of the door, watching him get into his car and drive off. Silence follows, pressing into my chest as I stare at the empty driveway.I stand outside, watching the empty driveway long after Ryan’s car disappears from sight, probably longer than I should, before finally walking back into the house.I head straight to the kitchen, where Maria and Natasha are working. “We are expecting guests tonight,” I tell them. “Ryan’s parents will be coming over for dinner, so please prepare something for that.”They both nod immediately, but their eyes stay fixed on the counter. Neither of them looks at me; it feels like they are waiting for me to leave so they can finally breathe.I turn away and go u

MONIQUEI look at him, staring at him, my eyes wide. Given that he’s threatening me here, in front of his parents, I understand what this is: his way of showing me that I have no one to run to. This is him telling me that his parents are with him, that I’m alone.... and that no one will help me.“Oh, would you please stop scaring the poor girl?” Mrs. Bennett says, her voice soft and motherly as she walks toward Ryan. She lays her hand gently on his shoulder. Ryan smirks at me before standing up and leaving the room.A few seconds later, Mr. Bennett rises too. He doesn’t look at me, doesn’t say a word. He just follows his son out, leaving the air filled with tension.Mrs. Bennett is the only one still there. She stands over me, watching me with a sweet smile I do not trust.“How are you doing? How are you feeling?” she asks again, her tone falsely tender, as if she’s forgotten she already asked me that earlier.“I’m doing good,” I manage to say, though my voice barely makes it out.Sh