All Chapters of The Perfect Wife Walked Away: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

[Alice's POV]His comment fell like a dull, heavy hammer. Lily, who had been about to leave, suddenly froze at the door. Shock quickly flashed through her eyes, followed by a look of embarrassment. She seemed lost for words.I was also stunned at what I heard.I had assumed that David would condone Lily’s behavior, ordering me around like that. After all, due to his strong sense of family duty he had supported Lily’s needs over mine, in the past. But now, he was actually defending me?“David...?” Lily sounded grieved. She was frowning prettily. “I just wanted to help you, by sharing some of the burden. I mean, Alice has clearly been strained these past few days, since you arrived back home. So, I wanted to...”David glared coldly at her. “Well, since you are aware she’s under a heavy workload, don’t give her any extra work, like fetching groceries and doing your washing up. Do you understand?”Then he turned to Camilla, and in stern tones said, “Camilla, you mom has been very busy tak

[Alice's POV]The steam in the bathroom was becoming so thick that I was breathing wet air. The warm water vapor blurred the mirror and at the same time, blurred all reason. We were lost in a steamy world that had condensed down to just the two of us. Sound was muted, confined to a background of water flowing and our ragged breathing.David’s hand was like a burning ball of fire, traveling along my body through the thin, wet blouse. He toyed with my hips, my belly, and slowly upwards to torment my breasts. Those rough sensations were branding my skin, arousing wave after wave of urgent shivers. He leaned back on the shower chair and I straddled his hips, facing him.He stared at me, the dark hunger in his eyes becoming a storm.“Do you include this in your ‘duty’ to the cripple?” His voice was rough, gently mocking.Before I could answer, he pulled me closer and his demanding lips claimed mine. His kiss wasn’t gentle, it was full of aggression and punishment, as if he were declaring o

[Alice's POV]“Adam, if I recall at the time, I refused your medical assistance.” David’s arms around Camilla slipped a little. The earlier homely atmosphere had morphed into a sharp frost. His grim expression was full of undisguised rejection.“That’s your prerogative, Mr. Newcombe.” Adam ignored the hostility radiating from David. He put down the medical case and his gaze fell on the sliced strawberries on the kitchen counter. “But Alice’s role now is not only as your nurse, but also as my student. I don’t want housework and her nursing duties to sap her energy. She needs to concentrate on analyzing our complex research results.”“You don’t have to worry about that,” David snorted coldly.Adam paid no attention to David’s provocation. Instead, he washed his hands at the sink and took the plate of strawberries from my hand. He expertly arranged them around the waffles, with the panache and precision of a surgical operation.“If strawberries are cut too thick, it affects the taste,” h

[David’s POV]After Adam left, the air in the house was tainted with a palpable chill. I lay on the bed in the master bedroom, listening to Alice’s steady tapping on her keyboard in the study next door. My anxiety was mounting.The casts on my legs, which had been my bargaining chip for her tenderness, were now a burden, pinning me to the bed as my wife embraced an academic realm with other men; men with whom I could not compete. I was a giant in business and commerce, but a dwarf in anything scientific or medical.“Damn it...” I cursed under my breath. I reached for the half-empty bottle of scotch on the nightstand next to my bed and took a clean glass out of the top drawer. As I poured myself a shot of the golden liquid, I wondered if maybe I was drinking too much. But playing the part of a cripple was boring. Too often, my usually active mind was being confined to the four walls of my bedroom. I always kept my laptop in the bottom drawer, in easy reach, but tonight I couldn’t be bo

[Alice's POV]Early morning sunlight filtered through the cracks, each side of the blinds.I stood in front of the dressing room mirror, changing out of the comfortable house clothes I had been wearing these days at home, while taking care of my husband’s needs. I donned a tailored, dark gray suit skirt and jacket. Now, the woman in the mirror’s appearance looked less like a domestic servant, and showed more of the professional, academic persona of a dedicated scholar.Today is the last full rehearsal, before the graduate students’ debate. For me, this will be more than just an academic milestone. It’s an important crossroads for me to reinvent myself and leave behind the label, ‘Mrs. Newcombe.’“Madam, the car is ready, but...” Our butler stood at the door, hesitating.I picked up my briefcase bursting with documents and before I could leave, the door to the master bedroom upstairs was pushed open.David came out in his wheelchair, his cast-covered legs stretched straight out in fron