All Chapters of 365 DAYS AS HIS WIFE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

26 Chapters

SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE LAID HER TRAP VERY CAREFULLY

**CHAPTER 011**I…I wanted to speak but didn't.What was there to say? *I'm sorry?* — pfft it felt too small. *It won't happen again* felt like a promise I wasn't sure I could keep. And *it wasn't entirely my fault* felt like exactly the kind of excuse that would make things worse with this man.So I just stood there, barefoot in my pajamas and my half-open robe, holding his coffee cup with both hands like an offering, my hair a disaster around my face, looking like something the rain had dragged in and forgotten about.Michael's eyes moved from his watch back to my face. His cold eyes boring into mine.The silence stretched so long I thought I might actually dissolve into the floor.Then he reached out and took the cup from my hands.I blinked. My fingers felt suddenly cold where the warmth of the cup had been. *(Oh my God, I'm so going to get yelled at.)*He looked down at it for a moment — studying it the way someone might study a document before signing it. Careful. Deliberate. T

DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED, DOES IT?

**CHAPTER 012**Marie's hand closed around my arm.I yanked it off."Rosa—""Don't." I pulled away from her grip and spun back around to face Helen. My heart was slamming against my ribs. My hands were shaking. But my feet were planted. "What the hell did you just say?"Helen didn't even flinch. Just stood there with that same unbothered expression, one hand resting on the counter like we were having a casual conversation about the weather."I said what I said, dear."*Dear.* The word dripped with so much condescension I felt it land on my skin like something dirty."Say it again," I said, stepping closer. "Go on. Say it to my face properly."Helen's eyes swept over me slowly. Top to bottom. Taking her time. The same look she'd given me when I walked in barefoot and panicked thirty minutes ago — like I was something she'd found stuck to the bottom of her shoe."You want me to repeat myself?" Her voice stayed perfectly level. Almost amused. "Fine. A pregnant woman. No husband. No home.

SHIT THIS WOMAN IS SO GOING TO GET ME FIRED.

**CHAPTER 013**Michael Cross?.I almost choked.He stood at the door in that same dark suit, hands relaxed at his sides, looking completely unbothered — his usual expression.My hand gripped the door frame."I — you—" I blinked. "I thought you left.""I did," he said. "but I came back."I stared at him. "Why?, and why didn't you answer when I asked who it was?""First this is my house, I didn't even need to knock before I push open I just felt like giving you privacy and some respect since....since you're pregnant." Also Hhis eyes moved briefly to the door. "The doors in this house are a specific kind of soundproof," he said. "Sound from inside the room doesn't travel out. Sound from outside travels in."Oh.(blinked)*Oh.*So the whole time I'd been calling out *who is it* from inside — he hadn't heard a single word. But every knock he made had landed perfectly clearly on my end.*Pfft.* Of course this man's house worked like that.I opened my mouth to respond but his eyes had alrea

WHERE IS ROSA?

**CHAPTER 014***CASSIAN'S POV*Two days.She'd been back two days and I could already feel it coming. Like standing outside in the middle of summer and watching the sky turn that specific shade of gray that means the storm isn't a maybe anymore — it's a when.My mother didn't say anything. That was the problem.She didn't ask questions. Didn't comment. Just... watched. With those sharp quiet eyes that missed absolutely nothing and stored everything away somewhere I couldn't reach.Dinner on the first night. She'd called across the table — *"Rosa, sweetheart, do you remember that restaurant we went to before the wedding? The one with the terrible wine but the most amazing lamb?"*I'd tried to warn Isolde, whispering*"no"* but she didn't notice.Rather she looked up from her plate and smiled. "Of course."My mother had smiled back.But her eyes hadn't.Because Rosa had never been to that restaurant. I'd made up the story on the spot when I told it to my mother months ago — a lie to mak

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?.

CHAPTER 015The hallway stretched out in front of me, long and filled with portraits of Mr. Perfect and what possibly looked like his ancestors.I stood there for a second, arms folded, wondering why I even left the room in the first place. Don't go anywhere — yeah, I remembered very well, but I wasn't a child, was I? I could do as I wished.Also, Marie didn't ask me if I was hungry before she left, and the answer was no, so technically the whole food trip was unnecessary, and her instructions were based on a false premise, and—Ugh, okay, that's a stretch, Rosa, and you know it.I heaved a heavy sigh and continued walking.I actually felt fine. Completely fine. A little tired, maybe, but physically? Fine. The baby was okay; the hospital had already confirmed that, so what exactly was a whole prenatal checkup going to tell me that I didn't already know? I didn't even want to go. I was lazy, I felt okay, and sitting in a doctor's office being poked and examined was the last thing I wan

I'M WAITING.

*CHAPTER 016*I turned around and looked at him.He stood in the center of the room staring at me, eyes misty and a little red, jaw set, and the album was still in my hands. I was still in his study, and there was absolutely no version of this that looked good.What do I even say, I thought, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. What on earth do I even—“Mr. Cross, I… I can explain. The door was already open and I just—”But he wasn’t listening—he crossed the room and his hand closed around my wrist before the sentence finished leaving my mouth. The album slipped from my hand and hit the floor.“Mr. Cross, wha… Mr. Cross please, please it’s not what you think—” I pulled back, trying to slow him down, trying to make him stop and look at me and just listen for one second. “Please, I wasn’t trying to go through your things. I just saw the light and I got curious and—”“Shut the fuck up.” He turned and stared at me, and I could see the anger in those hazel eyes of his. “I don’t want t

YOU'RE MINE BABY GIRL.

**CHAPTER 017**I placed the album back on the desk carefully with both hands, making sure it was exactly where I'd found it.Then I turned to face him."Mr. Cross, I know how this looks, but I promise I wasn't trying to—""I don't want to hear it."He seemed so angry, but still he didn't yell."Please, just let me explain. The door was already open and I just walked in. I got curious and I know I shouldn't have touched your things, but—""Rosa."I stopped.He looked at me the way someone looks at something they've already made a decision about. Calm. Final. Like the conversation was already over and I just hadn't caught up yet."Leave my study.""But—""Now."I pressed my lips together hard, swallowed everything else I wanted to say, and walked towards the door. He stepped aside and I passed him without looking up, chin down, heart hammering, the embarrassment sitting hot and heavy on my face.When I finally came out, the hallway swallowed me up.I stood there for a second, back agai

MR. STRANGER.

**CHAPTER 018**"Who the fuck are you!" I screamed as I thrashed under his grip.I used both hands to push against his chest, trying to get my mouth free, trying to get enough space to do something — scream, run, anything.But he was strong. His grip was tight and I found tears coming out from the sides of my eyes due to lack of breath."Stop fighting," he murmured, tightening his grip. "I'm not going to hurt you."*Not going to hurt me?* I drove my elbow back hard — he grunted — his hand slipped just enough and I sucked in half a breath before he covered my mouth again.The shower was still running behind us, steam filling the bathroom, everything hot and close and suffocating.*Think Rosa. THINK.*That's when it hit me.I went completely still. Just long enough that his grip loosened slightly."Thank goodness," he said, probably thinking I had passed out — and that's when I took the chance. I bit down on his palm as hard as I could."Argh!" he screamed, hand jerking back, and I seiz

CALL THE DOCTOR.

**CHAPTER 019**"What the hell is going on here?" Marie yelled as she stepped fully into the room. She pressed a hand over her mouth, eyes darting between me and him like she couldn't decide which one to look at. Dina crowded in behind her, one hand gripping the door frame, face pale.He climbed off me slowly. Unhurried. Like he had all the time in the world and none of this was a problem. He straightened up, adjusted the towel at his waist, and stood there with the particular calm of someone who had already decided how this was going to go.I scrambled off the bed the moment his weight lifted, putting the mattress between me and him, my legs shaking so badly I had to grip the bedpost to stay upright. My face was wet. I hadn't even realized I was crying until right now."Marie—" her name came out cracked and barely held together.She crossed the room immediately, hands finding my arms, steadying me. "I've got you," she said, low and urgent. "I've got you, it's okay—""It's really not

TAKE HIM AWAY

**CHAPTER 020**The ceiling of my bedroom.That was the first thing I recognized when my eyes opened. The same white ceiling I'd been staring at since I arrived in this house, the same soft curtains, the same evening light pressing through the gaps.I blinked slowly.Everything blurred with every twist of my head I made. My whole body felt like it had been wrung out and put back together slightly wrong."Don't try to sit up."*That voice. I... I recognize that voice.**Mr. Cross has OCD, a disorder that makes him difficult* — my mind flashed back to where I'd heard the voice.It was the doctor.I turned my head carefully and found her standing beside my bed, bag open on the drawer beside her, watching me with the expression of someone who has seen this kind of thing before and has very specific opinions about what comes next.*Well, she did warn me that staying with Michael Cross might be difficult,* I thought.Marie sat in the chair on my other side. Hands folded in her lap, eyes red

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