Accueil / Romance / The Wife He Doesn't Know / Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

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The Woman He Married

The next day, Callista stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the strap of her dress. She studied her reflection for a moment, making sure she looked breathtaking. That was the point. She had briefly considered borrowing one of Valeria's dresses, copying her hairstyle, or trying to imitate the way she spoke. But she quickly dismissed the idea. Ivan had never met Valeria, he knew only what she had told him through their messages, so there was no reason to become Valeria. She only needed to convince him that she was. Callista picked up her phone and checked the conversation one more time, making sure she had memorized enough. She knew about Valeria's childhood, her father, her job, the marriage arrangement, and the things she had discussed with her husband. She knew what Ivan knew, and that was enough. She slipped her phone into her purse and walked out. Tonight, she wasn't going to be Callista Ashford. At least, not in Ivan's eyes. Ivan had arrived at the restaurant almost twen

A Private Marriage

Ivan drove home alone, the silence in the streets pressing down on him, but his mind was far from being silent. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as Callista's face returned to his thoughts. She had been different from what he expected, she was confident, playful, and unapologetic. He smiled faintly when he remembered the way she had looked at him after telling him she knew what she wanted, and there was something refreshing about her confidence. Maybe this marriage wouldn't be as complicated as he had imagined. His phone buzzed and snapped him back to reality. He glanced at the screen when he stopped at a traffic light, a message from his grandmother. =Did you finally meet your wife? Ivan smiled, and typed a response. =Yes. She typed back. =And? Ivan stared at the screen for a moment, then he typed: =I think we'll be fine. He sent it and slipped the phone back into his pocket, feeling hopeful about something that had nothing to do with business. *** Callista

Too Comfortable

Callista remained at Ivan's house long after their conversation ended. She had initially planned to stay for only an hour, but the more she looked around, the more she wanted to remain because there was something satisfying about being inside the home of the man she had secretly decided to steal from her friend. She walked toward the staircase and glanced upstairs. “What is up there?” “My bedroom.” Callista turned. “Your bedroom?” Ivan nodded. She smiled. “Can I see it?” Ivan hesitated briefly, then he nodded. “Sure.” She climbed the stairs, with Ivan following behind her. When he opened the bedroom door, Callista stepped inside. The room was spacious, clean, and almost carefully organized. She looked around. “You're really serious about keeping everything in its place.” Ivan leaned against the doorway. “Is that a problem?” He shook her head. “No.” She walked toward the bed and ran her fingers over the neatly arranged sheets. “It just doesn't look like someone lives here.

The First Warning

Callista woke up the next morning with sadness in her heart, her mind flashed back to the previous day. Ivan had rejected her. She stared at the ceiling, remembering the previous night she had tried to get close to him, and he had stopped her. Not because he wasn't attracted to her, he had admitted that he was, but he simply wanted time. Callista scoffed. “More time.” She didn't know how long he expected her to wait, but she wasn't going to spend their marriage sitting quietly and hoping he eventually changed his mind. If he didn't want to be persuaded one way, she'd try another. She didn't have much time in her hands, so she needed him to be hers as soon as possible. She got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. By the time she came downstairs, Ivan was already sitting at the dining table with his laptop open. He looked up when he heard her footsteps. “Good morning.” “Morning,” Callista answered, sitting across from him. “What are you doing today?” “Working.” She rolled

The Woman Behind The Mask

By the following evening, Ivan had almost convinced himself that the previous day's argument had been nothing serious.He was still learning how to live with his wife. They were different, perhaps too different, but that didn't necessarily mean the marriage was doomed. He trusted his grandmother, she must have seen something in her before recommending her, and he respected his grandmother.That was what he told himself as he stood in the living room, watching his friends arrive.Mike was the first to walk through the door, followed by two of Ivan's closest friends, Ethan and Marcus.“Finally,” Mike said, dropping onto the couch. “I was beginning to think you had forgotten how to entertain people.”Ivan rolled his eyes. “You invited yourself.”“Exactly, that's what friends are for.”Ivan shook his head, but a faint smile appeared on his face. The evening was supposed to be simple. A few drinks, dinner, and conversation. Nothing public, nothing extravagant.He had deliberately chosen t

The Missed Opportunity

Ivan's phone rang just after eight the following morning, he glanced at the screen and answered immediately. “Mike?”“We found him.”Ivan straightened. “What?”“The man from the financial records, the one connected to the old accounts. He's at an address in Westbridge.”Ivan's expression changed. “Are you sure?”“I'm sure enough to risk following him, but not enough to walk in there without backup.”Ivan was already reaching for his jacket. “Send me the location.”“I already did.”Ivan ended the call and looked toward the staircase, where Callista was still asleep.He had no intention of telling her where he was going, not about this, not about his parents.For years, he had lived with the same unanswered question. Who killed them? He remembered the sound of the gunshots, his mother's scream, his father's body falling. The blood, the terrified faces of the people around him, and then the man who had walked away.Ivan had never seen his face clearly enough to identify him, after a

The Wrong Kind Of Help

Valeria stared at her phone for the fifth time that morning, then she opened Callista's chat again and typed a message.=Are you okay?She waited, but got no reply. Valeria frowned. Callista had never been the type to disappear without explanation, even when she was busy, she usually found a way to send a ridiculous sticker or complain about something.She called, but the phone rang and rang, then the call ended. Valeria stared at the screen. “She rejected my call?”She tried again, this time, it went straight to voicemail. She began to have a strange feeling that something was wrong, little sis she know that Callista was deliberately ignoring her.Across the city, Callista sat in the back of a car, staring at Valeria's name flashing across the screen. She watched it ring, then she silenced it.She had no intention of speaking to Valeria.Not now, not when she had finally discovered the weakness in her marriage.Ivan.Callista had spent the past few days studying everything she knew

The Woman In His House

Ivan stood outside the bedroom for several seconds before finally knocking, but there was no response. He knocked again. “Valeria?”When the door opened slowly, Callista stood behind it, looking unusually quiet. Her hair was tied loosely, and there was no trace of the confidence she usually carried around him.Ivan studied her for a moment. “I came to apologize.”Her eyebrows lifted. “For what?”“For yesterday.”She looked away.“I shouldn't have scared you.”Callista remained silent, and Ivan continued, his voice calm. “What you did was wrong, but I shouldn't have reacted the way I did.”She looked at him again. “You were angry.”Ivan's expression softened slightly.“That room contains information about my parents, things I've spent years searching for. When I saw someone had accessed the files, I lost my temper.”“I didn't know.”“I know.”He paused. “You have every right to ask me about them, just don't go into that room again.”She nodded. “Okay.”Ivan gave her a small nod b

The Door That Closed

Valeria stared at her phone for what felt like the hundredth time, she had spent the past several days convincing herself that Ivan's manager would eventually call and tell her to return to work. At first, she had been certain the week would pass quickly. But she was wrong.The days dragged on and still no call, no message, no explanation. She finally placed the phone on the table and sighed. “Maybe I'm not going back.”The thought hurt more than she expected, because despite Ivan's behavior toward her, she had loved her job. It had given her something she desperately needed after leaving her father's house. Independence, and a reason to wake up every morning.Now even that seemed to be disappearing.Valeria opened her laptop and began searching for vacancies, and by afternoon, she had applied for several positions.One company responded quickly, wanting to interview her.Valeria smiled to herself. “Maybe things were finally turning around.”Then, several hours later, she received ano

The Kiss He Couldn't Resist

Ivan sat behind his desk, staring at the documents scattered across it. The meeting with one of his most important clients was less than thirty minutes away, yet the file containing their previous agreement was nowhere to be found. He opened the drawer again, checked the cabinet beside his desk, then went through the folders for the third time. “Where the hell is it?” he muttered.His manager stood across from the desk, looking increasingly nervous. “Sir, are you sure the file was brought here?”“Yes. I reviewed it with Sofia before my last meeting.”The manager hesitated. “Should I ask someone to search the archive?”Ivan shook his head. “No. Sofia would know exactly where it is.”The moment he said her name, another problem came to mind. His client had disputed one of the terms in their agreement, insisting that Ivan had approved an extension on the second payment. Ivan remembered the negotiation clearly, but Sofia had been present throughout the meeting and had recorded every imp

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