"What the hell are you doing?" Paul's voice thundered.
It was the kind of voice that makes you feel like you've been caught stealing, even when the only thing you're guilty of is wanting your husband.
This wasn't the reaction I had imagined.
I'd expected heat. Maybe a smirk. Maybe him crawling onto the table and taking me the way a man takes a woman he can't resist.
Instead, he looked… furious.
For a moment, I thought, is he disgusted by me? Was I not enough?
Was I not sexy enough?
Was I too desperate?
Maybe I should have done the surgery first. Maybe then, he wouldn't look at me like this.
We'd been married less three months. This was supposed to be the honeymoon stage, the sweaty, messy, can't-keep-our-hands-off-each-other state. Instead, I was chained naked to a dining table, trying to seduce my own husband while he looked at me like I was an eyesore.
I lifted my head, ready to ask him what the hell his problem was, and froze.
The apple slipped from my mouth and hit the floor with a dull thud.
There was someone standing beside him.
A woman.
Not just any woman.
Mrs. Joanne Ravens. My mother-in-law.
Her face was tight with disgust, eyes slicing through me like I was a cockroach in her soup. For a split second, I thought she might actually grab one of the table knives and finish me off right there.
I tried getting off the table only to realize I was still chained and I had tossed the keys aside.
My wet vigina was in display before her eyes as she stared at it. I tried to close my legs but they were so far apart.
Paul's steps were sharp as he walked to the corner and picked up the key I'd thrown away. The muscles in his jaw ticked as he undid the chains on my ankles, then the belt binding my wrists. He didn't look at my body once, only my face, and not with love.
"What sort of embarrassment is this?" His voice was low, controlled rage.
"Are you insane, Veronica?"
Was I insane? Maybe.
Insane from three months of being untouched by my own husband. Insane from lying awake at night, craving him while he slept somewhere else. Insane from wanting to be desired by the man who swore he loved me.
I didn't even bother to hide my glare from his mother. She'd heard me complain about this for months and done nothing. If anything, she encouraged my humiliation. She didn't deserve to act shocked now.
Any woman in my shoes would do the same.
"What is the meaning of this, Veronica?" she asked, her tone dripping with judgment.
I said nothing. I didn't trust my voice not to crack, or explode. I was furious her presence had ruined my plans.
"Is that how horny and uncouth you are?" she sneered. "Paul, deal with this. Imagine if we came home with the whole family tonight."
Paul grabbed my wrist and hauled me to our bedroom without another word.
Once inside, he shoved me onto the bed with a force that had me stubling.
"Ouch!" I hissed.
"This is what you wanted, right?" His hands went to his belt buckle and he unbuttoned his trouser.
I blinked.
Wait, was this… working? Was he finally about to give me what I'd been begging for?
I saw his trouser drop to the floor and Paul took a step to the bed.
But no. Something in me snapped.
The only reason he was doing this now was because his mother had seen me naked and chained to a table. It took public humiliation for him to want me?
I wasn't in the mood anymore. My core still ached, but my pride screamed louder.
"I don't want you anymore," I said flatly.
He paused mid-unbutton. "You've been begging for two months, and now you don't want me?"
"It took your mother to make you think about fucking me, Paul. Am I not enough reason for you to want me? Shouldn't your wife be enough?"
"You know you make me wonder sometimes if you love me. What happened to us Paul? What happened to you?"
He just stared. No apology. No shame. Just that cool, unreadable face.
"Suit yourself then," he said. "But don't come begging again."
He wore his trouser again and buttoned his pants, walked out, and closed the door behind him.
That was it. No fight. No effort. No nothing.
It felt like he'd been waiting for me to say no.
I cried until my throat burned. When I finally dragged myself out of bed around midnight, I decided to get water and maybe apologize to Joanne, not because I was wrong, but because I couldn't take the silent war if it started.
It would be stupid to fight with my mother in law barely three months married to her son.
The Ravens family have given me everything I am today. I owe them everything. As for Paul, we'll settle our differences soon.
The mansion was dimly lit and quiet. I padded barefoot to the kitchen, drank straight from a glass, and told myself I'd apologize tomorrow since everyone seemed asleep.
I was halfway back to the bedroom when I heard it.
A strange sound.
A moan?
It came from upstairs.
My skin prickled. There were no staff tonight because I had dismissed them early today. It was just Paul… and his mother.
I told myself it wasn't what I thought. Maybe she was watching something. Maybe she was... God help me... masturbating.
But why would a woman her age masturbate? Did her husband not... I shook my head from the stupid thoughts.
My hand was cold on the doorknob as I turned it.
If I catch her tonight, then we'll be even. There would be nothing embarrassing between us anymore. I could even apologize for earlier and make peace with her.
She might beg me to keep her secret and I would do it gladly while I beg her to keep mine. I smiled at my thoughts.
The door swung open.
And my world split in two.