Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22495 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
I made some breakfast. Do you want to join me?
Do you want some coffee?
Are you still awake?
He would never have tired of inviting her again and again...if he hadn’t caught sight of the way she had bitten her lip as she turned away from him. She had just turned him down, as she had every right to.
And yet when he caught her reflection on the window, it was as if she had broken her own heart by saying no to him.
And that...that was what made it the last time he had ever asked her to spend time with him again.
Because he had already hurt her enough.
Since then, Troy had found another way to spend time with his wife.
He wasn’t proud of it. In fact, he was fairly certain it qualified as the behavior of a man who had lost his mind. But every night, after she had retreated to her room and the house had gone quiet, Troy would sit in his study and watch Laina move around their home through the security cameras.
Every day, he would watch her.
Every day, he would wait for something he didn’t know how to define.
Something that would tell him he had a chance.
But instead, what he found was the opposite, with Laina checking her phone one morning, and his whole being turning cold when he saw how a helpless little smile had touched her lips. He went back a couple of seconds and played the footage again, this time zooming in on the screen of her phone.
Oscar Baldwin.
He forwarded the name to Burton, and his security guy didn’t disappoint him. It took only an hour for Burton to call him back.
“He teaches third grade, same school where Mrs. Barrymore teaches. Drove your wife home from school once, about a month before the leak.”
“Where the hell was Marlon?” Troy demanded.
“She insisted he take the afternoon off when his father came to visit.”
She had given the driver the afternoon off, and he hadn’t known it?
Instead of calling her own husband to pick her up from school, he had let another man drive her home instead?
ANOTHER WEEK PASSED. Laina was waiting for him outside his study when he stepped out, looking nervous and determined at the same time.
“What is it?”
“Do you think it’s safe for me to go back to the apartment?”
“No.”
Laina so badly wanted to ask if Troy was lying to her. But if she did, and it turned out he wasn’t, then wouldn’t it mean like she was assuming things? Wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if he was telling the truth, and here she was, acting like he was lying for the sake of keeping her around?
“Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“I...I was wondering if I could at least get back to work.”
“Why?”
“I miss working.”
“Is that so?”
She could only blink. Was it just her or was he insinuating something?
“I really do,” Laina said finally. “I’ve always loved my job and the kids.”
“Love’s a pretty strong word.”
Why had a muscle start ticking in his jaw while saying that?
“Are you sure those are the only things you love about your job?”
Laina could only look at him helplessly. “What are you really asking?”
I’m asking if you’re attracted to another man, and I’m asking if that man is the reason you want to go back to work.
That was what he wanted to say.
But he couldn’t.
“Do whatever you want,” he said curtly. “Burton’s men will keep you safe.”
“But—”
“They’re non-negotiable. For as long as the divorce hasn’t been finalized, you’re still my wife. It’s my responsibility to keep anyone from bothering you.”
Laina forced herself to nod. “I understand.” She quickly turned away while fighting back tears.
There it was then.
She wasn’t here because he wanted her close.
The fact that he had stopped asking her to spend time with him was already a clue.
Laina was only her because he saw her as his responsibility.
ON THE DAY BEFORE LAINA was scheduled to go back to work, Troy decided to pay the school a little visit. But instead of going inside, he stayed in the parking lot, right next to his car. He only had one goal in mind coming here, and it simply required him to bide his time, just waiting until...finally.
It was Mr. Oscar Baldwin himself coming out of the school.
The man’s smile faded upon seeing Troy.
That’s right, Baldwin.
I’m the man Laina married.
And I’m not letting go of my wife.
Oscar’s face started losing color as he slowly backed away.
Mission accomplished.
A LOT OF THINGS HAD changed by the time Laina came back to work. The kids were sweet and precocious like usual, but her coworkers, though, and even her own boss, the school principal...
She had always wondered if how people treated her would change, once they knew she was Troy Barrymore’s wife, and she now had her answer.
Most of them were nice about it. They teased Laina about keeping her marriage a secret. But there was one person, though...