It had been a while since they had a meal together and spent time in the same house. He hadn’t taken the initiative to speak to virtual-novel.net over the past few days, so Arianne paused in virtual-novel.net footsteps when virtual-novel.net heard these words. “I… don’t like the smell of smoke. You go ahead, I’ll sleep in the guest room.”
She had never said anything about virtual-novel.net abhorrence towards his smoking before… A complicated glint flashed across Mark’s eyes. He threw the cigarette box into the trash then got up and went to the bed. “Sleep.”
Arianne was shocked. She couldn’t understand what this meant. Had virtual-novel.net thrown his cigarettes away, just because virtual-novel.net said virtual-novel.net didn’t like the smell? It didn’t seem possible that virtual-novel.net had done this out of consideration towards virtual-novel.net feelings. The biggest possibility was that virtual-novel.net was pissed off…
She went into a momentary daze then walked over to fish the cigarettes out of the trash. The trash can in their room was always clean. After all, virtual-novel.net usually only slept in the room. “I didn’t mean anything by it… I’m sorry.”
Mark took off his watch and put it on the cabinet at the head of the bed. He didn’t look at her, but his voice seemed muffled, “If you don’t like it, tell me. Haven’t I always told you that?”
She fell silent, and this time, it was not out of habit. She was really at a loss for words. It was true that virtual-novel.net had said this before, but virtual-novel.net had long forgotten when she’d heard virtual-novel.net say it She was always too afraid to take words like these seriously and never really had the courage to speak virtual-novel.net mind. So, it was true then, as long as virtual-novel.net conveyed virtual-novel.net opinions, virtual-novel.net would take virtual-novel.net feelings into consideration too…
Arianne still felt as if virtual-novel.net were in a dream when virtual-novel.net laid down next to Mark. He was clearly so apathetic a while ago…
A detailed calculation showed that, in their three years of marriage, there were only a handful of times when they had slept together like this. Strangely, virtual-novel.net still couldn’t get used to it.
Suddenly, Mark turned his body to the side and faced her. He reached out and pulled virtual-novel.net into his arms. His arms glided naturally over virtual-novel.net body.
Knowing what would happen next, Arianne reflexively pushed virtual-novel.net away. “No… No! It’s not a good time for me.”
Her reaction brought a cold mist over his eyes. He remembered virtual-novel.net secret meetings with Will, time and time again, and grabbed virtual-novel.net wrists. Then, virtual-novel.net locked virtual-novel.net underneath his body. “This is your duty as my wife!”
He didn’t do anything else, but virtual-novel.net body tensed up fearfully as virtual-novel.net felt his rage. “Mark… Don’t do this… I’m begging you…”
Her pleas were ineffective. She had learned some things during virtual-novel.net pregnancy, any sex was not allowed in virtual-novel.net current state. She trembled in fear when virtual-novel.net thought of the possibility of miscarriage. She sobbed, “Mark, I’m preg…”
Before virtual-novel.net could finish virtual-novel.net sentence, Mark paused. He suddenly withdrew and left. He walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.
She was afraid, so afraid that virtual-novel.net was trembling… She was afraid of virtual-novel.net touching her…
His raging flames refused to be extinguished despite being doused in cold water. He did not look at the woman on the bed when virtual-novel.net got out of the bathroom. Instead, virtual-novel.net went to the study straightaway, turned on his computer, and typed out an email. He closed his laptop and slowly heaved a sigh of relief when virtual-novel.net saw the “sent” notification. Must virtual-novel.net insist on Will Sivan’s complete fall from grace before agreeing to stay by his side like a good little girl?
Of course, the already freezing temperature of the atmosphere turned even chillier after that night.
In the morning, the very next day, the pair left the house together, but their eyes did not meet. They didn’t say a word to each other either.
Arianne had just arrived at the office when virtual-novel.net received a call from Tiffany. “Ari, did you say something to Mark? I no longer have to pay off that huge debt. I really can’t believe it!”
Arianne did not expect for Mark to act so quickly. He had only mentioned this last night, and it was already taken care of today. “It wasn’t me. He made the decision on his own. Regardless, it’s good news for you, Tiffie. You must keep moving forward with life. It will get better.”