“Are you going to head back to the madam now, sir?”
I handed my bloodied shirt to Watson and graciously accepted the clean towel from him.
I nodded quietly in response as I carefully wiped the rest of the blood off of my body, making sure not the miss any of the specks littered around my collar or splatters dripping from my hands. I didn’t want to freak Jane out by coming home covered in blood.
She had no clue about the dark side of my world.
She only knew of my clean image as the infamous head of the long-standing and powerful Cordova Industries, but there was no company in the world that could have stayed this strong for so many generations without any bloodshed.
I had enemies lurking in every shadow of my life.
I was greedy and brought her into my life even though I knew it would be dangerous.
And she had gotten hurt because of me.
It was something that I would never be able to forgive myself for, but I was much too selfish to let her go. I had already gotten a taste of how good life could be by her side, and it wasn’t something I would ever be able to give up. So, all I could do was spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it.
I glanced at the crumpled mess of a woman sitting on the stone-cold floor.
She was completely passed out on the ground. Her hair was matted with dried blood and grim accumulated over the last couple of weeks from being cooped up in this cell. Her clothes were left in tatters after all she had been through with my guards’ interrogation sessions, but I really couldn’t care less.
The eldest daughter of the Walstain family.
The whore who dared to lay a hand on my queen.
The one who had tried to kill my Jane.
My jaw clenched at the sight. Every fiber of my body was itching to end her miserable life, but we still needed information from her. Information about who was supporting her.
Even though she was dumb, she wasn’t dumb enough to attack the official lady of the Cordova family for no reason. Someone else must’ve been behind her to make her think that she could’ve gotten away with this.
She spent the entire interrogation session screaming about how she should’ve been the lady in charge of the Cordova household as if I would have ever gotten together with someone as disgusting as her.
All I could get out of her between her tantrums was that there was more than one person behind her.
She spat in my face, laughing manically, almost as if she had lost her mind, about how she wasn’t the only one who wanted Jane dead before passing out in her own vomit.
The only problem was that I still wasn’t sure if those people were only trying to harm Jane or if they were trying to target me through her.
Drawing me out of my thoughts, Watson spoke up and said, “Sir? Your phone is ringing. I think the madam might be looking for you since it’s getting late now.”
I nodded and quickly took my ringing phone out of my back pocket. Surely enough, he was right on the dot, and it really was Jane calling me.
I walked out of the abandoned warehouse’s cellar before answering the call, not wanting her to hear any of the revolting moans of the tortured prisoners in the background.
“Hi, Achi! I hope I’m not interrupting anything… But I just wanted to ask when you’re going to be home for dinner. I prepped a couple of dishes, and I want to make sure I put them in the oven at the right time so they’ll be ready right as you get home.”
I chuckled softly at her adorable voice as I slowly made my way further under the moonlight.
Although I would have never held it against her for losing her memories of me, I had missed hearing how her voice could convey all of her emotions so easily with every upturn and every divot. It was something she only showed to people whom she was close to.
And the mere sound of it could lift my spirits with ease.
Making my way towards my car parked out back, I eagerly replied, “I’m on my way home now, my love. I’ll be back in about half an hour.”
“Oh! Then I need to put it in right now! Otherwise, it won’t even be done baking by the time you arrive.”
An amusing series of thumps and clanks echoed from the other side of the phone
“Ah, I need to go, Achi! The baking dish is too heavy for me to transfer into the oven with one hand.” The endearing sound of a treasured air kiss crisply passed through the speaker. “Love you, Achi! I’ll see you when you get home.”
Then, the phone call ended with an abrupt clip.
I shook my head in amusement.
It was quite clear that my clumsy wife was dangerously bumbling through our kitchen, which would definitely soon become a mess by the time I got back home. I didn’t mind the mess, but I did find it quite amusing how someone who was good at cooking could be so unfamiliar with items in their kitchen.
Then again, her odd quirks only made her all the more lovable.
I slipped smoothly into my car and turned on the engine, looking forward to getting home earlier than expected.
My guards stationed around the warehouse nodded to me as I pulled out of the abandoned property. And, like always, a second car of bodyguards trailed behind me as I made my way to the highway toward our house.
At about 20 miles out from the edge of the city, our house didn’t exactly have any neighbors, especially since it was practically a haunted castle before I renovated it, so I had no trouble avoiding having people following me back to our private address.
I pulled up the driveway with 10 minutes to spare. If it had been up to me, I would’ve stayed at home and spent all my time with Jane, but sadly, there were still things that I had to do before I could finally rest by her side in peace.
Gathering the gifts I had purchased for Jane before I had stopped by the warehouse to check up on the interrogation process, I climbed out of the car with my mind filled with thoughts that only consisted of my adorable little wife.
Maybe I can take an extended period of time off once everything settled down. I could just make my VPs actually work for their salaries for once.
I brightened at the thought and eagerly bounded up the front stairs. Unlocking the front door with ease, I was immediately greeted with a highly non-threatening tackle.
“Welcome home, Achi.”
I leaned down to her height and lovingly pressed a kiss to her temple, replying, “I’m home, my love.”
A blinding smile spread reflexively across her lips.
Pulling away every so slightly to look up at me, her eyes had no trouble catching sight of the giant bouquet of flowers taking up nearly an entire arm to hold upright, making her gasp ever so softly in surprise.
But then a pout appeared on his lips as she lightly reprimanded, “I told you not to get any more flowers, Achi. You just planted a whole garden of them with me last weekend, and we don’t even have any more vases left in the house to hold it…”
Taking no mind to her words, I pecked her pouting lip and simply replied, “I don’t mind if you leave it lying haphazardly on the countertop, either. Just do whatever you want to do with it because I’ll be happy with whatever choice you may make.”
She playfully rolled her eyes at me. “Stop trying to talk me down with that silver tongue of yours, Achi. I really do mean it when I say that you should stop buying flowers like this. It’s a waste for them to die like this…”
My heart squeezed as she gently fingered the petals with a dimmed expression.
I had never meant to make her sad. I just wanted to give her something that would help her keep her mind off of what had happened.
Noticing my dampening mood, Jane caressed my cheek tenderly and softly cooed, “Achi… Please don’t be sad… I do like your gift very much. Just maybe you could come back with a potted flower or something like that so we could keep it for longer… I just don’t like it when things die out so quickly…”
I perked up ever so slightly at her suggestion and nodded obediently.
I would do anything she wanted. It was the least I could do for her after all she had been through because of me.
Taking the bouquet from my arms, she quietly told me, “Why don’t you take a bath first? I, uh…”
Her eyes drifted down, wavering ever so slightly at my collar.
Did I miss a speck of blood?
I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping that she wouldn’t notice if I did happen to miss a speck.
Luckily, she wasn’t able to stare at me for much longer when her attention was called by our little boy, something about smoke coming out of the oven. Before darting away to address the issue, she hopped onto her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the cheek and whispered, “Wait for me in the bedroom. I’ll get you a change of clothes.”
I nodded mutely as I watched her little figure retreat behind the double doors of our kitchen. Just a single kiss from her could leave me in half of a daze.
I would do whatever it took to keep her safe. To keep our little haven safe.
Turning tail, I hazily made my way upstairs as per my wife’s instructions. I drifted passed the home office that I had been sleeping in for the last couple of weeks when Jane had lost her memories and couldn’t stay around me without panicking. Instead, I went to the next floor to search for my shared bedroom with Jane, my chest filling with joy from the fact that I could finally stay by her side again.
Opening the door to our shared bedroom, the first thing I noticed was that the room was still as impeccably clean as ever, but the more significant thing that I had noticed was that all my items from before Jane had temporarily lost her memories were left untouched.
I didn’t really get a good look around the room when Jane had finally gotten her memories back since I was just happy to be able to stay by her side again at the time. But I had assumed that she would’ve tried to move my things elsewhere, out of sight, to make herself more comfortable, to not be reminded of the husband that she couldn’t even remember marrying.
However, the fact that she didn’t told me that she didn’t completely hate me at the time, even though she had been deathly afraid of my presence.
Stripping out of my clothes, I tossed my clothes into the hamper and stepped into the shower. It had been a while since I could feel relaxed under the warm downpour of water.
Maybe it was because I had only ever really used Jane’s room. But all the familiar scents in the bathroom brought a sense of ease that the other strange bathrooms in our house didn’t have.
A mixture of flowers, warm spices, and fruits.
Every last scent reminded me of Jane, easily melting away all the tension built up in my body over the day.
Rolling my shoulder back until a satisfying crack sounded, I reached up to grab my shampoo bottle. It was one of the many things that Jane did not move despite feeling estranged from me during her period of temporary amnesia.
But there was one thing that was strange about the bottle.
For some reason, it felt lighter than I had remembered.
Before Jane’s accident, I had refilled all our soap bottles around the house during my weekly deep cleaning. Since Jane was usually the one to provide a warm meal on the table, I had always taken responsibility for keeping the house clean and tidy, and I was sure that I wouldn’t have missed a bottle like this.
By any chance, did she use it during the time I was gone?
But I didn’t have a chance to ponder on it for long as a soft knock came from the bathroom door.
“Achi, I have your clothes here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Jane, I already told you that you can go anywhere you want in the house. You don’t have to knock to see me.”
The door slowly creaked open.
A pair of bright violet eyes peeked in.
I chuckled softly at her bashful behavior and waved her in. “You’ve already seen all of me, darling. You even personally gave me a bath before. I don’t mind if you randomly barge in while I’m in the bathroom.”
She blushed as she stepped out from behind the door, taking note of the fact that I was still completely bare for all to see from behind the glass shower door. Hiding the lower half of her face behind the pile of clothes that she was holding, she stiffly inched further into the bathroom until she was just a few feet away from me.
I watched her in amusement as she struggled to keep her eyes from drifting lower on my body. It was quite funny how clearly her thoughts were displayed on her face.
The way she would squeeze her eyes shut every so often and shake her head violently as if she was trying to clear her head of her thoughts. I could only imagine how her inner voice would sound like as she argued with herself about whether or not to let her eyes drift just a little.
Clearing my throat, I pulled her attention back to me, making her blush turn a shade darker from being caught.
With a small smirk, I teased, “Do you really like my body that much, darling?”
Her brain visibly combusted as she tried to divert her eyes and stammered, “I-I… Y-You’re just very pretty… I-It’s n-not anything new… A-Any w-woman w-would think the same…”
I cocked an eyebrow at her last statement, slightly confused by why she would bring up other women. “Well, those women would never get the privilege to find out. I’ve only ever allowed professional photoshoots for newspapers or magazines. I don’t allow anyone else except for you to see me like this.”
Her eyebrows furrowed as she muttered something under her breath, but I wasn’t able to catch it over the loud droplets pouring out of the showerhead.
I looked at her in confusion and asked, “Did you say something, Jane?”
She stiffened ever so slightly and shook her head furiously. “It’s nothing.”
Frowning at her obvious lie, I replied, “You always avoid my eyes when you are hiding something, Jane.”
She tensed up, turning her head away nervously.
I pursued my lips and pressed on, “Please tell me what’s wrong, love. I don’t like seeing you uncomfortable.”
Lowering the pile of clothes from her face, she confessed, “I was just thinking that you might want to find someone better suited for you someday…”
My heart dropped at her words.
A million thoughts fluttered through my mind, clashing with each other in confusion. What had brought this up again?
I thought that I had quelled her worries already. I always made sure to show her how much I loved her. How she was the only one for me. How I only had eyes for her. I wouldn’t have married her if that wasn’t true.
Shutting off the water, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Water rolled off my body as I stalked toward Jane, taking no mind to the mess I had left behind in my wake.
Jane backed up nervously, avoiding my eye.
But she couldn’t run from me for long before she backed up into a wall.
Her breath hitched when I trapped her against the wall, caging her with my arms on either side of her body. She looked so small underneath me, but I needed to know why she would think such a thing.
Using all of my self-control to keep my voice as even as possible, I asked darkly, “Do you really think I would ever replace you? Throw away the best thing in my life for some half-witted whore?”
She whimpered quietly as I spat out the last few words harsher than I had originally intended.
I clenched my jaw, trying really hard not to blow up at her. I wasn’t mad at her per se, but I was infuriated by the fact that someone had put the thought that I would someday leave her into her head again after I had worked so hard to build her confidence back up again.
I lowly warned, “Jane… Answer my question…”
She cowered under my taller stature, holding her hands tightly against her chest. “A-Aren’t you d-dissatisfied with m-me r-right now? I-Isn’t that w-why you h-have been seeing her instead?”
I froze at her question. Did she think I was cheating on her with someone else right now?
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain and confessed, “E-ever since my a-accident, y-you’ve been returning home l-later than before… S-spending less time with Liam and I-I… C-coming back i-in different s-shirts than when you left… I-Ignoring a-all of my advances…”
My heart broke at her words.
“Jane..” my voice softened as I tried to call out to her.
But she didn’t take any notice and painfully continued, “I-I k-know i-it’s because I lost our baby… I d-didn’t even know I was pregnant and had a-already lost our child… B-But I-I’ve been trying to m-make it up to you… Trying to be a b-better wife… A b-better mother…”
My eyes widened in surprise. I haven’t had a chance to tell her about her miscarriage yet for fear of stressing her out while she was recovering, so how did she find out?
But that was a problem for later when my girl wasn’t breaking down in front of me.
I hushed her softly, trying to ease her heartbreaking sobs. I pulled her into my arms, gently pressing her cheek against my chest in hope of calming her erratic heartbeat.
Rocking her softly from side to side, I reassured her, “It wasn’t your fault, Jane… You’re already the perfect wife and mother… I could never ask anything more of you…”
She shook her head stubbornly as she tried to push against my chest, trying to push herself away from me. Tears continued to pour down her cheeks as she painfully replied, “Y-You’re just lying to m-me right now… I-I k-killed our baby… Y-You are just too n-nice of a p-person to kick me out, but I-I know that-”
I smashed my lips against her mouth before she could continue, unable to listen to her putting herself down anymore.
How could she think she had killed our baby when she was the one with the least amount of fault? If anything, she should’ve been mad at me for breaking my promise, for not being able to protect her and our unborn child like how I said I would.
She had struggled against me at first, but I had caught her arms before she could push me off and pinned her hands above her head. She slowly melted into the kiss, parting her lips ever so slightly as I deepened the kiss.
I pinned her wall, pressing my body flush into her as I slipped my tongue passed her soft lips. Pouring every ounce of my love for her into a single kiss. Desperately trying to erase all her worries and self-deprecating thoughts in one go.
By the time I had finally pulled away, Jane was left panting for air as she looked up at me in a daze.
“None of it was your fault, Jane…”
Trying to keep her mind in the clouds for as long as possible, I tenderly graced her porcelain skin was light kisses, trailing a line of loving kisses from the bottom of her jaw all the way to the corner of her eyes.
I whispered breathlessly, “I love you so much, Jane.”
She closed her eyes and turned away from me, trying to pull her head out of my grasp. “P-Please stop giving me false h-hope, A-Achi…”
I lovingly caressed her cheek, gently easing her head to look back up at me. “I’m not lying to you, Jane… You are the only one in my heart, so please stop pulling away from me…”
She bit her lower lip, eying me skeptically as her wavering eyes traced over my features for any indications of a lie.
I pressed her palm flush against my chest. “Can you feel it, Jane? Feel how my heart literally skips a beat when I’m around you? You are the only one who can elicit such a strong feeling from me.”
Her eyes glued onto the place where my chest met her hand. Her feelings clearly wavered with my words. “I-I want to b-believe you, Achi… B-But t-this is all just a lie… j-just a trick to d-distract me…”
I pressed her hand even more firmly against my chest. “How can you be so sure that I’m lying to you? I wasn’t staying out late and changing clothes because I was seeing someone else. It was just a big misunderstanding. I was-”
Catching me completely off guard, Jane suddenly shouted, “STOP LYING TO ME, RAFAEL! I SAW THE PICTURE OF YOU KISSING HER!”