Chapter 31
Something that resembled pain crossed his eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was pain, but before I could look deeper into his eyes and confirm what I saw, the emotion vanished as quickly as it had arrived. There was nothing left of it, as though it hadn’t existed at all. It left me wondering if it had been just my imagination.
“W-what do you mean?” I replied. The words sprang from my lips louder than intended.
“I’m asking about your relationship with Ash,” Grey said without a trace of expression on his face.
“There was nothing between us,” I snapped.
How could he jump to conclusions that I was having an affair with his brother? I thought to myself, inwardly trembling in disbelief. True, Ash Bradford had blatantly expressed his interest in me by sending gifts and frequently visiting the hotel when I was at work, but that was all. Everything he gave me—the gifts and the flowers—I sent back and threw a few in the garbage bin. As for his frequent and untimely visits, I had told him to stop and candidly expressed my distaste for his interest in me. I considered it taboo.
Ash and I together? Duh! Just thinking about it sent cold shivers down my spine.
“Stop denying it now, Lily,” Grey sighed. There was resignation in his tone as he said the words.
“I’m not denying anything, Grey,” I told him, trying to suppress my growing irritation. I still wondered what had gotten into his mind to bring up the topic of my nonexistent relationship with my brother-in-law.
“Everyone at La Paraiso Hotel knew he was your lover.”
The words nearly choked me. “What?” I gasped. Grey was too intelligent to believe the rumors. Why would he believe them since there was no proof?
“He kissed you on the lips on the day of your birthday,” he added sourly. I wondered if it was jealousy I detected in his tone.
Grey jealous of me? The thought sounded incredulous. He’d never been jealous of me before, and why would he be jealous now?
“He didn’t kiss me on the lips—” I reasoned, but he cut me off before I could finish.
“I saw Ash kiss you. Everyone saw it too. You can’t deny it now,” he growled.
“Just let me finish,” I shot at him as I got to my feet. “He didn’t kiss me on the lips. He kissed me on the cheek,” I clarified.
“It’s still a kiss,” he bit back in exasperation and abandoned the sofa so he could face me.
Clenching my fists into tight balls, I glared at him. If looks could kill, he would already be lying on the floor, soaked in his own blood.
“It did, but he did it without my permission.” I meant the words to be soft, but they still came off harshly.
Grey didn’t believe me. The proof was written all over his face. It made my heart ache. I’m his wife, and he should believe my words, but he refused to trust me. He just stood there, looking at me as though I was lying through my teeth. After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Because of me, you need to keep your relationship with Ash a secret. I’m sorry that I made your life miserable by marrying you,” he whispered painfully. Anguish was written all over his face as he did so.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wanted to tell him he was the one keeping secrets between us. I wanted to tell him it was his relationship with Natalia that ruined our marriage and made me miserable. There were so many things I wanted to say, but no words emerged from my lips.
“After the divorce, you will have the freedom you've asked for, Lily,” Grey said in a whisper. The mention of divorce made me want to burst into tears. I clenched my fists into tight balls and kept the tears at bay. He was making it seem as though he was doing me a favor when, in fact, he was the one eager to marry his pregnant mistress.
“Go on. Divorce me. Isn’t that what you wanted so you could marry Natalia?” Unable to hold back my temper, I yelled and watched his face turn into an ugly mask of rage.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled, his thick eyebrows merging into a straight line.
“You're having an affair with Natalia, aren’t you?”
With the speed of lightning, he crossed the distance between us. “How dare you throw accusations at me! You're trying to shift the blame to me, aren’t you, Lily?” His face was dangerously close now, and his eyes still burned with rage.
“I’m not,” I replied. “It was Natalia who told me she was pregnant and you are the father.” I watched as the burning rage in his eyes intensified.
“And you believe her?” he gasped in shock. Grey moved away from me as he brushed his fingers through his hair. “You believe her.” This time he didn’t ask; he stated the words.
Ready to bite back a ferocious reply, I opened my lips. But before a word emerged from my mouth, a weak voice from the bed spoke.
“Lily? Grey? Are the two of you fighting?”
I was caught off guard. When I tried to open my lips, no words emerged. I stood in place like a motionless statue while my heart raced inside my rib cage. For the very first time in my five-year marriage with Grey, Mom caught us fighting right in the middle of her hospital room. It was something I never wished for her to witness, but she already had.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to speak. “Mom, we—” The words hung suspended on my lips.
“We're not fighting, Mom,” Grey cut in. He spoke in the gentlest way possible as though we hadn't been fighting just moments ago. “Right, Lily?” he added, looking at me with a smile.
“Of course not, Mom.” I confirmed, mirroring the bright smile on his lips and wishing at the same time that I looked just half as convincing as Grey did. “We're just talking about a topic and we have different opinions. I didn’t agree with Grey and voiced my objections about the matter.” The lies smoothly emerged from my lips. I was surprised that I didn’t falter.
“Oh, I really thought both of you were in a heated fight,” Mom responded, closing her eyes as she added, “I’m relieved to hear that both of you aren’t in some serious trouble.”