Chapter 17 A Home With His Wife #2
For a moment, she looked as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then anger flashed across her face, replacing the shock. Her shoulders stiffened, and her hands curled into fists at her sides.
“I asked him to do it to me,” she said, her voice sharp with anger.
Ivan's brows drew together.
He stared at her as though she had just said something completely insane. A disbelieving scoff escaped him, and he shook his head once.
“What?” His voice rose as disbelief hardened his features. “You asked him to hit you?” He took a step toward her, his eyes narrowing. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
Rose let out a frustrated breath and threw her hands up for a moment before letting them fall again.
“Those weren’t marks of abuse, Ivan!” she snapped. “Those were marks from what a husband and wife do in bed!”
The words hung heavily between them.
Ivan went completely still.
His expression emptied of anger as if someone had suddenly pulled the emotion from his face. His eyes remained fixed on Rose, but the fury that had been burning in them moments ago slowly disappeared.
He blinked once.
Then again.
His gaze dropped instinctively toward her wrists before returning to her face.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
His lips parted slightly as the meaning of her words finally sank in. The tension in his shoulders shifted, and the realization slowly spread across his features.
Rose saw the look in his eyes and let out a bitter laugh.
“Do you even see how selfish you are, or do I need to hold up a mirror for you?”
Her voice trembled with anger.
“You don't care about me. You don't care whether I'm happy or whether I'm being treated well. You only care about what you want and what you need to do get me back.”
She stepped closer, her eyes burning into his.
“If I really were being abused, you were ready to leave me there just to make me come back to you. You were willing to let me suffer at the hands of another man if it meant making me regret choosing him over you.”
Ivan had no answer.
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. The accusation struck too close to the truth, leaving him staring at her with a troubled, wounded expression.
After a moment, he stepped closer.
“Rose...” His voice had lost its anger. “You and I were in love. We still love each other.”
He swallowed hard.
“Couldn't you have just looked past that one slap? It was a mistake. I've told you that over and over again. It happened in the heat of the moment. I didn't hit you because I wanted to hurt you. I didn't—”
His voice faltered.
He lowered his gaze, guilt weighing heavily on his face as his chest rose and fell with uneven breaths.
Rose shook her head before he could finish.
“Ivan, you don't understand. If Maverick hadn't come into my life, I still wouldn't have married you.”
She held his gaze, her voice calm but firm.
“Don't you see how many times you've disappointed me? That slap wasn't the only reason I walked away. It was simply the final straw—the one thing that finally gave me the courage to leave. If Maverick hadn't been in my life, it would've been someone else. It still wouldn't have been you.”
Ivan stared at her, his expression crumbling.
“I will never marry someone who doesn't truly want me,” she continued. “And I will never marry someone who is still in love with another woman.”
“I'm not in love with another woman!”
Ivan's voice rose immediately. He stepped toward her, anger and grief colliding in his eyes.
“I'm in love with you, Rose!”
Rose didn't flinch.
“And you're only realizing that now, after I've already ended our relationship?”
Her voice remained painfully calm.
“It's too late, Ivan.”
The words hit him harder than any shout could have.
His face fell, disappointment and heartbreak flashing across his features before anger slowly swallowed them again. He swallowed hard, forcing down whatever pride remained, then turned away from her.
He started toward the door.
But just before he crossed the living room, he stopped.
He didn't turn around.
Rose watched his back, noticing how tightly his hands were clenched at his sides, as though he were struggling to hold himself together.
“Rose,” he said quietly.
She lifted her head.
His voice cracked slightly.
“I'm sorry.”
He took a slow breath.
“I shouldn't have hit you.”
Rose said nothing.
The silence stretched between them.
Ivan's shoulders stiffened, and after another moment, he finally walked out.
As he reached the bottom of the steps, he caught sight of a black car pulling up outside.
Maverick stepped out, his long black coat shifting in the wind as he headed toward the house.
Ivan and Maverick's eyes met for a brief second.
Maverick didn't stop.
He barely acknowledged Ivan's existence, his gaze passing over him as though he wasn't worth the time it would take to react.
Then his attention immediately returned to Rose.
“Rose.”
His voice was soft, calm, and filled with warmth.
Something inside Ivan cracked.
He turned away and walked down the steps, his jaw clenched as he hurried away from the house. His heartbeat pounded so violently that he could hear it in his ears.
Behind him, Maverick climbed the stairs.
The moment Rose saw him, her entire expression brightened.
“You came to pick me up!”
She hurried toward him and threw her arms around his neck.
Maverick caught her easily, a smile spreading across his face as he held her close.
“Yes, Mrs. Bishop.” His voice held a teasing warmth. “I'm happy to be your personal driver. Are you ready to come home?”
Rose grinned up at him.
“Very.”
She leaned forward and kissed him.
When the kiss ended, Rose didn't let go. She remained wrapped around Maverick, her feet barely touching the ground as she leaned comfortably against him.
She looked up at him, and the playful smile slowly faded from her face.
“Maverick?”
“Hmm?”
“I want to ask you something.”
Her fingers tightened slightly around his shoulders.
“Promise you won't lie to me?”
Maverick's eyes softened as he looked down at her.
“I would never lie to you. What do you want to ask?”
Rose hesitated for only a moment before answering. She believed him. He had never given her a reason to doubt him, and she trusted that every word he spoke to her was the truth.
She stepped closer, lifting her face toward his.
“What did you say to my father to make him agree to let me marry you?”
Maverick didn't hesitate.
“I told him that if I married you, I would transfer half of my property into your name. And if I ever cheated on you or betrayed you, the rest of my property would be transferred to you unconditionally.”
Rose's eyes narrowed.
Her heart sank slightly at the thought of the terms he had offered her father, but another question immediately surfaced.
“You were the one who sent my dad that photograph of us kissing?”
A flicker of tension crossed Maverick's eyes, but he didn't look away.
“Yes.”
His voice hardened.
“He never deserved you. He raised his hand against you, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make sure you became mine.”
Rose studied his face.
Maverick watched her carefully, his body tense as he waited for anger or betrayal to appear in her eyes.
Instead, Rose smiled.
Before he could say another word, she rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to his.
For a moment, Maverick simply stood there, as though he couldn't quite believe she had chosen to kiss him.
Then the tension finally left his body.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as he returned the kiss with all the emotion he had spent so long keeping buried.
For once, neither of them cared about what had happened before.
The past could stay where it belonged.
Behind them.
Rose rested her forehead against his when they finally parted, her fingers gently brushing through his hair.
“You know I’m not going anywhere, right?”
Maverick looked into her eyes.
For a man who had spent his entire life believing that love was something other people were allowed to have, the certainty in her voice felt almost unreal.
His arms tightened around her.
“I know.”
And this time, he did.
He had Rose.
He had her love.
And for the first time in his life, Maverick Bishop finally had something no amount of money, power, or revenge could ever buy him.
A home.
With his wife.
***
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