Too Late For Regrets [Extra #1]

Part 3

For a while, neither my husband nor I said anything and we simply stared at each other in silence. I wondered why he had bothered to follow me to the room if he wasn't going to say anything, but I decided against asking him about it.

"You are my wife now," he said eventually, giving me a disapproving glare. I only shrugged at him in response then went to the dressing table to get ready for sleep. I was beyond tired at that point and wanted to rest.

"Can you at least respond? What, are you mute?" he continued snarling at me, clearly pissed off about my attitude. Tough luck, though. I had no intention to play his game.

"I know you heard out talk earlier," he says in a calmer tone as I tried to get all of the bobby pins out of my hair. It was a real hassle, but I couldn't possibly sleep while getting my scalp stabbed with so many pins.

My husband seemed to realize I didn't want to talk to him, so he simply continued his monologue. "I didn't know I'd marry you today. It was supposed to be your sister, but she disappeared apparently."

Yeah, I knew that much.

"I know you are angry about what happened, I am angry too, but like I said - you're my wife now. You need to watch your behavior, especially around other people."

Hearing that, I turned a little to give him a harsh glare over my shoulder. How dared he reprimand me like I was some misbehaving child? Did he think I was going to be a trophy wife or something?

I was not going to let him lock me up in his house or control me, so I said, "You might want to stop talking, dear husband, unless you want our deal to become public."

"Are you threatening me now?"

"I'm warning you. Thread very lightly, cause I'm in no mood to play your games. I was forced into this marriage so don't expect me to live up to your expectations. You live your life, I'll live mine and we won't have any problems."

"That's impossible, you know that. I'm a public figure, I run a big company, I have many events to attend... It's not that simple to just leave you at home and go alone. I can't have people gossip about my married life because it can hurt the company. Surely you can understand this much."

I could only sigh at him. He really thought of me as a trophy wife to show off to the public. "You don't seem to understand what I'm getting at," I pulled the last bobby pin from my hair and slammed it on the dressing table before walking over to my husband, who stood still as if he was glued to the floor. I didn't know what shocked him that much. Was it my hair that was finally let loose? Was it the sight of my cleavage in that ridiculously tight dress? Was it my face that didn't resemble my sister in the slightest?

Only God knew why he was so stunned. Not that I cared.

"I'm trying to tell you to stay out of my private affairs."

"Affairs? Are you saying you'll be seeing other men?" How the hell did he reach that conclusion?

"Why? I can't?" I asked with a snarky smile. "You're free to have mistresses, too; I don't give a shit. You can even get back with my sister when you find her for all I care. I'm just asking that you don't flaunt your relationship too much for the duration of our marriage."

"You've got to be kidding," he shook his head at me, stumbling back as if I slapped him. I didn't understand his shock. It wasn't like we were a real couple or anything, so why was he overreacting? "The contract clearly stated that neither of us would do anything to tarnish each other's reputation. I thought it obvious that the clause includes having extramarital affairs."