The Mistake Bride (Unrequited Love #2)

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Marcus was surprisingly quiet when he found her in her room. She laid awake in the middle of the bed, contemplating whether she had really done the right thing by finally sleeping with her husband. Nicole wasn't a fool. She knew that the marital act couldn't be mistaken for anything else other that what it really was. She would still continue to live with him as his wife, and after the two years had ended, Nicole would pack up everything she had in this house and leave Marcus alone like he had wished in the beginning. Her sister then would come back—hopefully—to take her rightful place.

She felt his presence in the room, not moving a muscle as she continued to pretend to be asleep. She wasn't ready to face him yet, not after what happened a couple of seconds ago.

She heard his feet padding across the room, almost as if he was pacing, warring with himself whether he should wake her up. Nicole fought the urge to open her eyes and invite him to her bed, wanting to know what it was that made him so restless. Was it because of what they had done? Was he finally going to leave her alone now that he had taken what he wanted from her? Perhaps not. Nicole had read somewhere that men couldn't live without sex and human warmth. They needed the reassurance of a female voice, needed a female touch to soothe them through their rough times. And she had also read in the same article that men could also sleep with anyone who oozed out warmth, and softness.

Had she made a mistake by having sex with him? Nicole couldn't call the marital act 'making love' since that was an act that would never happen between her and Marcus. He was filled with too much pride, and would never admit what they had wasn't something Nicole had been hoping for in the beginning.

It was a sin to fall for your brother-in-law—who in her case—had become her husband in the end when Cora had run away with her lover. Nicole still wondered even to this day, why her sister had thrown away a life that any sane woman would want. She could have had Marcus—loving, kind, passionate and surely would have made her a happy bride. But not according to Nicole's sister. Cora had thrown caution to the wind and left her little sister to pick up the pieces. And that included marrying her fiancé.

Now, Nicole wondered whether Cora had ever been happy with her relationship with Marcus in the beginning. It was probably good at the start, but things had turned upside down when they got engaged. It was only a guess at how their relationship had gone downhill, but Nicole could take an educational guess that the reason why their relationship didn't work out was because of her sister.

She loved her sister dearly, but Cora had a way of manipulating people into picking up after her leftovers, and that included Nicole within that group. But what good would it come out of now by blaming her poor sister? She was destined to fall for her husband, become his substitute bride and get her heart broken in the end. Nicole had never asked for anything much in the past, and had never tried to get something she could not have. She had learnt at a young age not to ask for something that was out of her reach. So why was she starting now?

Marcus would never truly be her husband. He was just as in love with Cora as he had ever been. He had been so miserable when he found out she ran away, leaving him in tatters, and choosing to use her as his new bride the last minute. Nicole knew he did this to save both of their family's reputation in spite of the situation humiliation him. And for him to land a meek, mouse and spineless sister must have pushed things too far. But he had handled it all too well even if he didn't love her.

She would be more than happy to love him from afar, watching as he shared his happiness, sorrow, and hardship with her sister. Cora was one lucky woman and Nicole hoped, for the sake of Marcus's, that she would come back to her senses already, and come back. So, that she too, would end up her suffering and leave with her head held high even though she was breaking inside, as she took a step closer to leaving Marcus forever.

Nicole would move away as far as she could from her sister and brother-in-law. She didn't know what it would be like now that she made love—had sex—with Marcus. Would he treat her the same? Perhaps act a little nicer than he had ever been before they took their fake marriage into a real one?

They had a taste of what each other's passion and what it was like, making their marriage real, but that didn't mean Marcus would consider her as his actual wife. He still hadn't forgotten about her sister, and would never be if she never decided to come back, at all. The outcome would still be the same. She would still be forced to leave him and move away into a further state, so that she would never ever run into him after.

Nicole wouldn't be able to take it if something like that had happened after they get the marriage annulled. Marcus wanted their fake marriage to disappear and should never surface ever again. The thought of that brought tears to the back of her eyes.

There was a rustle behind her, reminding Nicole that Marcus had come in. He still hadn't talked to her, probably decided to humor her by pretending she was actually asleep. But she was surprised when she felt the bed dip under his heavy weight, his hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

"Nicole, wake up." Marcus said, "your parents just texted me. Cora has already come home."