Chapter 10
Jess POV
I'm tired of going through this every day, but if I stop, I'll be the one who looks like the bad wife.
Maximus has been getting on my nerves lately. He's been coming home later and later, always with the same excuse: "Too much to do at the office." As if I'm buying that nonsense.
When we first got married, there was always that love-filled look in his eyes when he looked at me, but now...
It feels like his love for me is starting to fade, and I need to figure out why.
Why isn't he looking at me the way he used to?
"Do you seriously have to come back so late?" I snap, my anger boiling over as I glare at Maximus. "You don't even give your child a goodnight kiss anymore. You don't read her bedtime stories. I don't know what kind of father you're becoming, but I've had it up to here, Maximus!"
I can't help but wonder if the only reason he's still with me is because of our child, or because he can't handle another divorce. The bad publicity would be too much for him.
He loves his image very well and I know that I will have to use that to my advantage one day.
"What the hell is your problem, huh? You're doing a total three-sixty. This isn't you!" I snap again as I feel my frustration bubbling up.
Instead of answering, Maximus just gives me a quick glance and strides toward the kitchen.
A surge of anger consumes me. How dare he ignore me like this?
But still, I trail after him.
"I already told you-we had a delayed business meeting. What else do you want from me? Should I lose a potential client just because I've got a whiny wife at home?" he blurts, grabbing a bottle of water and pouring it into a cup.
"Don't use our daughter as an excuse. I've had a long day, and what I need is rest, not you breathing down my neck. Give me some space, Jess. You're not the only one with a husband!" He yells, before slamming the bottle down onto the kitchen counter. Hard.
I jump slightly, but Maximus doesn't even seem to care that he's scaring me.
His face is set in an angry expression. He's clearly not happy to see me, and I can tell he's not in the mood for an argument, but I'm not backing down this time.
I know what's really going on-I know he's seeing someone behind my back.
"Oh, please! Do you really think I'm buying that excuse?" I scoff, crossing my arms. "That's the same line you fed my gold-digging step-sister when you were sneaking around with me, isn't it? And she believed every word, but newsflash, Max-I'm nothing like Selene."
I'm not stupid like Selene, who fell for every lie he told her. She believed him when he said he was working late, completely oblivious that he was spending his nights with me instead.
I used to hang on to his reassurances, the promises that he'd leave her and marry me soon. Back then, those words felt like everything I wanted to hear.
But ever since I was a child, I've always felt like I was living in Selene's shadow. She was the smarter one, the prettier one, the one everyone seemed to gravitate toward.
Even though Father barely tolerated her and my mother despised her with every fiber of her being, I still couldn't shake the feeling that Selene was better than me in every way that mattered.
In school, Selene always outshined me, acing every subject while I barely kept up. And I hated it. I hated how she would try to tutor me, like I was some kind of project she could fix.
It wasn't kindness; it was her way of rubbing it in my face that I wasn't as smart as she was.
To make matters worse, every guy I ever liked seemed to gravitate toward her. It drove me insane.
When she announced she wanted to become a doctor, it felt like the final blow. I couldn't shake the feeling that I would always come second to her, no matter what I did.
It didn't help that Father made us go to the same high school. I was forced to endure her perfect, pretentious life every single day. I hated her for it, and whenever I had the chance, I made her life hell-not that anyone cared about her struggles
I wanted everything Selene had. I wanted her gone, completely and permanently. She was the biggest obstacle I'd ever faced.
But every morning, when I wake up and remember that I'm Mrs. Hemsworth, not Selene, a surge of pride runs through me. Even though Maximus barely looks at me anymore, I can't help but feel like I won.
"I'm way smarter than her, and right now, I know you're lying to me," I say, folding my arms more tightly across my chest. "You're seeing someone behind my back. You have a mistress, don't you? Is that why you haven't been sleeping with me?"
"Leave our sex life out of this!" he shoots back, his tone sharp and biting. "And don't you dare bring up Selene again. She has nothing to do with this!"
His glare pierces through me, but I don't budge. Part of me wants to apologize, to tell him I'm sorry for doubting him, but the words won't come.
He throws his head back with an exasperated groan. "I have an entire business to run. The last thing on my mind is another woman. And if you're not going to believe that, then that's your fucking problem!"