Chapter 72 Stranger
The following day, after talking to the surgeon, listening to her reminders about self care post surgery, she is ready to go home.
But the surgeon, Dr. Smith, hadn't left yet. She was staring at her patient with her forehead creased. “Um, Mira, can I ask you something? It’s a bit personal,” she said.
Luna Rosie nodded her head. “OK, go on, doc. What is it?”
“Um, I notice the closeness between you and Alpha Gideon. He has been sleeping in your room several times already. Are you having a romantic relationship with him?” Dr. Smith asked her directly. “I apologize for the intrusion into your privacy. I just can’t help it.”
Luna Rosie took a deep breath and said, “Yes we are. He will marry me soon and I will become her second wife.”
“B-but what happened to his wife, Luna Rosie? As far as I know she is a beautiful woman and currently pregnant. Are they separating?” Dr. Smith pressed on to satisfy her curiosity.
Luna Rosie shakes her head. “They are fine. Their marriage is still intact, but knowing men, they aren’t satisfied with just one woman,” she said bitterly.
Dr. Smith’s frown deepened. She couldn't fathom why the heir to the throne would pick a maid, a plain-looking woman, as his second wife when he already had a beautiful wife. Something is wrong. She scratches her head in bewilderment.
“I don’t want to discuss my private affairs with anyone. My affairs with my soon-to-be husband are not of your concern. I’m sorry, I will no longer entertain questions from you. I want to keep things private about my life. I hope you understand my situation, doc,” Luna Rosie said, annoyed, her voice venomous, giving the surgeon a silent warning to back off.
“Um, OK, that’s how it is, right?” Dr. Smith said calmly, not threatened by her patient's arrogant response to her inquiries.
Luna Rosie nodded her head. “Yep, that’s how it is. So now that I have answered your question, I want to rest a bit. Can I?” She politely ordered the meddlesome surgeon to leave the room.
“OK, I got it. I’ll take leave. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. Take care of yourself,” Dr. Smith said and left the room quietly.
Luna Rosie was left in the room, fuming, annoyed at the surgeon for being a busybody person. Dr. Smith is so damn annoying! If she was not her surgeon she already hurled insults to her face.
To overcome her anger, she watched a random show on TV while waiting for her husband's arrival so she could finally go home and seek out Mira and Lena to unleash her fury on those two women.
The more she thought about them the more her anger intensified.
Her fury won’t be appeased unless she can deliver a hard slap on their faces.
An hour later.
Alpha Gideon finally arrived in the room.
She looked at him, annoyed. “What took you so long?” she snapped at him.
“Cut the crap, I’m not your servant!” he spat at her, picking up the bags and walking towards the door.
She stared at him, wide-eyed, stunned by his scathing reply. “A-are you still mad at me?” she asked nervously.
He scowled at her and gave her a cold stare. “What do you think?” he asked and exited the room, not bothering to wait for her reply.
She stared at the door in shock, surprised that he had now expressed openly his annoyance towards her.
Oh no!
Her loving husband was gone, replaced by a cold and cruel hearted guy.
Why is this happening?
Dammit!
She sat on the sofa and reflected on her actions. The times are changing fast and she can feel it in the air.
She felt like she was slowly losing her husband — her foul mood was worsening their situation.
But what can she do? She is always like this if she is feeling anxious and agitated.
Agonizing minutes went by.
She glanced at the wall clock and noticed that her husband hadn’t returned to the room yet. Did he intentionally forget about her? Was he still angry at her?
Or maybe he was already waiting for her in the parking lot of the hospital? It could be.
She unlocked her phone and quickly typed a message asking where he was, why he was not back in the room yet because she was waiting for him in the room.
After she finished texting her husband, she scanned the room looking for anything she had missed putting in her luggage.
A few minutes later.
Getting tired of waiting for her husband to come, she stood up, walked to the door and finally left the room to find her husband.
She met him in the hallway outside the room.
He waited for her and they both headed for the elevator.
He was unusually quiet standing beside her in the elevator.
“Are you still mad at me?” she asked, observing his face up close.
He looked at her coldly. “We are going home. Please don’t make things hard for me, for us. Do you understand?"
She gritted her teeth in anger, furious why he was still mad at her. She bit her lip knowing this was not the place to start an argument. “Copy.”
“Good. Know your place and we will be fine,” he said, shifting his gaze to the entrance of the elevator.
Feeling furious, Luna Rosie’s hands formed into a fist in her side.
The door opened and they left the elevator, heading to his car parked nearby.
Once they settled comfortably in the car, he started the engine, getting ready to drive home.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle was tense and unpleasant.
“I’m sorry if I got you angry,” she apologized, smiling bitterly. She shouldn't apologize to him because she didn't do anything wrong but he won’t understand that. He wants her to obey and ask no questions.
“You’re forgiven despite your apology doesn't sound sincere to my ears,” he said in a scathing remark.
Her eyes widened. Surprised by his reply, she glared at him. “Honestly, I don’t need to apologize because I have done nothing wrong. I don’t know why you are mad at me? What have I done that provoked your anger? Please tell me,” she said, frowning deeply.
“Just shut up for once. Your attitude is getting worse. I couldn't take it anymore,” he snapped.
“What the hell? Why are you bullying me?” she protested. Her anger exploded. Her eyes spit venom while meeting her husband’s cold stare. She can’t see her loving nature anymore. What she sees now is a stranger. Where did her husband go? It’s deeply worrying and unsettling. She trembled as anxiety tore her sanity apart. Her whole body tensed. Her turbulent emotions were getting chaotic.
“Another word from you and I will throw you out of the car and you will have to walk back to the mansion,” he said in a threatening voice.
On the verge of tears, she stopped looking at him and swallowed her pride. “Please drive home, my love. I will not say a word anymore,” she said in a calm tone.
“Good!” Alpha Gideon navigated the car out of the parking lot and drove smoothly on the open highway.
The tense silence lingered in the air, silently warning the couple that there is a fracture in their relationship and it’s growing fast.
A divide has been drawn and they both know it.
The thought of being cast out of her husband's life and kicked out of the royal family’s mansion terrified Luna Rosie to her bones. Not only will she lose her husband's love, her unborn child and her body, she will literally lose everything and the only thing left in her life is her plain face and body.
She will become a nobody, a discarded wife. And the only person who benefited from her downfall was that cunning maid, Mira!
No, she can’t accept that kind of destiny!
If she goes down, Mira should also go down with her!
She glanced at her husband's face for a long time. ‘If he continues to ignore her and treat her like she means nothing to him then he shall pay too!’
“Stop staring at my face. I can feel your intense stare!” He scolded her without looking at her face.
She looked away, shifting her attention to the view outside the moving car.
“I wish the soul swap had never happened to me at all. I feel miserable after the soul swap. I’m losing my husband, my life, my unborn child. I’m losing everything and I’m powerless to stop it. I don’t know who to ask for help with. I want to undo the soul swap but I don’t know how. I feel so sad and miserable right now,” she said in a tone filled with despair. She burst into a heart-wrenching sob, filling the vehicle with her distressing cry, meant to poke at his conscience.
“What’s wrong again? Why are you crying?” Her miserable cry elicited a groan from Alpha Gideon. “Can you please calm down? We're not home yet. Wait until you arrive in our bedroom and you can cry all you want. Stop crying because I can’t drive properly while listening to your cries," he said in an irritated tone.
She raised her tear-stricken face and looked at him. “You have stopped caring for me. The least you can do is pull over the car and hold me so I can cry my heart out in your comforting arms. You really have changed! You are not my loving husband anymore. Why are you cold and distant to me? I’m still your wife. It’s not my fault that the soul swap happened. Why are you putting all the blame on me?” she asked between sobs.
“Stop talking please!” Alpha Gideon said, annoyed, already at his wits' end. “I’m not blaming you. The soul swap is not your fault but you keep destroying us because of it. Instead of improving your life you are sinking us into the abyss of your misery and you are dragging me along with you. You are not only destroying yourself, but you are also destroying our family! For our baby's sake, wake up before it’s too late!” He said indignantly.
He raised his voice a bit too high, startling Luna Rosie.
“Why are you angry again? Why are you shouting at me?” Luna Rosie asked defensively. “Can’t I cry anymore? Can’t I express how I feel? You are my husband — you are supposed to comfort me. But why are you so cold and uncaring, as if I’m a stranger in your eyes? You are so unfair! The only person you care about is Mira! But how about me? Aren’t you going to comfort me and say something nice to me?”
He shook his head, irritated beyond words, until he finally ignored her. The more he talked, the more she threw a tantrum. He drove fast so they could arrive home because he was so fed up with her attitude at being a drama queen.
Luna Rosie continues to weep hard, wanting him to feel guilty for giving her a cold shoulder.
A few minutes later, they finally arrived at the mansion.
Alpha Gideon quickly exited the car and instructed the servant to bring the bags upstairs to his wife’s room.
Luna Rosie got out of the car, covering her bandaged face with a handkerchief.
She entered the house, climbed the staircase and went straight to her room.
The servant left the room after putting the bags on the floor.
Luna Rosie locked the door and went to bed. She continued to cry in the comfort of her room.