Chapter 84
Gideon stood outside with infinite patience, clearly prepared to keep knocking until she opened the door.
Josephine pressed the intercom button.
Gideon's voice came through the speaker. "I knew you were home."
"What do you want?"
"You're not going to let me in?"
Josephine hugged her water glass, leaning against the entryway shoe cabinet with casual indifference. "This is my home. If I don't want someone inside, they don't get inside."
"I'm your husband."
The word 'husband' struck Josephine as bitterly ironic. She'd had enough. She didn't want to keep playing these games with him anymore.
Cedric had already agreed to help her find lawyers. Maybe it was time to bring up divorce.
The moment that thought surfaced, Josephine's heart began racing.
With barely contained excitement.
She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
Before Gideon could speak, Josephine turned and headed into the living room.
"Come in. I have some things to say to you, too."
Gideon stepped inside, his gaze hungrily following Josephine's figure.
It had been so long since he'd looked at her like this.
Playing hard to get was complete bullshit—it didn't work at all. He didn't know if she'd missed him, but he'd been going crazy missing her.
Josephine sat down on the sofa and set her water glass on the coffee table. Gideon naturally settled beside her. Josephine went rigid.
She didn't want to accept his proximity.
"Gideon, we..."
Before she could finish, Gideon's heart lurched. He had a feeling whatever came next wasn't something he wanted to hear. Instinctively, he cut her off. "Come home with me."
Josephine stared at him in shock.
"I don't know why you've been so cold to me lately. Is it because of Lorelei?" Gideon's voice carried a hint of frustration. "I've talked to Marshall. He really is an idiot. Everything you said was right."
He opened his heart, lowered his pride. He really couldn't stand being separated from her anymore.
"Jojo, I promise—from now on, I'll listen to whatever you say. Come home with me, okay?"
He had beautiful eyes—deep-set with slightly upturned corners, naturally soulful. When he gazed at you like this, it felt like being deeply loved.
Josephine used to adore being looked at by him. Now she simply withdrew her hand quietly. "Gideon, you're hiding things from me. I'm hiding things from you, too."
"What do you mean?"
That single sentence made Gideon's heart race with the panic of secrets being exposed, the unpreparedness of things spiraling beyond his control.
All he could do was stare at her intently.
"Don't scare me. We're husband and wife—the closest relationship in the world. We don't have any secrets from each other. And if we do, they're just white lies."
Even now, he was leaving himself an escape route.
Josephine almost wanted to laugh. "A white lie is still a lie, isn't it?"
A lie was a lie—there was no such thing as good or bad intent. The only difference was the consequences, but most lies brought pain and hurt.
"Jojo..."
Gideon was starting to regret coming today. But the flickering jealousy and forcibly suppressed rage in his chest began sparking into flames.
"You never used to talk like this. Why do you seem like a completely different person now?"
"Have I changed?" Josephine countered.
"Yes." Gideon had wanted to play dumb, but some things couldn't be faked—like the images of a smiling man and woman in conversation constantly flashing through his mind.
He was angry. Jealous. Even afraid.
"Who were you with today?"
Josephine's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, it all clicked. No wonder he'd shown up out of nowhere, suddenly apologizing, spouting all this nonsense.
"Lorelei told you, didn't she?"
Gideon didn't answer that question. "Who told me doesn't matter. What matters is who you had dinner with. Do you even remember who your husband is?"
He reached out and hooked his arm around Josephine's waist, pulling her into his embrace with slow, forceful movements. His dark eyes bored into hers, as if trying to see through to her soul.
"You know exactly what matters most to me, yet you deliberately use this to provoke me. Jojo—" He stroked her hair gently. "You've become very disobedient."
"Obedient..."
Josephine murmured the word.
She'd been obedient enough before, hadn't she? And he'd still cheated. Proof that being good didn't matter.
She couldn't push him away, and she wasn't about to compete with him physically. She simply met his gaze calmly.
"If you can't handle it, we can get divorced."
She'd finally said it. Divorce.
Gideon's arm tightened around her waist. He answered without hesitation. "Absolutely not."
He would never agree to a divorce.
Josephine had expected exactly this response. She wasn't surprised, wasn't even angry. Just found it absurd.
Was he still dreaming? A devoted wife at home, a mistress on the side?
The eyes that used to gaze at him with love now held only cold assessment.
"You won't divorce me. Is it really because you love me, or because you think I'm easy to control?"
Gideon's eyes widened slightly. Through gritted teeth: "Is that really how you see me?"
He flipped her over, pinning Josephine beneath him on the sofa, demanding almost frantically, "How can you think of me like that? I've never tried to control you. I married you because I love you. I won't divorce you because I love you."
Each word was deliberate, his eyes bloodshot.
Josephine lay there calmly, using just one hand to hold him at bay. "You love me so much? Then will you agree to anything I ask?"
"Yes."
Money, power—he'd give her anything.
Gideon thought he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Josephine nodded. "What if I said I want a divorce?"
Gideon fell silent.
His silence spoke volumes about his position.
He could give Josephine everything he owned—except her freedom.
"Even if you're the one who made mistakes, you still won't divorce me?" Josephine pressed.
"Jojo, I love you." Gideon avoided the subject of mistakes, pressing his forehead to hers and lowering his voice. "So I won't divorce you."
Their breaths mingled, the atmosphere turning intimate as the temperature around them gradually rose.
They'd been married for years. Their feelings ran deep, and they knew each other's bodies intimately.
Making the other respond would be easy.
Gideon's hand settled on Josephine's waist, his rough palm rubbing against the skin beneath her dress.
Just as his fingers were about to reach her breast, Josephine's expression went cold.
She shoved him away and straightened her collar where Gideon had mussed it, casually brushing off the spot he'd touched at her waist.
Gideon sat on the carpet, looking up at Josephine on the sofa in confusion. "Jojo..."
Josephine's tone was flat. "Just messing with you."
"What do you mean?"
Josephine's lips curved. "I was kidding. Things are fine between us—why would I want a divorce?"
Gideon exhaled in relief, gripping Josephine's hand. "Don't ever say things like that to scare me again."
Thank God. She'd been lying.
Otherwise, he wasn't sure what he might do.