Chapter 18

I raise my head, and the eyes around us become even more visible, and they appear to have no intention of hiding their gazes.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the man who stood upright and confidently in front of our table. When I look at him, our eyes meet, and the grin on his face widens. Even with the mask that conceals his identity, I can immediately tell who he is, especially when those intimidating green eyes look directly into my eyes.

The man who introduced me to the world. The man who started all of my confusion. Rizzo, Zach’s enemy.

I turn away from him and look at Zach, and I notice his expression darkening in an instant, in stark contrast to Rizzo's. He is the only one who can change Zach's face this much out of everyone who comes to our table.

“I’m sorry that I’m a bit late to the party. Something came up that I had to take care of first.” His deep voice rang, and while he appeared to be explaining something, his tone suggested otherwise.

He doesn't appear to be sincere at all.

"It's fine. Even if you didn't show up, it wouldn't matter to me," Zach responds nonchalantly,

On the other hand, the hostility around them intensifies to the point where I can feel the suffocation pressure in the air rising with each passing second.

It's like this also that night. As the two of them talk, everyone is afraid to even breathe in case they catch both of their attention.

Rizzo chuckles and looks at me, seemingly unaffected by Zach's remarks. He looks at me as if he can still recognize me even though I am wearing a mask over most of my face.

And I'm not mistaken; under my husband's gaze, he still leans a little closer to me, his lips arching up into a playful smirk. I stiffened and could only look at his face, the familiar sensation returning to me.

And I should be ashamed because, even with Zach beside me, I can only see his face.

"I didn't lie, right?" he whispers beside my ears, his breath brushing and tickling my ear as he continues. "That we'll see each other soon," my mouth parted as soon as he finished, and the deep voice reached my ears.

He moves back, but his smile stays on his face as we look at each other. I'm at a loss for words and unable to respond. But a dark voice jolted me awake; it was not loud but clearly raging with emotion.

“What are you saying to her?” Zach's heavy voice rang out, knocking me out cold and causing me to flinch and take a step back. I cast a glance to my side, and my husband's dark expression met mine.

His frown is so intense that, if it weren't for the mask, I could see how his brows wrinkled with his expression. His hands reach out and grab me, bringing me so close to him that I almost fall into his chest from the force of his movements.

"I'm not sure how this concerns you," Rizzo responds in a serious tone at this time.

Their voices are not loud, but given how quiet the hall is, I know the crowd can hear them even without approaching our table.

Zach's jaw clenches and his grip on my arms get so tight that it's already painful. Without receiving a response from the stranger, he turned to me and harshly questioned me, his tone indicating that his patience was running thin again.

“What did he say to you?” His voice is commanding and a little hurtful to the ears, especially as I know many people are listening to us.

My lips twitched, and I gripped the hem of my gown to calm myself. Zach's harshness toward me is nothing new, but his scolding me like a child in front of everyone as if he were interrogating me further blows my already battered emotions. Being humiliated by my husband in front of a crowd of strangers makes me feel more pathetic than I already am.

“Nothing—” I'm even finished when he snaps again.

"Liar!" he yelled, startling me as I raised my head to look at him. At this point, the mask on his face is just a decoration. I can tell how mad he is, even without the mask.

Why is he acting this way? Why every time Rizzo is in front of us, he’s becoming like this? His grip on my arms tightens even more, and a groan escapes my mouth from how painful it is already, and I'm sure it'll leave a bruise later.

"Gallagher," a deep voice rose, accompanied by a thick murderous intent. I instantly glanced in its direction and noticed Rizzo's expression deteriorating even more than Zach's.

With the look of displeasure on his face, I thought he was going to start a fight, but all he did was loosen his tie. However, when I look into those green eyes, I sense a suppressed beast lurking deep within, ready to erupt at any moment.

He gave me a look before turning around and walking away from us, but before he did so, he spoke again. Apathetic but full of threats underneath.

“One of these days, I’ll shove my gun in your head. Keep an eye out for Gallagher."

His voice fades with the wind as I watch his back become further from my view. At some point, I even forget the tight hold of Zach in my arms and silently watch him.

I don't know what this feeling is, but when he's around, the times he draws my attention are becoming more obvious to me. Is this pure curiosity or something more?

Zach's seemingly loud click of his tongue jolted me out of my trance. I cast a glance at him, and I notice him looking in the direction where Rizzo vanishes. His heavy gaze lingers on it for a moment before shifting back to me, his hostile expression remaining.

His grip on my arm loosens, and I reach out and gently touch the arm he had been gripping. I averted my gaze and lowered my head, as I couldn’t take making eye contact with him with his pair of fierce eyes.

The tension in the air has slightly decreased, but as I look around at the men around us, I notice that they have become more cautious since Rizzo left. Everything appears to be expected, but everyone is on high alert.

I wonder if I'm right because this is my first time going to a party like this, but if my intuition is correct, something is about to happen.

And I didn't have to guess for long because Zach has already indirectly confirmed it to me.

"Keep an eye on them," he orders. "There's no way he came here just to congratulate me. Contact the mansion immediately.” he continued, low that only we could hear.

I raise my head and look at him; as the days pass, I learn so many new things from him that I begin to wonder if he is still my husband. He's becoming more of a mystery to me, and a thought has already crossed my mind: is the Zach in my memory the real him or this Zach?

I don't know the answer, and I'm terrified of finding out.

The party that was supposed to celebrate something for which I never really understood the purpose is coming to an end. To begin with, I’m not really sure why Zach brought me to this party at all.

And when I finally found out why, it wasn't from Zach's mouth but from a stranger with his striking appearance, who always gives me a strange feeling for some reason.

My terrified eyes looked at him, at the sweet smile on his lips and the emerald eyes that glistened like gems. My heart is racing as I lift my head to see him sitting casually in front of me, watching me. Not minding my confused eyes at all.

"I knew Gallagher would keep you by his side," he smirks and chuckles as he fiddles with the maske in his face before removing it, revealing his handsome face in my eyes, "and that's a mistake, because you're not his, to begin with." His grin widens as he approaches me slowly.

"You are mine, Addalyn," he said as he gently stroked my face and looked me in the eyes.

I can only look at him, processing his words and the longing looks on his face. My heart was racing, and now that I looked at him, maybe Zach was right. This guy... is obsessed with me.

And what happened before I got to be here? We needed to go back hours ago at the party.