Chapter 31 Aftermath of pretending
Dandelion.
"Gra...Noona hubby is simply angry at me for falling into the pool and making him worried."
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could think them through, my voice pitched higher than usual, almost whiny. I even pouted, actually pouted like some spoiled wife trying to charm her way out of trouble. It's time for my years of acting to become useful.
Grandma wini's sharp gray eyes narrowed, studying us with the intensity of a hawk circling it's prey.
She definitely didn't believe me, not even a little.
My heart hammered against my ribs. The silence stretched so long I could hear the distant ticking of a clock somewhere in the bedroom.
Say something, I begged internally, say anything, just don't ask questions I can't answer.
But Grandma Winifred just stood there with her arms crossed, her gaze flicking between Alex and me like she was solving a puzzle.
I had to do something more convincing.
Before I could stop myself, I looped my arm through Alexander's hand and leaned into him, resting my head against his arm with what I hoped looked like natural affection.
His entire body turned to stone. His arm froze beneath my touch. But he didn't pull away of course, not without confirming her suspicions but God, he felt like a marble statue.
I almost wanted to snap at him and tell he to at least relax, He is just making this worse.
"See?" I forced a smile, tilting my head to look up at Grandma. "He's just being grumpy. He doesn't like it when I'm clumsy especially if it involved my safety"
Grandma's expression didn't soften. Instead it sharpened.
"Is that so?" She quizzed and I felt her suspicion coil tighter around us. "Alexander, are you really worried about your wife? Or you don't just treat your wife properly"
Oh no.
I looked up at him hoping he would say something convincing.
But he just stood there, frozen and silently furious, radiating tension like a wild fire.
I couldn't let this fall apart. Not now definitely not after everything.
"Actually Noona," I said, with just the right amount of pettiness in my voice, "he was pretty mean earlier. Hubby, don't you think you owe me an apology?"
I felt him go impossibly stiffer.
He slowly turned his head to look down at me.
The look in his eyes promised to murder me
"An apology?," he repeated, his voice sounded flat and dangerous.
"Mhmm." I nodded, squeezing his arm and batting my eyelashes. "You scolded me pretty harshly. It hurt my feelings so you should apologize."
For a moment, I genuinely thought he might finally snap, because that cold mask cracked just enough for me to see the fury simmering beneath.
But Grandma was watching closely.
And he knew it.
His throat moved as he swallowed whatever harsh remark he was about to throw at me. The muscle on his left eyelid twitched, then through gritted teeth, he forced out the words.
"I'm...sorry."
It sounded like it physically hurt him.
I beamed up at him like he'd just given me the moon. "Apology accepted!"
Grandma Winifred's expression finally softened. Just a bit though, but it was enough.
"Well," she said, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I suppose all newlyweds have their awkward moments. You two are probably still learning each other." She waved a hand dismissively. "Just don't be too distant. Marriage requires warmth, not cold politeness."
"Of course, Grandma," I said quickly. "We just get a bit... shy around other people."
"Shy?." She repeated the word dramatically. Then she shook her head in amusement. "You young people these days are something else. In my time, we weren't shy about affection at all."
"Well times have changed noona," Alex stated stiffly.
"Hmm, I can see that." She gave us one last searching look, then turned toward the door. "Well then, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure you have much to discuss."
The hairs on my body immediately stood, no, no no no. Don't leave me here alone with this demon, he would scold me for this drama I just displayed.
I felt Alex's hand suddenly wrapped around my waist and he suddenly gazed at me with a 'you are dead' look.
"Actually, Grandma," I said quickly, stepping out of his grip with force, "let me walk you out! I wanted to ask you about--"
"That won't be necessary." Alex's hand clamped down on my waist dragging me back against his side firmly.
I gasped softly as my escape attempt thwarted.
He smiled at his grandmother, to her it was a polite smile, to me it was terrifying. "I'd like a moment alone with my wife."
Grandma Wini's eyes sparkled.
"Oh! Of course!" She giggled, it sounded so unexpected I almost forgot my impending doom. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. Carry on!"
She practically floated out of the room with the staff trailing behind her.
The door clicked shut behind them. And the temperature in the room suddenly dropped to ten degrees.
.............
Alex released me so abruptly I almost fell.
I stumbled and caught myself before I would fallq, my heart racing, and I turned to face him.
He stood perfectly still, with his arms in his pockets, his expression terrifyingly blank, and it was worse than anger. So much worse.
I swallowed hard. "She was suspicious. I had to--"
He scoffed, "So you had to hug me?." He took a step forward. "You broke one of the rules by touching me and worse if all, you made me break my own rules, and then you frickin made me apologize" He growled.
"But there wasn't time to ask you to play along!" I took a step back, my hips hitting the chair nearby. "She was about to figure us out! I did what I had to do!"
"You crossed the line by doing that."
"A line?!" My voice pitched higher. "We're supposed to be married! What did you expect that we would stand three feet apart the entire time?"
"I expected for you to follow the rules with no surprises just like we agreed."
"But the contract means nothing if we get exposed." I retorted.
"Well this wouldn't have happened if you didn't fall into the goddam pool", He snapped.
"Well you didn't tell me you had a gigantic monster wolf as a pet, besides you weren't even making any attempts to convince her." I fired back angrily.
His jaw clenched, he knew I had a point and without my perfect acting covering up our lies it would have all blown up.
He finally relaxed, "Well then there are new rules. There should be no more surprises, no sudden displays of affection, you shouldn't break the contract rules unless in critical situations, i will tolerate it only in emergency situations but if we need to act like a couple, we should at least discuss it first and agree on boundaries. Are we clear?"
What!, additional rules?, I wanted to argue, I wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous.
But the coldness in his eyes told me this wasn't negotiable.
"Fine," I bit out crossing my arms stubbornly.
"Good." He muttered still glaring at me and turned to leave, his footsteps echoing in the now quiet room.
The door closed softly behind him, and I was left standing there alone, my heart still racing.
I sank onto the couch, burying my face in my hands.
What the hell just happened?
I had touched him, hugged him and leaned against him, breaking not just one rule all in one day.
And for just a second, just one fleeting second in that moment, I felt...Safe.
"As if I wanted to hug
him longer?," I muttered to myself in disbelief
"No way!"I yelled at myself and shuddered in disgust.
But my racing heart called me a liar.