Chapter 148/professional liar

Chapter 148: 148/professional liar

Chapter 148

Stephanie’s point of view

I answered with fake steadiness and a sharp tone to cover my fear: "I am smelling my husband’s blazer... that’s all there is to it."

He looked at me with even greater bewilderment, confusion washing over his face: "And why are you smelling it in this suspicious manner?"

I pressed on with an impulse I calculated on the fly: "Maybe I’ll find the trace of a strange woman’s perfume, or a hair from another woman stuck to it!"

He spoke with obvious amusement, placing a hand on his bare waist: "And what is the cause of this sudden doubt and stormy jealousy that descended upon you today without warning?"

I tried to act out agitation and distress with the highest level of mastery, throwing the blazer violently onto the bed and saying sharply in a raised voice: "Because you disappear every day for long hours without bothering to tell me where you go or what you do!" I turned away from him with quick steps to swallow my dry saliva and catch my wasted breath, then turned back to him with features of defiance and a muffled shout: "How do I know what you do out there? Maybe you don’t even have a job in the sense that you claim, and maybe you are with another woman... maybe you are cheating on me while I sit here like a fool!"

Alex paused in his tracks, contemplating my manufactured tantrum with a strange calmness. Then, he looked deeply at me and said: "You are truly eccentric and acting crazily today, Steph."

I spoke with stubbornness and a shaking voice: "Yes... crazy because I am a woman who loves you, and because I don’t want you to go near any other woman in this universe, Alex!"

The signs of suspicion vanished from his face entirely. He approached me with soft steps until he stood before me, placing his large, warm hands on my shoulders with a soothing tenderness: "Steph... look at me. Do you truly believe deep down in your heart that I could ever cheat on you?"

Feeling the weight of his hands, I brushed them off my shoulders with manufactured agitation to perfect the act: "I have every right to believe and doubt, Alex! I spend my day here alone within the walls of this mansion waiting for you, while you spend your time outside, and I don’t know what the hell keeps you coming home so late permanently!"

He spoke with absolute calmness and a reassuring tone, smiling faintly: "Alright, please calm down... what has gotten into you? Anyone seeing you and listening to your words right now would think you actually caught me red-handed in another woman’s arms."

I spoke with stubbornness and a manufactured childishness, averting my face: "I am completely calm... can’t you see that?"

He laughed with a soft, warm sarcasm that highlighted his handsomeness: "Yes, I see clearly... I see how jealousy is eating you alive." Then, his arms extended powerfully to pull me against his broad, bare chest, holding me tightly so that his pulse rose next to my ear. He planted a tender, long kiss on the crown of my wet head and added with an audible smile: "I am a very lucky man to have a wife who is so crazily jealous over me."

I didn’t answer with a single word, remaining surrendered in his arms in silence, while secretly thanking God in the depths of my trembling heart that he had believed my stupid lie and hadn’t discovered my attempt to steal. He pulled back slightly, still holding my hands, and said seriously: "I will never cheat on you in my life, be confident and reassured about that."

I nodded my head in agreement: "Alright... go get dressed while I put on my clothes."

He carried his blazer in his other hand and headed back to the bathroom. In those moments, I stood breathing with difficulty, inwardly cursing the ill-fated day my feet crossed into this cursed mansion and thrust me into these mazes. I dried my red hair with the hairdryer quickly.

Before I could begin choosing my outfit, Alex stepped out again, wrapping a white cotton towel around his waist in a swift motion, and spoke in a tone that carried a sudden suggestion: "Steph... what do you think about us going out together today?"

I looked at him in surprise and confusion: "Where exactly?"

He said as he moved toward his wardrobe: "To have dinner somewhere... since we got married and entered this house, we haven’t gone out to spend private time anywhere in public because of my busy schedule."

I said hesitantly: "Alright... as you wish."

I pulled a short, strapless purple dress from the closet, distinguished by its tight cut that accentuated the details of my body the very dress I had bought today. After sitting before the mirror, applying subtle makeup, carefully styling the strands of my red hair, and putting on the dress with high black heels that lent my stature extra height and femininity, Alex stood behind me, admiring my appearance with obvious fascination.

He spoke in a heavy, masculine tone: "With this look, you’re going to make me kill every man in the restaurant because of how they’ll look at this sexy dress, Steph."

I spoke with a genuine blush staining my cheeks: "Don’t exaggerate... it’s an ordinary dress."

He spoke decisively as he donned his shirt: "I am not exaggerating at all... you look absolutely stunning."

I turned toward the vanity table to put on perfume, holding in my hands the exact same bottle of potent, seductive perfume I had worn this morning the memory of which vibrated in my mind. I said: "Alex... come here for a moment." He was busy buttoning his white shirt, so he approached me with curiosity: "What is it?"

I sprayed some of the perfume mist onto its glass cap and brought it slowly to his nose: "I want you to tell me honestly... does this perfume smell bad or annoying?"

He inhaled the scent for seconds, and suddenly his gaze shifted and deepened. Then, he spoke in a rasped, heavy voice: "My dear Steph... if you wear this specific perfume, I won’t be able to control myself. I will rip this dress off and fuck you right here on this rug right now, without a single care about any dinner."