Chapter Forty Four

Julie stiffened at his words but she maintained her indifference. "Nothing happened."

"Look at me, Juliet." He said firmly. And when Julie refused to obey, Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and opened them again. "Don't make me repeat myself…"

Julie finally turned, and she could not believe that even at this moment, the stunning beauty of the man before her still could cause her breath to catch in her throat. Why does he have to be this bewitching?

Trying her hardest to keep her emotion hidden from him, Julie looked at him with emotionless eyes.

The muscle in Alex's cheek ticked along his jaw but he stayed very still for a long moment, as if he were having his very own internal battle within him while scrutinizing his wife's face.

"Alright… I won't ask why you're acting like this anymore." His gaze softened. "Why don't you question me instead, wife? Won't you dig and find out the reason why I couldn't spend the day with you?" came his impossibly alluring voice, coaxing her.

Julie bit the inside of her lips. Why? Why did he have to be like this? Please… stop Alex… stop doing this to me… I don't want to get hurt anymore…

Forcing herself to remember the pain and telling herself that that was just the beginning of the turmoil she was going to experience if she continued acquainting herself to him, Julie managed to stop herself from giving in.

She looked into his eyes and had to swallow hard before she could say, "I'm not going to do that, Your Highness. I don't have the right to get upset even if you spend the day with someone else and I don't have the right to question why you can't spend the day with me. So, I won't be doing that because It would be selfish of me to deny you of your needs since I'm the one not allowing you to touch me."

Alex did not move at all and they just stood very close as Julie took a deep, shaky breath into her lungs, silently strengthening herself inwardly. The implication of her words struck Alex hard.

He laughed. It was a small derisive sound that left his lips as his face became taut. And then, he stared at her in stony silence.

For some reason, what she said broke through Alex's veneer of control.

"So, we're back to this again, huh. You think of me as nothing but a filthy monster, don't you?" he finally voiced out, after a long while. His voice was controlled but bruised and angered. "Alright then, since that's how you see me, I might as well do what you're expecting of me properly and go spend this night with as many women available in this castle." He hissed and then left the room.

Running his hands savagely through his hair, Alex clenched his fists tight. He couldn't believe he had just said those words. He could not believe how angry he was right now that he had to force himself to walk out of her presence for fear that he would burst in anger. He just could not believe that she could drive him to the edge of his sanity so easily like that.

Damn, why did he say those words? Why the hell was he so angry that she still didn't trust him at all? It wasn't even a month yet since they had gotten married. He should have understood that she was still unable to trust him. But… why can't she still trust him after all this? Damn. No one could ever make him this emotional… no one could make him lose his temper like this better than her… damn, she was driving him insane.

Cursing inwardly, Alex nearly smashed a pillar with his fist. Good thing he managed to stop himself because he didn't want to scare her. The thought that she'd probably think there was an earthquake, or some disaster happening ultimately stopped him and he laughed shortly again. He left their chamber because he was feeling the rising anger within him and he did not want to show her his rage. He didn't want her to be terrified of him – not that she wasn't already.

He could only curse again. He needed to do something to calm down. This was bad. She's making him act like he wasn't himself!

As he walked tensely along the corridor, two young women suddenly approached him. He knew them. They were among the ladies the Duke and the other officials introduced to him years ago.

"Your Highness, we came to escort you." One of them said, smiling sweetly at him.

Alex groaned but he didn't even suspect anything fishy as his brain was much too occupied with Julie and his emotions. Thus, without question, Alex followed the ladies, thinking that duchess asked for him.

Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Julie was clutching her robe over her chest. His bruised and utterly offended expression and the anger in his voice… she remembered he wore that same face when she confronted him about Thea. Could it be that she had come to the wrong conclusion again this time around? But those ladies and the duchess' words… that he agreed… was it possible that…

Suddenly, her body moved on its own as she rushed towards the door, to chase after him.

However, as soon as she was in the corridor, her feet froze as she watched him entering a room with two of those beautiful women.

The moment the door closed; Julie felt as though something totally shattered inside her. And it seemed to suck all of her life blood from her limbs until there was nothing left of her.

She just stood there, staring at the closed door far off from where she stood, her mind turning blank.

Eventually, her feet moved, and she turned to where she came from. She walked silently until she entered their chamber. The door closed silently behind her.

Her gaze fell towards the closed windows before she approached it, abruptly shoving it wide open to let the freezing cold wind blow into the room and on her.

The tears that had threatened to spill over earlier did not come, only a numbing pain. Her robe fell on the floor and she moved closer to the window as if hoping for the air to freeze the pain in her heart and mind as well.

Staring expressionlessly at the space outside, the corner of her lips curved up as she sucked in all the despair, so deep it was making it hard for her to breathe. Oh, Julie… look at the predicament that you have put yourself into…

She laughed mirthlessly. The thought that perhaps this was her punishment for trying to break her promise of not falling for him made her feel even more miserable and wretched.