Chapter 1 Emotionally Hurt

Chloe's POV

"What the fuck are you doing, Chloe?!" my husband exclaimed as I sat on his lap while he fiddled with the laptop in front of him. I just thought of a way to irritate him right now. Axel is taking a break in the office today, but he also spends the entire day staring at his laptop.

"What? Hubby, can't you just relax?" I asked softly. I touched Axel's shoulder and gently squeezed it. He just looked at me with a solemn expression. I've been working on getting him to notice me, but he still doesn't, and he avoids me even more. If I had known that annoying him was the only way for him to notice me, I would have done it sooner.

"Stop using that fucking endearment of yours, Chloe, and get away from me or I'll overthrow you,” Axel said with his serious voice. If another woman were in my situation right now, she would probably immediately run out of this room if Axel was this serious. I was laughing and not paying attention to what he was saying. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my body against him. I inhaled the sweet scent of his skin.

"Shit," Axel cussed, and a wicked smile formed on my lips. I already felt the hardness between his legs and I can't help but bite my lower lips. I'm aware that what I do now will be something I come to regret later.

"Are you trying to annoy me, woman?" His annoyance was palpable, which made me even happier.

"What's wrong with what I'm doing? We're married, remember?" I replied when I broke away from hugging him but still sitting on his lap. I lock my gaze on him. Axel has a chiseled jawline that complements his V-shaped face, the perfect pointed noise, and seductive red lips. I adore this man. Losing him would be a nightmare that every day I beg to awaken from.

Axel's brow furrowed. "And we both know we got married because of our parents' will, right?" he responds, his brows intersecting as he casts a bored look at me. I heaved a deep sigh before staring at him fully.

Yes, we married solely because our parents desired it. To merge our companies into one new company. Our parents own a well-known airline which is Libero Avionics my father owned and Airfare Deal which is Axel's father owned. After our marriage settled, their agreement came up to merge our company and they decided to name it—Airfare Avionics.

Despite this, I agreed to marry Axel because I adore him for a long time. We've been best friends since I was ten, and I was already in love with him at that age. I confessed numerous times since we were children, but he just always rejected me by saying his painful words.

Axel stood up as he lifted me and lowered me onto his bed. We have our own room, and even though I want to be in the same room with him, he refuses.

As I looked at him, I pouted. Axel was already staring at me with his dark eyes as if they were sucking me in. Since I married Axel, there have been many things I miss about him, such as when he smiled at me and our bonding as if nothing could stop us from doing everything we wanted to do, but now he has changed.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we have both agreed not to take our marriage seriously because—"

I interrupted him. "...because you love Stella; yes, I know that already, Axel, but you have me now; I'm your wife," I stated solemnly.

We've only been married for a month, but he treats me as if I'm not around him. Axel was always preoccupied with work and, of course, with his beloved Stella. Our parents were unaware that he was still communicating with Stella and that they were still in a relationship. I didn't tell our parents because Axel is my best friend and my loved one.

"Are we going to talk about that again? Look, I love Stella and it's not because we're married, I'm going to forget about her. If you have nothing good to say, you'd better get out of my room!" he yelled angrily.

I just shook my head and inhaled deeply. Tears welled up in my eyes as a result of how painfully he said it. I bite my lower lip to keep my sobs from escaping. Every day, Axel is confronted with the fact that he cannot reciprocate my love for him because he loves Stella so much, but why, it's still so painful and my body refuses to give up in the hope that he will love me, not as a friend, but as a woman to love more than Stella.

"Why can't you love me back, Axel?" I whispered enough for him to hear. Axel ran his hand through his hair.

"What kind of mind do you have, Chloe?" he paused, "How many times do I need to repeat to you? I can't because I don't love you! Is it difficult to understand?!" Every word he utters pierces my heart. I knew it was going to happen, but I was so stubborn that I refused to give up.

"No, you can. Please, let your feelings fall for me. I'm begging—" I didn't finish what I was saying when he threw his cellphone, causing it to shatter. Axel gave me a cold stare as if he was about to hurt me.

"Stop it, Chloe! Stop before I forget you're my best friend! I swear I'm going to hurt you if you don't stop that freaking thing of yours!" His hands were clenched but it still wouldn't stop me from doing what I wanted.

Since we married, our former friendship has changed. His demeanor toward me has shifted; he has become cold and avoids talking with me. I married Axel not to keep him away from me, but to teach him to love me.

I knew that if I continued what I was doing to get him, Stella would be hurt. She is suffering now after finding out that Axel married me but that did not stop them from separating. Axel still chooses Stella over me, which hurts a lot.

I calmed myself down from crying. "Just... let me love you, and you can pretend to love me; I don't mind; please, Axel, give me a chance." I still insist. I don't want to let him go that easy. I devoted my love to him all my life.

"Leave, I'm tired of arguing with you. If you don't want to leave by yourself, I have to—"

Axel didn't get to finish the sentence when I immediately stood up and pressed my lips to his. He didn't respond to my kiss, and he tried to pull me away from him, but I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and just continued kissing him. This is the first time our lips have touched because on the day of our wedding he couldn't kiss me on the lips but only on my cheek. In an instant, Axel responds with a hard kiss, driving them apart with the force of it. There was nothing gentle about it. The kiss began to get more heated as he grabbed my waist and pulled me in close.

As time went on, I don’t know, but I don’t like the way he kisses me. It was harsh and I couldn't stand it anymore. I moved my body away from him by touching his massive chest, but he drew me even closer. Until he pushed me onto the bed, which surprised me. I looked at him with pleading eyes.

"This is what you want, huh? Then I gave it to you." I was about to open my mouth to stop Axel but he went on top of me and claimed my lips again in a hard and hungry kiss.

This is not how I expected Axel to respond to me, and I can see the range in his eyes. He has now claimed my entire body. But this is what I want, isn't it? My mind and heart were debating whether it was right or not to give up my body to him. My mind tells me it's not right because I know someone will be hurt, but my heart begs me to just let him. I feel my body is tense and doesn't want to hold back.

He'd ripped my entire dress, exposing my naked body. I'm breathing heavily as he begins to remove his clothes, revealing his six-pack abs. We kissed and kissed like it was a never-ending cycle. Every movement he makes all over my body makes me want him more. I heard Axel cuss, and I moaned about how Axel was giving me so much enthusiasm.

But I winced as I felt his tough masculinity forcefully enter my core. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I felt pain. Axel isn't gentle, which hurts me. Despite our complicated situation, I never imagined that I would be able to give up my body to him out of love.

Axel lay down next to me taking a deep breath. I attempted to hug him, but he simply shook my hand and stood up. He picked up his clothes that were scattered on the floor and he put them on. I sat confused while my body was still exposed without any covering.

"Where are you going?" I asked him, in my weak voice, but Axel just stare at me with a serious expression. Will he abandon me? No way, I'm not going to let it happen.

"D—don't leave me, Axel, please," I begged and I would have approached him when he had gone away from me. I can feel the hot liquid threatening to fall into my eyes again at the thought of him leaving me after what happened to us.

"You think I can sleep in the same bed with you?" Axel asked, glaring at me, which shut me up. "It doesn't mean we have sex, I can love you. It's just sex and it can't be changed that we just got married because of our parents' will. You will never be the woman who will make me happy, and I will not be with you forever, Chloe. Now, you’ve got what you want. Maybe that's enough for you to stop your craziness."

My mouth dropped open when he said that and my tears flowed again. It was as if a knife had pierced my heart because of the pain he had said. Axel left me with my heart full of pain.