Chapter 7

It’s been a long time since Evadne and Orion had any intimate moments, so on that particular night, she even wore her most discreet lingerie, a gift from her bridal shower attendees.

She also spritzed on her expensive perfume, adding to her efforts to seduce her husband for the evening. But when she laid next to him in bed, he just closed his eyes. She gently caressed Orion’s chest. He was used to sleeping naked, and wearing only underwear on the body.

“Hon,” she said sweetly, trying to wake him up. “Hon,” she called again.

After a while, Orion opened his eyes, squinting as he gazed at her. He removed her hand from his chest and turned to face away from her.

“H-hon, please. Let’s try tonight.”

“Let me sleep, Evadne. I’m not in the mood, and I have no desire.”

“Look at me,” she insisted. “Don’t you find me sexy?”

Seemingly running out of patience, Orion turned to face her. “There, you’re sexy. You have big boobs, a sexy body to die for... but will that body give me a child?” Orion shook his head. “No.”

“So, you don’t want me anymore?” She couldn’t hold back her tears.

“How many times do I have to say, ‘don’t make a big deal out of this’?”

“I’m not just making a big deal out of this, Orion. You’re treating me differently because I can’t give you what you want. Why are you like this? Why did you change suddenly? It’s such a shallow reason if it’s just about having a child.”

Orion clenched his jaw and sat up, facing her. He grabbed her arm tightly.

“Just a child? Damn it, Evadne! Don’t trivialize it.”

She saw the anger in her husband’s face. Evadne felt like she wanted to take back what she said, but it was already out in the open.

Orion released her arm and muttered, “You ruined my sleep,” he said as he stood up and headed to the bathroom, cursing under his breath.

Back then, she couldn’t even recall hearing him swear.

Evadne was left in shock. After a while, she touched her slightly sore arm from Orion’s tight grip. Now, he was capable of hurting her. Back then, he didn’t even want her to be bothered by a fly or any kind of insect.

Maybe it was true that you get to know a person’s true character when you live under the same roof. And now, Orion was showing her his true self, especially when he was angry.

She lay on the bed, covered with the comforter, feeling ugly during those moments. It seemed like her husband didn’t even want to be intimate with her.

‘Evadne, maybe your husband still couldn’t accept that you haven’t been able to conceive all this time,’ she tried to console herself. ‘How can we have a child if he no longer wants anything to happen between us?’

It had been a long time since they last had any intimate moments as a married couple, and that one time had never been repeated.

Orion also started coming home drunk frequently.

“MOM, DAD,” Evadne sobbed as she stood in front of her parents’ graves. “Why is it like this? Until now, Orion and I haven’t been blessed with a child. He’s almost angry at me because of it. I never wanted things to turn out this way. Mom, do we have a history of difficulty in conceiving?”

She wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

She wiped away the tears that streamed down both her cheeks.

“I’m actually planning to stay at home now, starting on the weekend. Tomorrow will be my last day at the coffee shop. I’ll have NoraLee manage the entire shop for now, and I’ll just visit occasionally. I think, for now, that’s a decision I need to make to save our marriage. It’s also what Orion wants, for me to stay at home,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want our marriage to fall apart. Because I don’t want to be alone.”

Ever since her parents both passed away on the exact day of her college graduation, she had felt like she was on her own in life.

So when Orion came into her life, she thought that the phase of being alone was over. But apparently, it wasn’t. Slowly, she was feeling it again.

She was their only child. Her parents had other businesses apart from the coffee shop before they died. But because she needed funds for her daily expenses and bills, she had to sell some of her family’s other businesses, aside from the coffee shop, which held sentimental value for her. She even had to sell their mansion because she would be in more financial trouble if she continued to pay the salaries of their maids. She moved into an apartment and started living on her own. At first, it was tough, but she had to tough it out. So, when she became Orion’s wife, she knew her way around household chores.

“Mom, Dad, please help me fix this. I want to work out on my marriage with Orion.”

She hadn’t told Orion yet about her decision to quit her job. Maybe she would when he noticed that she wasn’t leaving the house anymore.

For now, she would make an effort to regain her husband’s attention. To bring back at least some of the sweetness in their relationship that had turned bitter over the past few months.

She spent a few more hours at her parents’ graves before deciding to leave. But before heading home to her husband, she stopped by the church to pray.