"Isn't that your work phone, husband?"
Blood drained away from Claude's face as he looked up to see Ayla squinting at the rectangular piece of technology flashing in his palms.
"Umm.. yes." Claude gulped down a mouthful of saliva before running his tongue along his lower lip. He didn't plan to actually work over the holidays, but he definitely had in mind to check on his work. That was one of the reasons he brought along his work phone—in case he was needed. But he forgot to actually put it on silent after his altercation with his beloved wife.
"Who is it?" Ayla drew in a sharp breath as she shifted her gaze up to see the horrified expression etched on his face. Was she enjoying it? She snickered internally.
"Ethan." Claude replied to her before clearing his throat. "I will talk to him later and tell him to not disturb us until after we are back." He added in a rather hurried manner, not wanting to soil her mood once again over the
"They surely hate me." Ayla mumbled out in a whisper as she picked up an invisible thread from her trousers before tossing it away, wishing she could do the same to her problems.The couple had freshened up right after stepping into the comfort of their room. Ayla was reluctant to head downstairs but didn't have any other choice as she quietly followed Claude down to the dining hall where everyone was waiting for them. Well, almost everyone. She was yet to meet Claude's grandfather.She couldn't say that the dinner went remotely good. Either an eerie silence loomed over the long, stretched table where, occasionally, low murmurs and snickers took over. Each one of them directed at her. She didn't stay back for a fleeting second and excused herself as soon as she was done with her dinner.Only when she was within the warm confines of the room, was she finally able to breathe. Claude's presence also helped her calm her nerves down."N
"Umm.. excuse me?" Ayla cleared her throat lightly, announcing her presence as she eyes the old man. "I hope I am not disturbing you." He was sitting on a wooden chair with his back facing her, too focused on the variety of food sprawled across the circular table to pay her any attention. "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled out a reply under his breath, his words filled with annoyance. "Make yourself at home." He was clearly not pleased by her sudden appearance and didn't bother to hide it. "Uh… thank you." Ayla kept her spirits up and walked around the table to settle down on one of the empty chairs. She chose to sit across from him so that she could have a better look at him while keeping the distance between them. It wasn't hard for her to tell that he was not fond of having company this early in the morning. "Claude was still sleeping when I left the room so I decided to grab a bite or two in the meantime and get myself familiar with the pl
Under the warm hues and pale lighting, the bustling only grew more and more dense. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, focusing on finishing the assigned tasks just in time for the event to start. The guests had already started arriving while the final touches were being made. "Are you sure it's only your grandfather's birthday that is being celebrated today?" Ayla mumbled to the man who was standing next to her. She turned her attention to him, eyeing him. "I may seem a little over the top, but that's how it is every year." Claude replied to her, keeping his gaze trained on the people downstairs. "You got used to it." A sigh escaped her lips. "I don't know how long it's going to take me to be so casual about things like it." It wasn't breaking news to Claude. He knew already how much she despised being the center of attention, and tonight's party was not going to be anything but that. Even though it was being arranged for his old
"Behave!"With a warning glare, Ayla smacked his chest with the back of her hand."Give me one good reason." Claude didn't seem to be minding the drop in her tone. He continued to tease his little wife."People are staring…," she trailed off as her eyes darted around them. Despite the fact that they were merely occupying a corner since neither of them wanted to be around the family members, there were still too many eyes trained on their figures."That's not good enough for me to keep my hands off of my gorgeous wife." Claude bemused with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do you not realize the effect you have on me?" His eyes trailed down from the curve of her neck to her bare shoulders. "I like this." He breathed out in a whisper as his hand tightened around her waist."Like what?" Ayla failed to follow his words and found herself questioning the man. She w
After a whole bunch of introductions and exchanges, Ayla found her eyes looking around in search of a certain man who was still nowhere to be found.She was starting to get worried about his sudden disappearance. What could have held him up for so long? She was pretty sure that there was no way a couple of greetings could take this long."Ayla?" A deep, aged voice pulled her out of her thoughts, bringing her attention back to her surroundings. "You alright?""I am fine, Gramps." She passed the old man a forced smile, not knowing what else to say to him."You are missing my idiot grandson, are you not?" The old man scoffed before taking a small sip of his drink. "How dare he ignore you for this long?""Gramps…," Ayla drawled out as she reached forward to give him a side hug, "Claude can never ignore me." She spoke out loud with utter faith. "Something must have come up." She added after a second as her eyes darte
"Claude!"The voice was shrill enough to make Ayla's eardrums ring in its wake. A figure rushed closer to her as she forced herself to stand straight without Claude's support. It wasn't long before his warmth was swept away from her as the lady in red squeezed herself in between the two of them."I can't believe you are here." She began to ramble about it as she threw her arm around Claude's neck, hugging him close without any reservations. "It's been so long since the last time I saw you." She continued as she leaned back to have a better look at the man's face who had his attention focused elsewhere."I heard about what happened to you. I am so sorry. I still can't believe it that they forced you into marrying a complete stranger." The young woman in red was clearly oblivious to the presence of the other three people who were only glaring daggers into her back."It was not l
"I thought he would have at least mentioned me before tying the knot with you. After all, I was the only one he was in a serious relationship with. It was serious enough for him to propose to me…""Selene!" Claude let out a warning growl as he stared down at the lady in red, his hold around Ayla tightening as if he was scared of letting her go."What?" Selene scoffed. "I am only stating the truth here, Claude. What are you so scared of?" She rolled her eyes as she took a step closer to the couple, her eyes focused on the man in black, "don't make it sound like you are actually scared of losing her because I am not buying that sh*t. If you are forgetting, I actually witnessed the fear in your eyes firsthand when I said no to you." Her chin was raised up in the air as she looked down at Ayla who seemed to be least bothered by her sudden declaration."Claude…," a soft mumble escaped her lips, deman
"I wasn't ready to settle down back then. We were barely adults at that time with no future of our own. I wanted to wait, but Claude wanted to make us permanent. That's why I said no to him when he asked me to marry him."Ayla continued to stare down at Selene as she pursed her lips together, her mind processing Selene's words. After a good minute, her pursed lips finally broke into a smirk."In that case, I owe you a thank you it seems." Ayla mumbled out with a scoff. "If it wasn't for you turning him down, I would have never been able to marry him.""Don't act like you had a choice. You might be able to fool him, but I know better." Selene refused to back down even after seeing how her words didn't affect the couple at all."You can think whatever you want, Selene." Ayla rolled her eyes as she took a step back, finding herself back into Claude's arms. "It only matters to me if he's the one thinking the same about me." She was only spea
[Three years later…]"Breathe in… breathe out…" Ayla was mumbling to herself as she tried to calm down her jittery nerves.She was standing before a floor length mirror, her eyes focused on her own reflection as her dress glinted under the warm lighting of her new room. Bringing her palms to the front of the dress, she ran them down in attempts to smoothen down the nonexisting creases. She couldn't help the worrying thoughts resonating at the back of her mind, her frown only deepening. But before she could delve down further, a knock at the door brought her out."Is anyone inside?"The voice was so familiar to her that a sigh of relief left her lips unconsciously."It's just me in here." Ayla breathed out as a soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She had sent everyone out including the make-up artist and her team once they had
[The following chapter includes mention of R-18 content. Kindly read at your own discretion.] Claude sucked onto the soft spot as his finger moved inside her, earning her moans in return which were not less than a siren's call for him, luring him to continue. He felt her insides tightening around his finger as he moved it relentlessly. He knew that she was close to finding her release and deliberately slowed down his movements. Ayla could feel her orgasm building up, inching closer to the edge. She let out a frustrated groan when Claude slowed down his movements. "D-don't st-op." She managed to say in between her gasps for air. "Oh! I am not planning to, my love, not tonight." Claude murmured against her skin and moved his lips to her cleavage, biting and sucking on her fair, smooth skin. "This might hurt a bit." He said as he inserted
[The following chapter includes mention of R-18 content. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "You don't think that it makes me unworthy of you?" She managed to mutter out as she held Claude's gaze. "You must have hit your brain if that's what's going through your brain." Claude scoffed as he leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. This time she didn't push him away but responded with the same passion. It wasn't until both of them ran out of their breaths did they pull back. "Do you understand now how much you mean to me?" Claude flicked her forehead as if he was reprimanding a small child. "I do… you mean no less to me." She smiled for the first time today and it was enough for Claude to know that everything was going to be just fine. All she needed was a little time and his love. "I love you." Claude mumbled
[The following chapter includes mention of self harm. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Ayla?" Claude knocked at the door as he glanced at the clock. "Are you done, love?" He made sure that he was loud enough for his voice to go through the thick door. It had already been an hour. But she hadn't come out yet. Claude was starting to get worried. "Ayla?" He called out her name again only to be met with the same reply—silence. Though he could hear the water running constantly, he wasn't able to hear her voice. "Ayla?" He tried it one more time before making his way to the other side of the room. Claude searched through a drawer and then moved to another one. If only he could remember where he kept it. "Found it." He mumbled under his breath as soon as his eyes landed on a golden key. It was the master key
"Take your hands off her!"Ayla's eyes flickered to the owner of the voice and a long sigh of relief left her trembling lips."Claude…"In between the chaos, Claude could only see her lips moving before her eyes rolled up and she fainted."Ayla!" He didn't waste another second and rushed to her, not paying any attention to the culprit. He would have plenty of time for him later. At the moment, the only thing which mattered to her was the wellbeing of his girl.With hurried steps, Claude walked to where she was and started to untie the ropes which were holding her in place."How the hell are you here? Where are my men?" Gavin kept babbling but even then, Claude paid him no attention. He was so busy sheeting with rage that he didn't bother paying attention to anything else. Not the men, who were dressed in black from head to
[The following chapter includes mention of sexual assault. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Let me tell you a story, kitten." He pushed himself off the wall, dusting his coat in the process. Gavin walked to the other side of the room to pick a chair and dragged it to the centre of the room. He settled down on it so that he was facing Ayla. "What story?" Despite the fact that she was scared for her life, she didn't show it on her face. She knew that she had to put up a brave front until Claude could reach her. He would realize sooner or later that she was missing. With a smile, Gavin began. "My father and a friend of his started a business together. The kind which was to grow into a big one over time. But the old man got played by his so-called friend. My father spent everything we had or owned on his dream. When our family w
[Three weeks later…]With a jump in her step, Ayla made her way to her favourite store. Things were going great with Claude finally. Everything in her life seemed to be on track. Well, almost everything.Though Claude and her were spending more and more time together with each passing day as if they were in a relationship. They kind of were, but the man never asked her to be his girlfriend despite the fact that's how he had been introducing her to everyone who saw them together.There was one other thing which was bugging her at the back of her mind. Because of peer pressure about them dating—if it could be called that—the two of them inadvertently started using black masks whenever they were in public. Neither of the two wanted to let others throw in their unwanted opinions about their relationship. Though somewhere deep inside her heart, she wanted the whole world to know that Claud
"So…"Ayla dragged it out as she turned around to stare at the man who was still standing by the doors."Mr. D'Souza?""Call me Gavin, please." He still has the same charming smile playing across his face as he walked further into the room"Umm… I am pretty sure I can not do that." Ayla let out a nervous chuckle. There was something ominous about the way he stared back at her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was sure that it wasn't only her mind playing with her. Something about him had shifted since the moment they walked in."Oh, please. Claude and I may not be the best of friends, but we are on our way there. It would mean a lot to me if you'd call me without any formalities." He paused before adding after a while. "Only when it's us… three."'What the f*ck!'Ala
"Because it looks like I interrupted something important."Her frown was the only thing which Claude could see but the helplessness which filled her eyes was enough of a giveaway for him. She was feeling guilty for interrupting their meeting. Well, it was more of a tour now. The actual meeting had already been wrapped up a while ago. It was what had Claude believing that her interruption was not going to have any repercussions. Even if there were any, he didn't care."It's fine. Don't worry." Claude rubbed his hand up and down her back to calm her down. Turning his attention to the group, he began. "Apologies for the interruption everyone, but let me introduce you all to my girlfriend." He was smart enough to not announce her name to the team. Though he wondered where Ayla was going with the secrecy."I am sure she must have a name." It was Mr. D'Souza who spoke up. There was a small smile playing acros