Two

“Are you alright?” 

Ann stared at the hazy figure standing before her, trying to make sense of what was happening. “Who are you?”

“Thank you for saving me, I'll find you. I promise,” the voice told her softly and everything went blank.

Ann's eyes snapped open as she jolted out of her sleep, a sharp pain coming from her back going straight to her brain. She groaned, turning over so she was now resting on her stomach, burrowing further into her bed. 

Her back ached. It must be acting up because of the strange dream. It had been a while since she had those dreams and luckily for her Lucas wasn't around to witness it, she thought staring at the space beside her.

“I can't believe I'm married,” she mumbled to herself as she continued to stare hard at the untouched side of her matrimonial bed. Suddenly losing her sleep, Ann pushed up the bed and ran her hand over her husband's side of the bed and wasn't surprised to find it cold. It seemed she had been wrong about him after all_ before she could give it any more thought her stomach grumbled, echoing through the quiet room reminding her of the fact that she had skipped dinner in order to avoid Lucas. 

With a sigh, she brushed her hand over her face and rolled off the bed. After she grabbed her phone, she headed out of her new room without a backward glance.

Ann took her time studying Lucas' house and she couldn't deny being impressed with how the place turned out even better than her imagination of the place. At least she would be living a queen’s life even if there was no happy marriage, she thought with a small smile. Her eyes fixed on the silver ring on her finger and without much consideration she yanked it off, stuffing it into her pajamas pocket and headed straight for the kitchen. 

“Good morning.”

Ann could hardly respond as she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth to cover her yawn.

The old lady standing before her flashed her an understanding smile, “Are you still feeling tired, Mrs. Montgomery? I could bring the food up to your room if you want.”

Ann flinched at what the woman called her, “I'm fine, thank you,” she settled down on a kitchen stool, “Please call me Ann.”

The woman nodded, “Yes, of course. What would you like to eat?”

Ann shrugged, looking around the large kitchen with curiosity. “Where's Lucas?”

The woman blinked and for a moment Ann thought she looked uncomfortable, “He left.”

Ann nodded, not in the least surprised, “This morning?” 

“Yesterday actually. He left not long after you went to bed, apparently, he has something important to handle.”

Ann's mouth parted in shock. That jerk couldn't even wait until their wedding night was over. “I hope he runs into stomach problems,” she murmured childishly with a coy smirk.

The woman looked at her for a second before she began laughing, “You're funny.”

“What's your name?” 

“Juliet,” the woman smiled with a polite bow, “I'm the head maid of Mr. Lucas' home and I'm at your service.”

Ann nodded, “Nice you meet you, Juliet. You don't happen to have an idea when Lucas would be back, do you?”

Juliet shook her head giving Ann a look of sympathy that irked her soul.

“Enough about Lucas, I'd like something to eat please.”

“I'm on it,” Juliet said hurriedly and disappeared further into the kitchen. 

Ann sat completely still for some seconds, drumming her fingers on the slab. Now that Lucas was away and off her neck, this was her chance to start with her plan. A smile surfaced on her lips and she reached for her phone. 

“Good morning,” Ann greeted as soon as the phone reached her ear. 

“Miss. Sinclair,” the voice at the other end sounded truly surprised, “I wasn't expecting you to call anytime soon.”

“Things went better than I expected. Is the offer still on? I'd love it very much if I could train under you, Selene.”

“Of course, Miss_,” Selene trailed off, “I mean Mrs. Montgomery, you're married after all.”

Ann rolled her eyes.

“My agency is more than happy to take you under its wing. You can start anytime, welcome to the modeling world.”

Ann squeaked in excitement, her eyes bright with happiness.

…

Ann slumped onto the couch with a tired sigh, dumping the shopping bags beside and immediately began to get rid of her heels. 

“Ann, you're back early.”

Ann looked up from her shoes and flashed Juliet a small smile, straightening up. “I finished shopping early and Selene released me early so I could rest.”

Juliet nodded eagerly, her lips stretched over her lips. 

Ann raised a questioning brow at her, “What got you in a good mood, Juliet?”

“Mr. Lucas called,” Juliet squeaked.

The smile on Ann's face dissolved, her brows drawn together into a frown. “And what did he say?”

“He's back in the States now and he told me to invite you to his welcome party.”

“There's a party?” Ann scoffed.

Juliet's smile reduced further, “Don't be angry, Ann. I'm sure Lucas will send you a personal invite and if it makes you feel better Lucas did ask of you.”

“Yeah, three weeks too late,” Ann grumbled and pushed to her feet, “Look Juliet I get that you are trying to make me feel better but you should know by now that Lucas is completely not my business.”

“But he's your husband,” Juliet defended with a sad frown. 

Ann shrugged, “Yap, by name only nothing important. I hope you didn't tell him about my modeling?”

Juliet nodded immediately, “Although I still don't understand why you don't want to tell him I did just as you told me, Ann.”

“Thank you,” Ann said earnestly. “Please get the driver to bring this up,” she ordered, pointing at the shopping bags, “I will be in my room if you need me.”