One

Annabelle's POV

I sat on the couch of the living room patiently waiting for Adrien to come home from work. He was always late and I am used to it already but today feels different, he is never this late, it is 11:30 pm, two hours past his usual time, and still no sign of him, something is wrong.

My eyes stayed glued to the door hoping he would walk in as my mind wandered aimlessly on what could be keeping him. Deciding to distract myself from my crazy thoughts I headed to the kitchen to warm up the food I prepared for him. I know how much he hates it but I can't stop performing my wifely duties to him, I can only hope he sees them one day.

He has never eaten my food even for one day but I wouldn't stop he does, I have always loved Adrien very deeply and I would do anything to prove it to him, I only wanted him to feel the same way about me but I won't give up, even though his coldness over the years was starting to wear me down, I can’t back down, Not yet.

The first time I saw him back in college still replays in my mind every day like it was yesterday, my friends had ditched me to hang out with their boyfriends saying I should learn to socialize which almost got me raped. Thankfully, Adrien was close enough to save me and he had been the one ever since, the man that grabbed my attention right away. We became friends pretty quick but he had a girlfriend and they were so in love it hurt. Against my better judgment and that of my friends, I decided to ignore that fact and inform him about how I felt about him, but once I shared with him my emotions, he turned me away. After graduation, I concentrated on my life and let my feelings for him fade—or at least I tried. Then five years ago, I still felt that pull towards him and surprisingly after saving his grandfather, he proposed to me to honor his grandfather’s wish. He had another fiancée then, his girlfriend from college was still in the picture yet he gave me hope, it stung when he informed me he didn't want to wed me, but he had to do it because his grandfather had decided to hold on to his inheritance until we were married but I didn't want to force him into a marriage with me just because I loved him so I let him go because I loved him enough to want him to be happy.

He returned a month later begging that I was the only one woman for him and I grabbed at the possibility that he actually wanted to marry me. I overlooked it, I reasoned that the marriage would cause him to develop feelings for me. Two months after our marriage, though, I discovered the truth.

He still saw Cynthia, his lover. With his comments, he occasionally shot at me, "You're just my wife on paper, nothing more," those words broke me each time he said it but he never cared and never showed any remorse. My heart breaks even more every day when I wake up and remember that I keep loving a man who wants nothing to do with me. Although we were under contract, I had always dreamed of more. I embraced the suffering, the continual reminder he was not mine. I went through it even going to events where he embarrassed me for Cynthia’s benefit,but with everything he had done I still struggled to let go of my affection for him.

Even if our marriage was gradually killing me within, I hung on to it because I always felt my life depended on it and maybe it does. I have no one except him, my father only let the marriage go on because it made me happy but they cut ties with me on that day, Mum made sure of that, she couldn't believe that the daughter of a very prominent family,her daughter would stoop so low to marry a man who didn't see her worth but I believed I could change that. Over time, especially when his fiancée left him, his treatment of me got worse. Like it was somehow my fault, he blamed me for their separation.

The sound of the door opening jolted me back into consciousness. Adrien was finally home. Seeing him still as beautiful as ever in his elegant tuxedo made my heart skip a beat. His black hair was neat and slicked back, he was always put together and his presence was as dominating as usual. Though I wanted to close the distance between us and hug him, I knew better. Following him down the corridor, I softly whispered,

"You're back." He passed me, like I wasn't standing there in the first place. He didn’t even bother to look in my direction.

He vanished inside our bedroom silently, and I remained there for a second while my heart sank farther into my chest. Leaning against the doorframe, I watched him get ready for bed. Trying to seem call despite the turmoil in my chest, I spoke up again,

"You're late tonight," but my voice clearly expressed desperation, “What happened?”

His voice was razor sharp and biting,“Annabel, when have I ever bothered you with my business and since when do I owe you any explanation concerning my location?” his words burned as I tried hard to swallow.

"I am your wife,I believe I am entitled to know”,He laughed, hardly looking twice at me.

“On paper you mean, because you can't really tell me you go around telling yourself we are actually married, wake up Annabelle and stop behaving as though it implies anything” he shot at me coldly,

Though I could not let him see it,my eyes stung as tears threatened to fall from my eyes,

"I prepared dinner,We should eat together?”I tried again, wanting to share with him at least one ordinary moment. He banged the bathroom door closed behind him, and the boom reverberated around the home.

He spat through the door, "Eat whatever you made yourself." I sighed, trying to fight the rejection I was now feeling,I strolled to the dining room and settled down by myself to eat.

The meal before me hardly registered. My appetite had vanished, replaced by a deep gloom that made swallowing difficult. I grabbed my phone and looked at the lock screen to see Adrien grinning back at me, I had taken this picture on one of the numerous parties we had to attend together to keep the act up, it was the only time I got to see a smile on his face even though it wasn't directed at me. Though I hastily pushed them away, tears welled in my eyes as I thought about everything.

Adrien was already working on his laptop when I got back to the bedroom, dressed in casual wear—black joggers and a vest. I went up to him with one final attempt to pierce the wall he had erected separating us.

“You're always busy”, I started softly.

"You didn’t ask how my day went”I tried again when I didn't get any reply,

He raised his icy gaze to mine. The silence between us felt heavy and oppressive. At last he spoke, his voice like a razor cutting across the air,

“Do we really have to do this? Annabel, you should know from past times that I cannot provide what you are looking for, so why do you keep trying?”. Though his words wounded more than I could stomach, I would not back down.

"That doesn't mean you can't ask how my day went you know," I replied, my voice shaking. Suddenly rising to his feet, his eyes narrowed to a glare.

"You want me to act as though we are close? Like we are something we are not?” I staggered with his unexpected yell. Though I had worked so hard to regulate my feelings, now the tears I had stashed flowed down my cheeks.Holding them in I had now become impossible