Tell the Truth
783 Words
Mia couldn't stay in that room. The walls felt like they were closing in on her, and the smell of the expensive roses in the vase made her stomach twist into knots. She needed some air. She needed something familiar. Most of all, she needed to eat something that didn't taste like a "Big Man's food."
She changed into her old jeans and a thick sweater. She moved quietly, hoping to slip out the back entrance before Damien noticed. She just wanted to find a small, crowded stall and eat a bowl of spicy local hot pot... the kind of food that made her feel like the old Mia again.
She reached the front hall, her hand on the heavy brass doorknob, when a voice like ice stopped her in her tracks.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Mia jumped, her heart leaping into her throat. Damien was leaning against the archway of the living room, his arms crossed over his chest. He had taken off his suit jacket, and his white shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, but he still looked terrifyingly in control.
"I... I’m going out to get some food," Mia said, trying to keep her voice steady.
Damien’s eyebrows rose. "We have a professional chef in the kitchen who can make you anything in the world. Why are you sneaking out like a thief?"
"I’m not sneaking," she lied, though her face was heating up. "I just want some local hot pot. There’s a place a few blocks from my old apartment. It’s simple. I just want to be somewhere... normal for an hour."
Damien stared at her. He thought about the phone call he had just made to the doctor. He thought about how pale she looked. The idea of her wandering around a crowded, loud part of the city alone made a strange, protective anger flare up in his chest.
"It’s dark. You aren't going alone," he snapped.
"I can take the bus, Mr. Cross. I’ve done it my whole life."
"No," Damien said, grabbing his keys from the marble table. "I’ll drive you."
"You?" Mia blinked in shock. "But you don't like places like that. You don’t even like it when my shoes touch your carpet."
"Get in the car, Mia," he commanded, his eyes darkening. "Don't make me repeat myself."
The ride was tense. Damien’s high-end sports car felt completely out of place as they moved away from the mansions and toward the crowded, neon-lit streets of the city's older district. Mia stared out the window, watching the street vendors and the groups of friends laughing on the sidewalk. She missed her life. Even though she was poor and stressed, at least she knew who she was back then.
Now, she was a fake wife with a real secret.
Damien watched her out of the corner of his eye. He saw the way she looked at the world outside... like a prisoner looking at freedom. It bothered him. He was giving her everything money could buy, yet she looked miserable.
The silence in the car became too much. The air felt thick with things they weren't saying.
Suddenly, the car slowed down. They were on a bridge, halfway between the rich world of the skyscrapers and the busy streets of the market. There were no other cars around for a moment.
Damien slammed on the brakes.
The car jerked to a violent stop in the middle of the road. Mia gasped, her hands flying out to the dashboard to steady herself.
"What are you doing?" she cried, her heart racing. "Why did we stop?"
Damien didn't answer right away. He turned off the engine, leaving them in a sudden, heavy silence. He turned in his seat, his large frame looming over her in the small space of the car. His eyes were no longer cold, they were burning with a frustrated fire.
"We aren't going anywhere until you tell me the truth," he said, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "I’m tired of your games, Mia. I’m tired of the fainting and the lies."
He leaned closer, his hand reaching out to grip the back of her seat, trapping her between his body and the car door.
"Tell me what is going on with you," he whispered, his face inches from hers. "Tell me the truth, or this marriage ends tonight."
Mia looked into his stormy gray eyes and felt the world disappear. She was trapped not just by the car, but by the secret growing inside her.
- Writer
