married to the ruthless ceo

chapter 6

*Chapter 6: "Cancel rule #4

The next morning, the house felt like a war zone with chandeliers.

I was at the bottom of the stairs when I heard it.

Wheels.

Slow. Deliberate.

Ava. In the wheelchair. Jack behind her, hands on the handles like he owned her.

And me? Alina was already in the kitchen. In my robe. Drinking my coffee.

Ava stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Looked at Alina. Then at me.

“Morning, husband,” she said. Sweet. Poison.

“Morning, wife,” Alina replied. Matching energy.

That was it. I’d had enough of the silent games.

I walked down, hands in pockets. “We need new rules.”

Ava raised a brow. “We have rules.”

“Rule 4 is cancelled,” I said.

She tilted her head. “The one about no third parties?”

“The same.”

Jack stiffened behind her. “You sure about that?”

Ava smiled. Slow. “Very. If Damien gets to bring his fiancée to _our_ house every night, then I get to bring my fiancé to stay 24/7.”

She turned her head to Jack. “Right, babe?”

Jack’s jaw flexed. Then he nodded. “Right.”

Alina nearly choked on her coffee.

“Excuse me?” she said.

“Did I stutter?” Ava said. “Cancel Rule 4. House is open. Bring whoever.”

And just like that, hell moved in.

---

*By 6pm, the house had 4 people and zero peace.*

Jack didn’t leave. He set up in the guest room. Clothes in the closet. Toothbrush in _my_ bathroom.

Alina moved her stuff from the guest house to the main bedroom across the hall. Just to be closer.

Dinner was a nightmare.

Ava in her wheelchair at the head of the table. Jack feeding her.

“Aaah,” he said, holding out a spoon. “You need to eat, love.”

Alina slammed her fork down. “She has two hands.”

“She has a head injury,” Jack snapped. “Thanks to _you_ people.”

“Thanks to _him_,” Alina pointed at me. “He pushed her.”

I didn’t say anything. I just watched Ava.

She was watching me too. Over Jack’s shoulder.

Eyes cold. Daring me to say something.

I picked up my wine. “To cancelled rules.”

I drank.

Ava lifted her water. “To new arrangements.”

She drank.

The tension could’ve cut glass.

---

*11:47pm. Hallway.*

I couldn’t sleep.

Footsteps. Soft.

Ava, wheeling herself down the hall. Toward the kitchen.

I followed.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked from the doorway.

She stopped. Didn’t turn.

“Not with your girlfriend in the next room,” she said.

“Not with your fiancé in my house,” I shot back.

She turned the chair. Slowly.

“You started this, Damien. You brought her to kiss in my kitchen.”

“And you brought him to sleep in my bed,” I said.

Ava laughed. Bitter. “It’s not your bed. It’s the contract’s bed.”

“Then the contract can watch,” I said, stepping closer. “Because I’m not pretending anymore. I hate seeing him touch you.”

Her face didn’t change. But her hands gripped the wheels tighter.

“Good,” she whispered. “Because I hate seeing her in your shirt.”

We stared at each other.

Two people bleeding jealousy and pretending it was hate.

From upstairs: a door opened.

Jack’s voice. “Ava? You okay?”

Alina’s voice right after. “Damien?”

We both looked away at the same time.

“Come on,” Ava said, turning her chair. “Let’s go back before they start crying.”

She wheeled past me.

I caught her wrist. Just for a second.

“Rule 4 is cancelled,” I said quietly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with this.”

She pulled away. “Neither am I. That’s why it’s perfect.”

---

---