His Forgotten Bride

Chapter 11

“Mr. Montevardo, c-could you maybe move a little farther from Ms. Ryde?” the photographer asked nervously.

“Wife,” Terrence whispered firmly, doing the exact opposite of what the photographer requested.

He pulled me closer against his body. A sigh unconsciously escaped my lips, making him glance at me.

“Terrence, this is a triple shoot. The concept is for Chaos and you to stand on both sides of me, not for you to keep me to yourself,” I murmured softly.

I felt his grip on my waist tighten. He leaned closer to my ear and whispered,

“I will kill him before he touches you,” he growled.

I slowly shook my head. I didn’t know if I should be afraid of the way he was acting or be happy because of the attention he was giving me. Since I was foolish, I chose the latter.

There’s nothing wrong with hoping… right?

“This shoot won’t finish if you keep acting like this, Terrence. Just for today, act like a professional model. Since you’re already taking modeling seriously, you might as well do it properly,” I said with a small smile, trying to sound stern.

“But—”

I glared at him. It was the first time I had done that without anger or resentment.

“Fine,” he said in defeat.

Slowly, he removed his hand from my waist and shot Chaos a dark glare from the other side of me. The distance between us and Chaos was painfully obvious. Every time Chaos tried to move closer, Terrence would pull me farther away.

“Let’s start,” I told the photographer before fiercely facing the camera.

“So possessive, Mr. Montevardo. Your wife might end up getting tired of you,” Chaos whispered as he slowly touched the left side of my face.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Terrence’s jaw tighten as he stared at Chaos’ fingers against my cheek. He shut his eyes tightly before placing his own hand on the opposite side of my face. Both of them were now holding my cheeks while staring at me.

“I’m just protecting what’s mine,” Terrence said coldly.

“Perfect!” the photographer exclaimed.

Chaos scoffed and tilted his face closer to my neck.

“Protecting?” he mocked.

“Just try placing your filthy lips on my wife’s skin and you won’t leave this place alive,” Terrence threatened coldly.

I held my breath when, instead of copying Chaos’ pose, Terrence buried his face against my neck. My eyes unconsciously fluttered shut when he gently sucked on my skin.

“Bravo!”

The photographer’s loud praise snapped me back to reality. I quickly distanced myself from my husband and acted normal. Embarrassment burned inside my chest as I noticed the teasing smiles around us—especially Mavy, who looked like she was seconds away from screaming.

“Let’s wrap this up. The shots we took earlier are already enough,” the photographer said.

I gasped when Terrence suddenly pulled me close again.

“You can stay away from my wife now,” he said to Chaos.

I unconsciously swallowed as I tried to calm my racing heart.

Wife.

I couldn’t even remember how many times he had called me “wife” ever since that night happened between us. Yet even now, hearing that word from him still made me nervous and strangely happy.

He was finally admitting it.

Even if he wasn’t openly showing it to everyone, I was already content with the progress in our relationship. In the eyes of show business, Terrence was merely my suitor. The same went for his company. A part of me still felt sad about it, but I chose to focus on the improvements between us instead.

I was pulled back to reality when Chaos smirked and let out a sarcastic laugh.

“You seem like a loving husband, Mr. Montevardo,” he mocked.

“Mr. Hevion,” I called coldly.

He licked his lower lip before shifting his gaze toward me. “Yes, Alliyah?” he asked.

“I don’t know what you want, but let me make one thing clear—you have no right to interfere in my marriage or with my husband. Stop pissing him off,” I said sternly.

Chaos stared at me with his ocean-blue eyes before the corner of his lips slowly lifted.

“Are you sure about your decision, Alliyah? You’re really going to stay with that man?”

“Yes,” I answered immediately.

We stared at each other for a moment before Terrence pulled me closer again.

“Just because you have connections with my family doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate what you’re doing. Know your place, because if you

don’t, I’ll personally put you where you belong,” my husband said emotionlessly.

Terrence had told me before that Chaos was one of their investors, which explained why he had attended his parents’ party before.

“Hm. And where would that be?” Chaos asked teasingly.

“Six feet under the ground,” Terrence answered coldly.

Chaos chuckled softly and shook his head. “You’re good at making jokes.”

“Yes. So good that sometimes they become reality,” Terrence replied.

They stared at each other as if they were having an entire conversation without words.

“Mr. Hevion,” Mavy interrupted.

I almost sighed in relief because I could no longer handle the tension between the two men.

“Do you have any more requests?” Mavy asked politely.

My lips twitched as I secretly rolled my eyes when I saw my manager lightly touching Chaos’ bicep.

“None. But I am hoping Ms. Ryde will have another project with my company,” he said.

Terrence scoffed beside me. “It’s Mrs., and no. She will never work with you again.”

He grabbed my hand and carefully pulled me away.

“T-Terrence,” I stuttered after he pressed me against a wall once we were far enough from everyone else.

“Tell me, wife. You’ll never work with him again, right?” he asked softly while looking into my eyes.

“I-If that’s what you want.”

“What about you? What do you want?”

“I don’t want to work with him again.”

He paused for a moment, staring at me as though searching for lies in my eyes.

“Let’s go home,” he finally said before holding my hand again.

I could only smile as I let him lead me away.

During the entire drive home, he never let go of my hand. I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it.

Thank You, Lord. You changed him.

When we arrived home, one of the servants immediately approached him. The man was holding a medium-sized black box wrapped with a gold ribbon.

“Someone left this outside the mansion,” the servant said briefly while bowing his head slightly.

I stared at the black box and was about to touch it when Terrence suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Go to your room,” he ordered coldly.

I swallowed hard at the icy tone of his voice. Thinking it had something to do with his mafia affairs, I simply obeyed.

I silently walked upstairs and headed toward my room. I hadn’t even closed the door yet when three consecutive gunshots echoed throughout the mansion, making me jump in shock.

I quickly turned around and looked downstairs.

Terrence was holding a gun. His chest was rising and falling heavily while shattered vases littered the floor around him.

I was about to go down when his eyes suddenly met mine.

“Go to your room, Alliyah.”

I bit my tongue when his ruthless gaze pierced through me. For a second, I felt afraid—not for myself, but for our relationship.

“I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM, ALLIYAH!”

I jolted when another loud gunshot rang through the house. With trembling knees, I hurried back to my room.

“Calm down, Alliyah. He’s probably just not in the mood. Maybe… maybe something happened with his mafia,” I tried to comfort myself.

Everything will be okay.